Monday and a Rain and Wind Storm

I didn't sleep all that well last night. Missy was restless and that kept me waking up from time to time. I finally got up shortly before 5:00 AM.

I dressed and fed Missy and myself and we went out for awhile before the storm resumed. I tried to take her out again a while ago but the wind is blowing hard and it's still raining. If the wind subsides, I will go to exercise class. Otherwise, I will just stay home and clean. I imagine there is a lot of cat hair on the carpet because I wasn't here to clean last week.

More later....

I did clean most of the apartment. I still have my bedroom to do and the dining room. Missy is asleep on my bed so I will wait until she gets up to do it. There was a lot of cat hair on the carpet. I imagined there would be. I clean every week and I was gone all last week.  I will do the bathroom floor in a little bit. I need to take a break right now. I ran the trash over to the trash barrel and it took some energy out of me. :)

I did not go to exercise class. Bob didn't go either. He got very little sleep last night. He coughed and choked up all kinds of mucus all night. I think he ought to see a specialist. It's gotten a lot worse since I no longer see as much of him.  Phyllis noticed it at church yesterday too and commented on it. He says he is going to see Dr. Christensen on Monday but that's a week away. I am very concerned though. I think there's something more then allergies going on there.

Well, I had better get that bathroom cleaned and then I need to dust. So...more later...

I did get the bathroom cleaned but never did finish the vacuuming or dusting. When Missy came in from the bedroom she wanted to go outside. So I took my phone and a cup of tea and went outside for awhile. Evelyn came over and we visited awhile. Missy laid in the grass and enjoyed that. I look for Steve to come mow this evening.  He usually mows on Sunday but it stormed on Sunday.

I went to the bank to get more cash and also got Leslie's birthday gift. Her birthday is next Sunday. They are having the church group out for hamburgers and hotdogs out on the grill. I think I will get some potatoes and make my potato salad for the occasion.  Leslie is also going to make homemade ice cream.  That will be very special. She makes great homemade ice cream.

I read in the Readers Digest this afternoon  and stayed in the rest of the afternoon. It got very hot. It's only 83 degrees but very humid.

I believe I will go over to Brahms and buy some yogurt for my supper. I will get back to this later....

I did that and that is what I had for supper. Then Missy and I watched the news and later an episode of "Frazier" and one of "Cheers" on Amazon Prime. Then I took my bath and we went to bed at 9:00.

Sunday and Church

I slept until 6:00 AM and still had to shower, wash my hair and unpack that suitcase and hang everything up before starting my coffeecake for church school. I took Missy outside while the coffee cake was baking. I did get everything done and picked up Phyllis and still got to the church on time. Whew!

I got the suitcase returned to the kids after church. 

We had a guest minister from Pittsburg, Kansas, who preached this morning and he did a good job. The theme was "Peace! Be Still!" 

After church Melissa, our doctor pastor, and her husband, took six of us to the Railroad Inn, an Italian restaurant in Independence, for lunch. That was good of her.

Then I came home and did the newsletters for those that were out of town and could not attend this morning.

That finished, I decided to lie down for awhile after I take Missy out for awhile.  So, more later...

Missy and I went out several times during the evening before the rain begins again. I was very tired and went to bed at 9:00PM as usual.

I'm Back!

O.K.,  I have been gone for a week and just got in after midnight last night. It was a magnificent cruise to Alaska. The trip to Seattle was uneventful and pleasant. This was a bench we saw outside our hotel in Seattle and Scott really liked it. So I took a photo of it thinking Ginger (who is the handy person in that relationship)  might duplicate it for their new home.

 


The first day of our trip was our departure in Seattle. And we cruised from there to Alaska.


This was our cruise ship.


On day two we simply cruised and enjoyed watching the beautiful scenery go by from our balconies. This was the inside passage.

Day three, Monday, June 18th, was more simply sailing and seeing some extremely scenic land. The third day we also docked in Juneau and also went whale watching for humpbacks . We actually saw quite a few!

We took a tour bus and went to see the Mendenhall glacier. The kids walked down a road for a couple of miles. I went through their visitor's center and enjoyed the tour there.  Here is the glacier. I am standing in front of the visitor's center there. While I was there, I bought a book called "Romeo, the Friendly Wolf" and read it. It's a true story and is listed on the New York Times best seller list. This memorial and the book about him is found at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center.








 


Day four, on Wednesday, we docked in Skagway and rented a jeep to do our own sight seeing. We went on into Canada that day.We saw a small town there called Carcross and looked around in it and also took a photo of a trading post. We had our passports stamped there and drove on to see Emerald Lake. We also saw a bear in the middle of the highway.  Here we were at Emerald Lake. Then we stopped on the way back to the ship and Linda bought our lunches. 

Here is a  place for my image of the bear we saw on the highway. He walked right up to the jeep.





Day five we sailed to Tracy Arm Fjord to see the glaciers there.They were spectacular!

 

Day six we were at sea again and saw more magnificent land. We ate a lovely dinner each evening on the ship. This is Scott and me at one of those dinners.

Day seven we docked at Victoria and went into Canada for a trip out to sea and whale watched featuring Orcas. That ship was determined that we see some Orcas so they went out further then they usually do and actually ran out of gas and had to call two smaller ships to come get all 105 of us. It was a hoot!

We also saw a lot of bald eagles on our trip. I didn't get a close up of one of them but this one came right out of the captain's blog from the day he took us out Orca watching.




Day eight we traveled back to Seattle for our trip home. It had been a trip of the lifetime and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I flew out of Seattle on Alaska Airways and then on to Tulsa from Chicago on American Eagle.

My son-in-law, John, picked me up at the Tulsa airport.   My luggage is back in Seattle so I am not sure when they will get it delivered. When they do, I will choose some more of my photos and post them. These were basically Scott's.

In fact, it may be awhile. I had the camera downloading part equipment in my luggage.

Note!!

Ginger just texted me that they are supposed to deliver it before 9:00 tonight.  Hooray. That luggage belongs to John and Leslie.

As it turned out my luggage didn't come until 11:40.  I usually go to bed at 9:00 so it was very hard to stay up and wait for that delivery but I was afraid to go ahead and take my  shower for fear he would come before I got finished. So I stayed up. Marilyn, my neighbor, who knows I go to bed early called to make sure I wasn't sick. I thought that was very nice and thoughtful of her.

I got to bed before midnight and slept until 6:00 AM.

Wednesday and Exercises and Packing for the Cruise

I slept well last night but it was because I had to take ZzzQuil to get to sleep after I woke up at midnight.  I hate to take anything to help me sleep but I had not slept really well in days.

I have dressed and fed Missy and myself and even watered the potted plants. It may have rained last night because the ground looks wet in the flowerbeds.

I will go to exercise class this morning and  have a salad for lunch. This afternoon, I will go to Bingo at the senior center. Then later, after 4:00, I want to run the vacuum and mop the kitchen and bathroom floors before I pack for my trip tomorrow.

That should keep me busy. I will set my alarm when I go to bed tonight for 3:00AM. Leslie will be  by at 4:00AM because we have to be at the airport in Tulsa at 5:00AM and it's 72 miles to Tulsa.  My plane leaves at 6:00AM.

It's 6:30AM now and I have a load of laundry in the dryer. I'd better check it out.  So more later...

I ran the dryer a few more minutes. This old dryer takes forever to dry a bath mat or towels.

In the meantime, I went out and swept off the drive and swept the mess into my trash can. Then I got a new bag and picked up the branches in the yard. I was really sweaty and had to wipe off my feet and shoes and then wiped down my face. Well, it's good exercise.

The CBS news is on now and at 8:40, I will take off for exercise class.

Back later.....

Tuesday and a Storm

I woke up at 4:00AM to the sound of a furious wind and rain.  We were under a severe storm warning and there were 70 mile per hour winds. For fear of hail, I went out and moved my car further under the carport. I think the storm is moving south now into Oklahoma.  I texted Leslie to see if they had any wind damage out there but I haven't heard back from them yet. I went out after I dressed and swept off the carport. There were some leaves there that blew on during the storm. We needed the rain but we sure didn't need all that wind. At least we didn't get any hail. Missy was frightened by all that storm and stayed close to me.

Because of the storm, my TV reception is spotty. It flashes on and off. Remember, what TV I have is from an antenna in the attic that Betty, my landlady, put up and we are 72 miles from our nearest station. I'm lucky to get CBS and Channel 6 out of Tulsa and that is very spotty during storms. We have some large trees just south of the apartment. They sometimes interfere with the reception. But I deal with it. It's free TV and frankly, I cannot find anything worth watching on today's TV. What they consider comedy, isn't even funny to me.

When I worked at the big AM radio station here, we had a DJ that always stayed on air as long as every storm lasted and gave updated alarms and news of the storm. We haven't had anyone to volunteer to do that since.

We may get some more storms tomorrow but Thursday is supposed to be clear and that is when Leslie and I will make our trip to Tulsa to the airport.

I have fed Missy and myself.  At 8:20AM, I will pick up Bob's cake and go to Independence to deliver the cakes and make it to my hair appointment at 9:00AM.

Later..about 11:00, I will go up to Cherryvale to meet Gay for lunch. She called last night to say she understood our group meeting to be the 19th. She had confused the date. I told her I would not be back from my cruise until the 22nd. She said she was leaving on the 22nd for Colorado.  So we are just going at meet at Cherryvale at 11:30 today. ...just her and me. The others of her group cannot make that date. We had intended to meet at Ane May's in Independence for lunch.

I will try to run the vacuum this afternoon. I usually do that on Thursdays. But I will be gone on Thursday.

Tomorrow I will go on to exercise class and after lunch, at 2:00PM I will go to Bingo at the senior center. Later that afternoon I will pack for my trip. Leslie and I will get up at 3:00AM on Thursday to get to the Tulsa airport by 5:00AM. My flight leaves for Denver at 6:00AM.

I went out to the Independence Walmart before I left for Cherryvale.

More later...

Well, I met Gay at Cherryvale but we found another restaurant to try instead of Pizza Hut. It was pretty good! We had a nice visit and she bought my lunch again. I owe her! She has bought my lunch several times.

When I got home, I took Missy out for awhile. She was pretty good too. While I was out there, Maureen came down to visit for awhile.  Missy is in on my bed now....sleeping.

It's 5:00PM and I have not done anything that I intended to do.  I didn't run the sweeper after all.

Maybe I can get it done tomorrow before I pack.

I have read the Reporter and done the crossword puzzle. Now I will take that paper over to Marilyn's.

More later...

I have had one of my Gold N' Nugit  ice cream bars from Schwans with tea for my supper. I had a large lunch. The ice cream bar is not too nourishing but very good!

At 7:00, I will take my bath, as usual, and get ready for bed. Then we will watch something on Amazon Prime. I won't go to bed until 9:00 though.

Monday and Another Computer Problem

Yesterday my notebook computer tried to update Windows 10 and it is still trying to restart after all day and all night. That operating system has cost me three computers. Keith got two of them fixed for me but the post office ruined the Dell I liked the best. Now the new notebook he bought for me is stuck on restarting and will not open. Luckily he bought me an extended warranty with this notebook and I may just have to take it back to Walmart in Independence where he bought it. It evidently cannot handle the Windows 10 updates.

I slept fairly well last night. I got up before 5:00AM but had my sleep out since I went to bed at 9:00.

Today I will go to exercise class. My right arm is still giving me some trouble but I may end up taking some Aleve for that. I get tired of dealing with the pain. I leave Thursday for the cruise and I am taking Aleve with me.

More later....I will take Missy outside as soon as it gets lighter. She misses being able to go outside.

I watered all the flowers and let Missy outside with me for a little while. Then Leslie dropped by to show me how to work that huge suitcase she loaned me for my cruise.  She packed all of John's and her clothing for their cruises in this one suitcase and she is sure I will be able to get all my clothes including my coat in this one.  I was leery of my carry on being too heavy after it was packed anyhow so that is a godsend. I am not to carry or lift more then 15 pounds. Now I will only have to pack one big bag and put my schedules and boarding passes in my purse.

While I was visiting with Leslie, I noticed the notebook began it's upgrade of Windows 10. It is 85% complete now. I am so relieved. I have e-mailed Keith of this development. Now perhaps I can put the warranty away again.  If I am going to take Aleve, I had better do it now and get on to exercise class. So, more later....

I went on to exercise class and later ate some lunch of a nice big salad. My lettuce is staying fresh in Tupperware. I have had it for at least a couple of weeks. I then baked my cake for the First Christian Church. I will ice it when it cools.

I changed everything in my purse to a slight larger purse.  I couldn't get the envelopes in so I took the documents out of the envelopes and just left them folded in my purse. Everything fit in that way.

Then Dr. Burch's office called to say my right eye contacts were in.  So since I was caught up on everything and was just waiting for my cake to cool to ice it, I went on over to Caney to pick up the contacts. I yelled at Nancy as I went by her house. She was working in her yard. We visited for a short time and then I went on up to get the contacts. They had gone up from $75. to $85.  Luckily my social security will be in on Wednesday.

I reminded Karan to bake her cake. She had forgotten. But she got right on it. Bob will bake his this evening. He will ice it in the morning. I will ice mine right now. It is cool now.

More later...

I took Missy out for awhile at 3:20 but it was 92 degrees and just too hot for her. So she came back in reluctantly...but it was too hot for an old cat with a fur coat...that's for sure. It's 4:00 now and in an hour the CBS news will be on. I will watch it.  So...more later...

At 7:00PM I took my bath and got ready for bed. Missy and I watched an episode of "Nature" on Amazon Prime and then one of "Frasier". At 9:00PM, we both went off to bed.

Sunday and Church

I slept poorly again last night. I can't seem to get into a sleep rut. The mattress is terrible, I know, but I should be used to it. Also, sometimes Missy gets to scratching or rolling around and wakes me up. And last night for the first time in weeks, she peed on the bathmat under the new litter box. So, in the middle of the night I had to wipe up that puddle. I hope that's just a fluke.

I had laid down yesterday afternoon to rest awhile and fell asleep on the sofa. I don't know how long I slept but that might have contributed to my sleepless night. Also, while Missy and I were watching "Nature" last night, I fell asleep again.

This is not a very good photo but Missy loves "Nature" and lies down with me on the sofa and watches it every night.  You can barely see her, I know. The lamp was off in the living room. .

 

I have myself ready for the day at church. Missy is in on my bed taking her morning nap. I have emptied the trash, swept up Marilyn's carport. She is gone for a few days . I believe she is visiting her son in Florida. I should go out and water the flowers. It will be another hot day. It's 72 degrees at 8:00AM.

So, more later...

I did begin to go out and water and Missy was going to go too but Bob A. came early and we visited instead.  We picked up Phyllis when it became time and went on to church.  The service was good. Melissa spoke. Afterward we went over to "Just Us" at Cherryvale and ate and Rick and Carmen joined us there. After Bob took us home, I did the congregational newsletters.

Leslie lent me her new suitcase and it will hold a lot more then my Bob's would either so I will take it on the cruise. I will also take my carry on and my purse, of course. I have put the coming and going flight information and the cruise information in three different envelopes.  I hope I have a large enough purse to hold those three envelopes and also my billfold and other necessities.  I may have to buy a larger purse. I personally do not like a large purse. They are too bulky.

It's 3:00PM and I have the newsletters finished and out on the mailbox. I notice it is 92 degrees now.  Probably too hot for Missy and definitely too hot for me.  But I do need to water my flowers. Maybe they can make it until evening. 

So more even later...

I went ahead and watered the flowers and also went to the bank. My car insurance and household insurance is due in July and I will be gone all week after June 14th until the 22nd so I decided I had better get some money for the rest of this week.

It  is terribly hot outside.

I am getting the latest updates from Windows 10 on my little notebook computer right now. I hope it can handle them. The desktop computer managed it just fine last week. My older Dell had to be reformatted last year and it was the one that was broken in the return mail even though it was well packed in peanuts and bubble wrap. The US post office managed that. They had to have thrown it on the truck to break the screen and several keys.

The little notebook has been "restarting" for thirty minutes and hasn't got it done yet.  I hope it can... at least overnight. Obviously, I don't have much faith in Windows 10...or for that matter, Microsoft. .

More later...

Missy and I watched "Frasier" and "Nature" and at 9:00 we went to bed. I was very tired.