This will be my usual Saturday. I will meet Bob at 7:00 for breakfast at Eggberts. After that, I'm not sure what the day will bring. I need to look over my recipes and be sure I have all the ingredients I need for Tuesday's dinner. I did write to my nephew (Bob's older son) yesterday and invite him to Christmas dinner here. I haven't heard a word back from him.
We will go out to John and Leslie's tonight for our gift opening and snacks. I told Bob yesterday that he would not need to worry about gifts. He was invited for the snacks. He said he wondered about that.
Inky, my black outdoor cat, has disappeared again. I didn't see him at all yesterday. I had intended to let him sleep in my garage but he never came home. Someone else in the neighborhood may have given him shelter from the cold nights. The days are lovely...about 50 degrees.
Bob and I watched a video I rented yesterday from V & S variety. It was called "Iron Lady" and was about Margaret Thatcher. Meryl Streep starred in it and it was quite good. I have to return that video this morning before 1:00. I also need to get one of my prescriptions refilled.
I called Scott yesterday about 11:00 (7:00 AM his time) and we had a nice visit. He had finally got his car on Thursday. It was dirty so he cleaned it all up. His furniture still has not come. He is so happy to have his car. Now he can stop driving a rental car.
By the way, I recently bought two new books and I recommend both of them. The first is "Living the Questions" and is based on that "Living the Questions" DVD series my church school class studies before th "Saving Jesus" DVD we're studying now. . It is really a good book and easy to read and brings a lot of wonderful thinking for everyone to discuss and question.
The second is "The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why". This second one was recommended by our Mission Center to my daughter who was in study group there.
Bob and I went out to John and Leslie's this evening for snacks and to open gifts. We had a good time and ate way too many sweets. :)
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Holiday Friday
I worked all day yesterday to try to make up for the extra days my office is taking off over the holidays. I am off today and will not be back to work until next Wednesday when I'll work all day again. I'll get my hair done this morning and then come back home and dust and vacuum the house. Bob and I will go up to Great China in Independence for lunch.
He came over about 6:00 last night and we had eggnog from Brahms and ginger cookies while we watched the "Lincoln Lawyer" on DVD. It was pretty good. I never could figure it all out. That makes it a good story.
We will take treats over to John and Leslie's tomorrow evening for the gift exchange. I will take some of my peanut clusters and he will take his holiday bread...I don't know which kind. He bakes several.
Keith called yesterday morning and we had a nice visit. Leslie has been staying in closer touch over the holiday. But I haven't heard much from Scott lately. He must be pretty busy. I wanted to tell him that Bob and I saw "Lincoln" at the movies last weekend. He wanted to be sure we did. It was a very good movie and will probably take many of the Oscars.
More later...
I called and talked to Scott about 11:00. He is getting ready to go to California on leave and spend some of the time with Jerod, his son, and his son's new wife. That will be good for him.
He came over about 6:00 last night and we had eggnog from Brahms and ginger cookies while we watched the "Lincoln Lawyer" on DVD. It was pretty good. I never could figure it all out. That makes it a good story.
We will take treats over to John and Leslie's tomorrow evening for the gift exchange. I will take some of my peanut clusters and he will take his holiday bread...I don't know which kind. He bakes several.
Keith called yesterday morning and we had a nice visit. Leslie has been staying in closer touch over the holiday. But I haven't heard much from Scott lately. He must be pretty busy. I wanted to tell him that Bob and I saw "Lincoln" at the movies last weekend. He wanted to be sure we did. It was a very good movie and will probably take many of the Oscars.
More later...
I called and talked to Scott about 11:00. He is getting ready to go to California on leave and spend some of the time with Jerod, his son, and his son's new wife. That will be good for him.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
All Day Thursday
I will be working all day today and the next three Wednesdays. I am trying to make up the time I will lose as the office shuts down an extra day for each holiday. I can't make up the holiday itself but I can make up the time lost in the two Mondays I will miss.
Bob is going to pick me up and take me to work today, pick me up for lunch (we will eat at Sirloin Stockade) and then bring me home this evening after work. That's his idea and I am agreeable.
Tomorrow we will also eat out. That's my day off and Bob wants to go to either "Just Us" or "Great China". We will make that decision tomorrow. Then Saturday we always eat breakfast out. There will be a little less home cooking until I get this work time made up. I just paid my car insurance in November, half my taxes this month and will pay my house insurance next month. I will watch my money carefully during this very expensive time for my budget.
We are going to Leslie's on Saturday night for gift opening and refreshments. She will have her famous egg nog, complete with "nog". It is my one break with being a teetotaler. I love her egg nog. If she wants me to, I will take my peanut clusters. I made them this week and have managed to stay out of them. I took some to my hairdresser on Tuesday and some to the office too. Those were gone almost immediately. I will take them some more today.
I will cook on Monday. I have the ham and will fix my Waldorf salad and potato salad on Monday. It is always better when it sits overnight in the frig. I will bake two pies...one, a mince, for Bob and a pumpkin for John and Leslie. I hope my crust turns out better this time. I was disappointed in the Thanksgiving pies.
We watched "The Help" last night. I had read the book and it seemed to follow the book very well. We enjoyed it.
We are forecast for snow today. It remains to be seen if we get it.
Bob is going to pick me up and take me to work today, pick me up for lunch (we will eat at Sirloin Stockade) and then bring me home this evening after work. That's his idea and I am agreeable.
Tomorrow we will also eat out. That's my day off and Bob wants to go to either "Just Us" or "Great China". We will make that decision tomorrow. Then Saturday we always eat breakfast out. There will be a little less home cooking until I get this work time made up. I just paid my car insurance in November, half my taxes this month and will pay my house insurance next month. I will watch my money carefully during this very expensive time for my budget.
We are going to Leslie's on Saturday night for gift opening and refreshments. She will have her famous egg nog, complete with "nog". It is my one break with being a teetotaler. I love her egg nog. If she wants me to, I will take my peanut clusters. I made them this week and have managed to stay out of them. I took some to my hairdresser on Tuesday and some to the office too. Those were gone almost immediately. I will take them some more today.
I will cook on Monday. I have the ham and will fix my Waldorf salad and potato salad on Monday. It is always better when it sits overnight in the frig. I will bake two pies...one, a mince, for Bob and a pumpkin for John and Leslie. I hope my crust turns out better this time. I was disappointed in the Thanksgiving pies.
We watched "The Help" last night. I had read the book and it seemed to follow the book very well. We enjoyed it.
We are forecast for snow today. It remains to be seen if we get it.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Busy Wednesday
Friday I will need to go to the market and get the things I will need for Christmas dinner. I haven't had it here for four years.
Last night Bob and I watched another video. We watched the old "Home Alone" video Phyllis had recorded. It was just as funny this time around. We had watched "The Notebook" the night before and that was a little painful for Bob.
I don't know what we will watch this evening. Maybe it will be the old "Somewhere in Time". I am still waiting for the "The Help" to arrive. I had hoped to have it by now.
Inky, my outdoor cat, is in the garage now. He rushed in when I opened the garage door this morning. I think several neighbors may be feeding him besides myself. He likes to sleep next to my hot water tank on a swing cushion I have put there for him and an old rag rug on top of that. Missy hates him and hisses and spits every time she sees him in my garage. What a hostile cat.
I need to get some bird seed for my birds. We have a forecast of snow tonight. It isn't a big chance but it is a chance.
Bob called me just when I got off work last night and suggested we eat a small hamburger and a small shake at Brahms for supper so I met him there and that's what we did. Today we will have pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies and cottage cheese with pineapple. Then we will eat the other dishes of pudding and some of the new cookies for dessert.
More later...
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Yesterday's Tragedy
Over the weekend the family of one of our members lost their home and everything they own to a home fire begun as an electrical problem. The children lost their Christmas gifts as well. I spent yesterday morning before work trying to round up assistance for them. Today my daughter will get a gift card from our church for them to replace the clothing and toys the children lost. They have a three year old boy, an eleven year old girl and a 16 year old girl. The parent's clothing has just smoke damage. They had no insurance. They were renovating a mobile home, adding on two bedrooms and a bath and couldn't get insurance at that point.
I talked to the children's grandmother yesterday morning. She told me that on top of all that on Friday her son was driving up the road near our church and hit a puddle during the rain and went into the ditch where his car turned over several times. It took the jaws of life to cut him out of the car. The car was completely demolished. He was sent to the Joplin hospital where they had a plastic surgeon available. His nose was broken and he had facial cuts as well. She went to Joplin on Saturday and brought him home from the hospital. Of course, he aches all over. The only reason he wasn't killed is the car was an '89 Oldsmobile...a huge car. Now he is looking for an older cheap car or pickup to replace it.
I told the grandmother, who is our church member, if her family didn't have bad luck they wouldn't have any luck at all. We will do what we can to help.
That's why I didn't blog yesterday.
I talked to the children's grandmother yesterday morning. She told me that on top of all that on Friday her son was driving up the road near our church and hit a puddle during the rain and went into the ditch where his car turned over several times. It took the jaws of life to cut him out of the car. The car was completely demolished. He was sent to the Joplin hospital where they had a plastic surgeon available. His nose was broken and he had facial cuts as well. She went to Joplin on Saturday and brought him home from the hospital. Of course, he aches all over. The only reason he wasn't killed is the car was an '89 Oldsmobile...a huge car. Now he is looking for an older cheap car or pickup to replace it.
I told the grandmother, who is our church member, if her family didn't have bad luck they wouldn't have any luck at all. We will do what we can to help.
That's why I didn't blog yesterday.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Gun Control
How many children have to die before the government acts to limit the right to bear arms in America? Have the citizens who are the pawns of the NRA ever bothered to actually read the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution? Probably not. It was written in the day of no actual army in America…and no actual police force. There were Native Americans hostile to settlers in the west.
As passed by the Congress this is what the amendment actually says. :
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Please note that the amendment speaks of a “militia”. This was meant as protection against hostilities.
We now have police forces in America. And we also have an army and a National Guard. We do not have or need militias anymore. No one needs an assault weapon in America. Hunters do not use them and they are meant for the military. Again, how many children have to die? Since 1997, there have been 13 mass school shootings. And that is just the school shooting.
Violence is deeply embedded in the american soul. The U.S. has a long history of higher-than-normal violence compared with other developed nations and a thirst for violent entertainment (notice how the premier of the new movie Jack Reacher was postponed ... due to this. It shows that people do lose their interest in that kind of entertainment, at least briefly).
America is also in serious denial about mental health in general. Couple that with the fact that health insurance companies have traditionally done a very poor job of covering mental health ... even for those lucky enough to have health insurance in this country. Also, these 20-year-olds are just starting to develop their symptoms and often not diagnosed yet or even recognized to be sick.
My brother-in-law and I went to see "Lincoln" last night but before the movie even began, we had to sit through thirty minutes of violent previews and commercials for violent TV shows and "games"...if you can call them that. It made me sick to see how video games, TV and movies glorify killing and horror.
I will wait until the next movie I am interested in seeing comes out on DVD. I can fast forward past all that violence.
The NRA has the American people in their thrall. No doubt about it.
As passed by the Congress this is what the amendment actually says. :
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Please note that the amendment speaks of a “militia”. This was meant as protection against hostilities.
We now have police forces in America. And we also have an army and a National Guard. We do not have or need militias anymore. No one needs an assault weapon in America. Hunters do not use them and they are meant for the military. Again, how many children have to die? Since 1997, there have been 13 mass school shootings. And that is just the school shooting.
Violence is deeply embedded in the american soul. The U.S. has a long history of higher-than-normal violence compared with other developed nations and a thirst for violent entertainment (notice how the premier of the new movie Jack Reacher was postponed ... due to this. It shows that people do lose their interest in that kind of entertainment, at least briefly).
America is also in serious denial about mental health in general. Couple that with the fact that health insurance companies have traditionally done a very poor job of covering mental health ... even for those lucky enough to have health insurance in this country. Also, these 20-year-olds are just starting to develop their symptoms and often not diagnosed yet or even recognized to be sick.
My brother-in-law and I went to see "Lincoln" last night but before the movie even began, we had to sit through thirty minutes of violent previews and commercials for violent TV shows and "games"...if you can call them that. It made me sick to see how video games, TV and movies glorify killing and horror.
I will wait until the next movie I am interested in seeing comes out on DVD. I can fast forward past all that violence.
The NRA has the American people in their thrall. No doubt about it.
Busy Sunday
My e-mail is still down. I can send out but cannot receive e-mail. This has gone on since Friday afternoon and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. I have talked to Cox Communications four times and they give me no more hope of a resolution to their problem, They say their mail server crashed.
I have spent the morning wrapping my Christmas gifts. I am not sending off any and have bought for just those who are to be at John and Leslie's for dinner Christmas Day. I started my buying in September because I knew I would not have much money to spend. I also sent out a few more Christmas cards. They won't go out until Monday morning. Above is a photo of my tree with the gifts around it.
I wish all my readers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
More later.
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