Monday, December 31, 2018

Monday and Rain Again

I slept well again last night although I did get up at 4:00AM. I felt I had my sleep out. I had laid down to watch some Amazon Prime earlier in the afternoon and fallen asleep. So I had a nap earlier.

I got myself ready for the day and got dressed and worked on my 2019 calendar filling in the birthdays and appointments.

Then I ate my oatmeal and drank my Chai Latte and made a  quick trip to the bank to get cash for my hair this morning and for the rest of the week. My appointment is in thirty minutes. She has moved me to Monday this morning because she will be closed on Tuesday for New Years Day. If I had not been working on my calendar, I would have forgotten that appointment.

I finally received Scott's deposit this morning. He notified me he had made a deposit on Friday and it didn't come through until this morning. I had enough money with his deposit and what I had left from last month to write my rent check.I won't be able to pay it until Tuesday because of the holiday. I don't get my social security until the 9th this next month but that is earlier than most months.  In February it will be the 13th and the same in March. My rent is due on the 1st and after the 5th, she would add $25. per day it was late.  In the past, I have transferred, temporarily, cash from my savings to pay on time but nowadays I usually have saved enough back to pay the rent with his deposit. Betty  is doing an inspection of all her properties on Thursday this week. I don't have to be here. She has a key. She also made up leases this year again. It became a city ordinance that she has to have them this year. Marilyn and I did not sign one last year.  There were some things in there we did not agree with.  She corrected them this year so I, at least, did sign it.

More later...time to leave for my appointment.

I got my hair done, thank goodness. It looks real good now. She does a good job.

Keith called me to tell me he has been fooling with his website. It is down now until he gets it reconfigured and backed up.

I guess they were able to get his root canal done. Now he has to have a crown prep and impressions for the crown. 

I had the remainder of my cashew chicken from Yesterday for my lunch. It was just as good the second time around.

Now I want to go out to Walmart while it's not raining and get some more Chai Latte and Hazelnut Cappuccino. I am nearly out of those although I have plenty of coffee left from my last 40 cup Amazon package.

So, more later...

I went to the bank and paid my rent and also out to Walmart and bought the few things I needed.

I worked part of the afternoon on my sermon for January 27th. 

More later...

Before I took my bath, I went over to Brahms and bought six Yogurts. That is what I have for my light supper.

After I ate, I took my bath and lay down on the sofa covered with an afghan and watched some Forensic Files  on Amazon Prime. I had also recorded a music show yesterday evening and I played that back and watched it too. At 9:00PM, I went on to bed.


Sunday, December 30, 2018

Sunday and Church

I slept well last night. I did wake up two times and one time went to the bathroom to take my thyroid med but I got right back to sleep and got up at my regular 5:00AM. I dressed for church, did my makeup and turned up the heat on the furnace.

I will have some oatmeal and Chai for breakfast this morning. That settles better on my stomach then bacon and eggs.

Bob will fix his banana nut bread this morning and also drive to church.  I don't know if Phyllis is in town or not. She had Christmas with her daughter in Overland Park.

I will get back to this later.

I have had my breakfast and watched the news..such as it was. I texted Bob A. and he is up although he slept later then usual. He doesn't have his banana nut bread in the oven yet. He is running a  little late, I guess.  It's only 7:14AM so he has plenty of time. We don't leave for church until 9:00AM.

More even later...

Bob came by shortly before 9:00AM and he had bought doughnuts at the Doughnut Palace instead of making his banana nut bread. That was good for a change. However, I suppose because of the holiday, we had a tiny little congregation this morning but the message was very good!

I came home and sent off five newsletters besides the ones I send by e-mail. Then I took the draft  schedule for the first quarter of 2019 over to Karan who had accidentally deleted it. She is up to speak next Sunday and didn't even know it. She seldom checks her e-mail.

Steve came and mulched our leaves this afternoon. I was so pleased! I had intended to wait until it warmed up some toward the middle of the week and was going to rake and bag them. I told him how much I appreciated his work. The yard looks so much better! I don't know how long it will last since there are still two trees that have not shed all their leaves altogether yet. But I am really grateful for all the mess that is gone.

More later...It is 3:15PM now.

I worked some on the sermon I have coming up on January 27th. Finally, went over to Brahms and bought my yogurt. That's what I generally have for supper. I buy six each week in a variety of flavors.

While I was working on the sermon, Bill Goodbar called. He was married to Bob's sister until she died about 2001 or 2002 or maybe 2003 when we lived in Independence. We only lived there three years so that's a close approximation of the date of her death. We moved back to Coffeyville in 2003. We visited awhile and he told me he would be 94 in 2019. I told him I would be 84 in 2019. He used to come visit me when he went fishing at Roaring River. He would drive over here and take me to dinner and we would visit. 

Emmet Came by late afternoon and climbed up in the attic to try to ascertain why my furnace filter was covered with some sort of black grime. It turn out one of the people who went into the attic had hit the duct work up there and 50 years of grime came down into the ductwork and into the furnace and covered both sides of the furnace filter.   

About 6:00PM, I took my bath and put my PJs on and I tried to watch the rest of the football game and then tried to watch 60 Minutes but the picture was tearing so I will watch 60 Minutes tomorrow morning on Amazon Prime.

Finally, I just turned over to Amazon Prime where I had a very clear picture and watched some Forensic Files. At 9:00PM, I went on to bed. I am very tired.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Saturday and Breakfast at Home.

I got up well before 5:00AM this morning. I made myself some bacon and eggs for a change. I used the plastic microwave covered bacon crisper and it works well. I scrambled the eggs in my small fry pan that nothing sticks to. It was all good. All I needed was toast but I was full without it.

I don't have a plan for today. But I am almost out of Chai so wherever I go, I had better buy that.

I heard from Gay. She had driven to the Oklahoma City area to spend Christmas with Steven and his family and had a good visit.  She got home in time to open gifts with Adele and Stan and also Janet. The family gave her a digital picture frame for Christmas and she has her family photos rotating on that. That is a neat gift. I have looked at them at Walmart some time ago but did not buy one.

It is 28 degrees this morning. So more later...

I went over to the hardware  store after it opened and bought a new filter for my furnace.  The other one I had put in in September was filthy. Not only was it filthy but it was covered in what appeared to be black soot but with electric heat  soot was not a possibility. We finally figured that Keith in the attic last November must have bumped the duct work and all that filth came from the duct work up there.  I put the new filter in and I hope that's the last of the black stuff from the duct work up there.

I mostly stayed in since it was in the 20's and very cold. I did go out twice and sweep up the leaves from the carport. But it was very cold.

I did go over to the antique mall on eighth street and look around but didn't see anything I couldn't live without. Besides, I am very low on storage in this apartment anymore. 

I lay down on the sofa to watch some Amazon Prime in the afternoon but ended up falling asleep and took a nap instead. I had been awake quite a bit in the night so I probably needed that.

At 6:00PM, I took my bath and lay back down to watch the CBS news. At 9:00PM, I went on to bed.


Friday, December 28, 2018

A Meeting with the Journal Editor

I slept well last night again and got up close to 5:00AM.

I thought more about taking Betty's cat last evening and decided against it. I don't miss having a cat, I miss Missy. No other cat, no matter how much she looks like Missy, she would not be Missy..with all her funny eccentricities..., this other cat would simply not be Missy. And once again I would have the responsibility of a sick cat throwing up on my carpet when she was ill and keeping that carpet clean. Also, she might sharpen her claws on my furniture. I have that new recliner that I replaced the one Missy ruined for me over the years. I had finally taught Missy to stay out of my velvet chairs by putting a pillow in each of the two chairs.  I would have to deal with things like that again. And then when I wanted to go see my sons, Bob A. would have to come feed her and empty her litter box. It just wouldn't be the same advantages as having Missy but it would be all the disadvantages of having another cat. I am just not up to it.

I am meeting the new editor of the Journal, Kim Avery, at Utopia this morning at 8:00AM for coffee. She wants to visit with me about the Minister's Messages. She wants to put one in the Wednesday Journal too. I want to discuss with her perhaps having a column called "Little Locals" again. When I read proof for the Journal back in 1953-1954 there was such a column. It was news that people called in about their activities...usually visitors for the holidays or friends that were visiting. ...anything short and local..very concise. We took that information over the telephone, made notes, and composed a short blurb story and put it all in a column just for that sort of thing. It had a lot of readability at that time. Now, of course, there is Facebook which probably does the same thing only with the side effect of having your personal information sold to scammers and for commercial deals.

Anyhow, I have at least an hour before the meeting. More later..
They had moved her Wednesday deadline up to today because of the holiday so she missed our meeting. I called her and she had me come up to her office where we visited about the de funked Alliance for about an hour. She is also interested in the 150th anniversary of the community which will be in 2019. Her ad manager is covering that news.

I wasted a lot of the morning doing this but I had nothing else going today anyhow. It is a cold day so except for that trip downtown, I have stayed home today. It's nearly 5:00PM now.

More even later...

I watched Amazon Prime all evening and finally took my bath and went to bed at 9:00PM

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Thursday and Breakfast Out

I slept well again last night. I got up a little after 5:00AM.

I dressed and got ready for the day, as usual. I put a small load of laundry in too...mostly towels and underwear. That's in the dryer now.

I texted Bob A. to see if he was interested in breakfast at Eggberts. He was. I told him I would pick him up at 7:00AM. We had a good filling breakfast and I got home about 9:00AM. Then I attempted to watch the CBS news when it came on but the wind was blowing again so the images were peculating. I left it on just in case it would clear up. That hasn't happened yet.

Kelly texted me looking for the number of the guys that moved me into this apartment. Luckily, I had kept the number and was able to text him back with the name and the cell number to reach them. If I recall correctly, he was the nephew of Fred Wittwer and also his nephew's son who helped him. I recall they did an excellent job...wrapped everything well and nothing was damaged in the least.

Kelly and Melissa are preparing to move into their new house in a couple of weeks. Their other house was very nice but it burned to the ground over a year ago. A spark from the fireplace caught the sofa on fire and luckily Kelly awoke smelling smoke and got the family awake and out safely. I learned then...never burn hedge. All but one dog that was in a cage got out and Kelly was unable to get to that one. He did get two others out though. They were just sick about the dog they couldn't get to. They hoped the smoke got it before the fire did.  It had spread so fast that most of them had to get out of a window. They lost everything, the house, furniture, two vehicles and two nearly new Harley Davidson motorcycles. ...everything. They got out in their night clothes. A tragedy! Luckily they had a small apartment above the new barn nearby. So they have lived there all this time.

The librarian cancelled the Book Club meeting this evening. The librarian is ill. We were able to post our thoughts about the book online on the library's Facebook page though. I did that. And as I was finishing that, Keith called. We talked quite awhile. He told me all about his dental ordeal. He has an abscessed tooth that they are doing a root canal on and a crown...to try to save the tooth. They got into the root canal procedure and he was in so much pain that they put him on percocet and a steroid to control the pain. They will finish the root canal tomorrow and his regular dentist will do the crown prep next week and he will get a crown eventually after the lab makes it up.

More later...

My landlady called me about signing a lease. I told her I had had Missy put down she said she had rescued a cat that looks just like Missy and had her spayed and planned to offer her to me if anything happened to Missy. She says she is an indoor cat and she (Betty) has other cats that Mia (her cat) doesn't like.  She said she would bring her by to meet me and I could make up my mind then. Also, if it didn't work out, I could give her back. I am mulling it over and checking that out with Leslie. Leslie seems to think that meeting this cat would be a good idea.  They are just so much company.

About 6:00PM or so, I took my bath and got into my PJs. Emmet came by and brought me Betty's rental contract  and later he came back to pick it up. I made one modification to it. The rental contract said we would be responsible for all the utilities and also the mowing of the yard.  Betty has several houses that are rentals too. She didn't specifically indicate that the duplexes and apartments were not responsible for the mowing and were only responsible for the electric bill so I made a notation on the contract to that effect and that these four plexus were not responsible for the mowing either.

Then I signed that contract.

After all that, I turned on the TV and tried to watch the news. The wind made that rather difficult with the antenna. So I turned on Amazon Prime, which is dependent on my router. I watched a couple of episodes of that and then got my bed ready to go to bed.  I will go on to bed in twenty minutes.


Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Day After Christmas

It's raining today and I guess we needed rain. I think it's supposed to rain all day. If so, I will stay in. Maybe this will give me the opportunity to clean out my closets and get ready to take stuff  I no longer wear or need to the Presbyterian church for their ongoing sale. I can use the closet space.

My TV is tearing again...probably because of the rain.  I will leave it on in hopes of it straightening out before the CBS news.

More later...

This is the neat little turtle Leslie gave me for Christmas to add to my turtle collection. She bought that while we were in Arizona in November.

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I never suspected a thing. It's the prettiest one I have.

More later...

Bob A. came over for a little while this morning to visit. Before he left I gave him some of my fruit salad that I had brought home from Christmas dinner yesterday. I also gave him some of my corn casserole and enough Sloppy Joe meat and two buns that he could warm up for a lunch. Counting today, I have had Sloppy Joes twice. That's all I really wanted. Joanne will be  on a very limited diet until after her tests on Friday. He would have had to have just have a sandwich or something like that until after that test. I was glad to share with him. I had plenty.

I had a sloppy Joe with grated sharp cheddar cheese on it and a glass of peach tea for my lunch today. I also had that piece of pecan pie I brought home from Leslie's yesterday. I will have the pumpkin pie with my leftover ham and corn casserole tomorrow.

I think I will lie down for awhile and watch some Amazon Prime TV. I went to bed quite late last night and then worried awhile about Rick and Carmen before finally getting to sleep. I also had quite a lot of drainage and finally got up and took a Benadryl. That helped me sleep.

More even later....

I went over to Dollar General after my lunch  and bought a few things I needed...envelopes, oatmeal, contact cleaner, and some more hangers. It began raining again while I was  there so I came on home and put things away.  I did watch more Nova on Amazon Prime but did not take a nap.

About halfway through the afternoon I came in here to the desktop computer. One of my classmates couldn't open his attachment of the class newsletter so I told him I would send him a hard copy. I got that ready and out on the mailbox for the mailman to pick up tomorrow afternoon. The mail had already come...such as it was...two newspapers.

I played some solitaire and after having some yogurt, I watched some more TV and finally took my bath and got myself ready for bed.

I sure miss Missy. She was so much company.

I will go on to bed at 9:00PM again.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Christmas Day at Last!

I slept wonderfully last night and only woke up once and even then, got right back to sleep. I finally got up at 5:00AM, my usual time to get up. I have made the bed, dressed and eaten my oatmeal and drunk my juice and watched the Tulsa news and will start my corn casserole at 9:00AM. It's only 7:00AM now so I have awhile to  work on the blog etc. I may put my salad back in the mixing bowl and add the miniature marshmallows. I forgot to put them in yesterday. I'll mull that over.

I opened the gift from Scott and Ginger and it was a lovely candle. I will enjoy using it to make my apartment smell great. I have texted them my "thank you" but they must be sleeping in. I haven't heard a word from them yet.

I am looking forward to Christmas dinner. I ended up eating not much of anything but breakfast yesterday. I was just too busy. I had a breakfast bar in the evening while I watched "A Christmas Carol".

So, more later....

I did add the miniature marshmallows to the salad.  Then I baked the corn casserole which turned out to be very good. I was ready to leave for John and Leslie's at 9:30AM, pie, corn casserole and Waldorf salad in hand.  I also took Jeff and Cyndi's gifts.

John and Leslie gave me a really neat turtle for my turtle collection.  My kids used to give me turtles for that collection but after several years, they stopped. This one is really neat! Leslie picked it up on our trip to Arizona in November.

Our meal was really good. Jeromy gave us the ham that the refinery gave him and it was excellent, Leslie fixed that and some really special scalloped potatoes, crescent rolls and a really good pumpkin pie...which we had to wait until after the game time to eat. Cyndi brought a really tasty green bean dish and Jeff fixed some water chestnuts wrapped in bacon..yum! I donated the salad, corn casserole and pecan pie which I had bought at the Tyro store and was baked by an Amish woman over at Parsons. It too was scrumptious. Leslie made a special hot tea with something scrumptious in it. She also made slush made with eggnog and it had real rum nog in it. I didn't know that and ended up drinking/eating three glasses of it. They were concerned about my driving home.😉

After dinner we five played Tractoroply. I won. That's Cyndi on the left, John in the middle, then Leslie leaning in and finally on the near right...that's me.  Jeff took the photo!

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There's Jeff and me..
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Leslie took that photo.

I didn't eat another thing all day. I don't know where I would put it! After the game we finally had room for the pie. I brought a piece of the pecan pie and one of the pumpkin home with me.

And I brought home enough leftovers for the rest of the week!

I went to Marilyn's to visit for awhile after I got everything put away. Then I came back home, took my bath and got my PJs on and lay down on the sofa to watch Nova on Amazon Prime. Needless to say, I fell asleep on the sofa and finally got the bed ready for bed and came in here to finish the blog.

So, good night! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!

Monday, December 24, 2018

Monday and Another Big Day

I slept well last night and got up close to 6:00AM..unusual for me. I dressed and got myself ready for the day, ate my oatmeal for breakfast and had a couple of cups of Chai.

I decided to take down my tree and put away my Christmas decorations. I will be going to John and Leslie's tomorrow so will enjoy their decorations.  Then after I got everything put away, I vacuumed again.

By then it was time to go over to Tyro and pick up the pecan pie. I called first to be sure when he would be there. He suggested after lunch so that's when I went. I picked up the pie and visited with him a bit then called Leslie to see if she was home. I wanted to take that pie out to her since that would keep me from having to take it out tomorrow along with my corn casserole and the fruit salad.  She was willing and had been cleaning house in preparation for Christmas dinner tomorrow.

When I got out there and took the pie in, she needed me to stay and help her get the extra leaves in her table. She needed someone to hold one end while she tugged on the other end to open the table larger for more leaves. I did that and then we got some folding chairs from the attic and the table all set with tablecloth, Santa place mates, Christmas dishes, and tableware. It looked lovely.

Then I came back home to make up my fruit salad. It's apples, grapes, raisins, celery and pecans. All sliced up small and dressed with mayonnaise. I got that all done and covered with saran and in the frig to set overnight. Tomorrow, I will just make up my corn casserole, bake it, and get out there by 10:30. We will open gifts first and after we eat, Jeromy and his family will take off for Topeka to Marlene's family dinner that evening.

This is my grandson, Jerod and his new fiance, Stephanie.

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Nice looking couple.

In the morning I will open that gift from Scott and Ginger. I have saved it until Christmas time.

I am very tired. It has been a huge day. It's 6:00PM and I hope to stay up until 9:00PM. That may be a challenge!

I started watching a favorite Christmas story "A Christmas Carol" and managed to stay up until 10:00PM..when I finally went to bed.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Sunday and a Church Christmas Program

I had forgotten which day it was this morning. I was thinking it was Saturday until I looked at the blog.

So this morning we will not have church school class. We will have a light breakfast at 9:30 and then the Christmas Program at 11:00. It's a holiday weekend so who knows how many will be there.  No one knows what the Christmas Program will be except Melissa. So far as I know, Johnna, who is the children's class teacher, has not been rehearsing the little girls for anything. So it will be a surprise for everyone.

More later...I need to get my breakfast. It's after 6:00AM. I slept later last night and was not up until well after 5:00AM...unusual for me.

Even though they are planning on having a light breakfast at church, I ate my little bit of oatmeal and had my juice so I could take my blood pressure pill.

I have been watching the news this morning. Not much going on at Christmastime.

I called Phyllis to make sure she is driving us this morning. Phyllis says she is driving to church this morning.  Bob says he will drive himself.  He says he will take a nap...I guess.. instead of going to lunch.  I don't know what that's all about. Most men cannot skip lunch. He says it's just old age. My philosophy is that most of "old age" is attitude.

More even later...

We had quite a change in the schedule at church. Breakfast was not served until after 10:00AM so we had an early worship service before breakfast and another one...the Christmas program after breakfast.  They were both well done.

Then because we had had such a late breakfast...actually, a brunch...we didn't go to lunch and just came straight home after church.

I did my newsletters and made another trip to Walmart for some last minutes stuff. I watched some TV and later after my bath, I watched Amazon Prime.

About 9:30PM, I went on to bed. I was very tired.

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Saturday and Apartment Cleaning

I slept well last night. Only woke up once and went to the bathroom and took my med. Then I woke up a little after 4:00AM and lay in bed for awhile to see if I would go back to sleep but about 4:30AM, I just got up. I guess I will clean the apartment this morning. But first I will have my oatmeal and juice and coffee and watch the news if I have any TV this morning.

I had a huge day yesterday with all the work getting the class newsletter attached to e-mail for those with e-mail and those printed off folded, stuffed and stamped and sent out for those without e-mail. But at least I got it out before Christmas this year.

So more later....

Well, I have had my breakfast and am watching the CBS news. As soon as that is over, I will begin my cleaning. I still have about ten minutes. So more much later...

I cleaned the apartment pretty thoroughly this morning. I even wiped down the kitchen cabinets to get fingerprints off, etc.  And I washed down the shower doors. It's 10:10AM now. I need several things from the market and so I will make yet another trip out to Walmart.

So...again, more later...

Well, I manged to spend $42.  and change at Walmart.  I got everything put away and soon I will need to start my lunch. I have another 20 minutes before I eat though. I have time to go to the bank for another check register.

O.K. I got the check register and came home to fix myself a Sloppy Joe  and the rest of the shoestring potatoes and peach tea for my lunch. Very good!

Then I turned on Amazon Prime and watched an an episode of Nova from PBS.  It was about the development of the new X plane from Lockheed Martin. There was a huge competition between them and Boeing. It seems all three flying services are going to be flying the same plane and that plane was going to be the only fighter plane for America. The winner of the competition will also get all kinds of foreign sales so the winner, will make in excess of 200 billion dollars in sales overall. It must be supersonic and also have the capability of landing like a helicopter so it can land vertically on a ship's deck. It was a very interesting show. I may watch this series on Nova shows for awhile now.

It's 5:28PM now and I will eat my yogurt and prepare for watching TV before bed in an hour or so.

I hope to stay up until 9:00PM or so.

Friday, December 21, 2018

Friday and a Busy Day

This was a busy day. I got up rather early. It was before 5:00AM But then I dressed, had my breakfast and watched the Tulsa and the CBS news until mid morning. Then I worked on sending out all the Class Newsletters by attachment to e-mail for those that had e-mail.

Scott called this morning and we had a nice visit!

I got that finished and then sent Leslie the newsletter as an attachment to e-mail.  She took it over or forwarded it to their print shop there at Four County Mental Health. And in an hour, she notified me that it was finished. She was in Sedan so I had to wait until she got back in Independence before going up there to pick up the printed newsletters.

I notified John W. about the cost and that Leslie had already paid for it and we could just re-reimburse her the $24.  I would also need a $50.00 check for the stamps. I went out on Walnut Street where his office is located and picked up the two checks and stopped at the post office and bought the stamps. It only cost a little over $20.00 to have 64 of the newsletters printed off. I had already printed off the envelopes a week or so ago here at home. I provided the envelopes and I did have to buy a printer cartridge but some of my classmates had sent me donations and I had enough of that money to buy the cartridge. I usually go through two cartridges of ink printing the newsletters off myself and at $40.00 each that is expensive and hard on my little printer too. So generally it costs about $80.00 in print cartridges and $50.00 in stamps to get them in the mail. Plus all the time that takes. This was a piece of cake! It took me an hour to fold, stuff, and stamp the 64 I had printed and take them up to the post office.  And it's all done for another year.

I also stopped while I was in Independence and paid my Goody's bill and picked up Missy's ashes. They had called me yesterday and told me they could be picked up. I hadn't even thought about getting the ashes. I didn't get Slinky's ashes when I had him cremated almost six years ago. And now today in the mail I also got a nice sympathy card from Dr. Barta's staff. That's a nice gesture.

It just occurred to me that it's almost 4:00PM and I haven't eaten a thing all day. I guess I will warm up some vegetable soup or make myself some Sloppy Joes. I am hungry!

More later...

I watched some TV CBS news  and then took my bath and put my PJs on to lay on the sofa and watched some more Amazon Prime TV until 9:00PM when I went on to bed.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Thursday and Another Good Night's Sleep

I slept well last night again. I got up shortly before 5:00AM.  I have dressed, made the bed and got myself ready for the day.  I still need to get my breakfast and see if I can watch the news. I had the Chronicle in the e-mail and forwarded it on to my group I share it with.

I don't have a plan for today. I may vacuum again. Now that Missy is gone I want to eventually get rid of the cat hair I always get when I vacuum. Cyndi had surgery on her foot yesterday so I can't count on her doing it for me now. I hope that surgery went well.

I'll get my breakfast and get back to this later...

I had my oatmeal and coffee and watched the news for awhile. Then I decided to go to Bartlesville to pass the time away today. I had a $10.00 gift certificate for Goodys but I didn't see anything I needed so I still have it. I did receive the second half of my daughter's Christmas gift today. So I got it wrapped and ready for Christmas and it is now under my tree. I will wrap my last two gifts and get them under my tree too. I took all the other gifts out to John and Leslie's the day of the cookie exchange. They put them under their tree.  We will open gifts after dinner on Christmas Day. Then Jeromy, my grandson, and his family have to make a flying trip to Topeka to be with the other grandparents and Marlene's family too. They will have a busy Christmas...that's for sure.

I stopped at Caney and ate lunch at Eggberts there. I like the tuna salad and  muffin they serve with fruit.  It is also cheap!

I will run over to Dollar General and see if I can find a small box for Jeff's gift. Then I will wrap Cyndi's and his.   More later...

I found a small box in my storage closet so I used it and I wrapped his and Cyndi's gifts.  That was easy! Now I am truly finished.

The mail came and I had a gift from Scott and Ginger. I will save it until Christmas. I put it under my tree with the other three gifts.  The day after Christmas I will take down all my Christmas decorations and put them away. They have been up since the day after Thanksgiving. I will take one room at a time and try to keep them organized and labeled as I go.

I have been doing the crossword puzzle in the Reporter and am now finished with it. I will take the paper over to Marilyn. More later...it is 3:15PM now.

I watched Amazon Prime TV and also had some yogurt for supper and then watched some more Amazon Prime TV before taking my bath and later going to bed at 9:00PM.

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Wednesday and Another Night of Decent Sleep

I slept well again last night. I got up at 5:00AM but had gone to bed at 9:00PM so I had plenty of sleep.

I dressed and had my breakfast right after that.  I sure miss Missy though.

I have spotty TV again this morning. It's off and on. I probably need a stronger antenna but I will make do with what I have. I am mostly interested in the news on TV. My entertainment is mostly the programs on Amazon Prime.

I don't really have a plan for today. My shopping is finished and all I have to do Christmas morning is make up my two dishes for Christmas dinner. My gifts are already out under John and Leslie's tree. I took them out the day of the cookie exchange on Sunday afternoon.

I got my Cox Communications bill today and scheduled it to be paid tomorrow. All I owe now is my life insurance and my Blue Cross/Blue Shield supplement.  Then I will begin thinking about the rent for January. At least January's social security comes in on the 8th.

More later....

We have dense fog today therefore I have little to no TV.  That's just the problem with an antenna that is evidently not quite strong enough.

Oh well, I can get the news from the computer.

More later...

I went to Independence and while there bought a new ink cartridge for my printer and a bottle of descaler for my Keurig coffeemaker. When I got home, I descaled the coffeemaker and fixed some frozen lasagna for my lunch. Then I watched some Amazon Prime TV. I have evidently seen all of Dr. Henry Lee's episodes. It repeated the last one and I have seen that one twice now.

In about 30 minutes I will leave to go to Asbury Village for bunco. It will last from 2:00PM until 4:00PM. That will use up my afternoon.

So, more later...

I went to Asbury Village for bunco and had a good time. Afterward I came home to find the mail. A couple of my classmates sent money to use toward the stamps I will need  to mail the class newsletter. That was good of them!

I turned on the TV and I had a good picture. Evidently after the fog lifted the TV improved. I watched some more Amazon Prime TV this evening. I took my bath and got myself ready for bed and then at 9:30PM, I went on to bed.




Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Tuesday and Good Sleep

I slept well this morning and didn't even get up until after 6:00AM. While I was just laying there thinking about the events of yesterday, Bob A. texted me to see if I was awake. I was but had not got up. I had an 8:30AM hair appointment  so I knew I need to get up and get with it.  I even  put in a load of laundry before I left for the hair appointment.

I didn't have much of  a signal on TV this morning. I tried everything they suggested but finally just figured Tulsa had not increased their signal for the daytime hours yet and went on the the beauty shop. When I got back home, I had a good signal so I imagine I was correct in my assessment.

More later..I want to catch the last few moments of the CBS news.

I went out to Walmart and bought $42.00 worth of groceries. When I got home I opened a can of tomato basil soup and heated it up in the microwave. I cut up the rest of my cheddar cheese  and also ate the rest of my crackers with that. It was a good lunch. I got all those groceries put away.

I had TV off and on all morning. I think the difference is weather conditions. My antenna was just where it was supposed to be. I also had a ton of leaves on my carport and even more in the back. After Christmas, if it's still nice, I will get some large bags and bag them up and leave them for the trash people to pick up. I hate having everything buried in leaves. That should be good exercise for me.

I laid down after my lunch and watched some more Amazon Prime TV...got a short nap too. I still miss Missy a lot and catch myself looking for her. I will eventually get over her loss. I knew it was just a matter of time at her age. I probably have another ten years myself. As I always say, none of us are going to get out of this life alive.

I got another copy of Connections and with it a large free copy from Westar's Fourth R, their newsletter. It would cost me $30 a year to subscribe to it and I think they only send it out 4 times a year. I'll think about it.

It's 8:35 PM now and I will watch some more Amazon Prime before I go to bed. I have had my bath and my PJs are on and I am ready for bed. 

Monday, December 17, 2018

Monday and a Griefstricken Day

I am up at 4:00AM again but have had my sleep out and feel fine. I really don't have anything going today. Tomorrow I will have my hair done at 8:30AM. I took my gifts out to John and Leslie's yesterday afternoon...all but Leslie's. I am still looking for the rest of her gift to come in the mail. It may come on December 19th. I hope so. Otherwise I may just have to try to wrap it to take it to her.

Maybe I will do some cleaning today...who knows.

I will get dressed now and get ready for my day. I will feed Missy and myself and watch the news. When Missy sees me up and getting around, she may get up.

I do need to get stamps today to get the newsletters in the mail.

More later...

I fed myself and Missy and have been watching the Tulsa news.  The CBS news doesn't come on until 9:00AM. That's what I'm really interested in watching. Since I haven't nothing else going today, I will go to post office today and buy my stamps and get my cards and letter in the mail. Maybe I will get the ingredients for the Christmas dinner. I am waiting until the post office opens because I want to get some more Christmas stamps to get the letters in the mail.

Bob Avery texted me this morning that they were having a brunch at the senior center for those born in December and asked me to come join them since my birthday was December 2nd. So I went up there. When I got home I found that Missy had been very sick and thrown up a couple of times. I cleaned that up and then loaded her up in the carrier to take her to Dr. Barta. She gagged all the way up there. He thought she might have a growth or obstruction of some sort in her throat.  She was 15 years old and would be 16 in March and had lost many of her teeth so we decided maybe it was time.

So I had her put down. I cried all the way home just as I did when I had Slinky, Scott's Shar Pei, put down. This time I simply could not go in while he put her down. She had been a lot of company and like a member of my family. We lay down together every evening and watched TV. She slept on my bed with me and cuddled up next to my back. I will miss her terribly. I cried for an hour or so.

She was grandfathered in this apartment but I am not to have another cat or pet now that she is gone and at my age that probably is smart.

I am going to watch the 5:00PM CBS News and it is going to seem very strange not to have my Missy Kitty lay down next to me to watch TV.

Maybe I will eventually get used to it.....

I lay down by myself this evening for the first time in 15+ years. It felt strange.  At 9:30PM, I went on to bed. I awoke at 2:15 and got up, went to the bathroom and took my med and a Bynadril for my drainage then went back to sleep. I was so upset today I guess between the Bynadril and having cried most of the afternoon, I slept well.

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Sunday and Coffeecake and a Cookie Exchange Party

I woke up at nearly 4:00AM this morning. Once again, I had slept through the night.

I checked my e-mail right after I got out of bed. I had not had any additional news from my classmates but one couple offered to print off and mail the 62 that have to go out in snail mail. That was wonderful of them! If I had not already had Leslie offer to get that done at Four County, I would probably let them do that. But I also had all the envelopes already printed. I thanked them warmly but explained the situation to them. If I ever get to the place where I can no longer do the letter, I will turn it over to Dennis and Trini.

Over 21 years ago Shirley Gottschalk Bartlett turned it over to me.  I had it a few years before that but designed the letterhead and format a little later. John Wade came up with the name "The Coffee Grinder". At that time I began numbering them on the letterhead. This year's letter is number 21 but I had it several years before that and just sent it off as an ordinary Christmas letter at that time. And for several years the printing was done at a print shop but that got way too expensive.

Today I will bake my coffeecake and take that to church for the Church School class. After church we will probably eat out somewhere and then I will come back home and pick up my cookies at about 2:30PM and head out to John and Leslie's. I plan to take my Christmas gifts out to them at that time and put them under their huge tree. But I am also thinking of having a small get together Christmas Eve here at the apartment like I did last year. I could serve eggnog and cider and make a cranberry bread to serve. I will approach Leslie about that at church today. Also sometime Christmas Eve day, I will need to pick up my pie at Tyro.

Christmas morning I will put together Bob's fruit salad and a casserole dish. Cyndi says she is doing a green bean dish so it may be corn casserole instead of green bean casserole. I will take those as well as the pie out to John and Leslie's for Christmas dinner there. It is nine days until Christmas now. I sent out a bunch of Christmas cards with my own Christmas letter inside most of them yesterday. I actually got a lot done yesterday and even found time to take Missy out a couple of times.

I even thought about trying to get all those leaves bagged up for the trash people but then I thought about my arm and decided against it. Besides, I had an awful lot to do yesterday without raking and bagging up leaves. Sometimes I forget about my 83 years. 😀

Bob A. is taking his girlfriend and her daughter out to eat Christmas  at "Just Us". Kay will be having another Christmas dinner just like she did on Thanksgiving. 

More later...It's nearly 5:00AM and I need to get dressed and eat breakfast...and, oh yes, feed that cat.

Got all that done and even have the coffeecake baked. As soon as it's cooled, I will ice it.

Bob A. is going to drive himself to church. He is leaving church early to help Joanne bake cookies for the cookie exchange at John and Leslie's this afternoon at 3:00PM.  I will attempt to get Phyllis to let me drive since I have the coffeecake. She may insist she drives. I will see.

No, Phyllis let me drive but insisted she would drive next week. 

I will need to make a list of ingredients for the Christmas dinner part I am doing. I will need chopped apples, halved grapes, chopped pecans, chopped celery, and raisins.  I toss all that with mayonnaise. That's how my Bob always did it. If I make corn casserole too I will need eggs, butter, a pkg of dry cornbread mix, a can of whole kennel corn and a can of creamed corn, sugar and sour cream.

I will check with Leslie about the corn casserole.

If I do Christmas Eve, I will need the cranberry cake mix, and cider and  Braums eggnog.

More later..I need to ice the coffee cake.

After church Karan and Phyllis and I went over to "Just Us" to eat lunch. Afterward I took the girls home and said I would be back at 2:40PM to pick them up to take them to John and Leslie's cookie exchange party. On the way home, Scott called. He was at a movie that upset him and he just needed to talk to me. I think he just realized from the movie how tenuous life really is. I will not go see that movie. I am well aware of how tenuous life really is. That becomes apparent the older we get. I am so blessed to have my good health.

Probably a dozen people showed up at the cookie exchange and we all had a good visit. About 5:00PM or so, I suggested we leave and Phyllis and Karan and I gathered up our boxes of cookies in the exchange and said our goodbyes. I was very tired and I think Phyllis was too.

I got home in time to feed Missy her soft food and treats and I took my bath and got my PJ's on about 6:30PM and Missy and I watched 60 Minutes on TV before I turned to Amazon Prime and watched some more episodes of Dr. Henry's Lees career of being the foremost blood splatter expert and also a genius at using the evidence for a reenactment of the crime to discover how that evidence leads up to arrests. Those episodes are very interesting.

About 9:30PM, Missy and I went to bed. It was another of those huge days.

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Saturday and a Good Night's Sleep

After getting to bed so much later last night, I slept well.

I got up at almost 6:00AM this morning, dressed and fed myself and Missy and then watched the CBS Morning News. Then I came in and checked my computer for more classmate news. Nothing showed up so I sent out another message that I had almost a full page to fill before I would get the newsletter printed off for those without e-mail and sent out to those with e-mail as an attachment.

So far..nothing.

But not everyone checks their e-mail the first thing in the morning like I do. So maybe something will show up during the day.

I have to bake cookies today for Leslie's cookie exchange party tomorrow afternoon. I will also have to bake the coffeecake in the morning for the Church School class.

I want to get a few Christmas cards out now. Few people are sending them anymore since postage has become so expensive. But  I have some people I seldom hear from and I want to send them out one with a letter included.

So more later...

So far I have sent out a dozen and a half Christmas cards, many with Christmas letters included. I have also baked cookies for Leslie's cookie exchange tomorrow afternoon and I also made a batch of peanut clusters. I took a Christmas decorated can of those to Marilyn, my neighbor. So I have been busy...too busy to eat lunch. It's 2:10PM and I have not had lunch yet.

I did take Missy out for a little while. It is fairly nice...it is 52 degrees and just a tiny bit windy. I got her to come back in willingly by asking her if she would like some more treats. I didn't have a bit of argument out of her after that. She scooted right back in.

I guess I will eat the rest of the chicken and noodles I bought yesterday noon out at the Dearing Drive In.

So more later...

My son posted this photo of their land...ready to build.

Image may contain: cloud, sky, outdoor and nature

I spent the afternoon making cookies and ended up also making peanut clusters and packing them into those cute little Christmas decorated cans. I finished my book as well. Thank goodness! I could never get into that book.

Late afternoon, I laid down with Missy on the sofa and watched TV until it began tearing. It has to be weather conditions or the wind blowing through the leaves of that tree that is in the way of the signal. I have had a perfect picture for days and the antenna is just where it has to be to reach the Tulsa signal.

Anyhow, about 6:00PM, I took my bath and put my PJs on and changed to Amazon Prime and watched some TV on that by streaming the signal. I kept falling asleep on the sofa. Finally at 9:00PM, I just went on o bed and Missy soon followed me. I was very tired. It had been a big day.  

Friday, December 14, 2018

Friday and Another Rainy Day

I slept pretty well last night. I was awakened at 11:38PM with a text message from Judy reminding me about the party at their house this evening at 5:00PM. It is a game day and we are to bring finger foods. It was sent shortly after 10:08PM but did not come through until 11:38PM  for some reason. I did manage to get back to sleep, thank goodness! I texted her to not text me after 9:00PM. That's when I go to bed and to sleep.

I also heard from an old classmate, Dean K. He has a farm nearby Coffeyville and wants to come  down from Topeka and check it out and also take me to lunch and dinner. He wants to crash here at my apartment overnight. I told him to come ahead!  I told him Betty H. came a couple of weeks ago and we had a great visit. Missy and I moved in on the trundle of the daybed and I gave her my bed with the new box springs and mattress for her overnight... and I would do the same for him. I sleep well on the trundle and Missy loves it because she can just take one step and be up on it without having to use the ottoman to jump on the get up on the bed. Maybe he will come before the weather gets bad this winter.

I got up this morning about 4:00AM, went to the bathroom and took my med. I had a sore throat which I attributed to sleeping with my mouth open. I took a zinc lozenge, just in case. I sure don't want a cold just now....or ever.

I had a great piece of news yesterday. My daughter, Leslie, called to tell me that her place of business would print off my 8 page newsletters at a minimal price and I could save my old printer from all that work. I need 62 copies.  I already printed off the envelopes and I will send the others off as attachments to e-mail. The 62 are just the classmates who do not have e-mail. I will still need to fold them and stuff them and stamp them but that is nothing compared to printing all those letters off.

It's 4:45 now and I guess I will get myself dressed and fed and ready for the day.... more later...

Both of us have been fed and are ready for the day. Missy is even in on the bed again. I have been reading my book with one eye and watching the Tulsa news with the other. :) I am not interested in the Tulsa news...all killings and fires. But I do want to watch The CBS news at 8:00AM.

I don't have a plan for today except for Judy's party this afternoon at 5:00PM. I don't know for sure what kind of "finger food" I will take.

I went to the grocery store and saw one of my classmates who had just lost her husband in July.  We visited about how important your friends are when you are trying to get through the grief. We saw six or seven different people there that we both knew.

I have celery.... so I will stuff some with pimento cheese and some with peanut butter in a dozen of so 1 1/2 inch pieces  of celery.

Keith called and we talked for over an hour. He was trying to figure out how to move my blog to his blog site. I hear that Blogger is intending to shut that site down that I have use since 2007.  He wants try try to salvage the information although I imagine I will lose the photos. He is such a joy! He has a heart of gold!

I got my finger food finished and got over to Howard and Judy's at 4:45. I was the first one there but the others soon came in.

We ate our finger food and then played dominoes all evening and had a good time. Later Judy served pie. I drank some "sleepy time" tea.

Howard and Judy will be gone for four weeks so there may not be a meeting at Mona's and Richard's on the 6th of January. It depends if Joyce is still in town. If Joyce isn't there and is deployed and  Howard and Judy are still in California,  Richard and Mona may choose to cancel theirs. If Joyce is still in town on the 20th, we will meet at her house or at Mona and Richard's since it will be their turn if they cancel on the 6th.

Right now it is 9:45 and I must get to bed. I am way past my bedtime. I do hope I can sleep after all the excitement of the evening.


Thursday, December 13, 2018

Thursday and Breakfast Out

Bob A. and I had breakfast at Eggberts this morning. We try to get together about once a week at 7:00AM to trade news. He told me about Joanne's various health problems.  Her daughters came to town yesterday to take her to the doctor and hear hat he had to say about her health. He didn't go over during the day so they could visit with their mother. He went over in the evening to watch the CBS news and also visit with the daughters.

I am so glad Cyndi vacuumed for me yesterday. I swept leaves off the carport and there were a ton of them. I had intended to get some large trash bags and clean up as many as I could but it rained this morning.  So I won't be doing that.

I slept fairly well last night. But I got up about 4:00AM  I fed Missy and got myself ready for the day.

Then I went by to pick up Bob. After we finished breakfast, I took him over to my apartment to pick up the blood pressure cuff he had given me years ago. His quit working and he is supposed to be keeping track of his blood pressure. I seldom use it so I gave it back to him. Then I took him back to his home.

It has been raining and I would like to clean up those leaves but it isn't going to happen now. The TV is working fairly well this morning. It took me awhile to get it adjusted so I could watch it. It tears occasionally but not enough to bother me.....and it's free.

More later...

I have been reading the Book Club book. It is called "The Red Garden". I consider it kind of strange and really not interesting to me at all. It's about the history of a family dating back to the 1700's and I just do not find it interesting. I have tried to get "into" it but it just doesn't work for me.  But I am plugging along with it, taking notes along the way. It is cold and damp outside. It was raining earlier. I did go out and sweep the leaves into a box I have on the carport. It's a mess out there.

More later...

It has rained all day and is really a mess out there. I made up my chicken stew and ate some of it, took some to Marilyn and the rest to Wayne and Merrill. They gave me ham and beans at Wayne's so I will have some more beans for supper tomorrow. I am out of yogurt for supper but it's too messy to go out again to get more.

I did the crossword puzzle in the Reporter and took the paper over to Marilyn's mailbox. I also lay on the sofa and watched some more Amazon Prime with Missy. I fell asleep for a little while which is alright since I haven't hadn't had a good night's sleep last night.

More later...the CBS news is on now...

My son posted this showing where they are starting to prepare their land. Phooey! It was a video and I couldn't copy the photo..maybe later...


I watched the news and then took my bath and fed Missy her treats and supper and then got my PJs on and got ready for bed. I read some more and then once again watched some more Amazon Prime TV until 9:00PM when Missy and I went on to bed. It had rained most of the day and I only went out once or twice. Once to pick up Bob for breakfast and another time to go up to Country Mart to buy a can of biscuits. 


Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Wednesday and Another Sleepless Night

I woke up at 2:00AM and went to the bathroom and took my med but then I couldn't get back to sleep. My printer is acting up and every once in awhile when I am printing envelopes, it won't print one. I have to turn the printer off and back on again and then it will print that envelope.

I have this eight page class newsletter to print off with 62 copies for the classmates who do not have internet. The others, I hope to be able to send out by e-mail. There are 624 pages to print off...actually. 312 to stuff into envelopes since I print on both sides. (4 pages in each envelope). It's a big job but it's only once a year.  I have just page 8 left to fill (the back of page 7) and then I can start printing them off.

I got up at 2:30AM this morning and printed off the 63 envelopes for those without e-mail. I will need a nap, that's for sure. I went to bed and to sleep at 9:00PM so that's approximately 5 hours sleep. Luckily, I don't have too much to do today. Cyndi will vacuum for me and I will just do the bare floors...that's the kitchen and bathroom. Then I will dust again. Even with forced air electric heating and cooling, I get a lot of dust. I change the filter regularly or it would be even worse.

More later...

It's been a tough day with Missy. This afternoon was pretty nice and she has really wanted to be outside so I let her out while Merrill and I were trying to get the antenna adjusted. While I was visiting with Merrill, she sneaked off and ran away. When he went home, I started looking for her. I spent three quarters of an hour looking for her. Cyndi came while that was going on and looked for a while too but Merrill came back over and joined the hunt so Cyndi went on in the apartment and vacuumed the carpet. I was just coming back from going around calling her when Merrill and Cyndi came around the building. Merrill had found her and convinced her to come back home. He put her in the apartment. I was really afraid she would get out on Lewark or even the highway and get run over. But she was fine. She napped in the late afternoon and ate some supper. I watched some Amazon Prime and she was sleeping on my bed.

I worked some more on my class newsletter.


Soon Missy came in to watch with me but I was ready to go to bed by that time. Then I heard her throw up in my hall. I got my Resolve and a clean damp towel and cleaned that up.  Darn cat! I know she can't help it but I just hope she doesn't throw up on my bed again tonight. I don't want to have to wash and dry that coverlet again. 

At 9:00PM, I took my chances and went on to bed.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Tuesday and a Hair Appointment

I slept fairly well last night. My right arm ached and I woke up several times with that but got back to sleep o.k. and finally got up and dressed and got myself ready for the day at 4:50AM. I gave Missy her treats to get her off the bed so I could make it but she is patiently waiting for her breakfast of the soft stuff she has grown to love. She has been eating some of her ground up Iams and that is better for her. She has a time chewing. She must not have many teeth left. I don't look because she does not like to have anyone messing around with her mouth. :) She may still bite. :)

More later...I am hungry too. ...

Well, I had my breakfast and fed Missy. Then Bob came and I traded him out some bold coffee for some that was milder. He likes the milder coffees and I just make the bold ones 10 ounces and that seems to take care of the boldness.

Then I went out to Walmart and bought some essentials. I also bought some AA batteries for the church. The clock in the sanctuary needs one for sure.  Kelly will have to change it out though. He is tall enough to reach it with the step stool.

I need to go over to the Dollar General store and see if they have some small boxes for the little girls gifts.  Then I need to think about my lunch. I think I will have some tomato basel soup and crackers and cheddar cheese. That sounds good on such a cold day. It's only 10:30AM now though and I need to wait until closer to noon.

I bought some more light bulbs but although I can change the light bulbs out myself, I can't get the cover back on the fixture afterward. The last time Emmet, the maintenance man, was here, he did that for me too.

I finished up my Christmas shopping today and also got everything wrapped and under the tree. Unfortunately, Missy must have felt left out. She very methodically removed the ribbons and hid them under the TV table. I had to hunt them down and stick them on the gifts again. Darn cat! :)

Now, it's time to fix my soup! So more later...

I had my soup, cheese and crackers. It was very good. I will have it again tomorrow.  Then Thursday, I will make a casserole out of the chicken I have defrosted and share it with Merrill and Wayne.

Emmet came and changed out my dining room light bulb and put a fresh battery in my smoke detector. He is a very nice young man. He told me he was 33. I am trying avoid climbing on even the step stool. All I need is a fall.

More even later...

I read most of the afternoon until the news came on at 5:00PM and then I watched that as best I could. Sometimes the TV just tears. A lot of it has to do with the fact that there is a tree in the back yard just where my antenna has to point toward Tulsa. Much of the time it is a very good picture but if there is wind and the tree leaves are moving about, I get tearing on my picture.

I had my bath about 7:00PM and later Missy and I watched Amazon Prime until bedtime. We went to bed at 9:00PM.

Monday, December 10, 2018

Monday and Another Good Night's Sleep

I slept well again last night. I only woke up once and I then got up to take my med.  I went back to bed and right back to sleep until 5:00AM.

I fed Missy after I finally got up and dressed and made the bed and got ready for the day. She ate well and I had my ordinary oatmeal.

I later took my packages up to the post office and spent a small fortune mailing them off to the out-of-town kids. :)

Cyndi is going to vacuum for me on Wednesday morning. Mostly my right arm has been better but even with doing the vacuuming with my left arm, it still manages to hurt my right arm. That's a mystery.

I need to go out to Walmart and get some more Chai Latte sometime soon. I am running low on that. I think I only have three things on my list though so I can't justify a trip out there. It's six and a half miles out there and six and a half miles back home. I have a 40 pack coming from Amazon today but it won't have Chai Latte in it. If Bob is running low, I will let him buy what he needs out of that.

I have been trying to plow through that library book but it's tough going. Our Book Club meeting is after Christmas if I recall correctly. I will probably go back through the chapters and make some notes. I had to do that last month and it helped.

I did that again this afternoon and after the mail came I discovered I had a couple more cards from my classmates with the news of their families. So I worked some more on the newsletter. I have one more page I can fill but that is all. I have notified all of them that are online. It's quite a newsy letter this year. The older we get the more our classmates want to stay in touch.

I took my bath, as usual, at 7:00PM and Missy and I watched Amazon Prime until 9:00PM when we went on to bed. I was so tired. 

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Sunday and Church

I slept very well again last night and got up at 4:50AM,... nearly 5:00AM, my regular time to get up.

I am dressed and ready for the day. I have yet to feed Missy and myself and she is ready for breakfast. So before I go any further, I had better get her fed. She gets grouchy if she has to wait.

O.K. We are both full now and now ready for the day. 

I hope Vivian comes to preach this morning at church. She will be there if the weather holds and it s only cold. I feel woefully unprepared to take over.  I am presiding and I have a sermon ready but I only did it a couple of days ago and I am not too confident in it. It is 28 degrees this morning. I haven't looked out yet to see if it snowed or even rained.

I took a zinc lozenge this morning. Friday, at lunch in Chanute, I sat next to Adele, Gay's sister, and she had a cold. I woke up with a slightly sore throat.

More later...

I have all my out-of-town gifts packed and ready to be mailed off. I just have to get some package wrapping tape at the Dollar General store today and then put a label on each the boxes and take them to the post office in the morning. I had to put Ginger and Scott's in separate boxes. I didn't have a box large enough for both to be packed together. They're not so large but Ginger's is deeper then Scott's. I did have one box to pack both Esther's and Keith's together.

Bob has frost on his windshield and it's very cold out to try to scrape windows at our age so I plan to drive to church this Sunday. I will call Phyllis at 8:00AM. It's 21 degrees out now.

More even later...

 I drove today. Vivian, and her daughter, Melinda did show up today. Vivian preached. and did a good job. I struggled with the presiding.  I don't know why. I just had too much material, I guess. I should know better.

We went to lunch at Great China and had a good lunch. We all took some home for later. After I took Karan back to her car at church and Bob back to his apartment, I came back home to do the congregation's newsletter. I have six out on the mailbox.

I need to get my boxes of gifts taped and ready to be mailed tomorrow morning. So I may get back to this later...

I read my book all afternoon. I really am having a time getting into it.  It just isn't my type of book. It is called "The Red Garden". I had never heard f it.

At 7:00PM, I took my bath and watched Amazon Prime all evening.  I actually fell asleep during the program so I missed some of it.

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

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Saturday and Christmas Shopping

I slept very well last night and got up close to 5:00AM, which is my regular time to arise.

I got myself ready for the day and fed myself and Missy.

I wrapped Ginger's little Christmas gift and will get it in the mail Monday. I need to get some more shipping tape to finish up the wrapping. I have Esther's ready to go too. But I want to put Keith's and Scott's in with their wives gifts. I have been careful with my shopping but I love to Christmas shop. It doesn't seem like the Christmas holiday without gifts under the tree for those I love.

Karan is going shopping with me in Bartlesville today. I hope to finish up my list and get everything mailed by today or Monday.

It's time to go pick her up. I will get back to this later....

Karan and I are so proud of ourselves. We both finished up our list for Christmas. I only have to wrap mine and get them in the mail to Scott and Ginger and Keith and Esther. All the others are local. I need to get some package wrapping tape tomorrow before I can get them mailed off on Monday.

We also had lunch at McCallister's and shared the flavored tea from my glass that Leslie gave me.

I saw Nancy on our way through Caney and stopped and visited with her a bit. I will try to get over there next week sometime to visit her. She is going to David's for Christmas.

Now it's time to feed Missy. She has spent most of the day alone and needs some attention too.

So more later...

We lay on the sofa as usual and watched Amazon Prime TV. At 9:00PM, we both went to bed.

Friday, December 7, 2018

Friday and Lunch in Chanute

Today is the day I will drive up to Chanute to have lunch with my long time friend, Gay, and her friends.

I had quite a night! Missy woke me up at 11:30PM and again at 1:30AM. She was choking! I picked her up and put her on the afghan I cover up with when it's very cold in the apartment. She never did throw up. She got it down when I picked her up. Still off and on all the rest of the night I could hear her stomach rumbling. I was dreading having to wash that bedspread again. I have had to do that twice already at the laundromat.  It gets expensive!  I finally just got up about 4:00AM. This will be a long day.

I have dressed and got myself ready for the day and fed Missy and myself. I see on the TV that they have taken the snow out of our area. It went south I guess.

More later....

I went out a few minutes ago and bought gasoline.  It is 28 degrees out there. Standing out there pumping that gas was a real blast...of cold air.

I think I am going to have to buy a new router. All of it's lights don't light up and I am getting a weak signal. Last night I couldn't get Amazon Prime. The signal was too weak. I also had to reboot the Echo to get it to finally work.

I am going to Chanute in a little while to meet Gay and her group for lunch. I need to start that way about 10:30AM.

I just contacted Cox, my internet provider and they say they are experiencing problems in my area. Perhaps that is the reason my router is not lighting up altogether.. I will check with them to see if the difficulty started last night when I could not get enough of a signal to get Amazon Prime clearly.

They said it was a problem last night as well. I am so glad my equipment was not the problem. They have been trying to get me to update my equipment but as long as what I have works, I will not update my modem and router.  That would cost me some big money.

More later...

They got our internet working again earlier then they said. That's good! I will be able to watch my Amazon Prime this evening.

I had a good visit with Gay and her friends and did some more of my Christmas shopping too while I was in Chanute.  I got Ginger's gift. Now I only have the boy's and I will go to Bartlesville tomorrow and get that finished up and in the mail.

I read my book after I got home from Chanute. Then at 7:00PM I took my bath and Missy and I watched TV until bedtime. We went to bed  at 9:00PM.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Thursday and a Long Day

I awoke at 1:15 this morning with Missy tapping on me to get up. She must have been hungry. Anyhow, I bawled her out and she curled up and went back to sleep and so did I...thankfully.

I got up sometime after 4:00AM...closer to 5:00AM. I dressed and got ready for the day. I fed Missy and then myself. I just had a little dab of oatmeal....not much left. I will need to get another box.

I got everything done yesterday so I don't have a plan. We are forecast for snow starting tomorrow night and into Saturday. Seeing it is believing it.   I plan to go to Chanute tomorrow to have lunch with Gay and her gang. I hope it doesn't move in earlier.

Bob just texted me to go have breakfast. It's a good thing I ate very little. That sounds good to me.

I guess I will work on my Christmas cards today. It's too cold to go anywhere and before I can do any more Christmas shopping, I will need to wait for my social security on the 12th ...Wednesday of next week. I transferred some money from my savings to help pay my rent. I will transfer it back to my savings when my social security comes in.  Time to go get Bob. Back to this later...

Bob bought my breakfast and we had a good visit.

I came home and watched the second George H.W. Bush funeral...the one in Houston. He really was a good man. No one had anything bad to say about him.  It was all good. He was well loved by family and friends.

It's lunchtime but so far I am not hungry.

I have balanced my checkbook and am doing fine with that. If the weather holds, I will go to Chanute tomorrow for lunch with Gay and her friends.

More later...

My younger son and his wife's incredible new home..being built now.

The home...

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Living room..
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Their land...

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Their kitchen..

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I worked up a sermon just in case our guest minister can't come for Sunday because of snow.

So, I have been a lot busier then I thought I would be.

Also heard from my younger son that he got a new job and will start after the first of the year. Furthermore, it's twice the money he was getting for his present job.

I had trouble with my router this evening. The lights are not all lighting up so my signal is weak. I dealt  with my Echo trying to get Alexa to turn off the lamp and rebooted twice but still the signal is weak. I may have to buy a new router. It's always something.

Missy and I went to bed about 9:00PM. I was very tired.


Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Wednesday and Laundry and Bunco

Today I am doing laundry.

I slept through the night last night. That is amazing in itself.

I stripped my bed this morning and washed sheets and the little laundry I had besides that. They are in the dryer now. I will do my bare floors this morning in hopes Cyndi can vacuum for me this afternoon. If she can't, I will do it myself after Bunco this afternoon. The arm is much better anymore but I always vacuum with my left arm to protect the right arm anyhow.

I have dressed for the day and fed Missy and myself.

Scott called to tell me that after he changed his e-mail address he lost his u tube account and therefore the video of his dad's interview with the TV station in Joplin/Pittsburg is gone now. He wanted me to post mine back up there but I had given mine to Leslie. She is burning both Scott and me a new copy. You folks may recall that the Red Cross deployed my husband to 9/11 as a chaplain after that disaster, and he stayed three weeks and went back again in January for four more weeks. The TV station videoed his interview with them after he returned home the first time. Two years ago, Scott obtained two copies of that interview and posted his on u tube. I gave mine to my daughter, Leslie.

I worked for an hour or so last night on my class newsletter. It's far from finished but I won't send it out until after Christmas..usually between Christmas and New Years Day.

I got all my cleaning done this morning before 10:00AM. I even vacuumed... using my left arm. I held the cord with my right arm. It worked! Cyndi was going to try to get to it for me but she had a trip to Grove to take some patients down there at 4:00AM this morning and I knew she would be too tired to mess with it when she got back. 

I will play Bunco this afternoon from 1:00PM until 3:00PM. I bought my prizes for that game this past week but then Marilyn said Belva was in charge of prizes this month so I hope to keep the little Christmas cactus' alive until January. I will water them when they dry out.

I changed the water in my new flowers this morning and put fresh minerals in the water. They are really opening up well now.

More later...

I want to go to the market and get some more cornbread mix to eat with my beans this noon.

So I'd better get with it. I left the vacuum out in the bedroom where Missy is sleeping. After she is out of there, I will run it and then put it away.

More even later....

I got the rest of the vacuuming done after Missy moved off the bed.

I also ate some more of my beans and cornbread. This time I made cornbread muffins. I still have some so I may eat them again or even offer them to Karan.  I have to eat something tomorrow and they are healthy.

By the way, I heard on the CBS news this evening that Valsartan and Amlodipine blood pressure meds have trace amounts of a carcinogen in them and are being recalled. I take amlodipine and will bring this to the attention of my pharmacy tomorrow. I just ordered a refill this morning. Check your meds.

I laid on the sofa this evening with Missy and watched TV. At 7:00PM, I took my bath and put my PJs on and prepared for the evening and then went on to bed at 9:00PM.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Tuesday and Hair Day

I woke up at 4:30AM and lay there until it became apparent I wasn't going to be able to get mack to sleep and then I just got up. I dressed, made the bed, and fed Missy and myself breakfast.

Then I drained the beans and put hot water on them, added onion, salt and ham and put them on the base of the slow cooker to cook for five hours.

At 9:00AM, I got my hair done. 

I went out to Walmart and bought all the makings for my peanut clusters. I won't make them yet but I will wait until about a week before Christmas and do it then I will take them to Leslie's cookie exchange on the 16th at 3:00PM.  I will also take cookies to exchange.  While I was there, I got Missy and large bag of her treats. That should hold her for awhile.

I used the $25.00 gift Walmart card that Rick and Carmen gave me for my birthday.

I invited Marilyn to come eat beans and cornbread with me and then we took a large bowl over to Wayne's' for Merrill and him for lunch. We also took the leftover cornbread. I have enough left for one more meal.

More later...Notice...I am starting to accumulate gifts under my tree.

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I read my book for part of the afternoon. And watched Amazon Prime for part of it too. I fell asleep in the middle of watching it...that's what I get for waking up and getting up so early. It's only 8:10PM now but I am yawning again.

I worked on my class newsletter for awhile this afternoon. I have heard from two classmates so far and started the letter with their news.

If I go to bed this early, I will be awake very early tomorrow morning again.

I went back to work on my class newsletter until 9:00PM and then Missy and I on went to bed. Hopefully, I will sleep better now.