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 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 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...



Living room..
 

Their land...

 

Their kitchen..




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 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 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.



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.

Monday and Rent Day

I woke about 5:00AM after waking up at 2:00AM to take my med. I had a good night's sleep. I got up and dressed and fed Missy and myself and afterward worked on the bulletin for next Sunday's service at church. Leslie asked me to preside for Vivian D., who will be the speaker. I got that finished and went out to church to print off the bulletin. That's done now!

I watched the CBS news but it was tearing some so I went out and checked the antenna. It was a little too far to the west to get a good picture so I carefully turned it more to the south and got a good picture. I am so pleased that Leslie and I figured out how to get that antenna adjusted.  I had been so busy I had missed most of 60 Minutes last night so I went to Amazon Prime and ran it over again. It was mostly about the life of President George H.W. Bush. It was interesting but it appears they are going to run that in the ground, as usual, since they re-ran most of it on the CBS news this morning.

Then I emptied the dryer and put things away. I had started that load of laundry last night but fell asleep before I got it finished. So I put it in the dryer this morning.

I also went to the library to get the book we will read this month.It is called "The Red Garden". I have never heard of it but that's not surprising since I read very little fiction.

I stopped at Liebert Brothers and bought two more gifts. I got some things for John and also Esther.  I have Leslie's, Marlene's and the little girls' gifts and I gave the one for Sage, my eldest great granddaughter, to Leslie for her to put in with their gift to her. She lives in Oregon.  I still have to get Keith's and Scott's and Gingers and Jeromy's. I will send the adult grandchildren cards.

Then I went online to pay my electric bill. Actually, I scheduled it to be paid on the 14th. I wrote my rent check and took it out to the Equity Bank and paid it. The rent is due before the 5th of the month.

I went over to Braums and bought milk and yogurt. I have yogurt for supper. I also need oatmeal. I have very little left. I may go over to the Dollar General store and buy that.

I made myself a hamburger with some of that hamburger meat in the freezer. I had also thawed a bun and I had onion and pickles and mustard so that was a fine little lunch. I shared a little of the cooked meat with Missy. She considered it a treat. Then I treated myself to an ice cream bar.

I am going to soak some beans for ham and beans this week. I will fix some cornbread to eat with them. I will take some to Merrill and Wayne too.

I plan to go to Chanute to have lunch with Gay and her friends on Friday if it doesn't snow. We all try to get together at least once a month.

It's 4:30PM and I have been busy most of the day!

More later...

I read most of the afternoon. At 5:30PM I turned on the news and at 7:00PM I took my bath and turned on Amazon Prime and watched that until nearly 9:00PM. I put my beans on to soak overnight and  went on to bed. Missy soon followed.

Sunday and My Birthday

I woke up at 1:00AM to the sound of Missy choking. She threw up on my bed before I could get her off. I took the coverlet off the bed and got down a quilt that the Sanfords gave me after Rosie died and I did her funeral. I put that on the bed. Then I walked around the apartment  and looked for any other catastrophes before trying to go back to bed and back to sleep. I then went into the den and pulled the trundle out and brought my pillow in and went to bed there. Amazingly I managed to get back to sleep.

I woke again at 4:15AM and just got up and fed Missy her soft food and got myself ready for the day. She seems to be keeping that soft food down alright. She had been eating the Iams that I had ground up into tiny pieces and drinking water to wash it down. That is what she threw up. I don't know what I am going to have to do to keep that from happening again.

I am going to have to get some quarters at the market and go back to the laundromat and wash and dry that coverlet again. I have forgotten how many quarters that takes. I will also have to take some detergent. And I have also forgotten how many quarters it takes to dry that coverlet. I will have to check that out this afternoon. The bank is closed and so quarters will be hard to come by if the market can't spare any.  If I can find enough here and there, I will do that laundry this afternoon. .

This is a big day. I will fix my coffeecake for the Church School class this morning and then after lunch at the Railroad Inn, take whatever may be left to Marilyn and Bob and fix my dessert for tonight. Wouldn't you know, I have the Living the Questions group tonight at 7:00PM.  This has been a wild week after the mess with the DVD player. Thanks goodness, Leslie managed to program that for me.

More later...Sure enough...my flowers are beginning to open!




The coffeecake is finished and also glazed and ready for the Church School class.  I will pick up Bob and Phyllis at 9:00AM and take the coffee cake with me.

More later...

The Church School went fine and the coffeecake went over well too. I brought some home and gave one piece to Bob A. and four to John and Leslie. They had taken me to the Railroad Inn for lunch afterward and Bob A. and Phyllis F. went too. We had a good lunch and the restaurant gifted me with their homemade ice cream afterward for my birthday. We four shared it.

My cousin's widower,  Everett Johnson, just called and sang Happy Birthday to me! That was a nice surprise! He has stayed in touch from time to time even though my cousin died a few years ago. He and his older daughter, Tricia, usually come visit me each year over Memorial Day weekend!

After I came home and got my newsletters finished and then started on my apple brown betty. I got that out of the oven about 15 minutes before the group came.We had a good discussion and after I served the apple brown betty, I gave the rest of it to Mona and Richard.  She seemed delighted. It was very good and I served it with vanilla ice cream and peach tea. They all left about 9:30PM and I took my bath and laid down with Missy on the sofa to watch some Amazon Prime TV. I must have gone to sleep immediately. I awoke at 10:30PM and went on to bed. Missy soon followed me and I slept until 2:00AM when I got up to go to the bathroom and took my med and then went right back to sleep until 5:00AM.
 
It was a long busy day!