I went to the market this morning and bought the few things I need for the week.
Ater that Bob A. called me to talk about putting Phyllis under hospice care. Her doctor had suggested it. I guess he will do it Monday. He talked to his daughter about it and she agreed it was the only thing to do under the circumstances.
Then I e-mailed the ministers in our alliance that I would not be able to be at the Thursday meeting. I got Fr. Jerry to take notes for me but he needed me to make the copies of the last meetings minutes, the agenda and the roll form. So I did that on my new computer. It took me awhile to find out how to use Windows 7. Then I printed off the necessary forms and took them to him.
I dropped by Cyndi's because she had some boxes for me. I was going to bring my stuff home from the mall. Starting tomorrow, they are going to add 10% to their charge for using the booth. I am not going to pay any more. I have only made money one month. The rest of the time, they have made all the money from the sale of my possessions.
Next I made a fast run home because Karan was going to pick me up at 2:00 to go out to church so we could take down all the Christmas decorations and put them away for the year. We started at 2:00 and finished at 3:30. Whew! What a job. There were five of us doing the work. No one else showed up.
Then I ran to the mall just in time to learn they were closing early this evening....at 4:00 instead of 5:00. So I quickly packed up some boxes of my stuff and then left. They wanted to close. I will run back up tomorrow to get the rest.
I stopped by Braums and bought a milk shake. I had not had time to eat anything all day.
I will go to my cousin's New Years Eve dinner/party tonight. I will have to put Slinky in the garage. I don't trust leaving him in the kitchen. I will probably come home fairly early since I am tired already. Then I will let Slinky back into the kitchen/utility room area for the night. It started out 60 degrees this morning and now it is 37 degrees. How I dread winter!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Out of Town Trip
Today, after Bob A. gets out of the doctor's office, he will come by and pick me up and we will drive over to Joplin, a trip of about 75 miles. We both want to get away from it all for the day. We will walk the mall there and have lunch somewhere good. He is good company and a good friend.
Then after we get back, I will just watch TV until bedtime.
Last night, for some reason, I was exhausted. I fell asleep in the chair mid afternoon and was ready to go to bed about 8:00. I just took my bath and went to bed.
Tomorrow night is the New Years Eve dinner/party at my cousin Sue and her husband, Dick's home. They have that every year and my Bob and I always attended. Last year, he wasn't up to the entire evening so we left about 10:30. We didn't know his body was fighting cancer at that time. We just knew he had lymphedema in his left arm and it was sore a good deal of the time. This year, my brother-in-law, Bob, is going to attend too. It's been a couple of years since he has attended. Phyllis had the newly broken hip two years ago and last year she had Alzheimer's Disease too bad to attend and was only able to walk with a walker anyhow. This year she is out at Windsor Place in the Winston unit and he will attend the party. The poor man has very little joy in his life anymore. He needs to do some of these things even if he feels bad about Phyllis' situation. As I have learned this year myself, life goes on. At least I have closure.
Late afternoon.....
The trip was very successful and we had a good time. We walked the mall and he bought new underwear and a shirt all on 70%. I went to Christopher and Banks and bought a jacket for $23.67 that had formerly been $55.00. We were both very pleased with our purchases.
We ate lunch at Crackerbarrel. We had their turkey and dressing dinner for $6.95. It was very good! Then we came on back home. We were home by 2:30. The weather was fantastic. It was windy but it got up to 60 degrees. We were both very glad we went.
Then after we get back, I will just watch TV until bedtime.
Last night, for some reason, I was exhausted. I fell asleep in the chair mid afternoon and was ready to go to bed about 8:00. I just took my bath and went to bed.
Tomorrow night is the New Years Eve dinner/party at my cousin Sue and her husband, Dick's home. They have that every year and my Bob and I always attended. Last year, he wasn't up to the entire evening so we left about 10:30. We didn't know his body was fighting cancer at that time. We just knew he had lymphedema in his left arm and it was sore a good deal of the time. This year, my brother-in-law, Bob, is going to attend too. It's been a couple of years since he has attended. Phyllis had the newly broken hip two years ago and last year she had Alzheimer's Disease too bad to attend and was only able to walk with a walker anyhow. This year she is out at Windsor Place in the Winston unit and he will attend the party. The poor man has very little joy in his life anymore. He needs to do some of these things even if he feels bad about Phyllis' situation. As I have learned this year myself, life goes on. At least I have closure.
Late afternoon.....
The trip was very successful and we had a good time. We walked the mall and he bought new underwear and a shirt all on 70%. I went to Christopher and Banks and bought a jacket for $23.67 that had formerly been $55.00. We were both very pleased with our purchases.
We ate lunch at Crackerbarrel. We had their turkey and dressing dinner for $6.95. It was very good! Then we came on back home. We were home by 2:30. The weather was fantastic. It was windy but it got up to 60 degrees. We were both very glad we went.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday Mail Day
As I said yesterday, I finally got the call yesterday afternoon to pick up the classmates' newsletter. After I got it, I stuffed the envelopes but got to the post office at 4:35, just after it closed.
I will take them with me to Independence when I get my hair cut. Then I will take them to the post office and mail them off. With that off my schedule, I will have a free day. I am going to take my Kindle with me to the beauty shop and read my book.
When I get back in town I want to go visit Gerry in the hospital. I will have to find out what room she is in. On Christmas Day her blood pressure bottomed out. They rushed her to the hospital where they wanted to put her on life support. Chuck, her son, did not allow that because he knew Gerry did not want that. But they resuscitated her anyhow. She called last night and sounded pretty good under the circumstances. It was 7:00 and I had had my bath and was in my pjs so I told her I would come this afternoon.
More later...
Gerry was doing pretty well when I went to see her. I got my hair done and came right back home to go see her. They had done another test yesterday to discover why she is having problems swallowing. Her food sticks about halfway down. She was in room 238.
Then I went out to buy gas. The gas here in town is $2.99.9 per gallon but three miles away in South Coffeyville, which is in Oklahoma, it is $2.85.9 so I buy my gas down there.
Tomorrow, as soon as Bob A. gets out of the doctor's office, we will go to Joplin. We both need a break to get out of town before the bad weather hits here. It was 50 degrees here today, but overcast.
I will take them with me to Independence when I get my hair cut. Then I will take them to the post office and mail them off. With that off my schedule, I will have a free day. I am going to take my Kindle with me to the beauty shop and read my book.
When I get back in town I want to go visit Gerry in the hospital. I will have to find out what room she is in. On Christmas Day her blood pressure bottomed out. They rushed her to the hospital where they wanted to put her on life support. Chuck, her son, did not allow that because he knew Gerry did not want that. But they resuscitated her anyhow. She called last night and sounded pretty good under the circumstances. It was 7:00 and I had had my bath and was in my pjs so I told her I would come this afternoon.
More later...
Gerry was doing pretty well when I went to see her. I got my hair done and came right back home to go see her. They had done another test yesterday to discover why she is having problems swallowing. Her food sticks about halfway down. She was in room 238.
Then I went out to buy gas. The gas here in town is $2.99.9 per gallon but three miles away in South Coffeyville, which is in Oklahoma, it is $2.85.9 so I buy my gas down there.
Tomorrow, as soon as Bob A. gets out of the doctor's office, we will go to Joplin. We both need a break to get out of town before the bad weather hits here. It was 50 degrees here today, but overcast.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Quiet Tuesday
This should be another quiet day. I want to go see Phyllis and Gerry this morning. It will be interesting to see if Phyllis is more alert now that she had all that company. At least she was alert when Diana, her older daughter, went in to see her. They had her in a wheelchair and they took her to her room where there wasn't so much confusion from the other patients. That was wonderful. The past two weeks, every time I've been in to see her, she's been sleeping in her chair and I've been unable to wake her.
I read my Kindle most of the afternoon yesterday. The book is not as interesting so far as I had hoped. But I am plowing through it anyhow. I may have mentioned that I downloaded the "Autobiography of Mark Twain". It is over a thousand pages.
I may go to Bartlesville today if it warms up enough for Slinky to be outside. He spent yesterday afternoon out in the sunshine and he loved it. The poor animal must hate being cooped up in the kitchen/utility area. It got up to 40 degrees yesterday.
I'll wait to see what the temperature does before I make my decision.
More later....
About 10:00 I went to see Phyllis. I stayed until 10:45. She had slept in. They got her up and into a wheelchair and I had a fairly decent visit with her.
It warmed up enough in late afternoon for Slinky to go outside but too late for me to go to Bartlesville. I read all afternoon and then finally the office supply called and I picked up the newsletter. Unfortunately, it was too late to get it stuffed and mailed. I'll mail them tomorrow.
I let the dog in about 5:30, fed the three animals and took my bath.
Bob A. and I will go to Joplin on Thursday. We both need a break out of town.
I read my Kindle most of the afternoon yesterday. The book is not as interesting so far as I had hoped. But I am plowing through it anyhow. I may have mentioned that I downloaded the "Autobiography of Mark Twain". It is over a thousand pages.
I may go to Bartlesville today if it warms up enough for Slinky to be outside. He spent yesterday afternoon out in the sunshine and he loved it. The poor animal must hate being cooped up in the kitchen/utility area. It got up to 40 degrees yesterday.
I'll wait to see what the temperature does before I make my decision.
More later....
About 10:00 I went to see Phyllis. I stayed until 10:45. She had slept in. They got her up and into a wheelchair and I had a fairly decent visit with her.
It warmed up enough in late afternoon for Slinky to go outside but too late for me to go to Bartlesville. I read all afternoon and then finally the office supply called and I picked up the newsletter. Unfortunately, it was too late to get it stuffed and mailed. I'll mail them tomorrow.
I let the dog in about 5:30, fed the three animals and took my bath.
Bob A. and I will go to Joplin on Thursday. We both need a break out of town.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas All Gone
I spent the morning putting away the Christmas decorations and taking down the tree. Everything is back to normal again...whatever that is. I finished up the classmates newsletter too and took it in to Service Office and Supplies to have it run off and folded. So, really I got quite a bit done.
I'm having 160 of them run off. About a dozen people wanted it by e-mail attachment. We have 181 classmates on the list. I will need to get envelopes and have Martha get stamps. I don't know how long it will take Brandon to get it finished.
It's about 40 degrees outside. I'd like to run down to Bartlesville if I thought it would stay this way awhile. Slinky has been outside all morning. When he saw the sunshine, he wanted to go out.
I'd better get the envelopes and get them addressed. It may get very cold again and that poor dog would be outside in it.
More later...
Well I got all the envelopes addressed and the newsletter taken to the printer. It should be finished Tuesday and if Martha gets down there to pay for it and picks it up and then brings me the 160 stamps, I may get it mailed out then. I've had about 19 classmates now that wanted it by e-mail attachment to I will have that many fewer to mail.
I'm having 160 of them run off. About a dozen people wanted it by e-mail attachment. We have 181 classmates on the list. I will need to get envelopes and have Martha get stamps. I don't know how long it will take Brandon to get it finished.
It's about 40 degrees outside. I'd like to run down to Bartlesville if I thought it would stay this way awhile. Slinky has been outside all morning. When he saw the sunshine, he wanted to go out.
I'd better get the envelopes and get them addressed. It may get very cold again and that poor dog would be outside in it.
More later...
Well I got all the envelopes addressed and the newsletter taken to the printer. It should be finished Tuesday and if Martha gets down there to pay for it and picks it up and then brings me the 160 stamps, I may get it mailed out then. I've had about 19 classmates now that wanted it by e-mail attachment to I will have that many fewer to mail.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Church Today
Today I will preach at church. In our church we have several elders and we rotate the preaching/presiding responsibilities. It is my turn now. We each preach three times in a quarter.
Yesterday's Christmas dinner went off seamlessly. The casserole of chicken, rice and veggies was very good. Bob A. brought the rolls and my carrot raisin salad turned out well. Leslie had a surprise pie. It was a chocolate/pecan pie. She got the recipe off the internet. It was mildly received. She and I were the only ones who liked it.
We sat around and watched "Scrooged" on TV after dinner. I was happy the kids stayed awhile. Bob A. stayed half way through the movie but with his cold, he was ready to go home earlier then the rest of us. His daughter, the one traveling here from Wisconsin, called him in the evening and said they were running late and would be in too late for him and would just get a motel. They told him to go ahead and go to church and they would find Dennis, Bob's son who lives here locally but who never comes around, and invite him for chili too. They are fixing a pot of chili and I am invited over to share in that too. I assume it will be at noon. That was nice of them.
(No, it was at 5:30 this evening. I fell asleep in my chair and got up at 5:00 and went to Wal Mart and bought dog food for Slinky. Then I went to Bob A's house for the chili. So I did not watch 60 Minutes after all.)
Later I will do my letters and watch 60 Minutes tonight and relax. The only thing I have to look forward to now is the eyelid surgery. I dread it...not the surgery itself, but the recuperative period afterward. I have these animals to look after and they may be a real trial while I'm trying to sleep three nights in the recliner and keep ice on the eye. I told Leslie, if it snows next week, or the week of the surgery, I will cancel.
Yesterday's Christmas dinner went off seamlessly. The casserole of chicken, rice and veggies was very good. Bob A. brought the rolls and my carrot raisin salad turned out well. Leslie had a surprise pie. It was a chocolate/pecan pie. She got the recipe off the internet. It was mildly received. She and I were the only ones who liked it.
We sat around and watched "Scrooged" on TV after dinner. I was happy the kids stayed awhile. Bob A. stayed half way through the movie but with his cold, he was ready to go home earlier then the rest of us. His daughter, the one traveling here from Wisconsin, called him in the evening and said they were running late and would be in too late for him and would just get a motel. They told him to go ahead and go to church and they would find Dennis, Bob's son who lives here locally but who never comes around, and invite him for chili too. They are fixing a pot of chili and I am invited over to share in that too. I assume it will be at noon. That was nice of them.
(No, it was at 5:30 this evening. I fell asleep in my chair and got up at 5:00 and went to Wal Mart and bought dog food for Slinky. Then I went to Bob A's house for the chili. So I did not watch 60 Minutes after all.)
Later I will do my letters and watch 60 Minutes tonight and relax. The only thing I have to look forward to now is the eyelid surgery. I dread it...not the surgery itself, but the recuperative period afterward. I have these animals to look after and they may be a real trial while I'm trying to sleep three nights in the recliner and keep ice on the eye. I told Leslie, if it snows next week, or the week of the surgery, I will cancel.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Day
I had my little family get together last night. It was really nice to have the kids over. Of course, only John and Leslie could be here but I was delighted to have them. Bob A. called that evening and felt so bad with his cold that he really didn't want to get out. So he was not here. But his grandson and his wife came to stay the night with him. Bob's daughter didn't have room in their place for all of them so they stayed with him. I had offered my extra bedroom but they wanted to be with him and I understand that.
Anyhow, we had our eggnog...with real nog (rum) in it...my daughter has a secret recipe for it. I had made some cranberry bread but it was slightly overdone and I was disappointed in it. I took the crust off of it and gave that to Slinky so he had some celebration too. I also had chip and dip and my peanut clusters.
Afterward we opened our gifts. John and Leslie had bought one another a new flat screen HD TV for the den upstairs. I bought Leslie some towels she wanted for the upstairs bathroom. I bought John some Moose Munch that I bought at Harry and David's in Branson. But the REAL news was the gift they gave me. Leslie and Keith and Scott went together and bought me a Kindle with a two year warranty and a cover to protect the screen. Needless to say, I was absolutely delighted! I spent the evening getting it registered and reading the instruction booklet that came on it. It is wireless so I logged on to my router and went online and then I booted up the laptop and sent myself Sunday's sermon just for a test. I was even able to open a browser and see this blog. (of course the font was very small and so I would rather read it here). But..talk about excited!!! I haven't been so excited since..gosh, I don't even know when! Now I can hardly wait to buy an e-book on Amazon. I already have an account there since I buy all my books there.
Yippee!!!
Anyhow, we had our eggnog...with real nog (rum) in it...my daughter has a secret recipe for it. I had made some cranberry bread but it was slightly overdone and I was disappointed in it. I took the crust off of it and gave that to Slinky so he had some celebration too. I also had chip and dip and my peanut clusters.
Afterward we opened our gifts. John and Leslie had bought one another a new flat screen HD TV for the den upstairs. I bought Leslie some towels she wanted for the upstairs bathroom. I bought John some Moose Munch that I bought at Harry and David's in Branson. But the REAL news was the gift they gave me. Leslie and Keith and Scott went together and bought me a Kindle with a two year warranty and a cover to protect the screen. Needless to say, I was absolutely delighted! I spent the evening getting it registered and reading the instruction booklet that came on it. It is wireless so I logged on to my router and went online and then I booted up the laptop and sent myself Sunday's sermon just for a test. I was even able to open a browser and see this blog. (of course the font was very small and so I would rather read it here). But..talk about excited!!! I haven't been so excited since..gosh, I don't even know when! Now I can hardly wait to buy an e-book on Amazon. I already have an account there since I buy all my books there.
Yippee!!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Eve
I've procrastinated for several days and now I must clean my bathrooms and run the sweeper. This afternoon I will bake my cranberry bread for tonight. I also want to make up my dip. The peanut clusters are already finished. It rained last night but at least it didn't freeze or snow.
The animals were restless last night. Missy got me up twice and twice I put her out. Slinky got me up four times and I let him out to go do his thing. The last time, I left him out. He did not want to come back in and I was not about to argue with him at 4:00 AM. After the cold sunk in, he barked four times to be let back in but I ignored him. Hopefully he is smart enough to realize why he was left out in the cold.
Leslie and John had me meet them for dinner last night at Tavern on the Plaza. That was their celebration for John's new job. We saw Jack and Marilyn there with their son, David. He seems to be a nice young man.
I got back home in time to get a bath and get into my pjs and watch a rerun of This Old House. After that, I just went to bed. It's a good thing I did since the animals had me up so much in the night.
I took my neighbor some cookies yesterday afternoon. She just got home from the nursing home where she had been recuperating from a broken hip and arm. In August she slipped in the rain and broke both. She had a good recovery through. She was using her walker and getting around fine. I didn't stay or even go in because Slinky was in the kitchen at home and I needed to get back. She looked good. It looked like she had lost some weight but she still looked good.
I want to get some cookie tins this morning and take some peanut clusters to Jack and Marilyn. They are such good friends.
The animals were restless last night. Missy got me up twice and twice I put her out. Slinky got me up four times and I let him out to go do his thing. The last time, I left him out. He did not want to come back in and I was not about to argue with him at 4:00 AM. After the cold sunk in, he barked four times to be let back in but I ignored him. Hopefully he is smart enough to realize why he was left out in the cold.
Leslie and John had me meet them for dinner last night at Tavern on the Plaza. That was their celebration for John's new job. We saw Jack and Marilyn there with their son, David. He seems to be a nice young man.
I got back home in time to get a bath and get into my pjs and watch a rerun of This Old House. After that, I just went to bed. It's a good thing I did since the animals had me up so much in the night.
I took my neighbor some cookies yesterday afternoon. She just got home from the nursing home where she had been recuperating from a broken hip and arm. In August she slipped in the rain and broke both. She had a good recovery through. She was using her walker and getting around fine. I didn't stay or even go in because Slinky was in the kitchen at home and I needed to get back. She looked good. It looked like she had lost some weight but she still looked good.
I want to get some cookie tins this morning and take some peanut clusters to Jack and Marilyn. They are such good friends.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Good News!
John, my son-in law, got back in from cutting wood this noon and had a call from that Roger Jansen about the manager's job. John starts the 6th of January. He gave notice at Amazon.
I am so pleased! I had given him my Sunday papers for two years and marked possibilities. What a nice Christmas gift for John.
Since retiring from teaching, John has worked as a security guard. He did not like it at all. He has been looking for two years for something better. The man has a master's degree and has interviewed numerous times for jobs that were just right for him but had been passed over every time. He is 57 and I think that has something to do with it.
Anyhow, he starts the new job January 6th!
I am so pleased! I had given him my Sunday papers for two years and marked possibilities. What a nice Christmas gift for John.
Since retiring from teaching, John has worked as a security guard. He did not like it at all. He has been looking for two years for something better. The man has a master's degree and has interviewed numerous times for jobs that were just right for him but had been passed over every time. He is 57 and I think that has something to do with it.
Anyhow, he starts the new job January 6th!
Another Quiet Day
This should be another quiet day. I will meet Bob A. for breakfast at 9:00 this morning and then go to Independence to get my hair done at 11:00. Bob A. called last night. He has a cold. I had some cold meds (Zycam) that had not even been opened (my Bob had bought it) so I ran it over to him. I hope it helps. He has to have some blood work done this morning so it will be a late breakfast.
Later tomorrow I will bake that cranberry bread. I would like it to be warm when I serve it.
Otherwise, it should be a quiet day. I do want to get over to my neighbor's this afternoon and take her some cookies. I need to go to the dollar store for some cat food and oatmeal and sugar. I am nearly out of all of it. Slinky would be very disappointed if he didn't get his morning oatmeal. He loves oatmeal! I made oatmeal cookies Sunday afternoon and used nearly all of it.
More later....
Well, I had a nice breakfast with my brother-in-law. He is fighting a cold. Afterward I went out to church and watered the poinsettias then went on up to Independence to buy mascara and get my hair done. Carol got me in early and got me out early. Cyndi and Jeff were in town and wanted to take me to lunch but I got in the beauty shop early and out early. It was only 11:00. I tried to call Cyndi as she asked me to but she didn't pick up. I waited about ten minutes and tried again but again she wouldn't pick up so I just left her a message and went on back to Coffeyville and home. When I was about nine miles away, she finally called me back. I told her I had tried to call her twice and when I couldn't get her to pick up, I just came on back home. I told her I would take a rain check on lunch.
It's difficult to connect with someone who won't pick up on calls.
Later tomorrow I will bake that cranberry bread. I would like it to be warm when I serve it.
Otherwise, it should be a quiet day. I do want to get over to my neighbor's this afternoon and take her some cookies. I need to go to the dollar store for some cat food and oatmeal and sugar. I am nearly out of all of it. Slinky would be very disappointed if he didn't get his morning oatmeal. He loves oatmeal! I made oatmeal cookies Sunday afternoon and used nearly all of it.
More later....
Well, I had a nice breakfast with my brother-in-law. He is fighting a cold. Afterward I went out to church and watered the poinsettias then went on up to Independence to buy mascara and get my hair done. Carol got me in early and got me out early. Cyndi and Jeff were in town and wanted to take me to lunch but I got in the beauty shop early and out early. It was only 11:00. I tried to call Cyndi as she asked me to but she didn't pick up. I waited about ten minutes and tried again but again she wouldn't pick up so I just left her a message and went on back to Coffeyville and home. When I was about nine miles away, she finally called me back. I told her I had tried to call her twice and when I couldn't get her to pick up, I just came on back home. I told her I would take a rain check on lunch.
It's difficult to connect with someone who won't pick up on calls.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
A Quiet Wednesday
I haven't done a lot today. This morning I made peanut clusters and will make cranberry bread tomorrow. Leslie and John and Bob A. will be coming over Christmas Eve and I want to have some goodies on hand to serve them before we open our gifts.
I am thawing my chicken in the frig for Saturday. I will make a chicken and rice casserole since there will only be the four of us. Bob will bring hot rolls and Leslie will bring pie. I will also make a carrot raisin salad. That should be plenty for the four of us.
My neighbor is coming home from the nursing home tomorrow and I will take her some of my cookies. She fell on rain water back in August and broke her hip and left arm. She has been recuperating all this time.
I hope Slinky sleeps better tonight then he did last night. He woke up four times last night and I have been reading this afternoon and keep falling asleep over my book. He has been in all afternoon and has napped.
Tomorrow I want to get my hair done.
I am thawing my chicken in the frig for Saturday. I will make a chicken and rice casserole since there will only be the four of us. Bob will bring hot rolls and Leslie will bring pie. I will also make a carrot raisin salad. That should be plenty for the four of us.
My neighbor is coming home from the nursing home tomorrow and I will take her some of my cookies. She fell on rain water back in August and broke her hip and left arm. She has been recuperating all this time.
I hope Slinky sleeps better tonight then he did last night. He woke up four times last night and I have been reading this afternoon and keep falling asleep over my book. He has been in all afternoon and has napped.
Tomorrow I want to get my hair done.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Salvation (as I understand it)
I was recently asked by a friend to explain the nature of salvation as I understood it. This is a difficult subject to approach with friends. We often say, “We should not discuss politics or religion.” But she asked so I felt I should do the best I could to explain my beliefs.
The gospel, as I understand it, is not a system of beliefs. But it is an event. It is the redemptive activity of God in the history of man. The gospel is not a commandment that men be good. It is the revelation that God is good and God’s goodness is expressed in involving Godself in the human situation. Thus the central focus of the gospel is this reconciling act. The disciple must be something in addition to saying something. The word of God then refers to the action of God. In this sense, the proclamation of the message is a call to action or to response.
Inasmuch as the activity of Jesus occurred in the context of a community of persons, his message demonstrated and taught a different style of life within that community. It was a style of life characterized by a redemptive love and fellowship. It follows that the gospel can best be faithfully witnessed within a fellowship of persons attempting to demonstrate that same unique lifestyle. The message is then, not simply a word or words, nor simply a solitary good life, but rather is the message held forth before man in the form of participation in a community of love.
Several problems present themselves when discussing salvation. One relates to the attitude that if one adheres to certain prescribed principles, this will earn for him in the afterlife, another life in heaven. This attitude suggests that the gospel is a set of principles and that salvation is a reward for obeying them. The idea of earned salvation in an afterlife suggests the preeminence of the next world over this one and associates salvation with it alone. It is also a rather selfish viewpoint that is all about “me” and my reward. Salvation is concerned with how life is lived in this life and with man’s ability to appropriate the fullness of life for himself as well as others. The salvation inherent in the gospel frees men to be truly and fully human. It is a condition by which his life has been made by God what it has not been previously…a true and full life. If one lives this life the best possible and to the best of one’s ability for the benefit of others, any reward in an afterlife will take care of itself.
The gospel, as I understand it, is designed to save us from ourselves and to save us for one another. It enables men to live together in mutual helpfulness, just as Jesus taught and demonstrated.
.
The gospel, as I understand it, is not a system of beliefs. But it is an event. It is the redemptive activity of God in the history of man. The gospel is not a commandment that men be good. It is the revelation that God is good and God’s goodness is expressed in involving Godself in the human situation. Thus the central focus of the gospel is this reconciling act. The disciple must be something in addition to saying something. The word of God then refers to the action of God. In this sense, the proclamation of the message is a call to action or to response.
Inasmuch as the activity of Jesus occurred in the context of a community of persons, his message demonstrated and taught a different style of life within that community. It was a style of life characterized by a redemptive love and fellowship. It follows that the gospel can best be faithfully witnessed within a fellowship of persons attempting to demonstrate that same unique lifestyle. The message is then, not simply a word or words, nor simply a solitary good life, but rather is the message held forth before man in the form of participation in a community of love.
Several problems present themselves when discussing salvation. One relates to the attitude that if one adheres to certain prescribed principles, this will earn for him in the afterlife, another life in heaven. This attitude suggests that the gospel is a set of principles and that salvation is a reward for obeying them. The idea of earned salvation in an afterlife suggests the preeminence of the next world over this one and associates salvation with it alone. It is also a rather selfish viewpoint that is all about “me” and my reward. Salvation is concerned with how life is lived in this life and with man’s ability to appropriate the fullness of life for himself as well as others. The salvation inherent in the gospel frees men to be truly and fully human. It is a condition by which his life has been made by God what it has not been previously…a true and full life. If one lives this life the best possible and to the best of one’s ability for the benefit of others, any reward in an afterlife will take care of itself.
The gospel, as I understand it, is designed to save us from ourselves and to save us for one another. It enables men to live together in mutual helpfulness, just as Jesus taught and demonstrated.
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Tuesday Cleaning
One thing I will do today besides check in at the hospital, is finish my cleaning. I need to do my bathrooms and run the sweeper. Other then that, I don't know. It could be a quiet day. I will make my peanut clusters sometime...either today or tomorrow. I have nothing on for tomorrow.
The more I think about it, the more I think I will forgo the eye surgery. I don't like the idea of anyone messing with my eyes. My last bunion surgery was such a bungled mess that I dread giving another doctor another shot at me. With my luck, it would fail. I have these animals to take care of. They wake me at least twice in the night...once for the dog and at least once for the cat. I am not supposed to bend over. How do you feed animals without bending over? I'm supposed to sleep three nights in the recliner in the living room. I would have the fat cat on my lap if I did that. I am supposed to keep ice on my eyelid for at least a day or two. With messing with these animals, how on earth would I do that?
I can't wear my contacts for three weeks. That means messing with those glasses. At least I like my new glasses but they magnify my eyes to look huge. What if I get black eyes?
I'm still thinking about it. I took the permission form in to Melissa's office yesterday afternoon. After she got my blood pressure down, she was to fax it to the Wichita doctor. My blood pressure has been down only a week and if anything would drive it up, it would be this apprehension about the surgery. And another thing, they're only going to do one eye. Won't that look strange? One eye done and the other one not done?
I'm still thinking about it.
The more I think about it, the more I think I will forgo the eye surgery. I don't like the idea of anyone messing with my eyes. My last bunion surgery was such a bungled mess that I dread giving another doctor another shot at me. With my luck, it would fail. I have these animals to take care of. They wake me at least twice in the night...once for the dog and at least once for the cat. I am not supposed to bend over. How do you feed animals without bending over? I'm supposed to sleep three nights in the recliner in the living room. I would have the fat cat on my lap if I did that. I am supposed to keep ice on my eyelid for at least a day or two. With messing with these animals, how on earth would I do that?
I can't wear my contacts for three weeks. That means messing with those glasses. At least I like my new glasses but they magnify my eyes to look huge. What if I get black eyes?
I'm still thinking about it. I took the permission form in to Melissa's office yesterday afternoon. After she got my blood pressure down, she was to fax it to the Wichita doctor. My blood pressure has been down only a week and if anything would drive it up, it would be this apprehension about the surgery. And another thing, they're only going to do one eye. Won't that look strange? One eye done and the other one not done?
I'm still thinking about it.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Complicated Monday
This was my last day as chaplain and I prayed with a woman who was going home to Hospice care. Her kidneys had shut down. I assured her Hospice would take very good care of her.
Afterward I went to the market and picked up the ingredients for my peanut clusters. I will make them up on Wednesday. I did a little cleaning and a load of laundry.
Then I went to Independence and met Juanita for lunch and took her to the bank. After that, I came back home again and took my medical form to the doctor's office so Melissa could fax it to the doctor in Wichita.
This evening I gave the invocation at the city commission meeting. Then I came home and let Slinky back in the kitchen.
Tomorrow I will go visit Phyllis.
Afterward I went to the market and picked up the ingredients for my peanut clusters. I will make them up on Wednesday. I did a little cleaning and a load of laundry.
Then I went to Independence and met Juanita for lunch and took her to the bank. After that, I came back home again and took my medical form to the doctor's office so Melissa could fax it to the doctor in Wichita.
This evening I gave the invocation at the city commission meeting. Then I came home and let Slinky back in the kitchen.
Tomorrow I will go visit Phyllis.
Photos from Sunday
These are some photos from yesterday. Karan and Bobby are some of my best friends. Leslie, of course, is my daughter.
This was such a nice service and those of us that were there had a good time. Our congregation is such a caring group. They do their best to be one of those kind of communities we read about in the New Testament. We are a community.
More later....
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Another Big Sunday
Today will be our Christmas Program at church. After that, we will have our Holiday Dinner. Sue is fixing the ham and the rest of us are taking the rest. I have made brownies this morning and my scalloped potatoes are in the oven now. When the brownies are cool, I will ice them.
Later after I get home following the dinner, I will bake oatmeal walnut cookies for Leslie's cookie exchange party. Surely I will be tired this evening.
I went to bed at 8:30 last night and slept real well until 12:00 when Missy wanted to go out. I put her out and then about 4:00 Slinky needed to get out. So I let him out...and she came back in. After about a half hour, Slinky started barking for breakfast. I got up again and went in the kitchen and bawled him out. He was quiet until 5:00 and then he began barking again. I gave up and got up and fed him. It's a good thing I go to bed early or i would get no sleep at all. He is lying here quiet now since I am in the kitchen with him. I brought the laptop in here so I could read the blogs while my potatoes are baking.
Yes, it will be a big day. More later...
The service and the dinner were both a success. The congregation gave me a"love gift" for Christmas and it covered half of what I paid out for my car repair. I was really surprised. I did not expect anything like that.
Later, I baked five dozen cookies and Bob A. and I went out to Leslie's for the cookie exchange party. Before I left I also did half of my newsletters. The party was great fun. We got back a little after 6:00. I took my bath about 8:00. I am really tired. It's been a big day.
Tomorrow is my last day as a chaplain until next time it's my turn. I will pick up Juanita at 1:00 tomorrow at her beauty shop. But first thing in the morning I will check with the hospital and see if they need me. Then I will clean my house.
While I am in Independence tomorrow I will go to Wal Mart and get the makings for my famous peanut clusters. I have oodles of cookies from the cookie exchange.
Later after I get home following the dinner, I will bake oatmeal walnut cookies for Leslie's cookie exchange party. Surely I will be tired this evening.
I went to bed at 8:30 last night and slept real well until 12:00 when Missy wanted to go out. I put her out and then about 4:00 Slinky needed to get out. So I let him out...and she came back in. After about a half hour, Slinky started barking for breakfast. I got up again and went in the kitchen and bawled him out. He was quiet until 5:00 and then he began barking again. I gave up and got up and fed him. It's a good thing I go to bed early or i would get no sleep at all. He is lying here quiet now since I am in the kitchen with him. I brought the laptop in here so I could read the blogs while my potatoes are baking.
Yes, it will be a big day. More later...
The service and the dinner were both a success. The congregation gave me a"love gift" for Christmas and it covered half of what I paid out for my car repair. I was really surprised. I did not expect anything like that.
Later, I baked five dozen cookies and Bob A. and I went out to Leslie's for the cookie exchange party. Before I left I also did half of my newsletters. The party was great fun. We got back a little after 6:00. I took my bath about 8:00. I am really tired. It's been a big day.
Tomorrow is my last day as a chaplain until next time it's my turn. I will pick up Juanita at 1:00 tomorrow at her beauty shop. But first thing in the morning I will check with the hospital and see if they need me. Then I will clean my house.
While I am in Independence tomorrow I will go to Wal Mart and get the makings for my famous peanut clusters. I have oodles of cookies from the cookie exchange.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Busy Saturday
Another busy Saturday. Later this morning I will go downtown to the Baptist church and pick up two Angel Food boxes and then go by the pharmacy to pick up my prescription. Billie Jo will deliver the boxes for the church. Then I will go on to Leslie's and we will clean her house thoroughly for her cookie exchange party tomorrow afternoon at 4:00.
Tomorrow morning is the Christmas program at church. Afterward we will have our annual Holiday dinner. I am taking scalloped potatoes and brownies.
After that, we will go visit Carletta. Carletta will not live to see another Christmas she says. She is now needing a blood transfusion every week just to stay alive and get through the next week. What a tragedy! She is only 65 and has always been a person full of energy.
More later...
Carletta wasn't up to the visit so Leslie and I went into town so she could get some Wassail for tomorrow. While we were there we ate at Big Cheese. We had their mini pizza, which has been voted the best pizza in Kansas.
Then we went back to her house. I left her and came back home. It was cold in that garage and Slinky was glad to get into the kitchen. Missy is on his bed right now or he would probably take a nap. I don't know how many times I have picked her up and taken her off that bed. Darn cat!
Tomorrow morning is the Christmas program at church. Afterward we will have our annual Holiday dinner. I am taking scalloped potatoes and brownies.
After that, we will go visit Carletta. Carletta will not live to see another Christmas she says. She is now needing a blood transfusion every week just to stay alive and get through the next week. What a tragedy! She is only 65 and has always been a person full of energy.
More later...
Carletta wasn't up to the visit so Leslie and I went into town so she could get some Wassail for tomorrow. While we were there we ate at Big Cheese. We had their mini pizza, which has been voted the best pizza in Kansas.
Then we went back to her house. I left her and came back home. It was cold in that garage and Slinky was glad to get into the kitchen. Missy is on his bed right now or he would probably take a nap. I don't know how many times I have picked her up and taken her off that bed. Darn cat!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Quiet Friday
This will probably be a quiet Friday since my car in still in the shop. I got better sleep last night. I guess I just turned my car problem over to the Lord. That's about all I could do.
I had an e-mail this morning from Scott. He says in February he will be able to help me recover what I spend on the car. That is sweet of him but I would rather he just put that money in his savings and keep it just in case I need it...or just in case he needs it. His vehicle has as many miles on it as mine does and it is a Jeep. You never know when he will need a repair again.
But it's always good to have a cushion...just in case.
Sometime today they will finish my car. Next week sometime, I will try to get the two new tires while I am in Independence. Perhaps Monday since I am to meet Juanita on Monday for lunch and our gift exchange. Then the following Christmas week I will try to get the car aligned in Bartlesville. My eyelid surgery is January 5th.
More later...
They finished my car before noon. The bill was over $700. After that I picked up my brother-in-law and went to Bartlesville where I bought the two tires and had them balanced and the car aligned. All together I spent nearly $1,000 today.
Thank goodness Keith had sold his dad's pickup before it was stolen the next week. I had that $3800 to use and did not have to wait to get it all done. Now the car drives like new and no longer makes that noise when driving down the highway. The brakes were fine. They checked them out.
I had an e-mail this morning from Scott. He says in February he will be able to help me recover what I spend on the car. That is sweet of him but I would rather he just put that money in his savings and keep it just in case I need it...or just in case he needs it. His vehicle has as many miles on it as mine does and it is a Jeep. You never know when he will need a repair again.
But it's always good to have a cushion...just in case.
Sometime today they will finish my car. Next week sometime, I will try to get the two new tires while I am in Independence. Perhaps Monday since I am to meet Juanita on Monday for lunch and our gift exchange. Then the following Christmas week I will try to get the car aligned in Bartlesville. My eyelid surgery is January 5th.
More later...
They finished my car before noon. The bill was over $700. After that I picked up my brother-in-law and went to Bartlesville where I bought the two tires and had them balanced and the car aligned. All together I spent nearly $1,000 today.
Thank goodness Keith had sold his dad's pickup before it was stolen the next week. I had that $3800 to use and did not have to wait to get it all done. Now the car drives like new and no longer makes that noise when driving down the highway. The brakes were fine. They checked them out.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Car In Shop
Well, my brother-in-law and I went to breakfast at Eggberts this morning and then took my car in to the shop for the new struts. The mechanic called me yesterday and said he was alarmed about the cost of the struts for this little old Honda that I drive. He said each axle was going to run $450 to $475. He wants to just look at each wheel..one at a time... and decide whether to do them all. I know from what they told me at Bartlesville that the left front is leaking oil so it's a sure thing. He will look at the others and decide whether to go ahead and do them. Then he will put the best tires on the front until I can afford to get new tires. This can be a very expensive repair. I haven't had brakes on this car either but then I don't ride the brakes like some folks do. Hopefully he will check that out while he has the tires off.
My brother-in-law said if for any reason I needed to go somewhere...like the hospital for my chaplaincy, to just call him and he will take me. That's good to know since we never know about those things.
More later...
Well, the shop just called me to tell me that the rear struts were even worse then the front ones and he has the wrong ones for the rear and cannot have the correct ones until tomorrow. I told him that was not a problem. I don't need the car.
I will need two new tires too pretty quick. The rear struts are the ones that have ruined the tires. The back struts are leaking too. I asked him to check out the brakes while he had the car. I haven't noticed any problem with the brakes but then...I didn't notice any problem with the struts either.
He will charge me $713. plus tax and I will need to get it aligned in Bartlesville after that. I will probably get the two tires at Tate's and then have it aligned there too. I will have the two new tires put on the front. The alignment will be $79.95 plus tax.
I guess that's upkeep on an old car.
That's the news for today.
My brother-in-law said if for any reason I needed to go somewhere...like the hospital for my chaplaincy, to just call him and he will take me. That's good to know since we never know about those things.
More later...
Well, the shop just called me to tell me that the rear struts were even worse then the front ones and he has the wrong ones for the rear and cannot have the correct ones until tomorrow. I told him that was not a problem. I don't need the car.
I will need two new tires too pretty quick. The rear struts are the ones that have ruined the tires. The back struts are leaking too. I asked him to check out the brakes while he had the car. I haven't noticed any problem with the brakes but then...I didn't notice any problem with the struts either.
He will charge me $713. plus tax and I will need to get it aligned in Bartlesville after that. I will probably get the two tires at Tate's and then have it aligned there too. I will have the two new tires put on the front. The alignment will be $79.95 plus tax.
I guess that's upkeep on an old car.
That's the news for today.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
How About Manning?
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/14/manning/index.html
Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months -- and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait -- under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture. Interviews with several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning's detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard) who confirmed much of what they conveyed, establishes that the accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries....
From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement. For 23 out of 24 hours every day -- for seven straight months and counting -- he sits completely alone in his cell. Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he's barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions. For reasons that appear completely punitive, he's being denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed (he is not and never has been on suicide watch). For the one hour per day when he is freed from this isolation, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs. Lt. Villiard protested that the conditions are not "like jail movies where someone gets thrown into the hole," but confirmed that he is in solitary confinement, entirely alone in his cell except for the one hour per day he is taken out....
Just by itself, the type of prolonged solitary confinement to which Manning has been subjected for many months is widely viewed around the world as highly injurious, inhumane, punitive, and arguably even a form of torture. In his widely praised March, 2009 New Yorker article -- entitled "Is Long-Term Solitary Confinement Torture?" -- the surgeon and journalist Atul Gawande assembled expert opinion and personal anecdotes to demonstrate that, as he put it, "all human beings experience isolation as torture." By itself, prolonged solitary confinement routinely destroys a person’s mind and drives them into insanity. A March, 2010 article in The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law explains that "solitary confinement is recognized as difficult to withstand; indeed, psychological stressors such as isolation can be as clinically distressing as physical torture."
Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months -- and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait -- under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture. Interviews with several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning's detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard) who confirmed much of what they conveyed, establishes that the accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries....
From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement. For 23 out of 24 hours every day -- for seven straight months and counting -- he sits completely alone in his cell. Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he's barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions. For reasons that appear completely punitive, he's being denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed (he is not and never has been on suicide watch). For the one hour per day when he is freed from this isolation, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs. Lt. Villiard protested that the conditions are not "like jail movies where someone gets thrown into the hole," but confirmed that he is in solitary confinement, entirely alone in his cell except for the one hour per day he is taken out....
Just by itself, the type of prolonged solitary confinement to which Manning has been subjected for many months is widely viewed around the world as highly injurious, inhumane, punitive, and arguably even a form of torture. In his widely praised March, 2009 New Yorker article -- entitled "Is Long-Term Solitary Confinement Torture?" -- the surgeon and journalist Atul Gawande assembled expert opinion and personal anecdotes to demonstrate that, as he put it, "all human beings experience isolation as torture." By itself, prolonged solitary confinement routinely destroys a person’s mind and drives them into insanity. A March, 2010 article in The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law explains that "solitary confinement is recognized as difficult to withstand; indeed, psychological stressors such as isolation can be as clinically distressing as physical torture."
Wild Wednesday!
This is the wildest day this week. I will go pick up Juanita at 8:15 and we will go to breakfast. I will give her her Christmas gift then. After that I will take her home and go to my hair appointment at 10:00. Following that, I will stop at the church and load up all those gifts and that food for the adopted family. If I have time then, I will take it on in to the Salvation Army. They are only open from 9:00 till 11:30 and 1:00 till 4:00. It will be close.
Finally, I will need to check in at the hospital. I will be late doing that. I probably should be there first but I made all these other plans forgetting this was my week as chaplain. They will probably be wondering where on earth their chaplain is.
Well, I will do better the rest of the week. I have the duty until next Wednesday.
Next week, I want to keep life simpler. I went to bed last night at 8:00. (Lack of good sleep the next before) and slept until 1:30 when the cat woke me scratching herself and licking herself. Finally, I gave up and put her outside. Then I could not get back to sleep. After an hour and a half of just lying there thinking about all I have to do today, I took one of my sleeping pills. They really work! I slept realy soundly until 5:30 when Slinky wanted to go out so I staggered into the kitchen and let him out to potty and then went back to bed for another 30 minutes or so.
I gave him the rest of the dog food. I forgot dog food yesterday while at Chanute's Wal Mart. I can buy his brand at Country Mart but it's two prices there. I suppose I will buy it there anyhow rather then to drive clear across town to buy one item. Or I could get it while in Independence this morning. Whatever!
Bob A. dropped by last night to bring me a photo he found in Phyllis' photos. He had taken it to Wal mart and had it blown up so he could se the people. We believe it was grandpa's funeral. The photo was taken in front of their house down on Willow. The only person not there was grandpa.
Perhaps more later...
My day is just now simplified. I called Juanita and she had been sick yesterday and is not up to breakfast. So I will go out to the church and get those gifts and take them to the Salvation Army at 9:00. I think I will cancel my hair appointment too. I can wash it myself. That will simplify my life considerably. After I get the gifts delivered, I will check in at the hospital.
Finally, I will need to check in at the hospital. I will be late doing that. I probably should be there first but I made all these other plans forgetting this was my week as chaplain. They will probably be wondering where on earth their chaplain is.
Well, I will do better the rest of the week. I have the duty until next Wednesday.
Next week, I want to keep life simpler. I went to bed last night at 8:00. (Lack of good sleep the next before) and slept until 1:30 when the cat woke me scratching herself and licking herself. Finally, I gave up and put her outside. Then I could not get back to sleep. After an hour and a half of just lying there thinking about all I have to do today, I took one of my sleeping pills. They really work! I slept realy soundly until 5:30 when Slinky wanted to go out so I staggered into the kitchen and let him out to potty and then went back to bed for another 30 minutes or so.
I gave him the rest of the dog food. I forgot dog food yesterday while at Chanute's Wal Mart. I can buy his brand at Country Mart but it's two prices there. I suppose I will buy it there anyhow rather then to drive clear across town to buy one item. Or I could get it while in Independence this morning. Whatever!
Bob A. dropped by last night to bring me a photo he found in Phyllis' photos. He had taken it to Wal mart and had it blown up so he could se the people. We believe it was grandpa's funeral. The photo was taken in front of their house down on Willow. The only person not there was grandpa.
Perhaps more later...
My day is just now simplified. I called Juanita and she had been sick yesterday and is not up to breakfast. So I will go out to the church and get those gifts and take them to the Salvation Army at 9:00. I think I will cancel my hair appointment too. I can wash it myself. That will simplify my life considerably. After I get the gifts delivered, I will check in at the hospital.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A Mess of a Week
I've got a huge week. It has just grown and grown. I want to see Phyllis this morning and I have an eye appointment in Caney. I'm going to cancel the eye appointment at 8:30. Then at 10:30 I leave for Chanute for my lunch with Gay. I'm going to help her pick out a new stove. Her present stove is driving her crazy. She sets it for 275 and it heats to 400. If all goes well, I will drop off Juanita's Christmas gift on my way home.
They have canceled the city commission meeting for lack of a quorum so I don't have to get out this evening for that. It's 25 degrees right now. Slinky will probably have to spend the morning in the cold garage. The light bulbs are on in there and I have one by the tank to try to keep the water from freezing. It worked last night. I left the hot water running a little in the small bathroom.
Tomorrow will be the big mess. I am to take the groceries and gifts for our adopted family to the Salvation Army but I not only have a hair appointment in Independence (which I will cancel) but I am also the chaplain at the hospital for the week. I will check in there first thing.
Thursday should be quieter. I have to take my car in the the shop at 8:00. Bob A. will pick me up and bring me home. Then when it is finished, he will drop me off to pick it up.
Friday, I will check in at the hospital again and go visit Phyllis again. She has the beginnings of another urinary tract infection as well as a yeast infection. They are starting to medicate it right away in hopes of nipping it in the bud.
Saturday, Leslie and I will clean her house for the cookie exchange on Sunday afternoon and evening.
They have canceled the city commission meeting for lack of a quorum so I don't have to get out this evening for that. It's 25 degrees right now. Slinky will probably have to spend the morning in the cold garage. The light bulbs are on in there and I have one by the tank to try to keep the water from freezing. It worked last night. I left the hot water running a little in the small bathroom.
Tomorrow will be the big mess. I am to take the groceries and gifts for our adopted family to the Salvation Army but I not only have a hair appointment in Independence (which I will cancel) but I am also the chaplain at the hospital for the week. I will check in there first thing.
Thursday should be quieter. I have to take my car in the the shop at 8:00. Bob A. will pick me up and bring me home. Then when it is finished, he will drop me off to pick it up.
Friday, I will check in at the hospital again and go visit Phyllis again. She has the beginnings of another urinary tract infection as well as a yeast infection. They are starting to medicate it right away in hopes of nipping it in the bud.
Saturday, Leslie and I will clean her house for the cookie exchange on Sunday afternoon and evening.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Very Cold Monday
It's very cold today in southeast Kansas. It's 12 degrees. I was going to go clean my daughter's house but I also have a board meeting in Independence at 4:00 and I don't think I could mess around after lunch for 3 hours in this cold. She called and told me to just wait and come out on Saturday and help her get the house ready for the cookie exchange on Sunday afternoon. So I decided to do that. I will stay in today until I have to get out for that 4:00 board meeting.
Slinky is staying in too. He has been out several times this morning but he comes right back in. He will have to go to the garage at 3:30 while I am gone to Independence.
I will bake cookies today. This will be a good day to heat up the oven and the kitchen.
Tomorrow, unless she calls it off, I will meet Gay for lunch in Cherryvale and then go uptown here at 6:30 and give the invocation for the city commission meeting. (This meeting was canceled and I am glad.)
Wednesday I will go out to church and pick up the gifts for our adopted family and take them to the Salvation Army to be given to the family. I have chaplain duty starting Wednesday too.
Then Thursday, I take my car in for the new struts. It will probably be there all day.
Friday I am free except for the chaplain duty.
Now on Saturday, I will go help Leslie clean house.
Next Monday I check in with the hospital again for the chaplain duty again and of course, I am on call all week until Wednesday the 22nd.
Slinky is staying in too. He has been out several times this morning but he comes right back in. He will have to go to the garage at 3:30 while I am gone to Independence.
I will bake cookies today. This will be a good day to heat up the oven and the kitchen.
Tomorrow, unless she calls it off, I will meet Gay for lunch in Cherryvale and then go uptown here at 6:30 and give the invocation for the city commission meeting. (This meeting was canceled and I am glad.)
Wednesday I will go out to church and pick up the gifts for our adopted family and take them to the Salvation Army to be given to the family. I have chaplain duty starting Wednesday too.
Then Thursday, I take my car in for the new struts. It will probably be there all day.
Friday I am free except for the chaplain duty.
Now on Saturday, I will go help Leslie clean house.
Next Monday I check in with the hospital again for the chaplain duty again and of course, I am on call all week until Wednesday the 22nd.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
A New Day
Saturday was a fun day....a different day. I asked my brother-in-law if he would like to go to Bartlesville with me and he accepted. He wanted to buy another new long sleeved shirt while they were on sale and I needed to get make up and mascara. So he called Windsor Place to see how my sister got through the night and was told she was eating her breakfast and doing fine (as fine as anyone can be who has Alzheimer's Disease) We left about 9:30. We shopped all over the mall and he got his shirt. Then we went to the Merle Norman studio and I got my make up. They were out of my mascara. I'll get that later in Independence.
Anyhow, from there we went to all the "fancy" Christmas stores in Bartlesville and walked around and admired everything. Didn't buy a thing. Finally we went out to Radar Hill and went through the candle factory and gift shop there. Again, we only looked. At last, we went to a Mexican restaurant and ate a very good lunch. He insisted that he buy my lunch. That was nice of him. We had a good time. Both of us must have needed the outing. I know I did. I would have gone alone if he wouldn't have come but he needs to get away from time to time too. I was very tired when we got home. We had done a lot of walking...which was good for both of us.
In this kind of weather I don't get enough exercise. It was terribly windy yesterday and I believe it is today too. I can't walk Slinky when it's so nasty cold and windy and he needs the exercise too. He will be 13 this coming year and most Shar Pei dogs only live 7 - 9 years. He has lived much longer.
I will go to church this morning. And I will put Slinky in the garage. I am teaching the church school class and Leslie has the sermon this morning. After church, we will probably go somewhere to eat out. Several of us do that most Sundays. I always look forward to the fellowship.
This afternoon, Denise and Bob and I will attend the Alzheimer's support group at Windsor. Bob says they share a lot of information about Alzheimer's Disease. So it will be good for me to go. I can do my letters later on this evening after that.
So, another day, another day passed. I try to make the most of each one.
Anyhow, from there we went to all the "fancy" Christmas stores in Bartlesville and walked around and admired everything. Didn't buy a thing. Finally we went out to Radar Hill and went through the candle factory and gift shop there. Again, we only looked. At last, we went to a Mexican restaurant and ate a very good lunch. He insisted that he buy my lunch. That was nice of him. We had a good time. Both of us must have needed the outing. I know I did. I would have gone alone if he wouldn't have come but he needs to get away from time to time too. I was very tired when we got home. We had done a lot of walking...which was good for both of us.
In this kind of weather I don't get enough exercise. It was terribly windy yesterday and I believe it is today too. I can't walk Slinky when it's so nasty cold and windy and he needs the exercise too. He will be 13 this coming year and most Shar Pei dogs only live 7 - 9 years. He has lived much longer.
I will go to church this morning. And I will put Slinky in the garage. I am teaching the church school class and Leslie has the sermon this morning. After church, we will probably go somewhere to eat out. Several of us do that most Sundays. I always look forward to the fellowship.
This afternoon, Denise and Bob and I will attend the Alzheimer's support group at Windsor. Bob says they share a lot of information about Alzheimer's Disease. So it will be good for me to go. I can do my letters later on this evening after that.
So, another day, another day passed. I try to make the most of each one.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Some Advice
One of my children is struggling so I wrote some advice based on my own experience:
This has been a difficult year for me. Several people have asked me how I have got through it. So many firsts….the first year I have celebrated a birthday without your dad. I celebrated the first Thanksgiving without him. Now it will be the first Christmas. How have I managed?
The source of my strength and courage, as is true of everyone, is the presence of God. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, God is with us, right beside us and within us through every good time and every bad time of our lives. God is not responsible for the bad things that happen to us any more than God is responsible for the good things that happen to us. God is just there for us with courage and strength to give to us. But like any gift, we have to accept it; I have found God in my wonderful friends, and even in my animals. I have stayed busy doing things that needed me to do them.
At first, after your dad died, I threw myself into cleaning my house and doing my yard work. I had you and you were a loving influence in my life. But all the while, during those terrible months when he suffered with the lymphedema, I knew God was right with us, giving me and even your dad the strength to meet each new challenge as it presented itself. I only felt myself weaken once. It was the night he went down in the utility room floor and I couldn’t get him up. I sat on the floor and cried…feeling sorry for myself and him. Then I got up and called the EMTs to come get him back to bed.
From that point on, I knew God would sustain me.
During that last week, you kids were with us. Together, as family, we pulled together. God’s Spirit was found in each of you as your love for your dad and me was expressed in so many ways. Our friends brought in the food to sustain us during that week, their love and concern sustained us as we saw God working through them as many of them came to visit him.
Afterward, we all found the strength to prepare for the Celebration of his Life. God strengthened us and sustained us through the love we felt for one another and your dad as we drove to the reunion grounds to scatter his ashes…just as he wanted done.
After that week, it was a matter of staying busy, enjoying the company of many friends as they called and asked me to one lunch after another and to one meeting after the other. I immersed myself in “good works”. I invested one morning a week in visiting with Phyllis while Bob Avery went to breakfast with his friends. I went through her declining health with him, trying to be support for him. Every time she went to the hospital, I was there with her and him. After he had to put her in the nursing home, I began to visit her even more regularly.
Every week, at least one person calls me to have lunch with them. I always accept because once we begin to refuse to go, they stop asking us. I also ask others. I invite Phyllis F on a fairly regular basis. She has been alone ten years since Harold died. I ask Bob A. He has a wife but she is really gone. Only her body remains.
Between Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance, Independence Ministerial Association, MC3 (the clinic board) and PINCH, the organization your dad belonged to, and all my friends and family, I stay busy and I see God expressed in their caring for me and my caring for them.
So make a friend and do things with that friend. Immerse yourself in your work and make a great success of your career. You know you have it in you. And most of all, learn to enjoy your own company. Until you do that, you will not feel like a whole person.
This has been a difficult year for me. Several people have asked me how I have got through it. So many firsts….the first year I have celebrated a birthday without your dad. I celebrated the first Thanksgiving without him. Now it will be the first Christmas. How have I managed?
The source of my strength and courage, as is true of everyone, is the presence of God. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, God is with us, right beside us and within us through every good time and every bad time of our lives. God is not responsible for the bad things that happen to us any more than God is responsible for the good things that happen to us. God is just there for us with courage and strength to give to us. But like any gift, we have to accept it; I have found God in my wonderful friends, and even in my animals. I have stayed busy doing things that needed me to do them.
At first, after your dad died, I threw myself into cleaning my house and doing my yard work. I had you and you were a loving influence in my life. But all the while, during those terrible months when he suffered with the lymphedema, I knew God was right with us, giving me and even your dad the strength to meet each new challenge as it presented itself. I only felt myself weaken once. It was the night he went down in the utility room floor and I couldn’t get him up. I sat on the floor and cried…feeling sorry for myself and him. Then I got up and called the EMTs to come get him back to bed.
From that point on, I knew God would sustain me.
During that last week, you kids were with us. Together, as family, we pulled together. God’s Spirit was found in each of you as your love for your dad and me was expressed in so many ways. Our friends brought in the food to sustain us during that week, their love and concern sustained us as we saw God working through them as many of them came to visit him.
Afterward, we all found the strength to prepare for the Celebration of his Life. God strengthened us and sustained us through the love we felt for one another and your dad as we drove to the reunion grounds to scatter his ashes…just as he wanted done.
After that week, it was a matter of staying busy, enjoying the company of many friends as they called and asked me to one lunch after another and to one meeting after the other. I immersed myself in “good works”. I invested one morning a week in visiting with Phyllis while Bob Avery went to breakfast with his friends. I went through her declining health with him, trying to be support for him. Every time she went to the hospital, I was there with her and him. After he had to put her in the nursing home, I began to visit her even more regularly.
Every week, at least one person calls me to have lunch with them. I always accept because once we begin to refuse to go, they stop asking us. I also ask others. I invite Phyllis F on a fairly regular basis. She has been alone ten years since Harold died. I ask Bob A. He has a wife but she is really gone. Only her body remains.
Between Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance, Independence Ministerial Association, MC3 (the clinic board) and PINCH, the organization your dad belonged to, and all my friends and family, I stay busy and I see God expressed in their caring for me and my caring for them.
So make a friend and do things with that friend. Immerse yourself in your work and make a great success of your career. You know you have it in you. And most of all, learn to enjoy your own company. Until you do that, you will not feel like a whole person.
Friday At Last
It's Friday and I have nothing planned until tonight when we attend the Windsor Place Winston Unit Christmas Party. Bob A, Denise and I will leave here about 4:30. It should be interesting since the residents all come down with Sundowners about 4:00 i the afternoon. Maybe the party will distract them tonight.
I will go with Bob A to the Dearing Cafe this noon for homemade chicken and noodles. He thinks they offer it every Friday.
I had a good time at last night's Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance party at the Trinity United Methodist Church. There were only 12 who attended. Lee planned it too late for the others to make plans. He didn't announce it until Monday of this week. But there was lots of good food and great fellowship. Our theology isn't the same but we never talk theology we just enjoy each another's fellowship. Let's see. The Church of God, the Community of Christ, the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians, the Baptists and the Methodists were represented. I think that's all. There were four Methodists, two Presbyterians, one Community of Christ, one Episcopalian, two Baptists and two Church of God represented there. That's a great variety.
There was just as much variety in the food.
Marilyn won the drawing for the poinsettia but she already had one so she gave it to me. That was sweet. I didn't have one.
I suddenly remembered that I didn't get my ceramic Christmas tree out of the closet. I will do that today. Phyllis made that for me years ago when she was into ceramics. I treasure it.
Scott called this morning and we talked awhile.
I have decided to have the Christmas dinner over here. I will just fix my chicken and rice dish and ask John (who may have to work) and Leslie, Bob A. and Christina. That will be four or five of us but we will have Christmas dinner. Leslie said she would bring the pie. Bob said he would bring the rolls and I will fix a salad and a veggie dish. That should be plenty. I had asked the Bucks but they are having family in and their place is small so they begged off.
I doubt if any restaurant will be open Christmas day. That was the original plan.
I will go with Bob A to the Dearing Cafe this noon for homemade chicken and noodles. He thinks they offer it every Friday.
I had a good time at last night's Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance party at the Trinity United Methodist Church. There were only 12 who attended. Lee planned it too late for the others to make plans. He didn't announce it until Monday of this week. But there was lots of good food and great fellowship. Our theology isn't the same but we never talk theology we just enjoy each another's fellowship. Let's see. The Church of God, the Community of Christ, the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians, the Baptists and the Methodists were represented. I think that's all. There were four Methodists, two Presbyterians, one Community of Christ, one Episcopalian, two Baptists and two Church of God represented there. That's a great variety.
There was just as much variety in the food.
Marilyn won the drawing for the poinsettia but she already had one so she gave it to me. That was sweet. I didn't have one.
I suddenly remembered that I didn't get my ceramic Christmas tree out of the closet. I will do that today. Phyllis made that for me years ago when she was into ceramics. I treasure it.
Scott called this morning and we talked awhile.
I have decided to have the Christmas dinner over here. I will just fix my chicken and rice dish and ask John (who may have to work) and Leslie, Bob A. and Christina. That will be four or five of us but we will have Christmas dinner. Leslie said she would bring the pie. Bob said he would bring the rolls and I will fix a salad and a veggie dish. That should be plenty. I had asked the Bucks but they are having family in and their place is small so they begged off.
I doubt if any restaurant will be open Christmas day. That was the original plan.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday at Last!
I say that because I finally have a free day. The CMA dinner at Trinity United Methodist Church is not until 6:00 this evening. So I can choose to do whatever I please with the day. I will go over to the mall at 10:00 when they open and take stock of the things I have in there. Maybe I will go to Bartlesville.
Slinky slept through the night again last night. He got me up at 4:00 to go outside to potty. Then came back in and went back to sleep for another hour and a half. Missy got me up at 4:30 to go out so I tossed her out. As I have said before, if she wakes me up, out she goes!
I got my first Christmas card yesterday. I may get some of mine ready to go today. I will do them a few at a time because I will include letters in some of them.
I used my gift certificate from Juanita at Nanny La Rose yesterday and got a new long sleeved black tee. My other one, which had come from Wal Mart, shrank when I washed it. I washed it in cold water too and ran it through the dryer on "delicate" so I will give it to the thrift shop at the Presbyterian Church. I also bought a cooling rack for cookies at Sayers Ace Hardware.
I noticed that when I finish my blog on the new computer with Windows 7, it does not give me the option to edit my remarks....strange. So I do that work on the laptop with XP.
I will make my Waldorf Salad this morning and cover it and let it marinate in the frig today.
More later...
I got that salad finished and then went downtown to look around at the malls. Not much going on there.
My brother-in-law called me back. I had wondered if he had watered the poinsettias when he was out to church. He hadn't. He asked me if I had eaten. I hadn't. So he met me at Braum's where we had a bowl of chili. Then we went out to church and watered the flowers.
Tomorrow is the Windsor Place Christmas party and we will all go. Bob A will pick up Denise and then get me and we will all go together.
I am attempting to make plans for Christmas dinner. I think since there will be so few that I will make my chicken and rice casserole and have a salad and a veggie and hot rolls and call it Christmas dinner. Leslie will make the pies this time. John may have to work. But they may close the plant for Christmas. We will see. I am going to make peanut clusters and some kind of bread for Christmas Eve. I will buy some eggnog at Braums and we will open our gifts.
Slinky slept through the night again last night. He got me up at 4:00 to go outside to potty. Then came back in and went back to sleep for another hour and a half. Missy got me up at 4:30 to go out so I tossed her out. As I have said before, if she wakes me up, out she goes!
I got my first Christmas card yesterday. I may get some of mine ready to go today. I will do them a few at a time because I will include letters in some of them.
I used my gift certificate from Juanita at Nanny La Rose yesterday and got a new long sleeved black tee. My other one, which had come from Wal Mart, shrank when I washed it. I washed it in cold water too and ran it through the dryer on "delicate" so I will give it to the thrift shop at the Presbyterian Church. I also bought a cooling rack for cookies at Sayers Ace Hardware.
I noticed that when I finish my blog on the new computer with Windows 7, it does not give me the option to edit my remarks....strange. So I do that work on the laptop with XP.
I will make my Waldorf Salad this morning and cover it and let it marinate in the frig today.
More later...
I got that salad finished and then went downtown to look around at the malls. Not much going on there.
My brother-in-law called me back. I had wondered if he had watered the poinsettias when he was out to church. He hadn't. He asked me if I had eaten. I hadn't. So he met me at Braum's where we had a bowl of chili. Then we went out to church and watered the flowers.
Tomorrow is the Windsor Place Christmas party and we will all go. Bob A will pick up Denise and then get me and we will all go together.
I am attempting to make plans for Christmas dinner. I think since there will be so few that I will make my chicken and rice casserole and have a salad and a veggie and hot rolls and call it Christmas dinner. Leslie will make the pies this time. John may have to work. But they may close the plant for Christmas. We will see. I am going to make peanut clusters and some kind of bread for Christmas Eve. I will buy some eggnog at Braums and we will open our gifts.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Very Busy Wednesday
This is the day I get my hair cut and done. Afterward, I will pick up Juanita for breakfast and then fool around Independence until 11:45 when I will attend Independence Ministerial Association. I will leave Slinky in the garage. He will not like that but it is too cold to let him outside. It's 22 degrees outside. The hot water tank takes the edge off the cold in the garage. I bought him another bed Monday so I can leave it in the garage. He will probably spend a lot of evening time in the garage since I am not going to stay home and babysit him if I get an invitation. I have a PINCH meeting this evening at 5:30. Afterward I may eat dinner out with Marilyn and the Bredesens.
More later...
Jack and Marilyn weren't at the meeting so we didn't eat dinner out afterward which was fine. I had a nice lunch this noon. The meeting was good and I was elected vice president of PINCH for the coming year. Just what I needed..another responsibility.
Now tomorrow evening I have another dinner. It's the CMA Christmas get together.
Then Friday I have the Windsor Place Christmas party.
More later...
Jack and Marilyn weren't at the meeting so we didn't eat dinner out afterward which was fine. I had a nice lunch this noon. The meeting was good and I was elected vice president of PINCH for the coming year. Just what I needed..another responsibility.
Now tomorrow evening I have another dinner. It's the CMA Christmas get together.
Then Friday I have the Windsor Place Christmas party.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Another Tuesday
It's Tuesday again and I will clean my house this morning and then go see Phyllis. I haven't seen her since Friday. I will put Slinky in the garage for that since it is very cold.
The olive oil in Slinky's ears didn't work. He still shakes his head constantly. I was told the olive oil on cotton to clean his ears would kill the ear mites. We can dispel that myth. I think the Benadril has helped his allergies though. He isn't constantly digging on his skin now.
There isn't much going on today besides those two things.
I bought some gifts for our adopted family from Salvation Army. The single mother is 22 and her girls are 2 and 3. I will set aside some time today to wrap those gifts. Next week, before the 16th, I will deliver them to the Salvation Army. They will deliver them to the family. We will also have a food basket for them.
Tomorrow I will go back to Independence to get my hair cut. Then I will pick up Juanita for breakfast and later go to the Independence Ministerial Association meeting at 11:45. It will be held at the Congregational Church this time. I really don't like moving it from church to church because we never know where it is meeting until the last minute. I liked keeping it at Mercy Hospital.
More later...
Phyllis was sleeping in her chair when I went to see her. I tried to wake her but she was "out". I stayed about twenty minutes but I could see she wasn't going to wake up so I left. I went to see Gerry too but she must have been in her therapy. I left her a note.
I started to read this afternoon but developed a mild headache so I took an Aleve and watched "You've Got Mail" instead. I had seen it several times but I saw it again. Yesterday evening I watched "Mrs Doubtfire". I had seen it several times too but there just isn't much worth watching at the movies or on TV anymore.
The olive oil in Slinky's ears didn't work. He still shakes his head constantly. I was told the olive oil on cotton to clean his ears would kill the ear mites. We can dispel that myth. I think the Benadril has helped his allergies though. He isn't constantly digging on his skin now.
There isn't much going on today besides those two things.
I bought some gifts for our adopted family from Salvation Army. The single mother is 22 and her girls are 2 and 3. I will set aside some time today to wrap those gifts. Next week, before the 16th, I will deliver them to the Salvation Army. They will deliver them to the family. We will also have a food basket for them.
Tomorrow I will go back to Independence to get my hair cut. Then I will pick up Juanita for breakfast and later go to the Independence Ministerial Association meeting at 11:45. It will be held at the Congregational Church this time. I really don't like moving it from church to church because we never know where it is meeting until the last minute. I liked keeping it at Mercy Hospital.
More later...
Phyllis was sleeping in her chair when I went to see her. I tried to wake her but she was "out". I stayed about twenty minutes but I could see she wasn't going to wake up so I left. I went to see Gerry too but she must have been in her therapy. I left her a note.
I started to read this afternoon but developed a mild headache so I took an Aleve and watched "You've Got Mail" instead. I had seen it several times but I saw it again. Yesterday evening I watched "Mrs Doubtfire". I had seen it several times too but there just isn't much worth watching at the movies or on TV anymore.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Another Monday
This morning at 8:00, I will put Slinky in the garage and go see Gary about my struts. Then if he has to give me an appointment to get them done, I will go on out to Leslie's to clean. I am also going to get Slinky another $9.98 bed so I can leave one in the garage. He's going to have to get used to the garage this winter. I will not be home all the time.
I also need to stop by a Wal Mart store and buy some Christmas gifts for our little adopted family from the Salvation Army. I will sack up some groceries to put in the basket too. I need to get Phyllis a Christmas gift for the Windsor Place Christmas party on Friday from 5:00 until 7:00. I will probably get her some lotion or bath powder. Denise got her sugar free candy.
I will have my leftover lasagna for supper this evening. I'd better not forget that good food.
Wednesday is my busy week this week and that depends on the weather. If it does snow, I will not attend the Independence Ministerial Association meeting on Wednesday and I will not have my hair cut either. I will just wash it myself.
Here is a poor photo of Mary Beth being baptized yesterday and a better one of her confirmation.
More later...
I can't get my car into the shop until a week from Thursday. So I will drive it with ruined struts until then. It will cost around $500 for all four to be replaced.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Busy Sunday
Today is the baptismal day for Mary Beth. The service will begin at 10:30 this morning and after the baptism there will be a break for brunch and then the confirmation service will begin. I will not want lunch after that brunch. I will take my own car this morning because Bob A. may go to Chanute with John and Sue to a concert and then to their house in Neodesha afterward for refreshments. I will then be able to drive myself home from church.
This morning I will make my coffeecake to take as my part of the brunch. I will start it in about an hour. It's almost 7:00 AM now. I will go out early to check the water in the font. I want to be sure it's warm and full because Carletta is very ill and she is doing the baptism of her granddaughter. Sue and Carletta will do the confirmation. Sue will be the spokesperson.
I will get my letters done this afternoon and then just relax this evening. I was exhausted last night and went to bed after falling asleep in the recliner. I woke at 2:30 feeling strange and got up to take my blood pressure. It was 189/92. I took an Aleve and went back to sleep. That was my intent anyhow. Slinky woke me up three times...unusual for him. He usually sleeps through the night. The last time he just wanted me to get up and get his breakfast. It was 4:00 AM. I came in the kitchen and bawled him out and told him to get back to sleep. I never heard another peep out of him.
I got up around 5:30 and took my time coming into the kitchen. I dressed and made up my face first. I gave him his oatmeal after he ate his dog food and I put a Benadril capsule in it. He has terrible allergies. The Benadril seems to help a lot. I also heard if you put olive oil on a cotton ball and rub it in his ears, it will kill the ear mites. He's always been troubled with ear mites. So far, so good. He is lying at my feet here and not shaking his head or doing any scratching....not yet anyhow.
This morning I will make my coffeecake to take as my part of the brunch. I will start it in about an hour. It's almost 7:00 AM now. I will go out early to check the water in the font. I want to be sure it's warm and full because Carletta is very ill and she is doing the baptism of her granddaughter. Sue and Carletta will do the confirmation. Sue will be the spokesperson.
I will get my letters done this afternoon and then just relax this evening. I was exhausted last night and went to bed after falling asleep in the recliner. I woke at 2:30 feeling strange and got up to take my blood pressure. It was 189/92. I took an Aleve and went back to sleep. That was my intent anyhow. Slinky woke me up three times...unusual for him. He usually sleeps through the night. The last time he just wanted me to get up and get his breakfast. It was 4:00 AM. I came in the kitchen and bawled him out and told him to get back to sleep. I never heard another peep out of him.
I got up around 5:30 and took my time coming into the kitchen. I dressed and made up my face first. I gave him his oatmeal after he ate his dog food and I put a Benadril capsule in it. He has terrible allergies. The Benadril seems to help a lot. I also heard if you put olive oil on a cotton ball and rub it in his ears, it will kill the ear mites. He's always been troubled with ear mites. So far, so good. He is lying at my feet here and not shaking his head or doing any scratching....not yet anyhow.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Another Big Expense
I don't know what the new struts for my car will cost but I will also have to buy at least two new tires too. The struts have ruined the left front and rear tires and it remains to be seen what the other two will look like when I can get the car in to Gary to be checked. He had closed early last evening so it will be Monday before I can even get an appointment.
Those tires were only one year old.
This seems to be the year of catastrophe for me. First Bob got the lympedemia in his left arm, then a new hot water tank, then a new thermostat for the furnace/AC, then a new wiring board for it. Then Bob got acutely ill and died. Then there was a new part that makes the furnace start.
There was a hiatus then for a couple of months. Then the eyelid began to droop.
Then, in my ignorance I backed into my neighbor's framework for her gas meter on Thanksgiving Day. Now the struts are out on the car and have ruined at least two tires. I wonder what's next?
I will still go to Independence this morning to the Arts and Crafts Fair.
More later...
Leslie and I hit all the Arts and Crafts places(3)and then decided to go on to Neodesha and Chanute where they have great gift shops. We browsed at all of them and Leslie bought a few things to finish decorating her house. I will try to remember to take my camera Monday when I clean and take some photos. She is going to have her cookie exchange again this year in a couple of weeks. That is always fun.
I bought lunch and then we came back to Independence and went to Wal Mart where she scanned some photos she will use in the baptismal service tomorrow. She bought a few groceries and then I took her home. John had her car and son, Jeromy, had his truck for cutting wood and carting home some trees to plant from Bartlesville.
It was a fun day.
Those tires were only one year old.
This seems to be the year of catastrophe for me. First Bob got the lympedemia in his left arm, then a new hot water tank, then a new thermostat for the furnace/AC, then a new wiring board for it. Then Bob got acutely ill and died. Then there was a new part that makes the furnace start.
There was a hiatus then for a couple of months. Then the eyelid began to droop.
Then, in my ignorance I backed into my neighbor's framework for her gas meter on Thanksgiving Day. Now the struts are out on the car and have ruined at least two tires. I wonder what's next?
I will still go to Independence this morning to the Arts and Crafts Fair.
More later...
Leslie and I hit all the Arts and Crafts places(3)and then decided to go on to Neodesha and Chanute where they have great gift shops. We browsed at all of them and Leslie bought a few things to finish decorating her house. I will try to remember to take my camera Monday when I clean and take some photos. She is going to have her cookie exchange again this year in a couple of weeks. That is always fun.
I bought lunch and then we came back to Independence and went to Wal Mart where she scanned some photos she will use in the baptismal service tomorrow. She bought a few groceries and then I took her home. John had her car and son, Jeromy, had his truck for cutting wood and carting home some trees to plant from Bartlesville.
It was a fun day.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Quiet Friday
This should be a quiet day. The only thing I want to do is go see Phyllis. Bob A. was telling me she was much better now that they have her urinary tract infection under control. Denise called him last evening to tell him she came in and helped her with her dinner and she did quite well and ate all her food. She was able to answer "yes and "no" questions too. She just can't find the words to tell a story.
I also need to go to the market and get orange juice and oatmeal. That's about all I need. I brought some of my dinner home from last night. And I still have some of my Chinese from Sunday. It may need to go in the trash.
While I am out doing that, I will run by the mall and check it out. I may have sold enough stuff this month to pay the mall rent but I am going to give it up in thirty days. They are going to add 10% of sales to the rent. I'm not going to do that.
I gave Slinky a Benadril in his oatmeal this morning. His allergies are driving him nuts. I may do that again this evening and put it in cheese.
More later...
Bob A. and I went to Bartlesville to get my tires rotated and balanced. They couldn't do it. They dropped the left front tire and the strut was leaking oil all over the place. It had caused my tire to wear badly causing that terrible road noise I complain about. They also noticed the bad wear on the left rear tire and assume that strut is ruined too. I couldn't get the car into Gary's this afternoon. He closes early on Fridays. They suggested I take the car into a mechanic and have all four looked examined. I may need tires too. I do need two at least. If the other two are alright, I may have them put on the front and buy two new ones to put on the back.
Upkeep, upkeep, upkeep.
I'll need to get in to see Gary on Monday and find out what I will need to transfer for the repair.
Good thing Leslie advised me to have them rotated and balanced.
I also need to go to the market and get orange juice and oatmeal. That's about all I need. I brought some of my dinner home from last night. And I still have some of my Chinese from Sunday. It may need to go in the trash.
While I am out doing that, I will run by the mall and check it out. I may have sold enough stuff this month to pay the mall rent but I am going to give it up in thirty days. They are going to add 10% of sales to the rent. I'm not going to do that.
I gave Slinky a Benadril in his oatmeal this morning. His allergies are driving him nuts. I may do that again this evening and put it in cheese.
More later...
Bob A. and I went to Bartlesville to get my tires rotated and balanced. They couldn't do it. They dropped the left front tire and the strut was leaking oil all over the place. It had caused my tire to wear badly causing that terrible road noise I complain about. They also noticed the bad wear on the left rear tire and assume that strut is ruined too. I couldn't get the car into Gary's this afternoon. He closes early on Fridays. They suggested I take the car into a mechanic and have all four looked examined. I may need tires too. I do need two at least. If the other two are alright, I may have them put on the front and buy two new ones to put on the back.
Upkeep, upkeep, upkeep.
I'll need to get in to see Gary on Monday and find out what I will need to transfer for the repair.
Good thing Leslie advised me to have them rotated and balanced.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Really Busy Thursday
This has been a really busy day. I got up early...the animals were ready for breakfast. I dressed and left for South Coffeyville to be sure the Woodshed was not charging me for gas I didn't get. I tried to get gas there yesterday and the pump wouldn't work. It did take my debit card though. I went in and complained about it and they told me it didn't charge anything but this morning I noticed it did charge $1.00 each time I tried to use the pump. I talked to the manager and she assured me it would be off my bank's website by tomorrow.
Then I went to Independence. Juanita wanted to take me to breakfast and needed me to take her to the bank and to get milk before I went to have my hair done. After I dropped her off at home, I got my hair done and then came on home to prepare to go to Windsor Place for the CMA meeting. Again, I did not find time to go see Phyllis. I will get out there tomorrow.
After the meeting, I came home and did my minutes. Then I packaged up the grandchildren's Christmas stockings and went to the post office to mail them off. They all seemed to want them. Sara and Christina wanted theirs and I sent Ashley and Jerod's to Scott, their father. I took Jeromy's to Leslie yesterday at lunch. I sent each of them a neat book in with the stockings.
It's 4:15 now and Bob A. will be back to pick me up at 5:00. We are going to dinner with Leslie and John, Jeromy and Marlene and Maia in Independence to celebrate my birthday.
It has been a good day. Even the Ministerial Alliance sang Happy Birthday to me and dozens of friends e-mailed me cards and greetings. I guess being 75 is not that bad.
Tomorrow should be quiet. I hope...
Then I went to Independence. Juanita wanted to take me to breakfast and needed me to take her to the bank and to get milk before I went to have my hair done. After I dropped her off at home, I got my hair done and then came on home to prepare to go to Windsor Place for the CMA meeting. Again, I did not find time to go see Phyllis. I will get out there tomorrow.
After the meeting, I came home and did my minutes. Then I packaged up the grandchildren's Christmas stockings and went to the post office to mail them off. They all seemed to want them. Sara and Christina wanted theirs and I sent Ashley and Jerod's to Scott, their father. I took Jeromy's to Leslie yesterday at lunch. I sent each of them a neat book in with the stockings.
It's 4:15 now and Bob A. will be back to pick me up at 5:00. We are going to dinner with Leslie and John, Jeromy and Marlene and Maia in Independence to celebrate my birthday.
It has been a good day. Even the Ministerial Alliance sang Happy Birthday to me and dozens of friends e-mailed me cards and greetings. I guess being 75 is not that bad.
Tomorrow should be quiet. I hope...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Busy Wednesday
It will be a busy day once I get my car back. I have to go to Caney to get my new glasses, go to Independence to have lunch with Leslie, go by Nanny La Rose up there to redeem my gift certificate for a new tee for my birthday tomorrow, and last of all stop by the church to water the poinsettias and make copies for tomorrow's CMA meeting.
I got a good night's sleep last night. Missy spent the night outside and Slinky slept through the night in the utility area of my kitchen too. I got up about 6:00. Missy really wanted to get back in this morning and snuggled up on my legs and got warm. It was very cold last night.
I washed my bedding this morning. I had a small bit of oatmeal for breakfast but Slinky ate the bulk of it. He loves oatmeal.
The car is supposed to be finished about 11:00. I will call after awhile and check on it.
The kids are taking me to dinner tomorrow for my birthday. We are going to a new Italian restaurant in Independence. I will have lunch with the Ministerial Alliance at Windsor.
I read Robert Reich's blog this morning and that man makes so much good sense. I have his blog marked along the side of this one if you are interested in reading his remarks.
I got a good night's sleep last night. Missy spent the night outside and Slinky slept through the night in the utility area of my kitchen too. I got up about 6:00. Missy really wanted to get back in this morning and snuggled up on my legs and got warm. It was very cold last night.
I washed my bedding this morning. I had a small bit of oatmeal for breakfast but Slinky ate the bulk of it. He loves oatmeal.
The car is supposed to be finished about 11:00. I will call after awhile and check on it.
The kids are taking me to dinner tomorrow for my birthday. We are going to a new Italian restaurant in Independence. I will have lunch with the Ministerial Alliance at Windsor.
I read Robert Reich's blog this morning and that man makes so much good sense. I have his blog marked along the side of this one if you are interested in reading his remarks.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday Again
Today I take my car in for the repair. Did I tell you folks that I managed to back into my neighbor's iron pipe frame around her gas meter? I did that while Keith was here. In fact, it was on Thanksgiving Day. I refused to deal with it that day. I was not going to put a blight on Thanksgiving.
The next day, I went into Diamond Collision and got an estimate of the cost to have it repaired. I figured it would be $1300 or so. He asked me if I had insurance and I do, of course, but it is $1,000 deductible. So I told him if it got repaired I would have to pay for it myself. He quoted me $662. So I will have to transfer the money out of my savings to get it repaired. I will go ahead and transfer enough to pay half my taxes too. They are due December 20th.
My brother-in-law will pick me up and bring me home. They will have it overnight so I will get some things done here at home while I am carless.
I need to clean my bathrooms and vacuum my spare bedroom. I got the beds changed Monday and vacuumed the other rooms then. Hopefully it will be finished tomorrow. I need to go to the church and make copies of the minutes and agenda for the CMA meeting on Thursday.
Saturday is the big Arts and Crafts fair in Independence and Leslie and I are planning to attend. I always like to look at their handiwork.
Sunday is the baptismal service and we will have a brunch between the services. We will also confirm the candidate. I will make my coffeecake to take.
The next day, I went into Diamond Collision and got an estimate of the cost to have it repaired. I figured it would be $1300 or so. He asked me if I had insurance and I do, of course, but it is $1,000 deductible. So I told him if it got repaired I would have to pay for it myself. He quoted me $662. So I will have to transfer the money out of my savings to get it repaired. I will go ahead and transfer enough to pay half my taxes too. They are due December 20th.
My brother-in-law will pick me up and bring me home. They will have it overnight so I will get some things done here at home while I am carless.
I need to clean my bathrooms and vacuum my spare bedroom. I got the beds changed Monday and vacuumed the other rooms then. Hopefully it will be finished tomorrow. I need to go to the church and make copies of the minutes and agenda for the CMA meeting on Thursday.
Saturday is the big Arts and Crafts fair in Independence and Leslie and I are planning to attend. I always like to look at their handiwork.
Sunday is the baptismal service and we will have a brunch between the services. We will also confirm the candidate. I will make my coffeecake to take.
Monday, November 29, 2010
More Monday
I spent the morning getting out my Christmas decorations and setting them around. I need some greenery and I will go out to Wal Mart when I get my groceries and see if I can find some.Anyhow, here are some photos of the decorating I got finished.
Scott's Birthday
We did the Hanging of the Greens yesterday at church. This is a series of photos that I took afterward. The tree in the foyer is the one I decorated with Keith's help.This is Scott's birthday. He has received the birthday cards Leslie and I sent to him but didn't get his box until today...his birthday. That worked out well. He just called a little while ago to tell me. He and his girlfriend have made up. That's good. She will be going over there in December to stay a month.
Not much going on today so I will get my Christmas tree out and get it decorated. That's always a mess but it stays up all month. I want to get the fall decoration put away. I will take some photos after I'm finished and post them tomorrow.
I watched TV last night. There wasn't much on after 60 Minutes but some music shows on PBS. I did watch a special with Peter and Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary fame. Mary Travers died last summer. Mary Chaffin Carpenter sang her songs.
I notice my left eye, the one I have been putting steroid drops in to stop it from tearing, is getting sore. I think I will taper out of that stuff before it really gets sore. I was supposed to use it four drops a day for three weeks, three drops a day for one week, 2 times a day for one week and 1 time a day for one week. But it costs $87 a bottle the the bottles are very tiny. I don't believe there is much left in the bottle and I really can't afford the stuff. What a mess. I hesitate to have the left eyelid done because the right one will then look strange since it droops too. It doesn't bother my vision though so doesn't qualify for Medicare payment.
I imagine Keith got home alright. He called three times yesterday but didn't call when he got back there. That was an 18 hour drive.
More later...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday Again
It's Sunday again and we have the "Hanging of the Greens" service this morning. Bob A. wil pick me up for church. He says no sense taking two cars to the same place.
Christina and her boyfriend and Mia came last night about 6:30. I was exhausted. We had hung around all afternoon thinking they might come earlier. I raked leaves and got the yard about half finished. We ate around 5:00 and the only thing I had to offer them to eat was some chili I had thawed out. They didn't want that. They went out to Wal Mart to look for Christina a birthday present and I got the room ready for them while they were gone. Keith called to say he had put them up in a motel and not to bother. Mia was wound up tighter then a nine day clock and would not settle down. Keith was going to leave at 3:00 this morning for his 18 hour drive back to Phoenix. The dog was in the kitchen and Missy, the cat, was in the house and hates everyone but me and she doesn't like me much. I had no patience to deal with a wild four year old. So they thought the motel would be better for all.
Keith did leave at 2:45. We had had a great visit while he was here. He says he will fly back in the spring. He called about 45 minutes later. When he got to Caney's four corners, he found a wreck..an upside down car with a woman and a small dog inside. They both appeared to be all right but the car was totaled. He did not want to move her...just in case...but he called 911 and stayed with her until the police said he was free to leave. What a mess. He called to tell me all about it.
I got a Happy Birthday wish from Scott this morning on e-mail. He seems to be doing all right although his girl friend is mad at him right now. He is staying bury seeing the countryside.
Christina and her boyfriend and Mia came last night about 6:30. I was exhausted. We had hung around all afternoon thinking they might come earlier. I raked leaves and got the yard about half finished. We ate around 5:00 and the only thing I had to offer them to eat was some chili I had thawed out. They didn't want that. They went out to Wal Mart to look for Christina a birthday present and I got the room ready for them while they were gone. Keith called to say he had put them up in a motel and not to bother. Mia was wound up tighter then a nine day clock and would not settle down. Keith was going to leave at 3:00 this morning for his 18 hour drive back to Phoenix. The dog was in the kitchen and Missy, the cat, was in the house and hates everyone but me and she doesn't like me much. I had no patience to deal with a wild four year old. So they thought the motel would be better for all.
Keith did leave at 2:45. We had had a great visit while he was here. He says he will fly back in the spring. He called about 45 minutes later. When he got to Caney's four corners, he found a wreck..an upside down car with a woman and a small dog inside. They both appeared to be all right but the car was totaled. He did not want to move her...just in case...but he called 911 and stayed with her until the police said he was free to leave. What a mess. He called to tell me all about it.
I got a Happy Birthday wish from Scott this morning on e-mail. He seems to be doing all right although his girl friend is mad at him right now. He is staying bury seeing the countryside.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Hanging the Greens
Today Leslie, Melissa, Keith and I are going to get the Christmas decorations out at church and get the sanctuary ready for tomorrow's Hanging of the Greens service. When we finish, the sanctuary is glorious.
Afterward, we plan to go up to Independence to eat lunch at Big Cheese. I will ask Bob A. if he would like to come help and go too.
Perhaps Keith and I can go out to see Jeromy's house after that. It depends on whether Maia is napping or not. I will check with Jeromy.
Keith intends to leave tomorrow morning fairly early. It will be an 18 hour drive and it will be exhausting. He wants to use Monday to rest up before going back to work.
Scott was going to Austria yesterday. I am glad he did not just sit around alone but got out to see some countryside. I understand it snowed on him and he went back early.
My granddaughter, Christina, Keith's eldest, is coming sometime today with her boyfriend and daughter, my great granddaughter, Mia, on her way back to Manhattan from Houston and will visit with Keith and me too if we are all home by then. Keith is taking his own vehicle so he can leave if she comes while we are decorating.
More later....
We got the church beautifully decorated and I should have taken some photos to share here. I will try to remember to get some shots tomorrow.
Afterward, we plan to go up to Independence to eat lunch at Big Cheese. I will ask Bob A. if he would like to come help and go too.
Perhaps Keith and I can go out to see Jeromy's house after that. It depends on whether Maia is napping or not. I will check with Jeromy.
Keith intends to leave tomorrow morning fairly early. It will be an 18 hour drive and it will be exhausting. He wants to use Monday to rest up before going back to work.
Scott was going to Austria yesterday. I am glad he did not just sit around alone but got out to see some countryside. I understand it snowed on him and he went back early.
My granddaughter, Christina, Keith's eldest, is coming sometime today with her boyfriend and daughter, my great granddaughter, Mia, on her way back to Manhattan from Houston and will visit with Keith and me too if we are all home by then. Keith is taking his own vehicle so he can leave if she comes while we are decorating.
More later....
We got the church beautifully decorated and I should have taken some photos to share here. I will try to remember to get some shots tomorrow.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Friday Following Thanksgiving
It's the Friday following Thanksgiving. I will go see what the damage is on my car today. I didn't sleep well last night for thinking about it. I found that I have $1,000 deductible on my insurance and depending on what it costs for the repair, I will probably pay for it out of my savings. It was my stupidity. Half my property taxes have to be paid in December too and my new glasses will be in next week. My meager savings will be gone quickly at this rate.
Keith wants to go out to see Jeromy and Marlene's house sometime today. I will probably stay home. It's 21 degrees out there and Slinky has to stay in the kitchen. I tried to brush the mud off his feet awhile ago and I thought he was going to take my hand off. He does not like to have his feet messed with. Once Taresa cut his toenails into the quick and no one can touch his feet after that. I bawled him out and told him he was a bad dog and now he's lying over there on his bed sulking.
Keith is still sleeping in. He stayed up late last night. He sleeps like a baby though.
I saw Bob A. yesterday and he had been to see Phyllis. She is very non responsive now and when she does respond, she cries. That is so tragic! At least she hasn't vomited again. And the analysis from her stool sample may not be back until Monday or Tuesday because of the holiday.
I hope all my friends had a nice Thanksgiving. We certainly did although I went to bed utterly exhausted. I took my blood pressure this morning and it is still 145/81. It probably takes awhile for it to come down.
More later....
The repair wasn't as bad as I thought. It is $662. My insurance is $1,000 deductible so I won't even turn it in. That will keep my insurance rate from increasing.
Keith and I went to Bartlesville this morning and just looked around. There was lots of traffic and the stores were packed.
Then we dropped out to John and Leslie's. When Terry and Denise left last night, their SUV broke down at the Tyro corner. John brought it back to his garage and took them home. This morning he fixed it. It was a wheel bearing. John is one of those people who can do a little bit of everything. So things turned out better except Phyllis' situation. She has another urinary tract infection. They will start antibiotics this morning. She is unresponsive again today. When she does rouse, she cries. It's absolutely pitiful!
Keith wants to go out to see Jeromy and Marlene's house sometime today. I will probably stay home. It's 21 degrees out there and Slinky has to stay in the kitchen. I tried to brush the mud off his feet awhile ago and I thought he was going to take my hand off. He does not like to have his feet messed with. Once Taresa cut his toenails into the quick and no one can touch his feet after that. I bawled him out and told him he was a bad dog and now he's lying over there on his bed sulking.
Keith is still sleeping in. He stayed up late last night. He sleeps like a baby though.
I saw Bob A. yesterday and he had been to see Phyllis. She is very non responsive now and when she does respond, she cries. That is so tragic! At least she hasn't vomited again. And the analysis from her stool sample may not be back until Monday or Tuesday because of the holiday.
I hope all my friends had a nice Thanksgiving. We certainly did although I went to bed utterly exhausted. I took my blood pressure this morning and it is still 145/81. It probably takes awhile for it to come down.
More later....
The repair wasn't as bad as I thought. It is $662. My insurance is $1,000 deductible so I won't even turn it in. That will keep my insurance rate from increasing.
Keith and I went to Bartlesville this morning and just looked around. There was lots of traffic and the stores were packed.
Then we dropped out to John and Leslie's. When Terry and Denise left last night, their SUV broke down at the Tyro corner. John brought it back to his garage and took them home. This morning he fixed it. It was a wheel bearing. John is one of those people who can do a little bit of everything. So things turned out better except Phyllis' situation. She has another urinary tract infection. They will start antibiotics this morning. She is unresponsive again today. When she does rouse, she cries. It's absolutely pitiful!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
More Stupid Things
I was backing my car out of the carport in the alley this morning to load it up for the Thanksgiving dinner and sure enough, I hit the pipe guard around the neighbor's gas meter. Dented in my back bumper/fender on the rider's side. I wasn't watching closely enough what I was doing.
Now I've got a mess.
Tomorrow, if the body shop is open I'll go find out what I am looking at to get it repaired. I have full coverage insurance but I think it's $1,000 deductible. I'll have to see.
Oh well, it's always something and it's my own fault.
We had a fine Thanksgiving dinner out at Leslie's. I refused to let the accident spoil Thanksgiving. I'll deal with it tomorrow.
Now I've got a mess.
Tomorrow, if the body shop is open I'll go find out what I am looking at to get it repaired. I have full coverage insurance but I think it's $1,000 deductible. I'll have to see.
Oh well, it's always something and it's my own fault.
We had a fine Thanksgiving dinner out at Leslie's. I refused to let the accident spoil Thanksgiving. I'll deal with it tomorrow.
Thanksgiving Day
It's Thanksgiving Day and first of all, I want to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving! It will be a very different one for our family. Scott is in Germany, Keith is here with me..at least until Sunday. Bob is gone.
Leslie is holding our Thanksgiving dinner at noon at her house. I am making pies..one pecan and one pumpkin, and a Waldorf salad. Cyndi is going to send Jeff over with her part of the dinner. She has a terrible cold and they don't expect to come now. And without Bob and Scott, it will be very strange.
Now for the bad news. Phyllis is sick...evidently very sick. She vomited twice yesterday and had a dark stool which the unit sent to the lab for analysis. She has two ulcers and they may be bleeding again. She takes pain medication and it aggravates the ulcers. She has such high glucose that now she takes insulin too. She has been non-responsive for two weeks...mostly napping in her chair and even when she's responsive on those rare moments, she's so confused. What a tragedy! Bob A. is planning to come to Thanksgiving dinner but it will be grim for him. Denise and Terry and Dee plan to come too but it will not be too festive for them either. From day to day, we never know what to expect about Phyllis' condition. Everything could change if Phyllis gets worse.
It's kind of grim I know but we are going to try to think about and count our many blessings.
One of those blessing is Keith...for many reasons...but the latest one is the fact that for my birthday on the 2nd, he brought me a new desktop computer and printer. He will take the Dell desktop home with him and see if he can get it running again. He bought the printer because Windows 7 doesn't recognize the old HP printer. The new one was on sale at Wal Mart for $29.95. That's even less then I paid for the old printer six years ago. I gave $38.00 for it and it has served me for all these years well.
Keith is just one of my blessings. My other kids and my friends are the others. Leslie had us out for some great chili last evening and we had a good visit. Keith was very tired though so we came home early and he went right to bed. I stayed up and tried to decipher Windows 7. It's still a mystery to me. It's so very different.
Leslie is holding our Thanksgiving dinner at noon at her house. I am making pies..one pecan and one pumpkin, and a Waldorf salad. Cyndi is going to send Jeff over with her part of the dinner. She has a terrible cold and they don't expect to come now. And without Bob and Scott, it will be very strange.
Now for the bad news. Phyllis is sick...evidently very sick. She vomited twice yesterday and had a dark stool which the unit sent to the lab for analysis. She has two ulcers and they may be bleeding again. She takes pain medication and it aggravates the ulcers. She has such high glucose that now she takes insulin too. She has been non-responsive for two weeks...mostly napping in her chair and even when she's responsive on those rare moments, she's so confused. What a tragedy! Bob A. is planning to come to Thanksgiving dinner but it will be grim for him. Denise and Terry and Dee plan to come too but it will not be too festive for them either. From day to day, we never know what to expect about Phyllis' condition. Everything could change if Phyllis gets worse.
It's kind of grim I know but we are going to try to think about and count our many blessings.
One of those blessing is Keith...for many reasons...but the latest one is the fact that for my birthday on the 2nd, he brought me a new desktop computer and printer. He will take the Dell desktop home with him and see if he can get it running again. He bought the printer because Windows 7 doesn't recognize the old HP printer. The new one was on sale at Wal Mart for $29.95. That's even less then I paid for the old printer six years ago. I gave $38.00 for it and it has served me for all these years well.
Keith is just one of my blessings. My other kids and my friends are the others. Leslie had us out for some great chili last evening and we had a good visit. Keith was very tired though so we came home early and he went right to bed. I stayed up and tried to decipher Windows 7. It's still a mystery to me. It's so very different.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Hair Day Again
Keith got here about 10:00 last night. That guy drove straight through 18 hours. He was not even particularly tired. He always was a night owl. It was sure good to see him again.
I have a 7:30 hair appointment this morning and he is going with me. It's time to get him up. While he takes his shower and shaves, I'll finish my thoughts.
He brought me a new desktop computer. He is a sweetheart. He evidently did not want to deal with trying to fix mine. It has crashed dozens of times in the past three months. I will boot it up and try to e-mail important documents to the laptop or save all of it on a thumb drive. This computer has Windows 7 on it. It's a Compac. I am through with Dell. The one I have is three years old and it crashes constantly. The laptop is also Dell but so far it is holding up. I will send the desktop back with Keith. Perhaps in his spare time he can fix it.
I dread the re-installing all my programs. I have the modem, the scanner, my camera software, and the router to be reinstalled as well as setting up my e-mail again.
Leslie just went through that and said it took her a week to get it all going again.
Oh well, at least I will have a desktop computer again. That will be unique after all these months of running Windows version of fixing it with diskcheck. It hasn't worked.
Later, because my printer would not be compatible with Windows 7, he also bought be a new printer. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting everything configured.
Then at 5:00 we went out to Leslie and John's for chili. It was really good. Keith, by this time, was very tired. We came back home and he went to bed at 8:00...totally wiped out. The trip, all in one day, nearly did him in. It was 18 hours...straight through.
I have a 7:30 hair appointment this morning and he is going with me. It's time to get him up. While he takes his shower and shaves, I'll finish my thoughts.
He brought me a new desktop computer. He is a sweetheart. He evidently did not want to deal with trying to fix mine. It has crashed dozens of times in the past three months. I will boot it up and try to e-mail important documents to the laptop or save all of it on a thumb drive. This computer has Windows 7 on it. It's a Compac. I am through with Dell. The one I have is three years old and it crashes constantly. The laptop is also Dell but so far it is holding up. I will send the desktop back with Keith. Perhaps in his spare time he can fix it.
I dread the re-installing all my programs. I have the modem, the scanner, my camera software, and the router to be reinstalled as well as setting up my e-mail again.
Leslie just went through that and said it took her a week to get it all going again.
Oh well, at least I will have a desktop computer again. That will be unique after all these months of running Windows version of fixing it with diskcheck. It hasn't worked.
Later, because my printer would not be compatible with Windows 7, he also bought be a new printer. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting everything configured.
Then at 5:00 we went out to Leslie and John's for chili. It was really good. Keith, by this time, was very tired. We came back home and he went to bed at 8:00...totally wiped out. The trip, all in one day, nearly did him in. It was 18 hours...straight through.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Doctor's Appointment Today
This should be an interesting day. I have this doctors appointment at 9:00 and I'll see what's going on with my blood pressure. I didn't sleep real well last night. I lay there and listened to my heart beat for a long time about 2:00 AM.
Keith was to have left Phoenix about 4:00 AM this morning. I hope he watches for dear. This is breeding season and they are out in force. He should be here about 5:00 or 6:00 this evening..depending on how many stops he makes. I set the chili out to thaw. We will have chili tonight if he hasn't stopped to eat.
Other then the doctor's appointment, I want to get out this morning and see Phyllis. I never made it yesterday.
More later...
I saw the doctor this morning and my blood pressure was 145/84....a lot less. She did put me on 10 MG of Lisinopril. We'll see how that goes. I am to take my blood pressure once a week. Bob A. has a blood pressure cuff I can use.
If it goes down below my normal, I may not continue the meds. Have you ever read the side effects on those things??
Keith was to have left Phoenix about 4:00 AM this morning. I hope he watches for dear. This is breeding season and they are out in force. He should be here about 5:00 or 6:00 this evening..depending on how many stops he makes. I set the chili out to thaw. We will have chili tonight if he hasn't stopped to eat.
Other then the doctor's appointment, I want to get out this morning and see Phyllis. I never made it yesterday.
More later...
I saw the doctor this morning and my blood pressure was 145/84....a lot less. She did put me on 10 MG of Lisinopril. We'll see how that goes. I am to take my blood pressure once a week. Bob A. has a blood pressure cuff I can use.
If it goes down below my normal, I may not continue the meds. Have you ever read the side effects on those things??
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thanksgiving Week
It's Monday and I am going out to Leslie's this morning to clean her house. It will be clean for Thanksgiving on Thursday. I don't know when to expect Keith. First he was going to leave after work tonight..then Tuesday. So I guess I'll just go about my business as usual and he can call me when he gets here. It won't be today anyhow.
Tomorrow at 9:00 will be my doctor's appointment. Maybe she can tell me what's going on with my blood pressure. Until that appointment, I have been taking aspirin. Perhaps it will thin my blood and keep me from having an even worse health problem.
Wednesday I will get my hair done since Thursday is Thanksgiving. If Keith is here he can go with me....or he may sleep in. I guess it depends on when he will come.
This will be a strange Thanksgiving after 56 years. It will be the first one without Bob. Christmas will also be strange.
Last night Karan and Bobby called and asked me to go to that church service with them. That was sweet. They are good friends. After the service they asked me out to Brahms for an ice cream cone. That also was sweet. I have the offering and this afternoon I will make the deposit and write the check for Genesis.
It is still balmy out. Slinky slept outside last night. It's supposed to turn very cold for Thanksgiving..in fact, on Wednesday.
Scott surprised me with a call this morning from Germany. He is lonely and I miss him terribly too. It will be doubly strange with him gone this Thanksgiving. It's been months since I've heard from Jerod and Ashley. I did talk to Christina, Keith's eldest, last week. She is going to Houston for Thanksgiving but will drop by to see me on her way back home. That's really sweet of her.
I'd better get going out to Leslie's. It's almost 7:30.
More later...
It took me 4 hours to do Leslie's house this time. Afterward I went to have lunch with her. She had a later...1:00 lunch hour this time . After lunch I went to Wal Mart to have my blood pressure taken. It was 200/105. I called in to the doctor's office to see if she wanted to see me before tomorrow morning after that. She evidently did not have a lot of confidence in the Wal Mart blood pressure machine. She asked me if I had any headache, bleeding nose, or dizziness. When I answered "no" she said just come in in the morning unless I have some symptoms. That's strange. It was my understanding that you seldom have any symptoms with high blood pressure.
Oh well. Surely I won't have a stroke before morning. :)
Lord only knows how long it's been that high.
Tomorrow at 9:00 will be my doctor's appointment. Maybe she can tell me what's going on with my blood pressure. Until that appointment, I have been taking aspirin. Perhaps it will thin my blood and keep me from having an even worse health problem.
Wednesday I will get my hair done since Thursday is Thanksgiving. If Keith is here he can go with me....or he may sleep in. I guess it depends on when he will come.
This will be a strange Thanksgiving after 56 years. It will be the first one without Bob. Christmas will also be strange.
Last night Karan and Bobby called and asked me to go to that church service with them. That was sweet. They are good friends. After the service they asked me out to Brahms for an ice cream cone. That also was sweet. I have the offering and this afternoon I will make the deposit and write the check for Genesis.
It is still balmy out. Slinky slept outside last night. It's supposed to turn very cold for Thanksgiving..in fact, on Wednesday.
Scott surprised me with a call this morning from Germany. He is lonely and I miss him terribly too. It will be doubly strange with him gone this Thanksgiving. It's been months since I've heard from Jerod and Ashley. I did talk to Christina, Keith's eldest, last week. She is going to Houston for Thanksgiving but will drop by to see me on her way back home. That's really sweet of her.
I'd better get going out to Leslie's. It's almost 7:30.
More later...
It took me 4 hours to do Leslie's house this time. Afterward I went to have lunch with her. She had a later...1:00 lunch hour this time . After lunch I went to Wal Mart to have my blood pressure taken. It was 200/105. I called in to the doctor's office to see if she wanted to see me before tomorrow morning after that. She evidently did not have a lot of confidence in the Wal Mart blood pressure machine. She asked me if I had any headache, bleeding nose, or dizziness. When I answered "no" she said just come in in the morning unless I have some symptoms. That's strange. It was my understanding that you seldom have any symptoms with high blood pressure.
Oh well. Surely I won't have a stroke before morning. :)
Lord only knows how long it's been that high.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday Morning
Well, it's Sunday morning and I'm doing my usual. I got up about five. I put Slinky out. He wanted out. Today is very balmy...kind of like San Antonio when we lived there in 1954.
I have been carefully transferring files from the desktop computer to the laptop computer for storage this morning. The desktop stayed up long enough for me to print off some files for the morning too.
At church this morning, we will elect officers. We elect our officers from the congregation and our pastor from among the Elders. I have been pastor for quite a few years here. I may be re-elected. Leslie is CFO and probably will not be elected pastor too. Sue and John really want to be freer this year to visit their kids and grandkids. And Karan has never wanted the job. So I may get it again by default.
I made cinnamon rolls this morning. I let them rise too long and they are huge. But hopefully they will be o.k. anyhow. (They were well received even though they were huge)
We may be too full of cinnamon rolls to eat lunch out after church. We will see. Bob A. is coming by to pick me up for church. We decided it was ridiculous to take two cars when both of us are going alone to the same place every Sunday.
He is going to talk to his and Phyllis' doctor again tomorrow morning. He wants to cancel the CT scan if at all possible. He called yesterday morning and the doctor told him Phyllis had fallen and seemed very confused. He had not seen her in three months. When Bob went out to Windsor to see how bad the fall had been, he was told she had not fallen. In fact, they didn't seem to know what he was talking about. He saw Phyllis and she was more lucid then usual and was just fine. Evidently the doctor "had the wrong chart" according to the nurse in charge there. Not!! If he were my doctor, I would change doctors over that. It appears he just wanted to run another terribly expensive test for his own curiosity. But Bob does not want to change doctors now. This doctor knows Phyllis's case and has been her doctor ever since they moved back to town in the early 90's. He has a lot more patience then I have. I don't like the idea of being told something that is easily enough checked out just to find out it isn't so.
I got my weekly newsletters done this afternoon and out on the mailbox for the mailman to pick up tomorrow.
Leslie and Bob A. and I did go eat at El Publetos after all. We probably won't eat again today. I am going the the worship service presented by our Ministerial Alliance tonight at 6:00. I want to hear Fr. Jerry's homily. He lost his wife last winter and will have a strong testimony of that experience. I am the treasurer and I will pick up the money for the offering for Genesis and make a deposit tomorrow.
If the CT scan is canceled, I will go on out and clean Leslie's house tomorrow. I have my own doctor's appointment on Tuesday at 9:00 AM.
I have been carefully transferring files from the desktop computer to the laptop computer for storage this morning. The desktop stayed up long enough for me to print off some files for the morning too.
At church this morning, we will elect officers. We elect our officers from the congregation and our pastor from among the Elders. I have been pastor for quite a few years here. I may be re-elected. Leslie is CFO and probably will not be elected pastor too. Sue and John really want to be freer this year to visit their kids and grandkids. And Karan has never wanted the job. So I may get it again by default.
I made cinnamon rolls this morning. I let them rise too long and they are huge. But hopefully they will be o.k. anyhow. (They were well received even though they were huge)
We may be too full of cinnamon rolls to eat lunch out after church. We will see. Bob A. is coming by to pick me up for church. We decided it was ridiculous to take two cars when both of us are going alone to the same place every Sunday.
He is going to talk to his and Phyllis' doctor again tomorrow morning. He wants to cancel the CT scan if at all possible. He called yesterday morning and the doctor told him Phyllis had fallen and seemed very confused. He had not seen her in three months. When Bob went out to Windsor to see how bad the fall had been, he was told she had not fallen. In fact, they didn't seem to know what he was talking about. He saw Phyllis and she was more lucid then usual and was just fine. Evidently the doctor "had the wrong chart" according to the nurse in charge there. Not!! If he were my doctor, I would change doctors over that. It appears he just wanted to run another terribly expensive test for his own curiosity. But Bob does not want to change doctors now. This doctor knows Phyllis's case and has been her doctor ever since they moved back to town in the early 90's. He has a lot more patience then I have. I don't like the idea of being told something that is easily enough checked out just to find out it isn't so.
I got my weekly newsletters done this afternoon and out on the mailbox for the mailman to pick up tomorrow.
Leslie and Bob A. and I did go eat at El Publetos after all. We probably won't eat again today. I am going the the worship service presented by our Ministerial Alliance tonight at 6:00. I want to hear Fr. Jerry's homily. He lost his wife last winter and will have a strong testimony of that experience. I am the treasurer and I will pick up the money for the offering for Genesis and make a deposit tomorrow.
If the CT scan is canceled, I will go on out and clean Leslie's house tomorrow. I have my own doctor's appointment on Tuesday at 9:00 AM.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Darned Doctors!
I got up fairly early this morning and fed the animals and put the drops in my eye. Those drops turned out to cost ninety some dollars. I hope they work. These doctors come up with these experiments and half the time it's for nothing.
My brother-in-law called last night to say they were going to take Phyllis in for a CT scan as soon as they can get her an appointment at the hospital. Now what for??? Alzheimers is incurable and she certainly isn't going to get any better and there isn't any treatment for it. It will just upset her terribly. The last time they took her back from the hospital she was terrified of the lift from the van. I don't see any reason to put her through that just to satisfy a doctor's professional curiosity....and to make him and the hospital some money. Maybe I'm callous but I don't see any sense in it. Every time she goes to the hospital and back to Windsor afterward, she gets a lot worse. It's just too hard on her. My brother-in-law is going to try to reach her doctor this morning and find out his reasoning for doing that.
He called again this morning and we went to Eggberts and had breakfast. He will call me if he learns anything from the doctor. She was very upset yesterday and cried when he left without taking her home with him. I feel so terrible for them both.
I have an appointment Tuesday with my doctor. I need to find out if my high blood pressure is just a fluke or if I need to take medication to lower it. I took it again on Thursday at Wal Mart and it was still 172/100. This year may have just been too stressful for me. No sense having a stroke if it can be controlled.
My brother-in-law called last night to say they were going to take Phyllis in for a CT scan as soon as they can get her an appointment at the hospital. Now what for??? Alzheimers is incurable and she certainly isn't going to get any better and there isn't any treatment for it. It will just upset her terribly. The last time they took her back from the hospital she was terrified of the lift from the van. I don't see any reason to put her through that just to satisfy a doctor's professional curiosity....and to make him and the hospital some money. Maybe I'm callous but I don't see any sense in it. Every time she goes to the hospital and back to Windsor afterward, she gets a lot worse. It's just too hard on her. My brother-in-law is going to try to reach her doctor this morning and find out his reasoning for doing that.
He called again this morning and we went to Eggberts and had breakfast. He will call me if he learns anything from the doctor. She was very upset yesterday and cried when he left without taking her home with him. I feel so terrible for them both.
I have an appointment Tuesday with my doctor. I need to find out if my high blood pressure is just a fluke or if I need to take medication to lower it. I took it again on Thursday at Wal Mart and it was still 172/100. This year may have just been too stressful for me. No sense having a stroke if it can be controlled.
Friday, November 19, 2010
House Cleaning Now
The day has come. I must clean house today. It's beginning to look pretty grubby. That's my goal for today.
Yesterday turned out to be a very busy day. Besides getting my hair done, and picking up Juanita for breakfast, I went to Independence's Wal Mart and got the ingredients for my part of the Thanksgiving dinner.
When I got home, I talked to Scott again and got an address in Germany and then, because I didn't know how long it would take to get there, I went to our Wal Mart store and got some things for a box to send to him as well as his birthday card. Well, it's on it's way.
Last night I watched TV until 9:00 and then went on to bed. I am having a hard time staying awake in the evenings. The eye doctor in Wichita, Dr. Amstutz, said much of that is the effort it takes to consciously keep my eyes open when the left one especially wants to close. I saw Joanne B. at Wal Mart here and she told me she had had the same surgery some years back. She said she had held cold compacts on her eyes after the surgery for the first day and had barely any swelling or discoloration. They told me in Wichita that the eye would look healed in three weeks but the healing would continue for nine months to a year.
I'm still a little apprehensive about having it done...especially since he can only do one eye. If anyone's surgery will fail, it would be mine. The left foot bunion surgery still irritates me. I went through all that discomfort and inconvenience and still it failed. And I had an orthopedic specialist do it too.
Keith called yesterday afternoon too. It seems now he will wait to leave until Tuesday evening . His vacation begins on Tuesday but he has something else going on Tuesday so he will arrive a day later on Wednesday. I have to have my hair done on that Wednesday at 7:30 AM but should be back home before he comes in or while he is sleeping. I need to bake my pies on Wednesday..or at least early Thursday. I also will need to make my Waldorf Salad while the pies are in the oven.
Yesterday turned out to be a very busy day. Besides getting my hair done, and picking up Juanita for breakfast, I went to Independence's Wal Mart and got the ingredients for my part of the Thanksgiving dinner.
When I got home, I talked to Scott again and got an address in Germany and then, because I didn't know how long it would take to get there, I went to our Wal Mart store and got some things for a box to send to him as well as his birthday card. Well, it's on it's way.
Last night I watched TV until 9:00 and then went on to bed. I am having a hard time staying awake in the evenings. The eye doctor in Wichita, Dr. Amstutz, said much of that is the effort it takes to consciously keep my eyes open when the left one especially wants to close. I saw Joanne B. at Wal Mart here and she told me she had had the same surgery some years back. She said she had held cold compacts on her eyes after the surgery for the first day and had barely any swelling or discoloration. They told me in Wichita that the eye would look healed in three weeks but the healing would continue for nine months to a year.
I'm still a little apprehensive about having it done...especially since he can only do one eye. If anyone's surgery will fail, it would be mine. The left foot bunion surgery still irritates me. I went through all that discomfort and inconvenience and still it failed. And I had an orthopedic specialist do it too.
Keith called yesterday afternoon too. It seems now he will wait to leave until Tuesday evening . His vacation begins on Tuesday but he has something else going on Tuesday so he will arrive a day later on Wednesday. I have to have my hair done on that Wednesday at 7:30 AM but should be back home before he comes in or while he is sleeping. I need to bake my pies on Wednesday..or at least early Thursday. I also will need to make my Waldorf Salad while the pies are in the oven.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Another trip to Independence
I will go back to Independence this morning to get my hair done. This will be four trips out of town this week. I cannot find anyone in Coffeyville that can do anything with my hair. It has become so thin as I have aged.
It will be a very difficult two more years for Obama. I doubt anything of value will be accomplished. The Russian/American nuclear arms treaty is the first to be sacrificed. All that work the first president Bush put into it will be lost. We will start (or continue) building up nuclear arms. The second thing will be the tax increase for the richest 1% of the country. They will not let that expire and they may make it permanent. History has shown that trickle down economics does not work. The rich do not spend much of their wealth. The middle class spends all of their income...as do the poor. The way to stimulate the economy is to give those who make under $200,000 the tax break because they will spend their money.
It seems the primary goal of the Republican Party is to defeat the president's hopes for the country and keep him from a second term.
At least he has a plan now to get us out of Afghanistan. We will always have a peace keeping/training force there but if we can just let the Afghans fight their own war against the Talibon, that would be the best answer. They will have to do something about Pakistan and their training grounds for them though. But they need to let the Afghans do that. Most Afghans are illiterate and so our troops are trying to teach them to read while they train them. That is a monumental and impossible job if you ask me.
It will be a very difficult two more years for Obama. I doubt anything of value will be accomplished. The Russian/American nuclear arms treaty is the first to be sacrificed. All that work the first president Bush put into it will be lost. We will start (or continue) building up nuclear arms. The second thing will be the tax increase for the richest 1% of the country. They will not let that expire and they may make it permanent. History has shown that trickle down economics does not work. The rich do not spend much of their wealth. The middle class spends all of their income...as do the poor. The way to stimulate the economy is to give those who make under $200,000 the tax break because they will spend their money.
It seems the primary goal of the Republican Party is to defeat the president's hopes for the country and keep him from a second term.
At least he has a plan now to get us out of Afghanistan. We will always have a peace keeping/training force there but if we can just let the Afghans fight their own war against the Talibon, that would be the best answer. They will have to do something about Pakistan and their training grounds for them though. But they need to let the Afghans do that. Most Afghans are illiterate and so our troops are trying to teach them to read while they train them. That is a monumental and impossible job if you ask me.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wichita Doctor's Appointment
We are back from Wichita. My brother-in-law went with me. I had to bring someone just in case they dilated my eyes. We stopped and ate lunch at Olive Garden. We got back at 4:00PM and left here this morning at 7:00 AM. We had a huge day in Wichita and found out many things we did not know. One was that my white jacket syndrome evidently kicked in or the stress from the last six months did. My blood pressure was 180/112. (Stroke City). My normal blood pressure is 129/72. I have an appointment with Dr. Melissa to have that checked out. Plus Dr. Amstutz cannot do both of my eyes at once because the right one is not bad enough and the vision in it is not impaired from the eye lid droop. Medicare would not pay for the right eye at this time. When and if it gets as bad as the left eye, then he will do the right eye. I would have to pay for the right eye now out of my own pocket (around $2,000). So he will do only the left one...in which vision is impaired.
But Dr. Melissa will need to sign a paper saying my blood pressure is up because of the white jacket syndrome... or, if it is not that, she will have to check my blood pressure under ordinary circumstances and if it is that high then, get me on blood pressure meds.. Then she will have to sign a form to say it is regulated and fax it back to them before they will do the surgery. My appointment for the surgery is January 5th at 12:00 noon check in time. My appointment with Dr. Melissa is this Tuesday at 9:00 AM.
So, disturbing news if my blood pressure has been that high this year since Bob died.
But Dr. Melissa will need to sign a paper saying my blood pressure is up because of the white jacket syndrome... or, if it is not that, she will have to check my blood pressure under ordinary circumstances and if it is that high then, get me on blood pressure meds.. Then she will have to sign a form to say it is regulated and fax it back to them before they will do the surgery. My appointment for the surgery is January 5th at 12:00 noon check in time. My appointment with Dr. Melissa is this Tuesday at 9:00 AM.
So, disturbing news if my blood pressure has been that high this year since Bob died.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Slap Dash Men!
Yesterday during the rain, once again I noticed my windshield wiper blades on the driver's side were not working properly. The one on the driver's side would catch on the one on the rider's side and even bend. The rider's side cleaned well though the driver's side only cleaned half the window.
So, although I don't think there's any rain in tomorrow's forecast, I decided to replace the driver's side blade. I went to Auto Zone where they will install them for you at no charge. They replaced the driver's side for a little over $10.00. When she replaced it, she noticed the rider's side, was the wrong size. In today's cars, they are supposed to be two different sizes. So I bought a second one and it works perfectly now. The second one was a dollar cheaper.
The men at Fast Lube had put those on for me only last winter. I will know better then that now. I know they charged me an arm and a leg and still got the wrong wiper blade.
I will leave in about an hour to go visit Phyllis. Then about 10:45 I will leave for my luncheon engagement with Gay.
The rest of the day I will do some cleaning here at home. I have nothing else planned.
I went to see Phyllis this morning and she was sleeping in a chair. I couldn't seem to wake her by holding her hand but finally she roused just a little. She was slumped over and her head was on her chest. It hurt me just to see how she was sitting. I stayed about 40 minutes, had a short visit with Denise in the parking lot and got to Cherryvale in time to have lunch with Gay. We stayed about two hours and caught up quite a bit of news.
Then I came home and was catching up my e-mail when a transformer blew out back and the power went out. I called the city on my cell and they were out here within thirty minutes. that was fast god service!
I will pick up Bob A. tomorrow at 6:45. He is going with me to my appointment in Wichita. They said they may dilate my eyes and I would need someone to drive home for me if they do that. It's awfully good of him to come with me.
I will watch Tv tonight. Nova is on PBS and after that Frontline. I enjoy both those programs.
So, although I don't think there's any rain in tomorrow's forecast, I decided to replace the driver's side blade. I went to Auto Zone where they will install them for you at no charge. They replaced the driver's side for a little over $10.00. When she replaced it, she noticed the rider's side, was the wrong size. In today's cars, they are supposed to be two different sizes. So I bought a second one and it works perfectly now. The second one was a dollar cheaper.
The men at Fast Lube had put those on for me only last winter. I will know better then that now. I know they charged me an arm and a leg and still got the wrong wiper blade.
I will leave in about an hour to go visit Phyllis. Then about 10:45 I will leave for my luncheon engagement with Gay.
The rest of the day I will do some cleaning here at home. I have nothing else planned.
I went to see Phyllis this morning and she was sleeping in a chair. I couldn't seem to wake her by holding her hand but finally she roused just a little. She was slumped over and her head was on her chest. It hurt me just to see how she was sitting. I stayed about 40 minutes, had a short visit with Denise in the parking lot and got to Cherryvale in time to have lunch with Gay. We stayed about two hours and caught up quite a bit of news.
Then I came home and was catching up my e-mail when a transformer blew out back and the power went out. I called the city on my cell and they were out here within thirty minutes. that was fast god service!
I will pick up Bob A. tomorrow at 6:45. He is going with me to my appointment in Wichita. They said they may dilate my eyes and I would need someone to drive home for me if they do that. It's awfully good of him to come with me.
I will watch Tv tonight. Nova is on PBS and after that Frontline. I enjoy both those programs.
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