Saturday and a Craft Shopping Day

I slept through the night and through the storm until 4:00AM and I awoke refreshed so I just got up. I have dressed and am going to get myself ready for the day and feed myself and Missy, I am to meet Leslie at 8:15 in Independence and we are going to take in the three craft shows in Independence this morning beginning with the one at the museum. Then there is one at the Episcopal Church and one at the Methodist Church. It may take all morning to see all three. They are usually very interesting.

So more later...

O.K. I have dressed, fed Missy and myself and had my coffee and Chai Latte.   It's only about 5:55AM now so I have plenty of time before meeting Leslie at 8:15AM. At 6:00AM, I am going to watch the CBS news. Surprisingly I have TV this morning. I thought the storm might have turned the antenna.

More even later...

I see on the news that George H.W. Bush has died at age 94.  There was quite a bit of storm damage in Oklahoma and of course, Alaska had a 9.0 earthquake yesterday..  That will take a while to recover from.

It's only 6:31AM now so I still have awhile until I meet Leslie for the craft shows.

Missy is in on the bed napping. She hadn't even tried to go out this morning. She must realize it's chilly or maybe she realizes it's still dark out. It is 52 degrees this morning. The weather can't seem to decide whether it's fall or winter. It looks like around Monday it will be back to 37 degrees.

Back later ...after the craft shows.

Leslie bought a few things at the craft show and I bought a centerpiece for my coffee table. Besides that, Leslie bought us Chai latte at Anna Mae's and a huge wonderful banana pecan muffin. We looked around there at the room full of games, etc. I still want to buy the Twist game for the little girls. They will enjoy that. After Leslie left me, I went out to Walmart and did a little Christmas shopping and then over to Goodys to get two more. The hardware store has a neat gift area and I got a couple more things there.

When I got home, I wrapped those things and put them under the tree. It looks a lot more like Christmas in there now. I will take Sage's gift to church tomorrow to give to Leslie to include with her package.

I had a "Happy Birthday" coupon from Arby's so I went up there and got a Reuben sandwich. It was free. All I had to do was buy a small drink. That was a nice lunch although I could only eat half of it. I brought the rest home and put it in the frig.

I wonder if the mailman has come. I will go look...so more later...







One 800 Flowers just delivered these. I can hardly wait until they open. Scott and Ginger sent them for my birthday tomorrow! When they open, I will take another photo.

I read all afternoon and at 7:00PM I took my bath and Missy and I watched the rest of the football game between Georgia and Alabama.

After that, we watched   some Amazon Prime TV until 9:00PM when we went to bed.

Friday and Dusting

I slept very well again last night. I did get up at 4:15AM but I had my sleep out. I had fallen asleep on the sofa watching TV with Missy and finally just got up, turned off the TV and went on to bed.

I have dressed and fed Missy. I will have my own breakfast after I get finished getting my face on and my eyes in. I want to dust today. I got the apartment vacuumed and the floors washed yesterday but then I played out. I had fixed a pot of chili and I had Marilyn over to share it. I have plenty left so I will have it again and perhaps freeze the rest.

I hope my new DVD player comes today so I can see if I can hook it up. I am having the Living the Questions group over here Sunday night.

I'll get back to this later...after breakfast.

Well, I have begun my dusting. I have had my oatmeal and am ready for the day.

I have also been going through stuff I have saved a hard copy on and deciding whether to shred those or not. I have shredded quite a bit already. I have put my living will in that pink envelope with a magnet that is hanging on the side of my frig. That way, in the event something happens to me, they will have that.

As Bob A always says, I no longer buy green bananas. never hurts to be prepared. John R. was only two years older than me. And we went to his funeral on Wednesday.

More later.. I'd better get back to the dusting or I won't get finished.

I got the dusting finished  and went out to Walmart to get the prizes for the Bunco game next Wednesday. It is my turn to provide them.  

Then I tried to get my TV antenna turned so that it would no longer tear. The wind had evidently turned it so it could no longer point toward Tulsa. Evidently the antenna wire had wound around the pole and that kept it from being able to be adjusted with the rotor. I messed with it the better part of an hour and finally gave up and called Leslie to see if John could bring his ladder and turn it manually. She told me his ladder was left here next to my apartment. Sure enough, it was.

I started to climb on the roof myself and Maureen, my neighbor to the east, came over and said I should not do that. She was afraid I would fall. I went across the street and asked Merrill to come do it and he was happy to do that. Now, at least, I have a picture again. I gave him the chili I had left over after yesterday's lunch and he was happy to have it, He told me about the smothered steak at the Dearing Drive In any time the month has five Fridays. I went out there and bought one to bring home. It was very good but way too much food for me. I ate most of it. Then I had an ice cream bar for dessert. I should have polished off that apple brown betty. Maybe I will have that tonight.

So far, my DVD player has not come. Maybe it will come at 2:00PM with the regular mail. I hope!

More later....

The DVD player came with the 2:00PM mail. I opened it and read the instructions but they were Greek to me. I contacted Leslie and asked her if she could come install it for me and she said they were delivering feed but would come do that after they finished. About 4:00PM, they showed up.  John stayed outside. They both had manure on their shoes but Leslie took hers off.

After some consternation, Leslie got the DVD player programed.  Then we had to reset the antenna on the roof again. We did find that it could be rotated by keeping the little rotator button down until the antenna was pointing south and we could align it toward Tulsa that way. 

Later we had a huge thunderstorm come up and I don't know if I can watch TV now or not without realigning the antenna again but I was able to watch Amazon Prime and at 9:00PM, Missy and I went to bed. It had been an exhausting day and I had fallen asleep on the sofa again.

Thursday and Apartment Cleaning

I slept very well again last night! Of course yesterday was a huge day for me. I finally got up at 5:00AM...my regular time. I fed Missy to get her off the bed so I could make it.  Next week, I will strip the bed and do some laundry. Today I will wash the bathmat she peed on Tuesday and all the other things I have in my basket, including my towels.

I will clean the apartment today.  I usually do that on Thursday.

My TV is having trouble getting a signal this morning. It tears now and then and I won't be able to watch the news unless I can get a better signal. I can always get it on the radio. I may have to do that.


More later...

This is my youngest son's 58th birthday. In three days I will be 83 years old. Scott called me this morning to thank me for the birthday gift.

Then I went by to pick up Bob A. His car had frost on it and I have a carport. We had breakfast at Eggberts. Then I took him home and went by the bank and got some cash and then went by the Dollar General Store and bought a few things I needed. 

Now I will begin my cleaning.

I finished my vacuuming and while doing that I noticed my Christmas cactus is beginning to bloom!

 

I am going to take a break. Missy wants to go out and she has been inside for days thanks to the cold weather and wind.  It's 55 degrees out there now and this may be the only time in a long time she will get to go out. So, we'll see!

So, more even later...

I took her out for a little while but she was ready to come back in pretty quickly. Even at 55 degrees, she thought that was a little cooler then she liked.

I ate some more of my apple brown betty this afternoon and have just one helping left.  When I finish that up tomorrow, I will wash the dish. I will need it for the Christ School class on Sunday. Then I will need to empty it for another apple brown betty on Sunday evening to serve to the Living the Questions group. That is...if I can get the DVD player hooked up all right. That is... if it comes tomorrow as it is supposed to.

Leslie is going to meet me at Independence at 8:15 to go through the various Christmas bazaars there. There are three. We attend them  every year. There are some very talented people who put those together. 

I went to my book club meeting 5:30PM  and got home about 6:45PM.  I took my bath then and prepared to lie down with Missy until bedtime.

Wednesday and the Funeral Services

I awoke at 3:00AM and wondered if I had accidentally bought shredded lettuce instead of shredded cabbage for my slaw. Finally, I just got up and looked. Sure enough! I had done that! I got dressed about 4:00AM and went back out to Walmart to get the correct thing. Luckily, I had bought a large (expensive) jar of coleslaw dressing so I had enough left to dress the slaw.  Getting old is definitely not for sissies. I am just glad I thought of that before I took it to the funeral dinner.

Anyhow, I was up so I went ahead and fed Missy..who will bug me to death if I don't feed her immediately after I get dressed and ready for the day. Then I ate my oatmeal.

It's almost 6:00AM now.  I just texted Bob to see if he was up and sure enough, he was.

My Blue Cross/Blue Shield came out last night....$293.10 each month. I entered that into my checkbook and brought it up to date. I only see the doctor twice a year so I never use all that premium. I am one of those that pays for those who are unhealthy.

I sent out the first of my Christmas cards yesterday and a package for Ginger's birthday. Every few days, I will send a Christmas card to those on my list until I get that finished. I always add a personal note too. I always buy special personalized ones for my kids and family. At the prices of stamps in this day and age, it is almost prohibitive.

Karan will be by at 10:00AM to pick me and the food up. I have Mike's pineapple upside down cake and Cyndi's dinner rolls as well as my own coleslaw.

More later...

We got everything loaded up  and Karan drove to Bob's apartment and Phyllis' house before going by to pick up Leeann and her food. Then she drove to Neodesha.

The dinner was excellent and I got to see many people I knew from Caney and even a few from Coffeyville. After we got everything ready and ate, we later went over to the Derrick, a lovely gift shop there in Neodesha, and Karan and Leslie and Leeann all bought some things. We had a little time before the service. The service was long..about an hour. I think they are usually about 30 to 45 minutes. But Sue had lots of support, thank goodness. I know the next three months to a year will be very hard on her and John's and her children and grandchildren. They all loved him so!

We came on home and Leeann never stopped talking the entire way. Both Phyllis and I were very tired and her incessant talking only made it worse. Karan missed her turn on 75 and had to go on to exit on 169 and then she drove back eight miles to get to 10th Street road (3900 road) She turned there and took Leeann home first. I was so glad to have a quiet car again. I feel sorry for Leeann but she really wears on me.

When I got home I got a phone call from John W, who is our class treasurer. He came by and I gave him the check I had from Phil C. for the newsletter expense.   We now have $320. in the class account. The newsletter will take two ink cartridges and a roll of stamps and a book of stamps.. I will work on that project between Christmas and New Years.

I took my bath about 7:30PM and now Missy and I are in the den. I am at the desk and she is behind me on the daybed.  I will try to stay up a little later. I missed so much sleep last night.

Tuesday and a Busy Day

I slept poorly last night. I woke up at 2:00AM as usual and took my med and then began to be concerned about whether or not I could get my DVD player to work since Keith had put the Tivo on the TV last year after I cancelled the cable. I finally just got up. I set it up, finally figured it out and after about two minutes the DVD player died altogether.  I had to really work to get my DVD out of it. In fact, I tore it apart. Between a pair of pliers, a screwdriver, and a kitchen butcher knife, I got it open and took a pair of tweezers to get the DVD out. Bob and I had bought that player used and refurbished at Sears years ago. Now I will need to buy a new one. I may have to get Leslie to install it. I don't know if I could figure it out or not. Probably it would just plug in to the back where I took the other one out and then plug into the power. But with the Tivo on the TV I don't know if I could figure it out. I won't worry about it now. I will just have to get one of the other people in the group to run the DVD if I can't get it hooked up and I will just take the dessert to their house. Always something!

Needless to say, I have been up for hours.

I have dressed and Missy is ready for her breakfast. I will need to eat mine too. At 9:00AM I have my hair appointment and then after that I will take the cakes to Independence. Later today at 6:00PM, the three of us will drive up to Neodesha to see Sue and the family at family time at the funeral home.

So more later...

Missy and I have both had our breakfast and she is in on the bed taking a nap. I have heard from Bob A. He baked his cake last night but has to ice it yet. I told him I would come by after my 9:00AM hair appointment to pick it up. If he wants me to have it earlier so he can go to Joanne's house, he can just drop it by here.

I got my hair done and picked up Bob's cake too. I stopped by the church to leave the small coffee cups I had bought and Cyndi was just leaving her rolls there. I picked those up and put them in the trunk of my car. Bob is bringing rolls too. They should have plenty. I have the makings for my coleslaw. I will make it up this afternoon.

I dropped off the cakes at the First Christian Church and learned we would not have to bring them again until January 8th...the second Tuesday in January. I also went to the Merle Norman store and bought a lipstick before coming back home.

Then I came back home and filled my car tank with gas before I came on home. I fixed the little bit of leftover stew for my lunch and ate that with cheese and crackers. Missy had some cheese. She likes cheese.

I fiddled with moving the antenna and got it to stop tearing...at least temporarily.

I will be gone when my ice cream bars come this evening from Schwans. He is supposed to be here between 6:00PM and 8:00 PM and we will be gone to the family meeting at the funeral home during that time.

I just ordered a new Sony DVD player from Amazon. It is to be here on Friday. I hope it's just a plug and play DVD player. The old one had one plug in and then the power plug.  I hope this one installs that same way. We will see.

Leeann just called. She wants to ride with us tomorrow too. She will have to fit in the middle of the back seat.

I called Betty, my landlady, about three things. She got Emmett right over here. There was a puddle of water on the floor behind the stool day before yesterday. I wasn't sure if the stool was leaking or not. Then there was that breaker box and also the overhead light fixture.  I got the bulb changed but the fixture was too bulky for me to be able to hold it while I screwed the center back in.

Emmett just left. He took care of all three. He put the center shade back on the ceiling fixture in the dining room. He also checked out the breaker box. It blew a breaker while I was trying to blow the leaves away from my back door and it is so high up on the wall in the furnace area, I could not read it. I turned each of them to the "on" switch but couldn't be sure I had them all "on".

Karan called and volunteered to drive tomorrow since we will have a lot of food in the trunk. I had emptied out my trunk but still was not sure I had room for everything. Leann had three dishes, I had my coleslaw, I had Cyndi's two big packages of rolls and Bob's rolls and Karan's dish and Phyllis' cake. We were to pick up Melissa's veggie tray at church and Mike was bringing his cake tonight. Even with an empty trunk,  I didn't think we would have enough room. I think Leslie got hold of Karan and suggested that she might drive since she has a bigger car. I know she suggested to me that either Karan of Phyllis both had larger cars. I told her Phyllis asked me if I would drive so I knew Phyllis didn't want to drive herself.

I will drive this evening. Neither Bob nor Leeann are going this evening and we are not taking food.  So I will have enough room to drive tonight. I will leave at 6:00PM and we may be back by 7:30PM  at the latest.

I just fed Missy. One less thing to worry about.

Just before I left, the Schwans man came with my order. I was afraid he would come while I was gone. We had a good visit with the family. 

I got everyone back home late. I took my bath and lay on the sofa with Missy awhile.  In fact, I fell asleep on the sofa and when I woke up, I just went to bed.
.
Getting old is not for sissies. It stresses me if I get too many problems in one day. This day was a doozie.

Monday and Bake a Cake

I slept well again last night. I woke up twice and went to the bathroom but got right back to sleep after I took my med. I got up at my usual 5:00AM.

I dressed, fed myself and Missy and got the congregations newsletter out. I also started a revision of our congregational directory. It seems strange to eliminate John R. from the directory but it is what it is.

I will bake and ice my cake today for the First Christian Church in Independence tomorrow. I will take those cakes up after I get my hair done at 9:00AM tomorrow.  I will also need to get my coleslaw made for the dinner at noon on Wednesday. Then later, at 6:00PM tomorrow, I will pick up Phyllis and Karan to go to the family meeting at Neodesha tomorrow evening. We will go back up on Wednesday at 10:30 to take the food and then stay for the services. Bob will go with us for that service. It will be a busy first three days of the week.

Scott called this morning and we had a nice visit. He is so busy...he doesn't call as much as he used to. He and Ginger have a great relationship. They like so many things the same. The are great Ohio State football fans.

Keith is now in Morocco. He left Saturday and will be gone two weeks.

I had better get that cake done. I have a lot to think about today.  More later...

I got the cake finished and iced and Phyllis and Karan brought me theirs too. Bob will bring his in the morning.

I went out to Walmart and bought more groceries. I also got Ginger's birthday gift and card mailed off too. I sent it by UPS. I trust them more to get it there in one piece. I will make some chili later this week when my ground beef thaws out. That will be good in this cold weather.  Now I need to eat some lunch. I have some Walmart frozen dinners and I will have one of those. I also got the makings for my coleslaw out at Walmart for the funeral dinner on Wednesday.   More later...

I did have one of my frozen Walmart meals at lunch time. Afterward I treated myself to an ice cream bar.

I read some of my Readers Digest this afternoon and watched some Amazon Prime TV too. I fed Missy and she came and laid down with me on the sofa to watch TV. At 7:00PM I took my bath and will stay up another hour and a half to watch TV and plan to go to bed  at 9:00PM or so. Tomorrow, I will get my hair done at 9:00AM and then head out to Independence to take the cakes to the First Christian Church there.

Sunday and Church

I slept very well last night. I woke up twice to go to the bathroom but got back to sleep until 5:00AM, my regular time to get up. I dressed and fed Missy and myself. I thought this might be a quiet time to get to my blog. The antenna on the TV works well unless there is wind. This morning we have wind so it is peculating badly. If it does that this evening I will just catch 60 Minutes in the morning on Amazon Prime.

Betty will be meeting her cousin this morning and I will get myself ready for church when she is up and out of the den. My dress clothes are in there. Right now I am just wearing the jeans I had on yesterday. They were in the bedroom.

After lunch today, sometime this afternoon, I will need to bake my apple brown betty for dessert.  I also want to get some vanilla ice cream to serve with it. I am hosting the Living the Questions group at 7:00PM next Sunday evening. 

John R's  funeral is Wednesday at 2:00PM in Neodesha. Our church  is to bring salads and desserts for the noontime funeral dinner. The VFW of Neodesha will provide the rest of the dinner and it will be held at their senior center there in Neodesha. I will take coleslaw for that. I will pick up Phyllis and Karan at 6:00PM for the family meeting Tuesday evening.

I woke Betty at 7:00AM and she got ready for the day. She slept well but must have got cold in the night. She had one of my sleeping bags from the den closet down and over herself. I am glad they were in there. My extra blanket is in the bedroom closet.  While she got herself ready to meet her cousin, I fixed her some bacon and eggs for her breakfast.  She loaded up her car again and left about 8:30AM to meet her cousin at 9:00AM. She will meet her at McDonald's.

I found my brown slacks and changed from my jeans. I cleaned up the mess I had made in the kitchen and am ready for Phyllis to come pick me up. She called a little bit ago to tell me for sure she was driving this morning. Bob had called earlier. He is leaving church early right after church school class to go to Joanne's for dinner. She is fixing a turkey and trimmings and whatever they have left, she is donating to her church. They are having a dinner there later.

Phyllis will be here shortly so I had better be ready. I will get back to this later.

We had a great service at church today. It was mostly to memorialize John R.  Lots of prayers for the family and testimonies of him.

Afterward we went to El Pubulito for lunch. Then I came home and made my apple brown betty a week early. I was thinking the Living the Questions group was tonight here but it's next Sunday night. I took the apple brown betty over to Marilyn's with the vanilla ice cream and we enjoyed a treat. I gave her some more for later.

I came back home to watch 60 Minutes but the wind was up and it piscalated a lot. I will watch it tomorrow on Amazon Prime.

Missy and I watched Amazon Prime until 9:00PM when we went to bed.