Dean Leaves Today

I was sleeping very well until all the rain started and the thunder. It was so loud it woke me up.

I quietly went into the bathroom and got myself ready for the day. Dean has sleep apnea and uses a ventilator that regulates the oxygen he gets as he sleeps. I forget what it's called. Keith uses the same type of ventilator since he too has sleep apnea.  It makes just enough noise that he doesn't wake up and notice when I come in and go into the bathroom to get myself ready for the day. 

Anyhow, it's 5:30AM now and the thunder continues to rumble away. I hate that he is going to have to drive home to Topeka in this stormy weather. 

We have had a very good visit but I know he has to get home to Rod. Rod has a caregiver but ultimately he needs his dad there to take care of everything else about his care. Dean told me yesterday that Rod is fifty six years old this year.

I don't know if I will be able to get Krystal to mow this Sunday afternoon with all this rain. I don't know if the grass will be dry enough to be mowed. That's the problem. We will just have to wait and see. 

Monday I will need to call Cox Communications and try to get a man out here to figure out what is wrong with my TV signal.  I don't get one at all and I put new batteries in my remote last evening but that wasn't the problem so I still have no TV. So I won't be able to check the weather or watch the news.  I don't know how to "stream" the news on the computer. So it's NPR or nothing.

I do still have Amazon Prime and also everything I have already recorded  and can watch those programs but as far as the weather and news are concerned, I will have to use my phone.

I don't know if Dean is up yet or not. I thought I heard him moving around a little while ago but haven't seen him yet. He could be in the bathroom shaving but until he comes out for breakfast, I won't know for sure. He will be leaving this morning but I don't know when yet.

I cleaned up the hummingbird feeder and added fresh water and sugar to it. I noticed this week that the hummingbirds are not eating from it nowadays. I thought they might need fresh water and sugar.

Scruff came for breakfast and I took her food out for her. I think she is still eating. There was no sign of Blondie.

More even later...

Scruff finished her breakfast and left and I took the cat food in and put it back in the garage and covered it up. 

Sally Love just called and asked me to go to dinner in Copan with her. I agreed to go and she needs me to drive because her car is in the garage. I will pick her up at 5:00PM. I need to cultivate some Caney friends. I have either out lived everyone I knew here in the past or they have moved away.

Suzanne is now so occupied with the care of her sister and Nancy is in assisted living in Bartlesville, so I know no one here to visit with anymore. I have either outlived them or they have moved away over the years.

Dean is still sleeping and it's going on 9:00AM. Surely he still plans to have breakfast here with me before he leaves. I am hungry and ready for breakfast myself. I usually would have had it hours ago. 

Dean left about 10:30AM after I fixed oatmeal and coffee for both of us for breakfast. He loaded his car up and took off after that. We had a very good visit.

After he left, I called Cox again about my TV. I talked to six different people about the problem and finally they made me an appointment with a tech that will come look into it between 8:00 and 10:00 on Monday.  

Then I went over to Coffeyville and bought gas and went out to Walmart there. There are some things I simply can't get at our market.

I need to get my coleslaw made so it can marinate in the frig overnight. So I will do that now.  

I got the coleslaw done just in time to leave and go pick up Sally for our trip to the Copan Restaurant .

She shared a prime rib with me and had a gift card to use to pay for it.

We got back home at 6:30PM and I took Sally home. Then I came back home myself and at 7:00PM I will take my bath and read awhile. I watched some Amazon Prime programs on my TV this afternoon since I have no cable TV. Thank goodness I have Amazon Prime. It's 6:45PM now. I may as well get my bath over with and put my pajamas and robe on to read.

I plan to go to bed between 9:00PM and 10:00PM.

It's 8:34PM now and I am almost ready to go to bed. I am very tired. Tomorrow after the dinner at church, I will come home and hopefully my mower, Krystal,  will  be ready to mow if the  weather is nice and the grass is dry.

I will start my cleaning tomorrow afternoon by mopping and vacuuming. I usually do that on Thursday but Dean was here on Thursday so it didn't get done.

 

Dean's Last Full Day Here

I slept well again. It's amazing what having a guest does for my sleep. I got up at 6:00, made the trundle up, dressed, and just as I was finished making up my face in the bathroom, Dean knocked on the door so I turned the bathroom over to him to shave. 

We will go over to Coffeyville this morning so he can look the old hometown over and see the changes are at the Field Kindley High School there. They have made the entire south east corner of the front yard of the school into a parking lot. They did that this year so he hasn't seen it yet.

I don't know whether he will want breakfast over there in Coffeyville or at our Eggbert's here in Caney. When he is finished with all of his bathroom duties, I will ask him. In the meantime, I will fix some coffee while he deals with all that.

More later....

We had some coffee at home and then went to Coffeyville and ate out at their Eggbert's. It was very good. 

Then we drove all around the area and Dean showed me where his relatives had lived when he was a kid. We also went to see the new parking lot at the high school.

Then later, we came back to Caney and spent the afternoon visiting.

We plan to go back to Bartlesville this evening and eat at a steak house.We will leave about 4:30PM. 

We went to Bartlesville to the Rib Crib and had a very good Country Fried hamburger steak complete with french fries and gravy and fried okra. Then we came back to Caney and we  watched TV...until the TV Cable signal stopped working.

I called Cox, as usual, and they tried everything they thought of to get me a signal but nothing worked. So I have no TV again now. The picture isn't tearing this time the signal simply isn't coming through. I thought it might be the remote batteries but I put new batteries in the remote and I was able to reboot the Tivo just fine and get all the programs I had recorded but I couldn't get a signal from Cox for TV. The Motorola box they left me was old and two of the agents who came out to work on the cable in the past said it was obsolete but they said the Tivo needed that particular one to receive a signal. They could not help me. I will call them again Monday and set up a time for a service call.

Dean is going to bed now. And I have had my bath and have my pajamas on and my robe. It is 9:17PM and I will read my Kindle until I get tired enough to go to bed.

Dean will have breakfast here with me in the morning and then leave for that 2 1/2 hour drive back to Topeka afterward. We have a had a very nice visit...as usual.

Thursday and A Guest Here for Another Day

I slept well...even on the trundle to my daybed. In fact, I didn't get up until 6:00AM, which is almost unheard of for me. I am very rested. Dean is still in bed asleep. He told me yesterday evening that he often sleeps in until 11:30AM. I am just blogging and having some coffee this morning. I will wait until he finally gets up to decide what to fix or if to fix anything. He is always bound and determined that these little visits will be a "vacation" for me too and we will have our meals "out" while he is here.

I humor him since I only see him for three days every year. He will want to go out to the farm that he leases out to check on the tenants....probably today. He wants to go to Bartlesville for dinner today....maybe lunch instead. I personally prefer to have my heavier meal in the middle of the day and something light, if anything much for supper. Sometimes I just have a banana for supper. I will wait until he finally gets up and let him decide.

It's after 7:00AM and I had better go check on the cats and watch the weather.

So, more later ...

I caught the weather forecast and also fed both cats. 

The weather is not going to be great for Dean's visit. Today is to be 88 degrees and AM thunderstorms are forecast, Friday the forecast is for 84 degrees and thunderstorms and wind, Saturday the forecast is for 61 degrees and thunderstorms. Sunday is to be 67 degrees and partly cloudy, Monday is to be 66 degrees  and showers, Tuesday is to be 67 degrees and showers, and Wednesday is to be 74 degrees and AM showers. Not a good forecast at all. Lots of rain!

We will make the best of it. 

The cats both ate their fill and left. I will take the cat food back in the garage and cover it.

Dean is still sleeping. He told me earlier that he usually sleeps late. It's almost 9:00AM now and I have been reading. I downloaded another three books. It's raining out and it appears rain is in the forecast for most of the week. 

Dean got up about noon and we visited for awhile and decided to go to lunch at Dink's in Bartlesville. We had a great lunch and then decided to drive around Bartlesville.  He stopped at Walmart there and filled his van up with gas. Then we came on back to Caney.

So more even later... 

At supper time, I warmed up the leftover half sandwiches and fries we had left over from Dink's bar B Q at noon and we had an ice cream bar for dessert. 

Then we watched TV until bath time and I took my bath and put my pajamas and robe on and we shared some more stories. At 9:30, I went on to bed. Dean stayed up a little while later and watched the rest of the TV program he was watching before he went on to bed. It had been a big day.

Tomorrow we will go over to Coffeyville so he can look over the old home town. He decided not to drive out to the farm this time after all.

Wednesday and A Hair Appointment

I slept fine for most of the night, but I woke up sometime before 400AM and could not get back to sleep. I wanted to change the sheets on the bed today anyhow so I just got up and stripped the bed and put last week's sheets in the washer. They are in the dryer now. At least there are clean sheets on the bed for Dean. He should be here sometime this afternoon if his doctor's appointment went alright. The sheets on the trundle should be fine, I only use it when I have company. 

It's nearly 5:00AM now and I will wait awhile before I go check the weather forecast and the cats. They are usually out there by 6:00AM. I am having my breakfast here in the den as usual.

I will be leaving here for my hair appointment at 8:00AM since Toni wanted me to come at 8:30AM this morning. While I was thinking of it, I took that big pitcher Karan put my tea in when she gave me the leftover tea after the last dinner and I put it in my car. I believe it goes to the church's tea maker. They will need it Sunday for the dinner. It's just now 5:11AM.This might be a good time to check the weather forecast again.

Today is to be 88 degrees and partly cloudy, Thursday is to be 89 degrees and mostly sunny, Friday 85 degrees and thunderstorms and rain, Saturday 60 degrees and isolated thunderstorms, Sunday 68 degrees and partly cloudy, Monday 67 degrees and scattered thunderstorms, and Tuesday 72 degrees and showers. I think that's different from yesterday's forecast. But this is Kansas and we can expect changes in the forecast...and the weather.

More later... I checked and it was too early for the cats.

I think I will go check out the news now. 

It was about 6:30AM before the cats showed up for their breakfast. They ate and then I put away the food in the garage as usual. It's 6:58AM now and I will go in the living room for the 7:00AM news. 

I left for Coffeyville about 7:45AM and had enough time to go to Sonic there and get a cherry limeade slush. I left that in the car while I got my hair done.

After that, I went out to Walmart to get a few things I could not get here. Then I came on back home. Dean had not come yet and that was good. He said it would be afternoon and it probably will be.

I did hear from him by e-mail and the doctor did not order any tests.

If he isn't here by lunchtime, I will eat the rest of the food I got from the deli yesterday. If he is, I may make some Broccoli Cheddar soup.  I have the ingredients. It's only 10:43AM now though so I have plenty of time.

More even later...

Dean called about 2:00PM. He was just leaving Topeka at that time. He should be here by 4:30PM.He said it was a 2 1/2 hour drive. He wanted me to decide where to eat supper. If he wants to eat locally, it would be Eggbert's. If he wants to eat in Bartlesville, I would suggest either the new Italian place, Luege's or Dink's, the bar B.Q. place. 

It's after 5:00 now and Dean must have left home later then he planned Almost 5:20PM now so it won't be long until Dean is here. If it takes just 2 1/2 hours to drive it, he might be here in 30 minutes or so.

So,more later... 

He got a later start then he planned and so it was after 6:00PM when he finally got here. He had not eaten lunch so he was hungry. I hadn't had anything since those leftovers at lunch time so we went out to Eggbert's and had breakfast. You know Eggbert's serves breakfast any time. 

We had a nice visit over the meal and came back home and I helpedhim bring in his luggage and we visited some more until time to go to bed. It was too late to take a bath so I just pulled the trundle out from under the daybed and he went on to bed in my freshly changed bed and I went on to bed on the trundle. 

It is so nice to visit with someone I have known since high school. We graduated in 1953.

 

Tuesday and Thunderstorms

I slept very well last night. I didn't wake up even once. I was up at my usual 5:00AM but feeling very rested. I have made my bed and have myself ready for the day. I have the TV on even though the rain is really coming down. I think it's supposed to rain until 9:00AM but I will check "the weather on the 8's" as soon as it comes on. It's 5:44AM now so that may be another 4 minutes. I will check. I don't think the cats will be out in this mess.

Be back later.... 

I got in there just in time to catch the weather forecast. Today is to be 84 degrees and isolated thunderstorms (not so isolated since they are raining down now) tomorrow (Wednesday) 89 degrees and partly cloudy, Thursday 89 degrees and partly cloudy, Friday 86 degrees and PM thunderstorms, Saturday 62 degrees and partly cloudy, Sunday 71 degrees and mostly sunny and Monday 69 degrees and showers. That's the week's forecast.

I hope Dean doesn't encounter rain coming down tomorrow.

It's 5:55AM now.    More even later....

I have been watching the CBS news and it seems like all the news is bad. Besides the supermarket killings, it's all about the Ukrainian/Russian war.  I am so afraid we are going to get even more involved with another country's war. 

First it was Korea and then Vietnam and even later Afghanistan and Iraq.  We can't solve all the world's problems...my goodness,we can't even solve our own! The world is deteriorating terribly with violence and racism and more.  There are a lot of good people in the United States but sometimes I feel there are a lot more problem people then there ever before since the days of slavery.

I have been watching "Lucky Dog", a program I recorded yesterday morning. I liked the other trainer better then this one but they evidently wanted a trainer with a wife and this one has one. 

I noticed when the rain stopped that Stephen had put my trash container out when he put his out. I usually put mine and his out but I forgot about it this morning...but he didn't. That was considerate of him.

More even later ...I will go read now.

I read until I finished  another book. Then Melissa and Leslie made some dinner plans for Sunday's dinner celebrating the fact that Leeann's second oldest son, Matthew, has  graduated from high school and we are having a dinner after church on Sunday to commemorate that event. I was going to bring coleslaw and a pie but since Leslie has had a cake made at the bakery in Independence and instead wanted me to find some Louisiana gallon sized tea bags.  I went to our market and they had nothing that large...only single tea bags, so I drove to Independence where there were two larger markets and tried to find the larger tea bags there but neither of them had gallon size. So I drove down to Coffeyville to check out Country Mart there and the largest they had were Family size. I called Leslie to ask if that would do and learned that was the size she meant me to buy. So I bought a box. I will fix my coleslaw Saturday after Dean leaves.

While I was in Coffeyville this afternoon, I went to the bank to get my hairdo money for tomorrow. The bank is right across the street from Country Mart where I found the tea. So it was not further out of my way.

Toni, my hairdresser, texted me this evening to ask if I could come early in the morning at 8:30AM for my hair appointment. I can manage that and can get back home earlier that way and have my lunch before Dean comes in the early afternoon.

Both cats came for supper this evening. They must have been very hungry because they ate a lot.

It is 7:25PM and I think I will take my bath now and get ready for bed and then read again until bedtime.. 

I took my bath and have put my pajamas on. Now I will read again until I get sleepy and have to go to bed..

Monday and a Trip to See Nancy

I slept restlessly last night but finally did get back to sleep and got some sleep. I was up about 5:00AM as usual and made the bed and got myself ready for the day. I have changed my day to visit Nancy to Monday so she could get her hair done on Tuesday afternoons. I am doing a little laundry this morning.

I will wait to change my bed until Wednesday so it will be fresh for Dean to use while he is here. Unless something unforeseen happens, he will be here on Wednesday and stay until Friday sometime. He said his son, Rod, had not been feeling well and that would be the only thing that would cancel his trip.  Dean also has a doctor's appointment tomorrow and he anticipates  nothing unforeseen but he does have heart problems...has several stints, so anything is possible. Like him, I never take anything for granted at our age. 

Dean is about three weeks younger then I am but he has health problems. He has had a harder time in life...that's for sure. His son, Rod, dove into the  shallow end of a swimming pool when he has 18 years old and broke his neck. He is paralyzed from the waist down and has been in a wheelchair ever since.  He did go on to college and got a law degree then decided he did not want to be one in the shape he is in and got a second degree in computer science and has a van with a lift and has his own business with regular customers. He is in his 50's now. He has a caregiver who lives in their basement apartment and helps with Rod's shower, dressing and anything else he needs. Dean used to do those things when he was younger but at our age it's good Rod has a caregiver.

He will be with Rod while Dean is visiting me. Dean goes to Texas every fall to visit his mother's relatives and he comes here to visit me once a year. Dean lost his wife several years ago. She had kidney disease and had had two different kidney transplants. So his and Rod's lives have not been easy. But they make the best of it. They have a regular group he and Rod play poker with, they go out to dinner with an older doctor friend Dean helps out..takes to the market and anything else he needs .as though he didn't have enough on his plate. I admire how he handles the difficulties in his life.I am quite sure I couldn't handle mine if it was like what he has been through.

The only health problem I have is my knees. They are not holding up all that well...but I somehow I manage.  At my age, I don't want surgery."

I have had my breakfast now and need to get that laundry in the dryer, check "the weather on the 8's and the cats. It's after 6:00AM now and they are probably out there.

So more later..

Hmmm, my power went off momentarily and everything went dark. Both computers were off momentarily too of course and it took a few moments for them to find the internet. I had to restart the dryer too. But everything seems to be working alright now. I have no idea what the problem was.

Both cats were out there and I fed them both and when they were finished I put the cat food back in the garage and covered it again.

I finally caught "the weather on the 8's". Today is forecast for 81 degrees and sunny, Tomorrow is to be 84 degrees and thunderstorms, Wednesday 88 degrees and partly cloudy, Thursday 89 degrees and partly cloudy, Friday 77 degrees and partly cloudy, Saturday 64 degrees and partly cloudy and Sunday 73 degrees and sunny. Quite a forecast!

More even later..

I've been watching the news and I have fed Scruff twice now. She gives up eating before she's full, I guess. Then she comes back again later. 

It's 9:15AM and I will leave for Bartlesville at 10:00AM to visit Nancy and take her to lunch. 

It was about 10:45AM when I got down to Nancy's apartment. We visited awhile and then I suggested we go to lunch about 11:15AM. We went to Eggbert's and ate a small salad and then we took a drive to spend sometime together. I called Anissa to see if I could get Nancy into see her and get her hair done. She is booked but suggested I take Nancy to Walmart and I did. She got her hair washed for the first time in weeks. It looked much better. Then we drove around Bartlesville for awhile to get her out of the apartment. After I took her back home I stayed for an hour or so and visited and then left.

I went out to Mr. Klean there and washed my car and cleaned it out on the inside too. I will be staying home tomorrow so hopefully it will stay clean for awhile.

Wednesday I get my hair done and hopefully Dean will still be able to come for his visit.

More even later...

I took the car out to go to get a flurry and when I got home and turned off the motor the burglar alarm went off and  I couldn't figure out what to do to get it off. I looked in the manual but there was nothing....at least nothing I could find  to tell me what to do to turn it off. I went up to the service station but no one was there. There was a gentleman riding his bike and he came back to help me. I evidently had accidentally hit the panic button and he knew to hit it again to turn it off. That worked! I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't come along to help me.

What a mess!

Both cats came for supper and I took food out to them.They are eating now while I take my bath.

It's after 7:00PM and I am going to take my bath then read until 9:00PM or so and go to bed.

Perhaps more later.....

It was 10:21PM when I finally went to bed...after I finished another book!

 

Sunday and Church

I was up shortly before 5:00AM this morning but I had a good night's sleep.  I read until almost 10:00PM last night. That may have helped. 

I made my bed, dressed and got myself ready for the day. The last I saw, it was supposed to rain today. I don't know whether that is still in the forecast. Melissa wanted to have the service outside and we were supposed to bring our lawn chairs. I will check "the weather on the 8's" in a little bit. I will also check on the cats while I am at it. It's only 5:45AM now.

I am having my breakfast out here in the den as usual.

I have finished my breakfast and so I will go check the weather out....and the cats. 

Scruff was out there but no sign of Blondie. I fed her and when she finished, I took the cat food back into the garage and covered it again.  

Just now, she came back...still hungry so I brought the food out again and she ate some more.

A third time Scruff came back to eat some more, After I took the food in the garage again I decided not to take it back out again until evening.

I have been watching ":Good Morning America" and see where Buffalo New York had a mass shooting yesterday at a supermarket Ten black people were killed by an 18 years old with a gun who was wearing body armor himself. It was a hate crime.The people were black and the 18 year old was from a different community and was white but he targeted a black community's grocery store. His social media site was full of hate for black people. What a mess!  The country is teeming with white supremacists and they are raising white supremacist kids . It's a tragedy!

More later... 

Melissa is still planning on having the church service outside. I sent her the forecast and she said the rain may not start until afternoon. That may be so but the grass is wet now. I changed into some tan jeans rather then wear my good dress pants today.

I sweep my walk and drive every day but every once in awhile I do my neighbor's too. I went out while it was still not raining and swept off both the walks and drives. I know it won't last but it looks good for now anyhow.

I will leave for church about 9:30AM.  It;s 8:11AM now.

It's almost 9:30AM and I guess  I will go on over to church.  only hope it doesn't hail on me...and my car. 

I went on to Coffeyville and went out to the Woodshed to get gas. After that, I went on out to the church. It began raining before I got there and so we had the service inside the church after all. I did a little cleaning and emptied the trash. I came on home after church. I was afraid it would hail and I didn't want my car dented with hail. Rick and Carmen went on to Just Us for dinner.I came home and had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch later, I also had a Schwan's ice cream bar for dessert.

Then I read all afternoon and finished another book. Now the Kindle needs to be charged again. It is 4:40PM and so far no bad storm has occurred. In fact, the sun is beginning to come out again.

I had an e-mail from my classmate, Dean. He still plans to come on Wednesday and stay three days. I think he will go home on Saturday. Rod, his son, is not feeling well and if he isn't feeling better, Dean may have to cancel his trip here. I would certainly understand.

More even later.... 

It is 7:15PM now and I have had my bath and am in my pajamas and will read until 9:00PM when I plan to go to bed.