Saturday and Breakfast Out

I slept well again last night and got up about 5:00.  Missy and I came out on the carport about 6:00. I got her food for her and started to make my breakfast when I realized this was Saturday and Bob and I would eat at Sirloin Stockade for breakfast.

So Missy and I came out on the carport at 6:00. We no sooner got out here and she looked across the street and that little male cat that looks a lot like her was out there. She began growling and hissing and I realized she was about to try to go over there to fight him.  So I opened the door and pushed her inside. She was mad at me! She waits to come out on the carport every morning and I made her go back in. As soon as he ran away I let her back out. But she is vigilant about watching for him. She lies here on her little rug and watches across the street.

I have watered the plants  in front and as soon as I can, I will water the tomato plant and the east side  flowers again. I gave them a good watering last evening but it was 100 degrees yesterday evening and it's supposed to be 102 today and with our humidity, that will be more like 108. We have a very humid temperature.

I feel sorry for my older son. He lives in Phoenix and really has high temperatures. ...sometimes 112 or even higher. August should be a scorcher! I dread seeing my electric bill for July and even worse for August.  Thank goodness my boys are helping me.

Missy is being really good and staying right here with me. She has been that way this week. She knows if I have trouble with her, she will have to go in.

I will pick up Bob this morning for breakfast. I'll go get him in about 50 minutes.

Gay e-mailed me this morning to say it is next week that is her very busy week. She wants Bob and me to come next Saturday the 30th. So we have changed our plans. Gay has her 96 year old mother staying with her and Tony and her time away is very limited.  So we can be flexible.

More later....

Well, we had  nice breakfast and when I got home I did a load of laundry and also ran the cat's afghans through the dryer on "fresh air". She had lots of hair on those afghans.  One of them was soiled too so I ran it through the laundry. The clothes are in the dryer now and the white afghan is in the laundry. While I was puttering around, I ran the vacuum. There was lots of cat hair in there too, I have to vacuum about twice a week to keep the cat hair down. I put in a new bag and rinsed out the filter  too.  Missy hates the vacuum. She hides under the daybed's cover when I run it.

Well, that's done for another few days.  It's almost 11:00 now and we don't have much lunch when we have a big breakfast downtown so I won't cook today. Bob is coming over some time today to check out his bank account on his notebook. I checked mine out. They still haven't taken the Prudential life insurance premium out this month. They usually take it out on the 20th.  The Blue Cross Blue Shield comes out on the 28th so it will be next week when they get that out.

More even later...

Bob came over this afternoon and checked his bank account and tried to read his mail. I had to do some maintenance on it to get it to open. He seldom does his updates and so things get sticky from time to time.   After he left I went to the bank and withdrew money for next week. He is not coming back this evening. There's really nothing on TV and I will read.

I texted Bob that True Grit was on the TV on AMC tonight and invited him over for TV and ice cream. He came and we tuned it. It was the re-make. It was not the one I was interested in watching. We found something else to watch for an hour and then at 8:00, he left. I took my bath and sat with Missy until 9:00 and then we went to bed. 

Friday and Exercise Class

Today I plan to go to exercise class since I missed on Wednesday because of my doctor's appointment.  I did not sleep well last night. I awoke at 2:15 and could not get back to sleep. Finally at 3:15, I got up and took a melatonin tablet. Then I slept until 6:00. I seldom sleep until 6:00.  When I got up, I felt slightly groggy. I am just now beginning to really feel woken up. I've had my breakfast and a cup of coffee and am having my chai now.  I also fed Missy. Next time I go in the house, I need to get her some fresh water.

Missy and I are out on the carport. We didn't get out here until after 6:30. First we both had breakfast and I always like to see the "Weather on the 8's" on the weather channel before I come out. I have the flowers in the front watered but still have to water those on the east side and the tomato plant.  I will do that a little later. I am driving today since Bob drove last time. I will pick him up at 8:40.  It's only 7:10 now.

Gay answered my e-mail this morning. She wants me to come up next Thursday for lunch and I will do that. She is housebound with her mom living there.  I don't know whether she wants me to bring Bob or not. I have asked her but don't have an answer yet. I have put it on my calendar. Juanita probably will have her bank statement by Tuesday when I go up to Independence for my hair appointment.

One of the primary reasons I don't want to go live with either of my sons is my friends. I have many friends here in Coffeyville and I would not know a soul in Florida or Arizona. I would certainly miss them and they would be too far away to come back to visit. I would be lost.

I picked up Bob for exercise class. That went well. The water department had moved all the tables back into the storage room after they used them but they were standing vertically and Delores, the person that works there, could not get them down by herself.  The chair rack was also in the wrong place and Bob and I moved it out and then put all the tables back horizontally like they were supposed to be. Delores was happy about that.

After the exercise class, I took him home until 11:30 when he comes over for lunch. We are having tuna cakes and fried potatoes and a veggie. He will bring a salad. We still have strawberries and shortcake for dessert. When I came by Dr. Miller's office, I noticed a water main break and now we have no water.

More later...

I just saw the latest photo from my son. It is the cementing of their hot tub and pool.



They are coming right along on that pool.

Lunch was good and we even finished off the strawberries. Then Bob went home to take a nap. The water was back on by 11:45...thank goodness!

I have been working on my budget this afternoon. Next month, besides my payment to Stan for my hearing aid, I will also have my tag and taxes for my car registration to pay. That will be another extra $136.66.  I will probably have to borrow that from my savings. I had hoped to get the last $200. paid back but it will have to wait until September to start that.  I still don't have July's electric bill and with these 100 degrees days, I have no idea what to expect.  I have all electric in this apartment.

More even later...

Thursday and Bob's Birthday Dinner

I've been up since shortly before 5:00 this morning. It seems I just can't sleep until 5:00 anymore. For one thing, Missy comes in and does a very low "meow" to tell me she wants me to get up. I usually just ignore her because I don't want her to get the idea that she can get me up. When she finally quiets down, I am ready to get up.  Then I sometimes learn she has used the litter box and wants me to know so I can flush it.

I got our breakfasts together and ate and then even while it wasn't quite light out, I took her out this morning. I took my coffee out too.  She has been very good. She is just lying here on her little white bath mat behaving herself.  She loves the outdoors but is very wary of it ever since she got hurt by a stray cat right after I moved in here over three years ago.  I always come out with her to corral her.

Today Bob will try to use his birthday coupon for lunch. I will buy my lunch and he will get his free if Rick, the manager, will still honor it. He thought he had until the end of the month to use it and it turns out he was supposed to have used it by the 19th.  If Rick will not honor it, he will have to buy his lunch too. I have a feeling Rick will honor it.

I am not sure what we will have for lunch tomorrow...perhaps tuna cakes. I just can't seem to get interested in cooking right now.  I really need to go through my recipes and get creative.

I have those brownies I made yesterday for the meeting that was cancelled last night.  I need to send those home with Bob for him to freeze for me. I can use them later.

More later...

I spoke a little too soon. The stray cat started across the street and Missy broke out in a growl. She saw or smelled him before I did and started to go take him on. I had to herd her back into the apartment.  She would have been in a whole lot of trouble. He is young and she is old.

Later, after he was gone, I watered the flowers in the front and also the tomato plant on the patio. She came around and wandered a bit but I was cleaning and washing her litter box and she got away from me. I had to go pick her up and bring her back in the apartment. She was not a happy kitty...needless to say.

Anyhow, now I am doing a  small load of laundry including the little towel I dried her litter box with.  I threw in the rest of my small load. Bob wants to do a small load today too so I hope he will wait until closer to noon....or even afternoon.

More later...


This is son, Scott, and Ginger and in the background, just barely visible, is Scott's son, Jerod.

They are at the new home.

I did a small load of laundry and Bob came just before lunch and did a small load of his laundry too. Then he came back at 11:30 and we went to lunch.

When he brought me back home,  I read until my eyes got tired and then put away my book. Now I am waiting for the mail.  

More later...

The only mail I got was the recall on my car's airbags. The agency said they would order it and then call me to make an appointment.  I hope that doesn't take long.

Now I am waiting for the newspaper...not that there's anything of much interest in it.

More even later...

Bob came over about 5:00 or so and stayed until 7:00.  After my bath, etc,. I watched a movie on TV.

At 9:00 Missy and I went to bed..

Wednesday and a Very Busy Day

This will be a busy day. First there are exercises at 9:00 until 9:40 and then I will fix chicken for dinner with potatoes and a veggie. Bob will bring a salad. I fixed some strawberries yesterday afternoon and thawed out the shortcake so we can have strawberry shortcake for dessert.

After lunch at 2:00, I will go to Asbury Village for Bunco until 4:00. Sometime before 5:30, I will bake brownies for the PINCH meeting this evening at 5:30. I told Marilyn I would meet her at her church and help her get her things and my brownies upstairs and ready for the meeting. It will last an hour.  I will probably be very tired after that and will come home and watch Nature on PBS with Missy until bedtime.

Scott, my younger son, is going to call me later this morning. I texted him about his ex-wife's telephone conversation with me last evening. He is concerned about her situation and wants to talk to me about it. 

But, now it's time to fix breakfast for Missy and me. She is waiting patiently.

More later...

We have breakfast over with and are out on the carport now. Missy is doing fairly well at staying close by. I have the table set for lunch and am ready to go get my brownie mixes when the Dollar General  at 7:00. I will probably make up the brownies before I fix lunch.  That way, I will have that out of the way early.

I watered the plants in the front and will have to get the tomato plant watered before it get too hot. It's supposed to be 99 today and 100 tomorrow.

More even later....

What a busy and confusing day. I did not go to exercise class. I discovered I had my regular six month's doctor's appointment  at 9:00 so I called Bob to go on without me. I didn't get out of the doctor's office until 9:30 so I went on over to Stan's to arrange for the sale of the new hearing aid. He put it on a 14 month contract at $100. a month with no interest and no tax. I will pay it out that way.

Then I came home and baked my brownies for the PINCH meeting this evening. After that I fixed lunch.

After lunch,  while Bob was still here, Paul called. he has been sick and did not want to get out in the heat and neither did Carol or Alfonso who have also been sick. Carol has COPD and Alfonso has a heart condition so I certainly understood. Carol sent out an e-mail to the members online or with smart phones and I called Ken and Marilyn. I was unable to reach either of them so I left them messages.  Unfortunately Marilyn never checked her messages. I left them on both her phones and even went by her home. Finally she picked up on her cell. She was at the church checking to see if there was ice there. After I explained everything to her, she said she would check her messages more often. I have all these brownies and will have to have Bob freeze them for August. I have no room in my freezer.

So I am home this evening anyhow.

More later...

Bob came over to watch the news and stayed until 7:00. After he went home I took my bath and watched TV until 9:00. There was noting on but the Republican convention and I certainly wasn't going to watch that circus!

Tuesday and Hairdo Day

Bob and I will go to Independence this morning and I will get my hair done and we will shop a little....mainly to kill some time. Today, for lunch, we will go to Great China. We love their Chinese food. My friend, Juanita, worked as a waitress for them for 17 years before she had broke her hip and had to retire.  She said their kitchen was sparkling clean. I believe her. She loved  Kwan, for whom she worked all those years. She taught him a lot about doing business in the American culture.  And he was extremely successful because of that.  He always visits her when he returns to Independence to visit his brother, who bought the business from him when he retired.  She worked for the brother until she fell in the yard and broke her hip.

I slept well last night. I did get up rather early...around 4:15.  I just got my sleep out by then. I have made my bed and made up my face and dressed and Missy and I are waiting for daylight so we can go out on the carport and enjoy the early morning.  First, we will both have breakfast and I will have my cup of coffee and watch the "Weather on the 8's" to see how hot today is expected to be. The rest of the week is supposed to be in the 100's. We will have to be careful in that kind of heat. Both Missy and I are too old to mess around in 100 degree weather.

I will continue this after I am out on the carport and trying to corral Missy. Right now I need to get our breakfasts together.

More later...


O.K. It's nearly 6:30 now and we have been out on the carport for nearly a half hour. So far, so good. Missy is behaving herself.

I have watered the flowers in front of the carport and will soon go around to the patio and water the tomato plant.  I just won't get in a huge rush right now. I have had my breakfast and a cup of coffee and a cup of Chai. I am just sitting here enjoying the relative coolness of the early morning.

The drainage system for the pool installed.




We are back now from Independence and Great China for lunch. It was, as usual, very good. I took Bob home after stopping at our church to leave some bottled water in the food basket.

Now I will read my e-mail and later do some more reading in my John Whitmer Journal.

More later...

That's not too wise to let Jerod drive your new car.  Hold your breath.





What if he puts the first ding on it or even worse, like one of my sons did and leave the keys under the floor mat and get it stolen and get all the windows broken out of it?

Oh well, it's your car. You surely have insurance on it. I did.

My ex-daughter-in-law called tonight and we visited for 30 minutes or so.  Bob was here. He didn't seem to think that was wise but she needs a friend. She has been through some bad times.   We always got along well. She lived with us when our grandchildren were young and while my son was stationed in Korea. That's been 21 years. I invited her here if she needed to move from Missouri until she gets her life back together again. She's a registered nurse but would need to get her license reinstated  before she could work as a nurse.

Bob left at 7:00 and then I took my bath and got ready for bed and Missy and I sat in the recliner until 9:00 and watched TV until we went to bed.

Monday and Bob's Doctor's Appointment

Bob has an appointment in Bartlesville this morning with the dermatologist, Dr. Eslicker. He wants me to go with his. (Four ears are better then just two). After his appointment we are thinking of going top eat lunch at "Pies and More" there in Bartlesville where they bake their own bread and make their own pies.  It's quaint little place that mainly serves sandwiches, soup and wonderful pie. It's decorated with dozens of teapots.

Afterward I will come home and finish my cleaning. I have stripped my bed this morning and am doing laundry. I just cleaned last Thursday and this will be a busy week.  Tomorrow is my hair appointment in Independence and we will eat at Great China there. Wednesday is exercise class, and in the afternoon we will go to Asbury Village for games.  That evening I have the PINCH meeting at the Presbyterian Church at 5:30 and I promised Marilyn I would bring brownies and she will bring the limeade and the rest of the goodies.

I have nothing else planned for Thursday or Friday, thank goodness! On Thursday I do want to go by Stan's office and make some arrangement for the payment of the hearing aid. It's $1500 and I want to see if I can pay it out at $100. a month. If not, I can't buy it. I have too little savings to pay for it all at once.  Stan let Bob do that. Surely he will let me do it too.  He didn't even charge Bob any interest.  It wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't still have the car payment too. We'll try to work it out.

More later...

Missy and I have both had our breakfasts and have been out on the carport for awhile. I had stripped my bed and went in to remake it while she ate some of her food and had a drink of water.  She was not all that happy that I didn't come right back out and let her right back out too.  But we're back out now and she seems happy. I have watered my flowers and remade my bed. Bob is coming by at 8:40 to take me with him to exercise class. His Bartlesville appointment isn't until 11:20 so we should have plenty of time to do both.

So far, Missy has been real good. She is staying close by where I can see her. Right now she is eating some grass.

More later.....

My son on the far left and his son, Jerod and daughter, Ashley.






The beginning of the swimming pool.



Coming right along!

We went to the doctor in Bartlesville and he zapped a few places on Bob and visited with me a bit.  Then we went to McCalister's and Bob bought my lunch.  After that, he brought me home and I went with Karan to administer to a member who was in the Parsons hospital. We were back by 4:00.  He is in bad shape. We are hoping prayer will help him.

I visited awhile with Wayne, our former landlord, and while I was doing that, Bob came back over and brought my flavored water.  He stayed until 6:00 and after he left I took my bath.  It was a little early but I was tired after such a big day.  I ate a couple of small cookies and a few nuts and drank some water. Later about 9:00, I went to bed. . 

Sunday and Church

Today I'll go to church and then possibly go to "Just Us" in Cherryvale for lunch afterward. Karan will be at church. Perhaps she will go with us. She has been at camp all last week. Phyllis is in Overland Park visiting her older daughter and grandchildren.

Tonight is our Living the Questions group. It will be held at Marilyn's home. So far Bob and I and Gary and Mona's family are all I've heard from. Hopefully Marilyn will be prepared for seven of us unless Joyce decides to come at the last minute.

Missy is patiently waiting for her breakfast and I need to get mine too.  So I'll get back to this later.

We've both had our breakfasts and are out now on the carport. It's a lovely morning with a slight breeze. Missy is being so good.  So far. I never take her for granted. Sometimes she will surprise me if the birds get too loud. She thinks she's still the mighty bird killer but she's too old and too slow. She can barely catch a bug.

I have taken the paper out to the carport too and have read most of it here and done the crossword puzzle.

Bob will be coming by a little later. He made the coffeecake this morning and he wants me to ice it.  I have powdered sugar.

More later...

Bob came by and I iced his coffeecake while he read the newspaper. Afterward we went on to church.

After church, four of us went over to Cherryvale to "Just Us" restaurant. Kay saved us a table.

Then Bob brought us all back home and I worked on the congregation's newsletter.  After I finished that, I read awhile because at 6:40, I will go get Gary for tonight's Living the Questions group meeting at Marilyn's home.

Bob will be over by 6:00 to watch what we can watch of 60 Minutes before I go to pick up Gary.

More later... 

We had a pretty good session although there were only eight of us there.  I got home around nine and took my bath and immediately went to bed.