Saturday and a Cook Free Day

This morning Bob will come by to pick me up for breakfast at Sirloin Stockade.  Later we may go to "Just Us" for lunch. I wouldn't mind just having our leftover broccoli soup but we'll see how hungry we are at noon.

I slept really well last night and woke up shortly before 5:00AM....my usual rising time. I always make my bed as soon as I get up and dress and make up my face. When I look in the mirror before that, I see my grandmother looking back to me.  :) Oh my!

I fixed myself one cup of coffee to get my eyes open and get me going for the day. When the rain stops today, I must go to the market. My list is growing. Bob said he went yesterday afternoon when the rain let up but when he came out of Wal Mart it was really pouring.

I see the Mets won last night's game three of the World Series. I just couldn't stay up for it. Missy and I went to bed at 9:00. I watched it just through the 5th inning. I hadn't had much sleep the night before.

I may continue my shredding today. I got half the bottom drawer finished yesterday...through the Ps.  It's a big job and I may try to keep it up as I go along to avoid having to go through this again and to get everything organized.  Now I have my own shredder. When I am gone the kids will be amazed at how organized I have been. :) 

More later....

Breakfast was good but filling. We may actually decide to eat our leftover soup for lunch and save "Just Us" for Sunday after church. Phyllis may want to go with us.  Now I am catching up on working on the sermon for November 22nd. I may share it here later. I am still doing some editing on it.

We did have the leftover soup for lunch. We had such a big breakfast.  Later I worked on shredding again. I should be able to get that finished this next week.  Bob came over in the evening and we went over to Braums for a treat.  he left at 8:00 and Missy and I watched TV for awhile and then went to bed at 9:00.

Friday Again and Lots of Complications

Well, it's Friday again and I spent the morning shredding old documents and fixing lunch. We had our leftover meatloaf, boiled potatoes, veggies and Bob's coleslaw. He had the last two sugar cookies, When I finish this blog, I will make peanut butter cookies. I always have to have some cookies around here.

Leeann's mother passed away last Tuesday and they are having her Celebration of Life this next Tuesday at our church. We are to fix dinner for ten or so afterwards. I agreed to fix a dessert...my cherry pie cake. It's easy and very good.  That also is the day I take the cakes to Independence and at 9:00 that day I also have my long hair appointment. The service doesn't start until 10:30 so I should be able to get back to the church by then. Then they are going to Independence to the cemetery to leave her mom's ashes. Dinner isn't until 12:30 or 1:00.  I will leave our cakes on the way to Independence. It will be there then. I hope that timing all works out.  It will be a very busy Tuesday. I woke up sometime after 2:00 with all this on my mind. I never did get back to sleep and just got up shortly after 4:00 AM.

Next Wednesday, depending on the weather, we had intended to go to Branson and stay overnight and see a show Wednesday night. If it rains, we may not go. We will play it by ear.

It's raining today. I don't know if it's forecast for all day or not. I had hoped to go to Wal Mart and get a few groceries. But I may not go if it continues raining.  Justin had intended to mow this evening but that won't happen now.

More later....

It rained all day today and I never did make it to the market. I made chocolate chip cookies instead of the peanut butter cookies. I must have used up both the other mixes. I buy the Wal Mart brand because each box has two mixes in them and each makes three dozen cookies. It's a lot simpler to just add a cube of softened oleo and an egg and stir up the batter and bake them.  We go through a lot of cookies between the two of us.  I will try to buy all three mixes if they have them when I finally get to the market.

I spent the afternoon organizing my file cabinet and shredding old documents.  I'm keeping receipts a year and then shredding them.  I'm keeping my Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield receipts a year too.

Saturday we will go to breakfast at 7:30. Then later at lunchtime, we plan to go to "Just Us" for lunch.  We could eat our leftover broccoli cheese soup but it depends on how hungry we are at noon.

This evening, Jeannie, who lives next door, called and asked if I had water. I turned on the faucet to a trickle of water. I called the water company and reported it. They sent a crew right out. Someone had hit the meter at the Dollar General store on the corner and all our water was pouring onto the street.  They got it repaired and called me back to check if I had water. I had to get Missy off my lap to check and she was mad!

I had already had a sponge before I went to bed and put my PJs on and then later went on to bed....without my bath.

Thursday and Breakfast

Today is the day I stripped my bed to wash the bedding. I will go to breakfast with the girls at 9:00. In the meantime, I am waiting for my bedding to dry so I can remake my bed.

I see the Royals won another game in the World Series. That's two in a row. Hopefully they can continue winning until they have four games.  It's their turn.  I'll bet Grant is delighted. He and his son are fast fans.

I'm not sure what we'll do for lunch. After such a heavy and late breakfast, I usually don't have much appetite. I suggested potato soup.  Bob was unsure. He wants to go to "Just Us". It really doesn't make that much difference to me. I would just eat pretty light.

Missy is wanting to go outside. It's still dark out there so I have told her "no, not yet".  She does not like to be told "no".  She reached up to try to scratch me on the arm. I dodged just in time. It is getting light so maybe I'd better take her out while I am still here.  It's pretty chilly out there and she might just want to come back in the house.

More later...

Bob dropped by for awhile since I will be going to breakfast. he brought a soup mix that he had.  We may eat that instead of my fixing potato soup. He left to go shave.

I remade my bed and put away my PJs  and now I am dry cleaning some tops in my dryer with Dryel.  It works beautifully and does not shrink or stretch my tops. I do that every once in awhile rather then wash them and dry them in the dryer wet. I do four or five at a time. It takes about three or four different dry cleaning episodes and that many separate dryer cloths in the bag to do all my tops. Another five or ten minutes and these should be finished.  I will wait until after breakfast to do the next load.

I sent a letter to the editor of our newspapers about the political situation. At least one of them is going to use it. 

More even later...

We had a good breakfast this morning. Joyce, Karan, Gretchen and Marilyn were able to come.  Marilyn told us about her trip to Grease and Turkey via a cruise trip. She had a wonderful time with her younger sister, Annie, but is very tired. Marilyn is 81  and beginning to feel her age.

When I got home I read some catalogs that Marilyn brought me. Then I began lunch. I had broccoli cheese soup and it was very good.  Bob stayed a while but left just as I was leaving for the market. I bought some sale cake mixes for our cake project and some for Bob as well as some icings and a pan with a cover. Now we are ready for next week when we bake cakes again.

One of our church goers at church lost her mother on Tuesday and we will have her celebration of life on Tuesday and afterward we will fix dinner for the family. The woman had a stroke and never recovered after her surgery.

Bob and I are planning to go to Branson on Wednesday if the weather is not rainy. If we go. we will stay over until Thursday.

I worked yesterday cleaning the leaves out of my  flowerbeds. I have asked Betty to have Justin mow another time to mulch the leaves and get them away from my air conditioner. She said he would call this evening and she would ask him to do that.

I took some photos of them before it gets really cold and I have to put the annuals out of the above the ground flowerbed that my son-in-law built for me. The other bed has lavender in it and it lived over last winter.

Here are the three I took just now.

This is the lavender bed.  This is the one I cleaned the leaves out of yesterday.

This is the northeast end of that bed.

This one is the bed of annuals.

It is pretty wild looking right now. After I clean it out after the first frost, I will wait until spring to re-plant it.

This is the flowers I have in front of my apartment in pots. I will replant them, in the spring too.

More later....

Wednesday and Cooking Again.

I will bake my meatloaf today for lunch.  We will have a baked potato and veggies and Bob will bring coleslaw for our salad. We will have the rest of the pudding and cookies for dessert. I told Marilyn I would bring her some meatloaf.  She doesn't cook. And we will have it again on Friday, I imagine.

I didn't sleep all that well last night.  I woke up after 3:30 and got up to go to the bathroom. Then Missy got inspired and I heard her scratching in the litter  box and got up to clean that up. Then just as I was about to go back to sleep, I heard her in there again. I went in and flushed that and then just gave up about 4:30 and got up. :) Cats!

Scott called this morning to visit about the news yesterday about the dangers of red meat and processed meats in general.  I suggested he try the Fleischmann's Olive Oil product in the place of oleo or butter.  He might give it a try.

This week is Neewollah in Independence. I don't know if we will try to go up there for any of it. We are considering going to Branson next week on Wednesday and Thursday.  Diana gave Bob some credit for the trip and some shows but it will depend on the weather. We will watch the weather channel next week. I would get out the feeder for Missy and put out two dishes of water for her. That would hold her for two days without anyone here.

When I talked to Scott this morning, he told me they were counting on me coming down there after their house is finished and stay a week. I told him it couldn't be June though since Leslie and I intend to go to World Conference of the church June 4 - 11. I hope we can stay with Stoner's again.

I am amazed at how much better I feel since I quit the job at the library.  It was really taking it's toll on me.

More later....

I took some photos at the Conference on Saturday and just got them downloaded to my drive from the camera. I will share any good ones. This is Vivian, our new Mission Center President.

This is my daughter, Leslie, on the far right. She is visiting with Woody and Jody, whose backs are to the camera.  Looking into the camera are another couple Patsy and Lester. I've known them for ages too.

Now you can see Jody and Woody. They are old friends.

Tuesday and Hair Day

As usual, I have my hair done on Tuesday. I took Bob to Independence with me to see his sister, Betty. Unfortunately, she was gone. So he went to Wal  Mart while   I had my hair done. Then I went to Juanita's and balanced her checkbook.  We visited awhile and then Bob came to pick me up.

We went to Big Cheese for lunch. They are getting ready for Neewollah in Independence. It begins tomorrow. That's their big city wide Halloween celebration. They will be closing streets tomorrow for the rest of the week.

Anyhow, after that we came on back to Coffeyville and I took Bob home. I returned the book to Paula's office this afternoon and stopped by Braums and bought some milk.  I had to use half and half on my oatmeal this morning.

I will start reading my second book this afternoon. It's called Barbara and Me. It was written by a local woman. Bob read it and found it interesting.

Scott called me yesterday evening and talked to me about the news from the World Health Organization that processed meat causes cancer.  I didn't say anything to him about it at the time but I have read that our bodies have all kinds of bad cancer cells and toxic bacteria that we carry around all the time. If our immune system is strong, it wards that bad stuff off. But if our immune system breaks down, then often some of that stuff spreads and we become sick. 

More later....

I tried to stay with the second book this afternoon  but just couldn't. I did return Paula's book to the dentist office.

Later in the evening, Bob came over for an hour or so but I was going to watch the World Series and he wasn't interested. I watched until the 6th inning but just couldn't stay awake. I went to bed after the Royals caught up with the Mets.  Later I learned the game had gone 14 innings and the Royals won 5 to 4.  I was glad I didn't stay up for all of it. I'd never have made it.

Monday and House Cleaning

Today I will clean house. I won't have to cook since we have half that casserole left from last night.  I also want to finish that book I borrowed from Paula at the dentist office. I ordered myself one and also one for Scott. It should be as long as 10 days before I receive them.

I have my new sweeper and am anxious to try it out. I didn't clean last Thursday and really have no reason to wait until Thursday to do that any more. In fact, since I am meeting the girls for breakfast on Thursday morning, Monday will be a better day to do it.

Every day I wake up to the realization that I don't have to go to work anymore. That feels so good.  I feel so much better since I don't have to stand on my feet all afternoon anymore. My hands still hurt quite a  bit but I am hoping that will eventually clear up too. At least I can wear my ring on my left hand now.

Bob and I may eat at Just Us tomorrow instead of at Big Cheese. I can probably find parking as early as my 9:00 appointment for my hair but with Neewollah going on there in Independence this week, we would not be able to get close to Big Cheese.  I'll discuss that with Bob when I see him after his exercise class.  

More later....

We will just play it by ear on lunch tomorrow. I did put some ground beef in the frig to thaw for meatloaf on Wednesday. Juanita called this morning to say her bank statement was in and she asked if I could come tomorrow and balance her checkbook.  I told her I would. Bob can visit his sister, Betty.

I got the house cleaned this morning before lunch and dusted the den and the living room. I will finish the dusting this afternoon later. I have been reading the book Footsteps in the Dew again.

More again even later...

I finished the book before I went to bed at 10:00.  I found the author online and ordered two copies.  One is for me and the other is for Scott, my younger son.  It was an interesting book.

A Huge Weekend and a Huge Sunday Too

This has been a huge weekend. Leslie picked me up about 3:30 on Friday and we drove to Springfield and checked into our hotel.  Then we went looking for the movie wewanted to see. It didn't begin until 9:30 so we just ate a small milkshake at Steak and Shake and went back to the hotel and watched TV until bedtime.

Then the next morning after we had a light breakfast at the hotel, we went on to Chapel for Peace, which is our church in Springfield.  We saw and visited a lot of people we both know and Leslie went to her campgrounds board meeting.  I sat in on it. Afterward, the Conference began. It was quite a good conference. Leslie and I were both voted to be delegates to the week long World Conference in June.  This will be the first time they will hold it in June. Many teachers will be able to attend this year. 

Then last evening we drove home. I read some on the book I had borrowed but couldn't keep my eyes open to finish it.

Missy was not all that happy that I was home. She wanted to go outside and pestered the living daylights out of me to do so. Bob had come over to take care of her food and water while I was gone and to empty her litter box but he evidently did not let her out. 

I went to bed at 10:00 and slept well.

Today I will make my coffeecake to take to church, I will pick up Bob at 9:00 and go out there. After church, we will undoubtedly eat somewhere out with the group of eight. Then I will come home and do my congregational letters and fix something for the Living the Questions group this evening at Mona's. At 5:15, I will pick up Gary and Bob and we will go up to rural Independence where they live. Then we will have dinner before we watch the video and have our discussions.  I hope I can get all that done today.

More later...

The coffeecake was very good and it was all eaten. I came home  after dinner at El Pueblo and did my newsletters and then made a tuna noodle casserole for the dinner at Richard and Mona's.  I picked up Bob and Gary and drove out there for the group meeting. We have a good discussion and Gary, who is isolated because he has no car,  really enjoyed it.

Marilyn called. She was back to Colorado after visiting Turkey and Grease.  Hopefully she will be back in Coffeyville tomorrow. She said she would meet Joyce and Karan and me for breakfast on Thursday.

When I got home I stowed the rest of the tuna noodle casserole in the frig in a smaller casserole dish. We will finish it off today for lunch.  The I watched a little TV after my bath and then Missy and I went to bed about 10:00.