This should be a quiet Saturday and I am really ready for one. Next week will be very busy. Luckily the forecast is for weather in the 40's. Boy am I ready for that! I read all morning and then I washed the laminate floors and used Murphy's Wood Soap on the kitchen cabinets.
Monday is Bob's doctor's appointment at 10:00. His hand and arm swelling has not gone down after taking a round of antibiotics so perhaps this is NOT an infection after all. It has, in fact, gone up and is worse then ever.
Tuesday is my MC3 meeting in Independence at 11:00. I am the secretary so I will be taking notes.
Wednesday is my hair appointment at 10:00 and the Independence Ministerial Association meeting at 11:30.
Thursday is Marsha Adinolfi's funeral at 2:00 and Bo and I will attend. Bob has a PINCH meeting at 5:30 that evening.
Friday is clear...whew!
Saturday is Carletta's mother's services in Sperry at 1:30. We will also attend that one.
So today is a welcome day. Everything is caught up and we will have church tomorrow since the sun is shining and is due to shine tomorrow too.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Busy Friday
I cleaned house today. The place was really filthy and I can't figure out why. I clean at least once a week and sometimes even more. I also did four loads of laundry and changed the bed.
I heard from our class treasurer and she needed for me to take the cash she got at the bank and go pick up the newsletters and stamps. She was leaving tomorrow for Dallas to stay with her niece, who is recovering from breast cancer surgery. I did that and then I spent the afternoon stuffing 160 newsletters into the envelopes I had addressed yesterday. Bob put the stamps on for me and then I took them to the post office and got them in the mail.
There's nothing on my schedule for tomorrow.
A dear friend of mine called this morning to say his wife had died this morning. She had been very sick for several months. She has been a paraplegic for 24 years and was very brave and independent....as independent as anyone can be in her situation. I really admired her. Her funeral is next Thursday at 2:00 and Bob and I will attend. Fr. Jerry, the husband is an Episcopalian priest. He has been a terrific caregiver all these years. Marsha, his wife, was 66.
Busy! Busy!
I forgot to get my chicken out in time for it to thaw so I made hamburgers and french fries for dinner. I also fixed some gravy since we eat our hamburgers without a bun.
Tonight I am just relaxing and watching TV...if there's anything worth watching on TV.
I don't know whether we will hold church Sunday or not. It has been 1 degree and only as warm as 5 degrees today. Everything around here has been canceled. I hate to cancel church again and we will have our congregational budget business meeting then too. Time will tell. If it warms up any at all, we will go ahead and have church with those who are able to come.
I heard from our class treasurer and she needed for me to take the cash she got at the bank and go pick up the newsletters and stamps. She was leaving tomorrow for Dallas to stay with her niece, who is recovering from breast cancer surgery. I did that and then I spent the afternoon stuffing 160 newsletters into the envelopes I had addressed yesterday. Bob put the stamps on for me and then I took them to the post office and got them in the mail.
There's nothing on my schedule for tomorrow.
A dear friend of mine called this morning to say his wife had died this morning. She had been very sick for several months. She has been a paraplegic for 24 years and was very brave and independent....as independent as anyone can be in her situation. I really admired her. Her funeral is next Thursday at 2:00 and Bob and I will attend. Fr. Jerry, the husband is an Episcopalian priest. He has been a terrific caregiver all these years. Marsha, his wife, was 66.
Busy! Busy!
I forgot to get my chicken out in time for it to thaw so I made hamburgers and french fries for dinner. I also fixed some gravy since we eat our hamburgers without a bun.
Tonight I am just relaxing and watching TV...if there's anything worth watching on TV.
I don't know whether we will hold church Sunday or not. It has been 1 degree and only as warm as 5 degrees today. Everything around here has been canceled. I hate to cancel church again and we will have our congregational budget business meeting then too. Time will tell. If it warms up any at all, we will go ahead and have church with those who are able to come.
Thursday News
Again, I am a day behind.
Yesterday, I took my class's newsletter to the printer to be duplicated and folded. I spent a good deal of the day running envelopes through my computer to put names and addresses on them in anticipation of picking up the newsletter and getting it ready to be mailed. I sent out six that I printed off on my computer. I had miscounted by six when I told the person at the Service Office and Supply the number I needed. I will need to contact the treasurer to buy stamps and pay the printer when they are ready.
Then at noon we went to Ministerial Alliance meeting and I spent the afternoon doing the minutes and finishing up the envelopes. We had the rest of our potato soup for supper.
Last night we just stayed home. It was 8 degrees. This morning it is 1 degree and the water in our refrigerator is frozen. We have a light on it but it froze anyhow. It is just so cold.
Next week it is supposed to be in the 40's. I look forward to next week. That will feel warm.
Yesterday, I took my class's newsletter to the printer to be duplicated and folded. I spent a good deal of the day running envelopes through my computer to put names and addresses on them in anticipation of picking up the newsletter and getting it ready to be mailed. I sent out six that I printed off on my computer. I had miscounted by six when I told the person at the Service Office and Supply the number I needed. I will need to contact the treasurer to buy stamps and pay the printer when they are ready.
Then at noon we went to Ministerial Alliance meeting and I spent the afternoon doing the minutes and finishing up the envelopes. We had the rest of our potato soup for supper.
Last night we just stayed home. It was 8 degrees. This morning it is 1 degree and the water in our refrigerator is frozen. We have a light on it but it froze anyhow. It is just so cold.
Next week it is supposed to be in the 40's. I look forward to next week. That will feel warm.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Yesterday
Yesterday, we went to Independence for me to get my hair done and also to take our daughter, Leslie, to lunch. I really needed the color and haircut. It was forecast to snow three inches of new snow last night and today. That hasn't started yet but I imagine it will. We have Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance today at noon so I hope it holds off for awhile. I have to run off 15 copies of the agenda and minutes for everyone who has reserved lunch.
Anyhow, we left Slinky in the kitchen from 11:20 until 3:30 and I came home with fear and trembling about what I would find but we lucked out. He was sleeping soundly and there was no catastrophic.
We stayed home the rest of the day and read. Later in the afternoon, I fixed a pot of potato soup. That sounded good and it was.
Last night we watched some good programs on PBS and went to bed about 10:00. A rather quiet day.
Anyhow, we left Slinky in the kitchen from 11:20 until 3:30 and I came home with fear and trembling about what I would find but we lucked out. He was sleeping soundly and there was no catastrophic.
We stayed home the rest of the day and read. Later in the afternoon, I fixed a pot of potato soup. That sounded good and it was.
Last night we watched some good programs on PBS and went to bed about 10:00. A rather quiet day.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Raiding Social Security
He's baaack--the Wall Street billionaire who wants to loot Social Security. This time, Pete Peterson has invented his own "news network" to promote his right-wing rants about shrinking the only retirement security system available to millions of working people. Peterson styles himself as a patriot saving the nation from fiscal insolvency and has committed $1 billion to that cause (a chunk of the wealth he accumulated at Blackstone Group, the notorious corporate-takeover firm). His efforts might be dismissed as ludicrous--except money does talk in Washington, and Peterson is now buying Washington reporters to spread his dire warnings.
The biggest lie in Peterson's story-telling is his refusal to acknowledge the looting aspect of what he proposes. Despite his inflamed rhetoric, Social Security is not broke--it has a huge surplus of around $3 trillion (trillion, not billion). With no changes at all, the trust fund will be solvent for at least another thirty years. In fact, workers retiring now have already paid for their Social Security benefits because they paid higher payroll taxes for the past twenty-five years. I might have a little respect for fiscal crazies like Peterson, Conrad and Gregg if I once heard them state these facts honestly instead of demonizing Social Security recipients.
Here is what really worries the fiscal hawks: as the Social Security trust fund built up the huge surpluses, the federal government borrowed the money and spent it. The time is approaching--maybe ten or twelve years from now--when the federal treasury will have to start paying back its debts to Social Security. The accumulated wealth does not belong to the US government, any more than the money it borrowed from China. The beneficial owners are all those working people who faithfully paid their FICA taxes for all those years. If Washington stiffs them now, it will be a bait-and-switch swindle larger than Wall Street's.
Read more here:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100111/greider
The biggest lie in Peterson's story-telling is his refusal to acknowledge the looting aspect of what he proposes. Despite his inflamed rhetoric, Social Security is not broke--it has a huge surplus of around $3 trillion (trillion, not billion). With no changes at all, the trust fund will be solvent for at least another thirty years. In fact, workers retiring now have already paid for their Social Security benefits because they paid higher payroll taxes for the past twenty-five years. I might have a little respect for fiscal crazies like Peterson, Conrad and Gregg if I once heard them state these facts honestly instead of demonizing Social Security recipients.
Here is what really worries the fiscal hawks: as the Social Security trust fund built up the huge surpluses, the federal government borrowed the money and spent it. The time is approaching--maybe ten or twelve years from now--when the federal treasury will have to start paying back its debts to Social Security. The accumulated wealth does not belong to the US government, any more than the money it borrowed from China. The beneficial owners are all those working people who faithfully paid their FICA taxes for all those years. If Washington stiffs them now, it will be a bait-and-switch swindle larger than Wall Street's.
Read more here:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100111/greider
Another Super Cold Day
I checked a minute ago and the temperature was 13 degrees. I know this is going to be a very cold winter because my cat, Missy, has a very think coat this year..thicker then ever before.
The streets thawed enough yesterday that we were able to get out of our drive (which was not clear) and go to the market and go get gas. Also, Cyndi called and Jeff's wheel bearing went out on his truck and she needed a ride to the dealership to have it repaired. While I was out, I mailed off the book I had sold on Amazon. Then she called again in the afternoon and they had it fixed. So we went back out and picked her up and took her down to pick it up.
We stayed in the rest of the day.
I spent most of the day online. I sent out about twenty e-mails with my class newsletter attached to it. Those who wanted it through e-mail got it right away. The others will have to wait for the printer to finish duplicating and folding it for mailing. I will also have to get some envelopes and stuff those before mailing them out.
We watched some TV last night (PBS) before going to bed. Slinky slept through the night and only woke me up at 5:15 to go out. He has been sleeping near the sink at night where there's an inside wall and no door draft. I moved his two rugs there.
The streets thawed enough yesterday that we were able to get out of our drive (which was not clear) and go to the market and go get gas. Also, Cyndi called and Jeff's wheel bearing went out on his truck and she needed a ride to the dealership to have it repaired. While I was out, I mailed off the book I had sold on Amazon. Then she called again in the afternoon and they had it fixed. So we went back out and picked her up and took her down to pick it up.
We stayed in the rest of the day.
I spent most of the day online. I sent out about twenty e-mails with my class newsletter attached to it. Those who wanted it through e-mail got it right away. The others will have to wait for the printer to finish duplicating and folding it for mailing. I will also have to get some envelopes and stuff those before mailing them out.
We watched some TV last night (PBS) before going to bed. Slinky slept through the night and only woke me up at 5:15 to go out. He has been sleeping near the sink at night where there's an inside wall and no door draft. I moved his two rugs there.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Us Versus Them
In wondering why there always seems to have to be an "us" versus "them" in the world, I ran onto this quote from Carl Coon, a US Ambassador in 2004.
"This sense of group identity is essential to the way humans organize into social units. The "us versus them" syndrome is a foundational element of human nature; it assumes that you treat other members of the "in" group differently from "outsiders". The difference between being a murderer or a wartime hero depends on whether the person you kill is part of your group or not."
If you stop to think about it, the only way we can justify killing another person, even in war, is to demonize them. During the Second World War I can recall all the terrible cartoons of "Japs" with slanted eyes and huge buck teeth. The movies were every bit as bad. They were sheer propaganda.
Do some of you remember those days and how terrible we pictured the German people, the Italians and the Japanese to be? If you read history from both sides of the conflict you learn a lot about what was "real" and what was not.
"This sense of group identity is essential to the way humans organize into social units. The "us versus them" syndrome is a foundational element of human nature; it assumes that you treat other members of the "in" group differently from "outsiders". The difference between being a murderer or a wartime hero depends on whether the person you kill is part of your group or not."
If you stop to think about it, the only way we can justify killing another person, even in war, is to demonize them. During the Second World War I can recall all the terrible cartoons of "Japs" with slanted eyes and huge buck teeth. The movies were every bit as bad. They were sheer propaganda.
Do some of you remember those days and how terrible we pictured the German people, the Italians and the Japanese to be? If you read history from both sides of the conflict you learn a lot about what was "real" and what was not.
Totally Sick of Snow
I don't know when I've been so tired of snow. We're had snow since the day before Christmas and we're forecast for another week of it.
Bob and I got out this morning and went to the market. We were out of many of the necessities....milk, bread and eggs. Also,the pets were out of food. So, we braved the elements and went shopping. Also, I sold another book on Amazon. I got that in the mail while I was out there. Cyndi called this morning and said a bearing and the entire package had gone out on Jeff's four wheel drive. She was able to get it right in this morning so Bob and I picked her up and took her home. She called a little bit ago and said they would have it finished by this afternoon. The parts alone were $700. Lord only knows what the labor will be.
I will go pick her up when she calls and tells me it's ready.
Scott called this morning. He's pretty distressed that his girl friend is not ready to get married. The woman has horses, a farm, a business and an ailing father. Of course she's not ready to get married. I tried to tell him that when she hooked up with him before Thanksgiving. Many women are not prepared to get married anymore...especially after only two months. One as needy as Scott would drive me insane. With all the women he's dated, none have wanted to be married.
We heard from Keith last night. He has found an apartment and is moving Thursday. We are so happy about that.
Bob and I got out this morning and went to the market. We were out of many of the necessities....milk, bread and eggs. Also,the pets were out of food. So, we braved the elements and went shopping. Also, I sold another book on Amazon. I got that in the mail while I was out there. Cyndi called this morning and said a bearing and the entire package had gone out on Jeff's four wheel drive. She was able to get it right in this morning so Bob and I picked her up and took her home. She called a little bit ago and said they would have it finished by this afternoon. The parts alone were $700. Lord only knows what the labor will be.
I will go pick her up when she calls and tells me it's ready.
Scott called this morning. He's pretty distressed that his girl friend is not ready to get married. The woman has horses, a farm, a business and an ailing father. Of course she's not ready to get married. I tried to tell him that when she hooked up with him before Thanksgiving. Many women are not prepared to get married anymore...especially after only two months. One as needy as Scott would drive me insane. With all the women he's dated, none have wanted to be married.
We heard from Keith last night. He has found an apartment and is moving Thursday. We are so happy about that.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Snowy Icey Sunday
We canceled church today. We got an additional four inches of snow with freezing rain on top of that. We are located in the country and our parking lot is graveled. We would probably get stuck in there. I am not too sure if anyone would come anyhow with this weather.
So, it will be another boring day. Thank goodness for the computer. I can blog and read the news and post on my church's web board anyhow. Even that gets old after awhile.
Slinky got me up at 4:00 to go out. Oh, he really did not want to go out but he needed to badly. So I let him out but then right back in. He has moved his sleeping place just in front of the sink..it's an inside wall with no draft.
Missy got me up at 4:30 wanting out. I ignored her. She scratched on the bed skirt and jumped up on me but I ignored her. She finally settled for the window. When I got up at 5:15, she finally went out..for about three minutes. Then she figured out why I did not get up and let her out.
At 7:00 this morning I called everyone in the congregation to cancel church. Now everyone can sleep in if they would like.
More later:
So, it will be another boring day. Thank goodness for the computer. I can blog and read the news and post on my church's web board anyhow. Even that gets old after awhile.
Slinky got me up at 4:00 to go out. Oh, he really did not want to go out but he needed to badly. So I let him out but then right back in. He has moved his sleeping place just in front of the sink..it's an inside wall with no draft.
Missy got me up at 4:30 wanting out. I ignored her. She scratched on the bed skirt and jumped up on me but I ignored her. She finally settled for the window. When I got up at 5:15, she finally went out..for about three minutes. Then she figured out why I did not get up and let her out.
At 7:00 this morning I called everyone in the congregation to cancel church. Now everyone can sleep in if they would like.
More later:
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