Another Saturday

Bob came over last night to watch "War" on PBS. After about an hour, we decided it was a re-run and we had both seen it before. So he went home and I went in to my bath and to bed. We will meet this morning at 7:00 for breakfast.

After that, I will go to Bobby and Karan's and see if I can get their wireless printer to print from Karan's laptop. Their desktop is down. They have a IT coming to try to get it running again.

Bob wants to go to either Joplin or Owasso today to get Diana's Christmas gift at Kohl's. We will do that after I finish at Bobby and Karan's.

We attended his sister-in-law's funeral dinner and funeral yesterday afternoon. It's not exactly what I wanted to do with my day off but he needed someone to go with him. Funerals are still very painful for him. He mentioned that he really preferred graveside services. That's what we did for Phyllis.

I awoke at 3:30 this morning and never did get back to sleep. Finally at 4:00 I got up.

We have our Holiday dinner after church tomorrow. I have my Waldorf salad ready already. I will also do sweet potatoes (we are having ham) and I had planned to do dessert too but too many of our people do bring desserts and I did not want to have dessert left over to eat at home.

Friday At Last

First, please note that the new Christmas Cactus my daughter gave me for my birthday is really beginning to bloom now.

Today is Friday. Yesterday I finally caught up my work. All week I have had more to do then I could get done in my four hours.

This noon I will go with Bob to the funeral dinner for his family. His sister-in-law died Tuesday evening and the funeral is at 2:00 today.

I woke up early this morning feeling kind of achy. I don't know why since I really didn't do anything to ache about. Maybe it;s the mileage catching up at last. :)

I have been cleaning out some drawers in my roll top desk. I really need to do more of that kind of thing. In order to ever move from here, there's an awful lot of "stuff" that will need to be discarded. We've moved so much over the years that you would think I would have continually cleaned out everything. I have. But we continued to accumulate "stuff". I should get a banker's box and just put "stuff" in there and that way the drawers and shelves would be kept just for essential "stuff".

Leslie called to chat last night. I was surprised. She seldom does that. She's like me in that. I don't care to "chat" either. When I call someone I say what I called about and then get off the phone. She is so busy I seldom hear much out of her away from church. I spend a lot more time on this laptop computer.

Leslie is "on call" tomorrow. Someone else is covering for her on Sunday so she can be at church. We have election of our officers Sunday and I intend to nominate three younger people for the pastor's position as a team. They all work demanding jobs so it may take the three of them to do the work involved. In our church, we elect the pastor from the Elders. Leslie is the only Elder among them. One is a Priest and one is a Teacher. It's a self-sustaining position. We have no local paid staff. I have had the position for years and I feel it is time to step down and let the younger generation do it.

Thank Goodness it's Thursday

I am so happy it's Thursday. My hair is a mess and I have an 8:30 appointment this morning to have it done in Independence. I also need to pay half my property taxes.

I also have beans on cooking and will make cornbread when I get home. We will have cornbread and beans today and I will use up the rest of the ham from Monday.

I finally finished my filing and scanning at work yesterday. I still have to make labels for several folders. By 1:00, when I go in to work, they may have a lot more in my boxes. Keeping busy makes the time fly though.

I have been concerned about my real estate taxes ever since an article about them came out in the paper this week. Of even greater concern then the fiscal cliff we hear so much about in the news nationally is the more local problem here of the major tax shift due Montgomery County residents if the Kansas legislature decides to accommodate Coffeyville Resources and allow their property to be assessed as personal property instead of real estate. Why is this?

The shift of the real estate tax burden to individual citizens will be tremendous. Our taxes in all of Montgomery County alone will increase by almost 40% and those of us living in Coffeyville will get almost a 50% increase in our property taxes. This will overwhelm many of us. Montgomery County is one of the poorest counties in the state with a phenomenal amount of poverty. Those of us already struggling to pay our ever increasing property taxes will be forced to sell our homes at a loss and leave the state.

So what can we do? Not a lot. Legislators usually pay very little attention to individual tax payers. They listen instead to those with the big bucks like the multi billionaire owner of Coffeyville Resources. But we do have the power of the vote. I recommend we just clean house in the Kansas legislature if that worst case scenario should happen. In the meanwhile we should write letters to these Kansas legislators. Perhaps they will see which side of the bread their real butter is on if they are inundated with mail on the subject.

Another Cooler Wednesday

It's somewhat cooler today. It's going to be in the 50s instead of the 70s. Day before yesterday and yesterday at work I nearly froze. Those folks in the office are evidently all warm natured. I am wearing my warm vest again today.

I will be cooking again today. Bob and I ate out yesterday noon. He came over last evening and we watched an old movie "Oh God" with John Denver and George Burns. It is a classic. I am to pick up another video at the library this morning. I have never seen "Fargo" and Bob says I am really missing something. So I ordered it in. We also have a concert with John Denver to watch. I love his music and have several of his CDs. I once got to see him in person in Tulsa. It was a great concert.

One evening this week we watched "The Insider". If you readers haven't seen it, you should. That insider was the one who exposed the tobacco company's cover up of the addictive properties of nicotine in cigarettes.

"Lincoln" is on at the movies in Bartlesville. I would love to go see it. Maybe if Bob's sister-in-law's funeral is over in time we could go see it. It begins at 3:30 PM.

More later...

Another Tuesday

It's Tuesday again. I will work this afternoon. This noon Bob and I plan to eat at Eggberts and have one of their chicken fried steaks. I couldn't come up with a likely lunch/dinner for today. Tomorrow we will have chicken tetrazzini, salad and veggies with pudding and cookies for dessert. Thursday I plan to have ham and beans with cornbread with fruit and cookies for dessert.

Last evening we watched a DVD my friend Bill gave me for my birthday. It starred Morgan Freeman, my favorite actor. The name of the video is "The Magic of Belle Isle". I recommend it as a "feel good" movie.

We got a little rain last evening...very little...but any rain at all is a blessing in this drought.

By the way, Chuck Fu, your neat birthday card arrived yesterday too. Thank you for that. It is very cute! You will see it in the photo below.

Bob and I had planned to go to Branson on Friday and Saturday. But his sister-in-law died last evening so we cancelled our plans. The funeral is Friday afternoon at 2:00. This was to have been our last trip this year. They will soon shut down Silver Dollar City for this season.

Miss Kitty is alive and well as you can see in the photo above. She will be ten years old in March. We're both getting up there.

A Monday to Repent

Yesterday I complained that my family had about forgotten my birthday and then I was prompted to remember that my eldest son had called day before yesterday to say my card was in the mail. He had enough on his mind with tests to see if he had a heart problem. My birthday was the least of his troubles. I apologize for my weakness.

My daughter had sent me a lovely Christmas Cactus. It sets in my window now all covered with buds.

When I got to church, one of my dearest friends left a lovely card in Bob's car for me. He had already sent me a kindle book but the gift bag also had a DVD included in it. Then after church a group of us went to Independence to the Railroad Inn for dinner. Bob treated me to the dinner. He too had brought me a lovely card.

Then my grandson called and talked to me for the better part of an hour. I had not heard from him since Bob died two and a half years ago except when he got married and I was invited to the wedding. Of course, I was unable to attend since it was in California but I sent a gift and card. Then late that afternoon my granddaughter in Georgia texted me a Happy Birthday. She was at work but took the time to do that anyhow.

Last evening Bob and I went to Living the Questions group at Jack and Marilyn's home. There Marilyn had baked me a cake with a candle symbolizing my 77 years and two of the group gave me cards. Now my server is covered with cards.

I am an ungrateful wretch! I had a great birthday!

Happy Birthday To Me

This is my 77th birthday and for the first time, I received no birthday cards from my children. You know you are truly old when your children forget you. To be honest though, I did get a nice plant, a Christmas cactus, from my daughter....but no card. This is also the first time none of my children are here to celebrate it with me. My sons are in Hawaii and Arizona and my daughter went to a train show with her husband. Of course, I am feeling sorry for myself. Oh well... life is short. Bob is going to take me out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants today after church so it's not like we are not going to celebrate. I wasn't entirely forgotten. :)

Let's face it. It's just another day.

More later...

More happened then I thought. My brother-in-law brought me a beautiful card and my good friend, Bill, also brought me a card with a lovely sentiment, a kindle book and a DVD with my favority actor Morgan Freeman. I spoke way too soon.

Tonight I will go to the Living the Questions group at Jack and Marilyn's home. That will be neat.

I spent the afternoon doing my regular letters and getting them out on the mailbox.

We had a lovely lunch at noon and seven of our church friends joined us. We had a good time.

Then later in the afternoon my grandson, Jerod called and wished me a Happy Birthday. My son,Scott, told him about my birthday, I know. Anyhow, that was good of him.