Saturday and Christmas Day

I slept well again last night and was up at 5:00AM, made my bed, got myself ready for the day and ate my breakfast.

We will have a different Christmas this year. Leslie is on call and cannot fix Christmas dinner so I suggested we go over to Cherryvale to Just Us for Christmas dinner. We will meet at John and Leslie's at 11:00AM to open our gifts first. They didn't need a thing and really neither did I but the little girls will be there and Christmas gift giving is primarily for children. This will be the last Christmas that Leslie will have to work. She will retire next July when she turns 65. She can hardly wait!

Now I will go watch the news and check on the cats. I am taking my broken sweeper to John and he will take a look at it. He's pretty handy with anything mechanical. He may be able to figure it out.

Something weird just happened. I was getting ready to load the vacuum sweeper in my car and just on a hunch, I plugged it in and what do you know...it worked!! It must have been overheated yesterday and shut down.This carpet is very much thicker and more plush. I wonder if that will happen every time I vacuum with this sweeper. I had done the den, which has short indoor/outdoor carpet in it, and my bedroom which has the new carpet in it and the hall which also has the new carpet in it, and was getting ready to do the living room with the new carpet in it...when it quit. But when I plugged it in  this morning, it turned itself on. So I put it away and won't take it out to John now.

And both cats were out there for the Christmas breakfast this morning so I fed them. 

I just got word that my youngest son, Scott, has covid this morning. He has been fully vaccinated and even has had the booster. But he has all the classic symptoms. He is home in bed. They had attended Ginger's son's wedding. Maybe he will have a light case.

He and my older son both have a serious blood disease... hemochromatosis, it's an inherited  blood disease...too much iron in the blood. The only treatment is to have a phlebotomy every month.

I went out to John and Leslie's at 11:00AM and we had our gift exchange. Afterward we went up to Just Us for dinner at noon. It was a nice dinner but we were the only ones there with face masks. We wore them in and took them off only to eat. 

I got up to pay the bill and Leslie beat me to Kay and paid it with John's debit card. I had intended to pay for it myself but Kay took Leslie's card instead so I just thanked the kids for dinner.

I hope I got Sage's gift in the mail in time for her to get it by Christmas. It was the only and latest one I got mailed. I usually only buy for the family who live locally except for Sage, Jeromy's older daughter. She lives in Washington State.

It's 5:00PM now and I just contacted my younger son, Scott, again. He has had a terrible day with the covid. It's the worst headache he's ever had.  And he still has fever and chills. And I believe he is all alone going through this. Ginger, his wife, and a nurse anesthetist, is working all day and night and tomorrow too. He is taking Tylenol for the headache and fever. 

So more later. He is going back to sleep.

I have taken my bath at 7:00PM and it's7:27PM now. I have been reading. I plan to go to bed sometime between 9:00PM and 10:00PM.

It has been a big day. When we got back to John and Leslie's they took me to see the two puppies. They are so cute!

  

This is bullseye. 

  

And this is bandit. Cute little guys aren't they?

That's all for today.

Friday and A Free Day

 I slept like a log last night. Of course, I should have. After all that day, I stayed up and put away all the books and got everything back in the closets,  I watched a Christmas program while I did that. It was the story behind the song "Silent Night"..pretty interesting. I stayed up until 10:00PM and that also helped. And I didn't get to sleep until 11:00PM because of leg cramps. I finally got up and took some Hyland's Restful Legs and that worked.

I don't have a plan for today. I did what laundry I had to do early yesterday morning. The carpet layers vacuumed the carpet after they finished with each room.

So I am free to read or whatever else I want to do. I am so glad I went ahead and got everything  back to normal..whatever "normal" is.

It's 5:45AM now and I guess I will go back in the living room and watch "the weather on the 8's". Later I will check on the cats. Blondie came by last evening while I was getting everything put back but he has an owner and I figured he could go home and eat his supper. Scruff didn't make it and she is the one that is homeless and ferrel..

Both cats came for breakfast and I fed them and when they finished I took the food back in the garage and covered it.

The weather looks pretty nice except for one day when it's supposed to rain.

It's 6:46AM now and I am waiting for the CBS news to come on at 7:00AM.

So more later...

I tried to watch the CBS news but it was just "more of the same".....bad news.

So I read my latest book until the battery went down on the Kindle and I had to charge it again.  

Then I turned on the music and went into the den to go over my sermon notes.

It's 12:18PM now and I want to see if I have anything in the house to eat for lunch..

I went to Eggbert's and had fried trout and fried okra and french fries. Now I have read all afternoon and it's 4:15PM.  In a little while I will watch the CBS news.

I just started to vacuum the new carpet and the vacuum cleaner shut down and nothing I could do to fix it worked. I cleaned it up the best I could and put it away. Now I will probably have to buy another one....always something. And Leslie bought me this sweeper just about the time I moved into the apartment too. So it's just a little over two years old.

I won't be able to get another one until after Christmas now. I got everything vacuumed except the living room before it died. It's 4:48PM  now.

Leslie called me at almost 5:00PM to remind me that the Canadian on line church service, "Beyond the Walls" was broadcasting "The Messiah" this evening at 5:00PM and it was less then 5 minutes from starting. I don't know how I got the idea it was a Christmas evening broadcast but I am so glad she called me and reminded me it was a Christmas Eve service. It was phenomenal!! I am so glad she corrected my misconception. I would have hated to have missed it.  

John texted me to say if I would bring the vacuum sweeper tomorrow for our gift exchange he would take a look at it. Maybe he can figure out what is wrong with it. He is very handy with anything mechanical. I will put it  in my car in the morning. We will be meeting at their house tomorrow at 11:00AM to have our gift exchange before w go over to Cherryvale to "Just Us" for Christmas lunch at noon.

It is 4:30PM now and I will watch the news I recorded before I take my bath at 7:00PM. I will also check to see if the cats are out there for their supper.

More later...

I read until 11:00PM and then put my Kindle on a charger and went on to bed.  

Thursday and New Carpet

Today is the day I get my new carpet. Getting ready for it has been a huge job. It has taken me two days to get everything  possible in the den. Surprisingly, I slept well. I was up at 5:00 and stripped my bed and am washing the sheets, my pajamas and underwear.. I put the bedding including the bedspread on the den floor and on the day bed. It is a huge mess in here. The den is 2/3 full of stuff from the closet floors, books, and odds and ends. The kitchen cabinet tops are full of stuff from the two curio cabinets. It will take me two days to get everything back to normal...whatever that is. The carpet people are to be here at 8:00AM and it's 5:30AM right now. It has been  a huge job and it still isn't over.  Putting  everything back will be another one.

My watch quit working in the night and I am wearing the one Leslie gave me now while I try to charge the one Ginger and Scott gave me. Yesterday it was 40% charged and I didn't think it needed charging yet but I have it plugged in in the kitchen to see if that was what it was.

I will go check the weather forecast  and see if the cats are out there in about 30 minutes. 

The weather looks like it will be pretty mild for December next week. I haven't checked on the cats yet. It's probably too early for them.

No. it is 6:20AM and I checked on the cats and they were both out there so I took their food out and they are eating now. When they are finished, I will put the cat food back in the garage. Soon I will need to get my car out of the garage and park it at the curb in the street. It's only 6:30AM now and they probably won't be here until 8:00AM according to Stephen. I will sit in the car and read when they get here. 

I am now trying to charge the watch on the desktop computer before I give up on it.

More later....

It doesn't appear to be charging.  There is no sign of  a charge. I put it back on the plug in the kitchen and it still isn't charging. It didn't even vibrate when I plugged it in. When I put it on and check the phone the phone says it's disconnected. It didn't even last a month.

It was 11:15 before the carpet layers finally arrived. They didn't use the garage at al. They piled everything in the kitchen. Then they  got the bedroom done first. After they got the bedroom finished they went to the living room The stacked the sofa on it's arm and took all the end tables and coffee into the dining room by the back door.table  and moved the TV, Bose System and the Tivo by just pulling three plugs. Then they carried the entire thing,TV, Bose system and DVD player and everything else there including the curio cabinets into the kitchen and left it all there while they did the carpet in the living room.  Then they vacuumed everything. By the time they finished they brought all the furniture back and put it where I wanted it. 

All in all, I was happy with everything. I think it took the four hours altogether.

Then I started putting everything back in the curio cabinets and the end tables and remade the bed.  I put Bob's Bose system back together and tried to reset the time  By that time, I was exhausted. I still have all that stuff to put back in the closet floors and all those books to put back in the bookcase. I will  do that tomorrow. It's 4:54PM now and I haven't eaten all day. I think I will go see if Sonic is open.

More later....

I just fixed myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That was enough. I put away everything that was in the den and got the apartment back in order. Then I read the rest of the evening. I heard from Keith.The doctor thinks he has the shingles. She is going to run some tests.He said he had been vaccinated just awhile ago.I don't see how he could get the shingles if he was vaccinated. We will see after they do the test.

I had plugged the watch into the USB port on the desktop and left it all evening. Now it is working again. I want to see if it is back on my phone now and how much it is charged.

I took my bath a couple of ours ago and since it's after 10:00PM I will go on to bed.

The phone says it is 100% charged and it is working again.I will just charge it on the desktop computer from now on.

Wednesday and Game Day

I slept well again last night and was up at 5:00AM as usual.  I have dressed and got myself ready for the day and had my breakfast. I spent yesterday moving everything possible out of the areas they will be carpeting tomorrow. It was a huge job for me. All that is left to move is the furniture and they will move that to the garage tomorrow... one room at a time. All I have to do in the morning is take the bedding off the bed and lay it on the daybed in the den.  

I will have a huge job getting everything back where it belongs on Thursday afternoon and Friday. But it will be good having a clean carpet. Although Suzanne had the carpet cleaned after the last resident moved out of here, the dirt was trapped between the carpet and the pad. The woman who lived here before me was handicapped and obviously could not clean house well. Every time I vacuumed I got a wad of dirt as big as my fist. It was disgusting. I vacuum very Thursday and every Thursday I got a big wad of dirt. I leave my shoes on a rug next to the door when I am in the apartment so I could not have drug it in.

It's 6:14AM now and I will go watch "the weather  on the 8's" on TV and see if the two cats are out there for breakfast. I will get back to this later.

Both cats were out there and I fed them both and after they left I put away the cat food in the garage as usual. 

I read until 8:14AM when I left for my hair appointment in Coffeyville.  It's at 9:00AM but I want to get a cherry limeade slush first. That's why I am leaving a little early.

So, more much later. If there is game day today, it will be after 4:00PM when I get back to this.

 

Tuesday and a Visit to Nancy

 I slept well again last night.I don't think I was  up in the night at all, I was up at my usual 5:00AM and made my bed and got myself ready for the day.

I will go visit Nancy again this morning about 10:00AM. I will leave here about 9:15AM. I will take her the last of the peanut clusters. After our visit, I will stop at the Bartlesville Wal Mart and see if they have any Chai. Coffeyville's Wal Mart were completely out yesterday.

After I do that, I may stop at Copan's Truck Stop and get that small chef salad again. It is so good and nourishing. I am kind of tires of Eggbert's chicken salad. And I definitely am tired of frozen meals.

Now I will go check out "the weather on the 8's" and the cats. It's 6:16AM now.

It's 6:51AM now and both cats were out there for breakfast..both Blondie and Scruff. They are still eating...quarreling with one another over which dish to eat out of. 

I also checked the weather and we are forecast for a very mild Christmas..in fact all week in the 50's and 60's. Weird winter weather, that's for sure.  

Now I will go watch the news..

 So more even later..

I watched the news until time to leave for Bartlesville. I left about 9:15AM because I wanted to check their Wal Mart store for Chai Latte. When I got there I looked for it but they had none either. Tomorrow, when I get to get my hair done, I will check the Coffeyville Wal Mart again. Perhaps they will have some by then. If they do, I will buy two boxes again.

Then I went on to see Nancy. I took her a small can of that peanut clusters I save for her.She was delighted. I also gave her the Chronicles that Kathy gave me for her. I have her address now. I will call Kathy and tell her what it is if she doesn't have that address.

I had a nice visit with Nancy. It was over two hours.  She wanted me to stay for lunch there but I wanted to get back home. I had mail and I wanted to get it answered. I decided not to stop for lunch anywhere after all. I just had another frozen meal. I cleaned up my mail and got everything answered that needed an answer.

The Shelter Mutual insurance agent never called me today as she said she would. I will call her now. She was not in and I left her a message.

More later...

She called me back later and told me there had been a statewide insurance raise. Strange..I hadn't heard anything about it from anyone else. 

Anyhow, I read for most of the rest of the afternoon. And then about 5:30PM, I decided to get everything out of the bedroom except the comforter and sheets. I will do that Thursday morning before the carpet layers come.Then I took everything out of the curio cabinets in the living room and set it all on the kitchen cabinet tops. Then I dusted.

All but the bed is ready for them and I have yet to put those silk shades in the back seat of my car but I will do that when I move the car out of the garage. I will strip my bed Thursday evening and put the comforter and pillows with  shams back on it before I go to bed.

Now I am going to watch some recorded episodes of "Bull" .

Back to this later...

I watched a recorded episode of "Bull" and then at 7:15PM I took my bath. It's 7:39PM now and I am ready to go back to reading. I will probably go on to bed at 9:00PM or so.

  

Monday and A Restful Day

I slept a lot better last night. I spent last evening sending out 46 class newsletters attached to e-mail. That helped..although I still need to find out is Hillary Arnold will duplicate my other 52 so I can send them out in envelopes. I have not heard back from her and the ones sent out last night have already had some positive comments in e-mail this morning.

I wish I could reach Hillary and I might have this done for the year. 

I got my little bit of laundry done yesterday. Today I will rest up from the busy weekend. Tomorrow I will go down to Bartlesville and visit Nancy again at Green Country Assisted Living. I will take her some peanut clusters too in a Christmas decorated can. 

I also need to go to the market or Dollar General today and get about 5 things on my list.

Wednesday is game day at the senior center and even though the carpet layers will be here early Thursday morning, I want to go to game day.  When I get home that afternoon I will empty the curio cabinets and put away the photos and stuff on my dresser. Early Thursday morning, I will strip my bed and put the comforter in the den on the daybed and put the sheets and pillowcases in the washer. I managed to get Bob's Bose DVD system out of that bookcase in the living room yesterday. I will put away other odds and ends too.

Now I will go watch "the weather on the 8's" and wait  until 6:00AM or6:30AM to check on the cats. A little later, I will check on the cats.

Both cats were here at 6:05AM. That's early for them. But they didn't come for supper last evening so they were good and hungry this morning.

More later...

I read until noon or thereabouts. 

Then I finally  heard from Hillary. She checked with her supervisor and they are no longer going to be able to take outside projects like my newsletter, So I called over to the office supply place in Coffeyville and they will copy the 53 newsletters that go out in the mail....six pages each for around $50.00. I don't have a choice. This ancient printer of mine can't possibly do that and even if it could it would take several cartridges of ink. So we will just have to bite the bullet if we want a newsletter from now on.

I took the pages I had printed off over there. I will pick them up Wednesday when I get my hair done. 

I came back home and made up a footnote to the Newsletter and sent it out to those online. I will print off some pages to include with those that go out in the mail. It's 5:27PM now and I will go watch the news.

I checked and both cats were back for supper. They ate their fill and I put the cat food back in the garage. 

Back to this later...

I watched the news until I was tired of it and then read the rest of the evening. At 7:00PM, I took my bath and read again until a little after 9:00PM and then I went to bed.

Tomorrow I will go visit Nancy in Bartlesville.

Sunday and Church

I have had a terribly restless night. Stephen and Dee Anna came over last evening to bring me some Christmas cookies and candies and pick up the peanut clusters I had made for them and told me about their experience with the carpet layers. It seems they laid it all wrong...putting the seams right down the middle of the living room and hall. Of course in time those seams would open up and the carpet would wear there. Stephen had it out with the carpet people and the carpet company is going to have to relay theirs correctly with new and different people to lay it.

I am concerned about my situation. During one of our moves, the silk shades on my two Rembrandt lamps were torn in the move. I ordered new silk shades from Garbe's in Tulsa and they cost me $100. each. I intend to put those silk shades in the back seat of my car to protect them and park my car in the street along the curb so they will be able to put my furniture in the garage while they lay the carpet. First, of course, I will have to blow all those leaves out of the garage.

Then I am concerned about my TV too. It has a Bose system hooked up to it for superior sound and also the Tivo recording system and DVD player. I don't know if the carpet layers will know how to put all that back together or not. I may have to have Cox out to reassemble it so I can use it. The TV is huge too.

I want to get the classmate's newsletter out before all this happens. I will need the router to use the printer and the e-mail. I send the newsletter out to those who are online by attachment to e-mail.

Wednesday afternoon I have to take everything out of my large curio cabinet as well as the smaller one and put it all on the cabinets in the kitchen. Also I have had the card table behind the sofa after I quit putting puzzles together on it..along with a chair. I will need to get that back out in the garage where I usually keep it.

Stephen told me the new carpet layers would be here Thursday morning  between 8:00AM and 9:00AM.  

I woke up at 1:00AM this morning and could never get back to sleep. Finally at 3:00AM, I just got up. Trying to sleep was futile.

After the carpet layers finally leave, I will need to put all those books back in the bookcase in the living room and all those curios back in the curio cabinets and all the things I took out of the closet floors back in the closets. And I will need to remake the bed. The thought of all that is really overwhelming. 

I have stewed about all this most of the night. When the Haleys originally told me about the new carpet, they told me the carpet layers would take care of everything...moving the furniture into the garage and putting everything back together again. Then later they came over and saw the books in the bookcase and said I would need to get those put in the den. Then Dee Anna saw the curios in the curio cabinet and said I would need to put all those things on the kitchen cabinets and empty those curio cabinets.  And I hope they can leave the Alexa on the divider between the living room and the kitchen and plugged in. Afterward, of course, I would need to put the those things back in the curio cabinet and also remake the bed. I don't know how I will put the bed skirt between the mattress and the box springs.It sounds like a lot of exhausting work to me. But I will need to do it Thursday afternoon after they leave and Friday before Christmas on Saturday. 

More later...it is 4:00AM now and too late to try to get back to sleep. I will make my bed and get myself ready for church and have some breakfast. 

It's 5:30AM now and I have had my breakfast. It's too early to check on the cats. I will wait until 6:30AM...when I usually find them there.

Both Scruff and Blondie  came for breakfast and are out there eating now and it's just before 6:00AM .I just took out the double dish. They can just learn to share it. The last time I took out the square dish, Scruff spilled it all over the grass. So since I am only feeding two cats now, I figure they can learn to share.

I took the card table and chair on out to the garage..one less thing to deal with next week. 

Then I read awhile....

Next I backed the car out of the garage and swept out the garage so that's another thing I won't have to do next week.

More later....

We had a fine Christmas dinner at church this morning and all but one person stayed for the dinner. He was here for the service though. When I got home I read awhile and then found one last e-mail with class news and since I wasn't sure if I would have internet after the carpet layers left next Thursday, I decided to go ahead and send the newsletter to the 46 who are on line as an attachment to e-mail. I will have to have 52 hard copies made for those I had addressed envelopes for. I will send them out when I can get the copies made. So far I haven't heard anything from Hillary at my daughter's office. She made my copies the last two years.

More later...I need to get something to drink. I am thirsty.

More later

 

My eldest son, Keith, and his lovely wife, Esther!!

I took my bath at 7:00PM and read until 9:30PM when I went on to bed!

Goodnight all!! And Merry Christmas!!!