Saturday and the Birthday Bash

 Let's see how many of these classmates I can identify. Let's see..left to right there is Shirley Cook Roberts, Me, Mary Lee Lankard Cornett,  Pat Easton Robertson, Phyllis Gardner Krenz,  Charlotte Nease,  Bessie Scofield, Carol Sue DeBerry Bond, and Trini Rosales Kelly.

Back row of men: Left to right: Ray Hill, Charles Shaw, Larry Owens,  Jim Cable, Ron Morris, Tom Benefiel,  and John Wade.

The two at the very back are Gene Garman and Jeff Powers.

Today is the 80th Birthday Bash. I went to Eggberts for a big breakfast this morning with Bob and will not eat lunch.  We will have an early supper at Lanning's at 5:00 instead. I generally don't eat in the late afternoon because it doesn't help e to sleep well. I didn't sleep well again last night. I awoke at 1:00 and had to take a Benedril to get back to sleep.

I let Missy out for about 30 minutes this morning and she really enjoyed it. She went around to the east side and ate some grass we had not trimmed next to the patio there.  Then Bob came and we went to breakfast.

More later... I need to go to work for an hour.

I worked my hour and  came home to get around and ready for the Birthday Bash at 2:00. I still need to get my apples for the apple crisp Sunday evening. I will do that after the breakfast on Sunday morning.

After 2:00....

The 80th Birthday Bash was a success. We had 43 reservations but only 36 showed up. Since they had not notified us they were not coming, the class had to pay for their meals. That put us $98. in the hole.  Luckily the class treasurer was there and had the checkbook so we could pay the bill. All in all the group who attended had a good time.

This one of my classmates and the second photo is some of them visiting.

You can see we're all pushing 80. :)


The big surprise happened about 3:00 when one of the waitresses came in and told us we had to move our group of 36 upstairs. She said they had a reservation for 100 coming in at 4:00 for a buffet dinner.  I told her there was no way I was going to move thirty six 80 year olds up a flight of stairs.  Two of them walk with a cane.  Plus, we also had a buffet dinner and it was there in the room we had reserved. And besides that, we had reserved the room seven months ago and had stayed in touch. Just this past week, their owner had e-mailed me the menu and the cost per person and confirmed our reservation. Luckily I had printed off the e-mail and showed it to her.  She took the e-mail and called her boss who confirmed that we had the room and we were the group with the buffet. I was thankful I had printed off that e-mail and took it with me.  That gave me a jolt.  But I was adamant!

Personally, I was not all that happy with the room. It needed to be redecorated badly but it was the only place in town with a room large enough to accommodate our group. Also we were served with plastic dinnerware. But the food was good.  This is my last reunion..for good! I do not sleep when I have too many things going in a small amount of time.

I brought some of the leftover buffet home for Monday's dinner.  Tomorrow is the breakfast and I hope Sirloin Stockade has our room reserved for the breakfast Sunday morning.

I got into the recliner with Missy at  9:00 and promptly fell asleep there.  I got up and went to bed at 10:30.

Friday At Last

I didn't sleep all that well last night. I woke up at 2:00 and couldn't get back to sleep. At 3:00 I got up and took a Benedril.  Then I slept until 6:00.

I will go to exercise class this morning and first try to figure out what I want to have for lunch. I'm out of fresh ideas. I may run up to Country Mart and see if they have anything in the meat department to inspire me.  I need two or three things so that would not be an unnecessary trip.

Be back soon. 

While we were at exercises, Karan offered us some homemade veggie soup. I gratefully accepted. I love her veggie soup. We had it at 11:30. It was delicious! 

Then I went on to work. I put away a lot of DVDs because Paula wasn't there. She graduates today and probably will not be back now.  Her job was a part of a school program. Katie came in later and I scanned another aisle of books. Slowly but surely I am getting closer to half of the non fiction.  I go in for an hour Saturday morning to make up for taking off an hour  early on Wednesday to see Denise at the hospital. They released her yesterday until time for her D & C. Bob took her home in the late morning.  He will go see her some time tomorrow morning.

Thursday and Another Work Day

Today I will go to Independence and get my hair redone for the 80th Birthday Bash on Saturday. Mowing in the rain yesterday really did it in.  I didn't sleep very well again last night. I have too much going on in May and I can't put my mind to rest..  I'll be glad when all this is over. Especially that trip to Texas the last four days of the month.

I got up at 4:00 this morning. It was raining hard again. I am so glad I got my yard mowed yesterday morning.

We will have our leftover meatloaf for dinner today. I will fix some fried potatoes and a veggie to go with it and we will finish off Bob's coleslaw.

But first after I get home from Independence this morning, I want to check in on Denise at the hospital.

More later...

I did drop in to see Denise after I got back home from Independence. And this evening she is looking better and is getting a transfusion. I had e-mailed her sister about her situation after I posted it on this blog because she sometimes reads my blog. I didn't want her to be terribly surprised and wonder why she wasn't told.  She sent some lovely flowers and called her and Denise was very pleased.

Actually this morning she told me that Dr. Miller, the gynecologist, said she might have cancer and he wants to do a D & C as soon as he gets her blood level back where it should be.  He will get the Pap smear back in 5 days and by then he will have done the D & C and should know something.

This evening after work I dropped back by the hospital to see her again.  Her dad was there too. We stayed about thirty minutes and then left so she could enjoy her dinner. Dr. Miller dropped in to check on her while we were there. Why on earth it takes 5 days to get a pap smear back from the lab is beyond me. And he still doesn't have a plan for when to do the D & C.  He says he is still waiting for her blood count to come back up.

Katie wasn't at work today so I put away a lot of DVDs and also repaired and cleaned  seven DVDs.  I did some shelf reading and worked in the back room organizing things there again.

Bob is here for wine so I will finish  this and do some more tomorrow.

Oh yes.....I got an e-mail from Dean and he was sick all day today with A-Fib and decided not to come at all  to the reunion.  He is "wiped out"  he says. That simplifies my life. 

Wednesday and Exercises

I had a hair appointment Monday and missed exercises.  I intend to go today though. I slept really well last night and don't recall waking up at all until time to get up. I tried to watch "The Roosevelts" on PBS but the exhaustion caught up with me at 9:00 and I gave up and went to bed.

I called the landlady day before yesterday and asked to have the lawn mowed. It had been two weeks last Monday since it was mowed. She said she would check with the mower. The grass is between 6 and 8 inches high. I couldn't mow last week because of all the rain. It has been lovely two days in a row now and it still isn't mowed. I told her I am having company this weekend and would like it mowed. So far...no luck. We are forecast for rain tonight and Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  If he doesn't mow today, I will mow myself after I get back from exercises. I will just mow the front and the east side, which is my area. The back will be left for him.  We  do not get the wonderful service the former owner gave us. He mowed like clockwork...every week. This landlady has it mowed every two weeks. If I want it mowed weekly I have to mow it myself between their mowings. What a mess!

Here you can get an idea of what it looked like on Monday.

We will have our leftover meatloaf today for lunch. I will fry some potatoes and we will have a veggie. I still have Bob's coleslaw too.

My Mother's Day tulips are in the process of opening now. Here's some photos  of them now. Scott and Ginger sent them to me. I received them on Saturday.

I wonder if Katie will have me scan bar codes again today. My hands are sore from yesterday. Some of those books are tomes. You have to remove the book from the shelf and open the cover to find the bar code. Twice yesterday, the entire shelf of books fell over while I was taking a book out to scan.  That was a mess.

We are planning to eat out tomorrow. I will get my hair done again at 8:00 AM so it will look nice for Saturday and the 80th Birthday Bash.  It is also house cleaning day so I will be pretty tired by the time I go to work. My hair is all out of shape so it didn't hold up well this time. It was time for my haircut but Kathy forget to schedule it so it will be cut on Monday next week.

More later....

Well, the plan changed. When we got back from exercise class, I found the lawn still was not mowed. And it was beginning to mist. I had Bob start the little mower for me and I very quickly mowed the front and the parking and the east side. I did not do the back.  Bob trimmed and swept the walks for me. The back yard  is huge. It will be three weeks on Monday since they last mowed.    How disgusting!

Anyhow, when I finished mowing. we decided to just eat out today instead of tomorrow. We will have our meat loaf on Thursday. I will start the potatoes after I get back from my hair appointment. I will clean on Friday morning since Dean is not coming until Saturday.

Sure enough! Katie had me scan bar codes again.  I left early though after I learned from Bob that his younger daughter, Denise, was in the hospital. She had lost a lot of blood and was severely depleted and her reading was down to 23  instead of about 40, where it should have been. I told Katie I would make up the hour I lost on Saturday morning at 9:00.

Denise was doing better when I got there but her blood count continued to drop.  She will see the gynecologist on Wednesday next week to try to determine what the problem is.

I got home at 5:30 and after Bob went back to the hospital to check on Denise, he came over for wine and we watched Nature together on PBS. When he left I took my bath and sat in the recliner with Missy until bedtime.

Tuesday and Hamburgers

Today we will have hamburgers and french fries. We had our meatloaf yesterday and it was good.  I fixed boiled potatoes with it and green beans. Bob brought his coleslaw. We will eat that again tomorrow. Thursday, which is my house cleaning morning, we will eat out.

Dean, my classmate, will not be coming until Saturday morning.  He will stay in my extra bedroom Saturday night. Actually, I intend to take the daybed in the den myself and put him in my bedroom where the bed is better.  We'll see how that works out. I sleep on that daybed when Keith and Esther come and do just fine.  Keith and Esther will be here next week on Thursday evening to see me and for Scott's wedding. But one thing at a time. First I have to get through this 80th Birthday Bash this coming weekend. (I won't be 80 until December).

I don't know what will happen at work today. That mess is still there and the new furniture probably won't be coming right away....maybe in a day or two.

The weather kind of concerns me for that flight to Dallas/Ft Worth on the 26th. I'm not wild about flying anymore anyhow but with storms to consider too, I am even less interested. Flying has become such a hassle.

The woman I am picking up for the trip to Independence on the 26th to catch the van that will take us to Wichita to catch the plane..is a smoker. I won't let anyone smoke in my car. Aime has already warned her that she will have to smoke outside and not in my car, nor in the van and, of course, not on the plane, or in the motel room. I'm sorry... but people with addictions annoy me. My mom died of pulmonary fibrosis and my step dad died of lung cancer.  This woman is working with this program at minimum wage to supplement her low income and she has got to be spending a couple of hundred dollars a month on cigarettes.  Plus it will wreck her health and that just doesn't make sense to me.

Enough of my prejudices ...more news later ...

This afternoon was a huge day! I had to scan an aisle of books that were huge.   It took me two hours and my arms really hurt afterward. Then I put away DVDs in the last hour.

The new desks came in today.  The girls were putting all their stuff away this afternoon.

Bob came over and we had wine again. When he leaves, I will take my bath and sit in the recliner with Missy.

Monday Again

Well, it's Monday again. I took Missy out for awhile after I got dressed and ready for work this morning but she had only been out a few minutes and that little cat that looks a little like her decided to come over.  Missy growled and advanced toward him and I had to convince her to come back in the house.  Needless to say, she was not a happy kitty.

I am thawing hamburger for meatloaf for today's lunch. I will boil some potatoes for parsley potatoes. We will have a veggie and Bob's salad too.  I may get some pudding mix.  It's been awhile since we've had pudding.

I also have a hair appointment this morning at 10:00. For the 80th Birthday Bash on Saturday, I will have it done again on Thursday. I will not go to exercise class this morning. I missed last Friday too. That's when I planted my east flowerbed. I just have so much free time to get those things done.

There's a good chance Dean, one of my classmates, will stay here with me this weekend. I was hoping there would be no rain for this event but it looks like rain is in the forecast. Darn! That may influence how many of the classmates attend. The weather has been so erratic.  Lots of rain.The lawn needs mowing in the worst way and I am hoping the mower will come today. It was two weeks ago when it was last mowed. I was unable to mow this past week because of the rain and being exhausted from the job. So it really needs it!

I fixed biscuits for my breakfast this morning. It's been awhile since I have had them. I have been having oatmeal but I need to get some more oatmeal this morning after the Dollar General store opens at 7:00.  I will need it for my meatloaf.

More later....

What an afternoon this was at work! When I walked  in, there was stuff everywhere. The office area was empty and everything was stacked in the back room. They were bringing in the new office furniture and the counter was stacked a foot and a half high with DVDs from the weekend...a typical Monday for the DVDs.

I got out of the DVD area as soon as I could and put away the few cases that I had time to empty and put away. Then it dawned on them! The furniture they brought did not fit the office area. It was too large. Supposedly they had measured but somewhere the entire process hit a glitch. Only Katie's furniture fit her space so they installed hers. The other worked all afternoon on banquet type tables. It was a mess! I finally got back into the office area at that point and again started putting away the DVDs. Then Aime came for our interview. It was the better part of an hour with her as she went over the details of our trip  that starts the day after Memorial Day. I will be gone four days. Bob will come over and feed Missy and take care of her litter box.

When Aime left, I began once again on the mountain of DVDs.  I finished at five minutes until 5:00. I also put away the new fiction books and also the magazines.  It was a huge day! Monday always is since parents let their kids check out 5 DVDs each and they check five out too. Instead of reading, people, including kids, just watch video movies...one after the other all weekend. School will be out next week and  eery day will be a Monday. What a tragedy!

When I got home I fed Missy and cleaned her litter box and relaxed. I was out of Chai Latte so I just had wine when Bob came in.  He stayed until 7:00 but there was nothing on TV of interest on Monday evening. We did order some Keurig coffees since we were both running low. I took my bath and sat in the recliner with Missy on my lap.  I watched the weather channel. At 9:00, I went to bed. 

Sunday Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day and Leslie and John have made reservations for us to eat at Tavern on the Plaza after church.  That's always a nice treat. I am looking forward to it. Keith and Esther sent me a lovely card and a nice deposit in my checking account. Scott and Ginger sent me some wonderful tulips. You can see them on the table on the post from yesterday. My kids are terrific. Even Missy, my cat, gave me a card. Bob delivered it for her last evening. I wish I could scan it and post it here. It is hilarious!

We will go to church this morning and after I get home from lunch with the kids, I will do my letters and then later on watch 60 Minutes.

Bob just came in. It's early for church but he wanted to read the paper before we take it to my son-in-law, John, at church.

The next couple of weeks will be very busy.  Next weekend I expect a classmate to come on Friday and stay here at my apartment for the 80th Birthday Bash on Saturday and the breakfast Sunday morning.  Then that Sunday evening I am to host the Living the Questions group.  Gretchen will be here and also the Bredesens will be back. Everyone will want to see all of them so I may have a good crowd.  Bobby and Karan are back from Illinois. They finished their work a week early.

More later....

Well, I had a busy afternoon.  After a lovely dinner at Tavern on the Plaza, I  came home and put together the congregational newsletter and got it out on the mailbox with a birthday card for John.

We had a new member move into our area and she came to church this morning. I wanted to give her a directory but we were completely out so after I finished the letters I printed off another two directories.  Karan will sew up the center seam since she has a sewing machine.  Then I will send one on to the new member.  Then she will have access to each of us.  She gave me her address and telephone number.

Later Bob came over to watch 60 minutes with me but we only got to see a quarter of it and the TV station in Tulsa interrupted programming to follow a thunderstorm in southern Oklahoma. Bob went home and I just turned it off and took my bath and watched an entirely different station and program. 
We use to get a Pittsburg, Kansas here and we were able to get Kansas news and a different CBS station we could have turned to but they cancelled that channel since they say we are in the Tulsa, Oklahoma marketing area. It's all about the advertisers! Disgusting!  At 9:00, Missy and I went to bed.