New Year's Eve

I got my hair done this afternoon.

On the way home I pulled into the shopping center parking lot, intending to go into Radio Shack, but the whole lot was so full that I figured I would not find a parking space. I just drove on home.

We had ham and swiss chard for supper.

The fireworks started early and by 9:00 p.m. I could hear them constantly. I know I'll not stay awake until midnight.

Another Night Owl night

It is 3:17 a.m. - another "night owl" night. It doesn't seem to make any difference whether I sleep in the bed or in the recliner...I still wake up around this time most mornings.

Yesterday I thought I had a beauty shop appointment at 1:30 p.m., but when I got there, the beautician thought she had told me that it would be today (Thursday). I didn't have any problem with waiting until today, as I am off work until next Monday.

I ran a couple of errands and came back home.

Night Owl checking in

It is a little after 3 a.m. and Calvin is contentedly lying on top of my printer. He feels like he has done his job by getting me up and about.

I'm getting so used to sleeping in the recliner - with a little U-shaped pillow behind my head and neck, that I may not feel comfortable sleeping in a bed again after these ribs heal. That little pillow really makes a big difference. Someone told me that the initial pain lasts 10 days, so by the weekend I should be feeling much better.

It is still in the 40's here, but according to the weather forecaster on last night's news, we are in for a cold, rainy day with some snow and sleet possible in the hill country around Fredericksburg and Kerrville.

Sis worked all day yesterday and expects to work until 1:30 today. I took my Bluetooth back to Verizon yesterday and the man there couldn't get it to light up either, even though he tried it on a different charger. But he said it was working and charged, so to try it for a couple of days and see how it did. It worked on the way home and then quit again. The closest Verizon store is several miles away and a little aggravating to have to keep running back and forth like that, but I guess I'll have to.

I got my laundry done yesterday afternoon and started on cleaning out drawers, but it is slow going. I'm such a packrat. This may take awhile. I just have to keep plugging along.

One of my nieces got married in Virginia Sunday. My brother and my nephew both uploaded pictures of the wedding to Facebook and I copied them to my photo album. She was a beautiful bride. Her husband is in the military service.

Sunday's events

Sunday, Dec 27
I went to church at 8 a.m. to open up. When I checked the thermostat in the sanctuary, it was only set at 50 degrees. I turned it up to 72, then made coffee and put out the bulletins. At 8:30 a.m. I unlocked the doors and soon people started arriving for the 9:00 a.m. Sunday School class. It was too cold in the Sunday School room so they decided to have their class in the parlor.

There were 54 people at the morning service.

After we got home from church, we went to Snoga restaurant for lunch. When we pulled into the back parking lot, three little kittens ran to meet us. They looked well-fed, so perhaps they are used to getting scraps from the customers or from the people working in the kitchen.

We had turkey and dressing, broccoli, bread, and fruit salad.

I spent a lot of time this afternoon in the recliner. I am still in quite a bit of pain from the cracked ribs. I wonder how long it will take them to heal. It only happened last Thursday morning, so I know this is too soon, but I am sure hoping for a quick recovery.

I can hardly lie down in bed for the pain and find it easier in the recliner, but I don't sleep really well there either. I got up a little before 3 a.m. this morning and have been here at the computer for the last hour and a half (except for feeding the cats and letting Precious out...and back in).

The Day after Christmas

We took some of the leftover food from yesterday to our friend who was sick yesterday. She was feeling a little better today but not 100%.

We spent the rest of the day at home. I am still very sore from the fall I had Thursday morning. I may have cracked some ribs.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day

We had a delicious meal of ham, tamales, green beans, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, homemade hot rolls, mince and pecan pies.

The lady we had invited to have dinner with us called to tell us she was sick, so we had dinner by ourselves.

We talked to Fred and Jim. They had a crowd of family there at Fred's home.

A Fall

I worked until noon today. When I arrived at work this morning, I noticed a lot of trash that had blown up in front of the church. I started picking it up and tripped over a place in the pavement where a ramp starts to go up to the side door. I fell on my face and am surprised that I didn't break my glasses. As it is, I was jarred quite a bit and feel like I am bruised in several different places. I'm thankful there were no cuts or worse.

My Christmas gift to myself

Yesterday I ordered a Bluetooth headset from Verizon to use with my cell phone. It is being shipped overnight and I was told I would get it by 3 p.m. today.

I went home for lunch today and Sis had made Cashew Chicken with rice. It was delicious.

I have a beauty shop appointment this afternoon instead of Friday.

Car trouble

After I got off work yesterday I took the bookkeeping work back to the locksmith and collected my pay for that. Then we went to the credit union and I deposited it and the money I got for Christmas at work.

We went on to SAS shoe store. We had never been there before. They had some nice comfortable shoes but WAY too expensive for my budget.

On the way home my car started hesitating and pulling back every little bit and then the motor would race. I was hoping we would be able to get home okay. I don't know what's wrong with it. Just as I was thinking it had been doing so good for awhile, it starts acting up again.

When we got home, I got some Marie Callendar frozen dinners out of the freezer and microwaved them for supper. They were honey roasted chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes. Sis baked some cookies today and we had some of them for dessert.

I don't know how many times I had to get up during the night to get a drink of water. I didn't feel thirsty, but my mouth was so dry inside it was like paper. I could hardly stand it. I must sleep with my mouth open and it dries out. Sis has always said that I snore a lot. Whenever we travel and sleep in the same room in motels, my snoring bothers her. If I sleep on a couple pillows it doesn't do that as much, but it is hard for me to sleep with my head that high.

I got an email from Betty Ann that the next pen pal get together has been changed to November 2010 instead of 2011. That is nice. 2011 is just too far away.

A Surprising Day

We had a pancake breakfast before church this morning. The pastor's husband and another of the men did most of the cooking. They served pancakes and sausage and coffee. It was served in the fellowship hall in the basement but I brought plates of it upstairs to my office for me and Sis.

I wanted to be upstairs in case people came in the front door, I could direct them down to the fellowship hall.

During the church service later, I got a real surprise. After the offering was taken up, the chairman of the staff-parish relations committee got up and wanted to go up front and say a few words. He was sitting in the row ahead of me and he looked over and motioned for me to come along. I was surprised, but he insisted.

Well, when we got to the front, he made a speech about how I do a good job as office manager and presented me with an envelope. They had taken up a collection for me for Christmas. I was so surprised I was speechless. The pastor said, "I can't believe we managed to keep it from her the whole time." Well, they sure did. I didn't have a clue.

They had put all the offering in together and made out a check to me for the whole amount and it was more than I could possibly have imagined. I told them all thank you and said that they had really kept it a secret because I hadn't had any idea that they were doing it.

Also, one couple gave me and Sis a home-made pecan pie, another a bag of oranges from their orange tree, one lady gave us a loaf of nut bread and another a gift basket with a coffee mug, a snow globe, two candles, and assorted candy.

After church, Sis and I went to Sea Island Shrimp House for lunch. Then we went to the Verizon store so Sis could get a new case for the new cell phone she got the other day. Then we stopped at the nursery and got a watering can with a long handle to water the Christmas tree.

Today started out cold - at 35 degrees, but it got up to 70 this afternoon. The next couple of days are expected to be about the same, but then to get down to freezing on Christmas Eve and the high will only be 54 on Christmas Day. No white Christmas for us.

Saturday morning chores

This morning I went grocery shopping - whew, groceries are getting more expensive all the time. I spent over $92.

When I got home, I put the groceries away, put a load of laundry in the washer, and worked on the locksmith's books some more. I finished them about 11:30 a.m. That is the ones for Jan-June 2009. It will probably be awhile before he gives me the next batch.

I remembered the load of clothes in the washer, so I switched them to the dryer and put another load in. Now it is time to relax awhile..and maybe think about some lunch.

Saturday night
We had pancakes and eggs for lunch.

This afternoon I did more laundry and did some research on a form I have to gather information for at work.

I developed a pain in my right side that won't go away. I finally lay down and took a nap but it still hurts and it is now going on 9:00 p.m.

I called my former neighbor, Edna this evening and talked to her for nearly an hour. She gets very lonely.

We had Marie Callendar chicken pot pies for supper. I microwaved them. We both like them.

Then we played a few games of Mexican dominoes.

I finished reading a book by Lillian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Moved a Mountain.

No More Enchiladas Verde

It is 2:45 Saturday morning. I woke up and was unable to go back to sleep, so here I am. Calvin kitty is glad to see me up. He is stretched out on top of my printer keeping me company. Digger is in her room, but she knows I am up and meows loudly every now and then. If Calvin wouldn't pester her constantly, I'd let her out. But she is an extremely old cat and doesn't need that aggravation. So I shut him in my bedroom for awhile when I want to let her out.

I was very busy at work yesterday morning. When I got off at noon, Melanie called to see if I would check to see if there was a package from UPS on her porch. She wasn't planning to be home until late afternoon. I checked. There were two packages. So I took them home with me and she picked them up on her way home about 5:30.

I went to the beauty shop and got my hair done.

We had a package of enchiladas verde in the freezer, so we got it out and tried it for supper. Neither of us liked the tomatilla/jalapeno sauce. I guess we won't try that again.

Now I am getting sleepy. Maybe I'll go back to bed and try again.

Sis gets a new cell phone

It was another cold and gloomy day.

After I got off work this afternoon we went to the Verizon store and Sis got her new cell phone. They transferred her contacts from the old phone to the new one.

We stopped at Neptune Restaurant on the way home and had a fish supper.

I have finished the January and February books for the locksmith. I still have four more months to do.

I received two books today that I had ordered through ebay.

A Busy Day at the Food Pantry

Today was very busy at the food pantry downstairs. They reached their limit of 100 families very quickly.

After I left work, we drove to the locksmith's where I picked up six months of bookkeeping to do for him.

Then we went on to the Verizon store. Sis's cell phone has gotten to where it won't hold a charge. She is eligible for a new free phone under the "new every 2 years" program, so they ordered a new one which we should be able to pick up tomorrow or the next day. They were out of stock in the store.

We stopped at Whataburger on the way home and got sandwiches and milkshakes. I think I drank my large milkshake too quickly and the sandwich was so big. When we got home I was feeling very tired and loggy, so I went to bed pretty quickly and slept until the Fox news came on at 9:00 p.m. I got up and watched most of that and decided to check my email before going back to bed. Of course after a 3 1/2 hour nap, I don't know how well I'll sleep tonight.

Digger & Calvin's "Fun" Trip to the Vet

Sis took both Digger and Calvin to the vet this evening. Digger has been chewing her hair out again and it was time for Calvin's annual shots. Most of Digger's problems are related to her age and kidney problems. The doctor gave her some antibiotics and a shot. She didn't mind the shot. Calvin, on the other hand, was very offended when the doctor took some "poo" for a sample, and was even more upset when he got his shot. Sis said he howled and yowled and really gave the vet a piece of his mind.

While they were gone, I prepared supper. We had meat loaf, vegetables, and whole wheat biscuits.

It wasn't terribly cold according to the temperature today, but the wind made it feel a lot colder. It is expected to get down to 39 or 40 tonight with a 40% chance of rain after midnight. It already feels icy when I open the door to let Precious out and back in.

Tues Morning

At Calvin Kitty's insistance, I got up at 4 a.m. I took my monthly dose of Boniva and am waiting an hour to have coffee and breakfast.

In the meantime, Calvin and Digger both wanted their breakfasts. Then Precious came wandering out, wanting to go outdoors. So it is the usual morning routine.

I didn't cough much during the night but it is starting again this morning.

Christmas lunch and Doctor's Appt

The pastor took the staff to the Little Red Barn restaurant today for our Christmas staff lunch. I had a delicious grilled chicken breast, baked potato, salad, and rolls.

Then I left work an hour early to go to my doctor appointment. Time to get new prescriptions. Of course, I dreaded stepping on the scale after eating that big lunch, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared, and the doctor was very pleased with my blood pressure reading.

I got in and out and home before dark, which was good since with my cataract it is next to impossible for me to drive after dark.

We got several more Christmas cards today. The pastor gave me a little "Angel of Miracles". I put it on the Christmas tree as an ornament. It is very pretty.

We got some more Christmas gifts today but we put them under the tree to open on Thanksgiving morning.

We are both still hacking and coughing and Sis thinks she may be allergic to the live Christmas tree that we put up. Mine is left over from the cold I had over Thanksgiving weekend.

Supper with Santa

It rained a light rain during the night.

This morning Sis and I went to church to help clean. Two other people came also. It didn't take long. We were done in about an hour.

At 1 p.m. we went back to open the church for the woman who was in charge of this afternoon's Christmas party. However she didn't show up until after 3 p.m. The party was to run from 3 pm to 5 pm. We went ahead and made the coffee and tea and set out the plates and utensils on the table. Sis made a crockpot of chili and a pan of cornbread. Other people had also signed up to bring both chili and cornbread but the only one that did was a pot of chili that the woman who came late brought. No one brought desserts.

The man who played Santa came and passed out toys to the children. We did have a pretty good turnout.around 50 people.

The woman who was supposed to be organizing the party went home early and left the rest of us to clean up after the party. The other couple who were on the committee finally came after we called them, claiming they thought it didn't start until 5 p.m. When someone said something rather sharp to them about it, they left in a huff, taking their pot of chili and pan of cornbread with them. Real Christmas spirit all around!

When we got home, I boiled out the coffeemaker that has gotten pretty limed up with our hard water. I ran two pots of vinegar through it, then a pot of clear water, then a pot of coffee and it turned out great.

Christmas party at Sis's church

I got my hair done this afternoon, then stopped at the store and got a few groceries.

Tonight we went to a Christmas party at Sis's church. They had some delicious refreshments: tamales, pizza, vegetable dips with crackers, cake, and much more. Phoebe took spinach dip in a pumpernickel bread bowl.

It was raining when we left to come home and it is still raining.

Colds and Migraine - a miserable day

Yesterday was a chilly day. Sis has a bad cold like I got over Thanksgiving. I must have shared it with her. She has been pretty miserable and this morning she is coughing, blowing her nose a lot and also has a migraine. She had to miss work yesterday because of it and may again today.

A Frightening Experience

I had a frightening experience today. I drove home from work at lunch time. Our home is the third house on the right from the intersection.

As I turned on my turn signals and prepared to turn right into my driveway, a car came speeding through the intersection without stopping at the stop sign, and to keep from slamming into the back of my car, he flew into the other lane and slammed into a pickup truck that was parked in front of the house across the street. The speed and force of the crash flipped his car over on its top in the yard of that neighbor and he was trapped inside.

It all happened so fast that I could hardly imagine what happened. I parked my car, grabbed my cell phone and called 911. They immediately sent out an ambulance, several fire trucks and the police.

The car, which wasn’t a large one, had to be turned back over to get the driver out. The amazing thing is that he walked away without injury. If he had slammed into the back of my little car at that speed, I think I wouldn’t have walked away.

The neighbor’s pickup was considered totaled and was later hauled away on a flatbed truck.

The police car was parked in the street in front of my driveway, right behind my car, and it took quite awhile to get all the paperwork done. He finally moved his police car forward so that I could get out of my driveway to go back to work.

God certainly protected us both from serious injury.

The driver couldn’t have been intoxicated or the police wouldn’t have let him leave. I wonder if he might have been talking on a cell phone and not paying enough attention to the street.

Wednesday morning

I woke up at 3:00 and got up and put a plate of food down for Calvin. I thought he had waked me up, but he didn't come out for his food so I went through the house looking for him. I didn't find him anywhere but you know how cats are. They can disappear, then appear out of nowhere. That's what happened.

I was checking mail at the computer and all of a sudden he wandered through. By this time it was too late to go back to bed and get any sleep before my alarm goes off, so I just stayed up. I'll probably take a nap through Jeopardy and the news this evening in the recliner. I usually do that anyway.

Sis has been working at the Chamber of Commerce for the past week and a half. The job will probably last through the rest of this week.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

According to this evening's news, our low last night was 23 degrees. It warmed up nicely today and was sunny.

We got into the Christmas mood and went out and got a Christmas tree at the nursery, brought it home and decorated it and the house. Of course we both ended up with backaches, but that will go away. The house looks pretty nice. Calvin was very curious about all of it. I hope he doesn't try to eat the rosemary.

We also got a little rosemary tree for the kitchen.

It is only expected to get down into the low 40's tonight.

Coldest Morning in Two Years

It was 26 degrees when I got up this morning. The weatherman said it is the coldest it has been here in the past two years.

New Picture

We didn't get any snow after all - unless it was a few flakes. It is, however, expected to get down into the 20's tonight.

It is almost 10 p.m. now. I fixed steamed vegetables with pasta for supper and we had some of the leftover cranberry salad from Thanksgiving.

I've been doing laundry all evening and have the last load in the dryer finally. When that gets done, I'm going to go to bed.

Friday morning

We may get snow today. That is very unusual here. It is 39 degrees right now at 6:15 a.m. but is expected to go down rather than up during the day.

I have had a headache for several days and it is still here this morning. It isn't a severe headache, but it sure is annoying.

Sis has been working at a temp job this week.

I made goulash for supper. I made up a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese and stirred in some fried-out hamburger and a can of diced tomatoes and reheated it together. It was very good.

Tonight I plan to fix chicken and vegetables.

Solution to computer problem

I figured out that my computer problem was the monitor. I had an extra monitor that I had bought used from a church member awhile back. I got it out and hooked it up and now my computer works fine.

After I got off work this afternoon I went to Wal-Mart and picked up my prescription. I stopped at their deli and got two large chef salds for supper.

Back in Control of Baking Mixes group

This has been a rough week in some ways. I'm still struggling with a cold although it is mostly the coughing now. My desktop computer at home is not working and I can't figure out why. In the meantime I'm having to use the laptop and that isn't as easy to type on.

But compared to a lot of people's problems, I can count many blessings, so enough grousing and complaining.

Yesterday and this morning have been much colder than usual. The sun is shining this morning and it looks pretty.

Back in 2000, I started a list on Yahoo Groups called BakingMixes, for recipes for Bisquick-type mixes and recipes using those mixes. In 2001 I deleted one of my email accounts and didn't realize that it would also cancel my owner/moderator privileges on that BakingMixes list. I tried to contact Yahoo to see how I could solve the problem but never got a response from them. So for the past 8 years I have been unable to control the list and it had deteriorated to spam being posted daily without me being able to stop it.

Finally the other day I contacted Yahoo again. It took 4 or 5 messages back and forth to get them to fully understand my problem, but finally they transferred ownership of the list to my current email address and I was able to exercise control over it again. I immediately "cleaned house". I deleted all of the inappropriate messages in the archives and put everyone on moderation. In that way I will be able to approve or delete any messages before they get published.

I also deleted all members whose messages were bouncing or who were signed up as "Special Notices only". I went from 139 members to 31 and am now ready to try to rebuild the list in the way I originally meant for it to be.

If anyone who happens to read this wants to check it out, just send a blank email message to bakingmixes-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

A Miserable Day

Today was another miserable day. My cold was really bad. I slept off and on throughout the day and took Coricidin HBP. I haven't been out of the house since Thursday afternoon when I took our friend home from the Thanksgiving dinner. We got a thank-you card from her today for inviting her.

We've been eating leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner for two days now and we are both getting a little tired of them by now. I think tomorrow we will want to try something a little different.

The day after Thanksgiving

We had a good Thanksgtiving.

I picked up our friend at 10 a.m. and took her home later in the afternoon.

We had turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, vegetable relish tray, cranberry salad, homemade bread and pumpkin and pecan pie. We will probably be having “reruns” for a few days.

The weather was good. After a cool start of 40 degrees, it got up to 67.

But somehow I caught a cold – my first in a long time – and during the night and this morning I have been feeling miserable. I’ve been taking Coricidin HBP, the only thing I’m supposed to take with my high blood pressure, and it helps, but I have to repeat the dose every four hours.

I’m really glad I don’t have to work today. I’ll call and cancel my weekly beauty shop appointment. Not only do I not feel like going, but I don’t want to spread my germs around everyone there.

Thanksgiving Day

If anyone is following this blog (which I doubt, since I never get any comments), you may wonder why I haven't posted for a few days. To tell the truth, I've just been lazy.

And, nothing much different has happened anyway. I worked Monday and Tuesday and until noon yesterday.

We have been cooking up a storm for Thanksgiving. We have a guest coming for dinner. I have a snall turkey in the oven. I made the cranberry salad yesterday and baked a pecan pie. Sis baked a pumpkin pie. She is fixing sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and Basque Sheepherder's Bread. We'll fix Stovetop stuffing. She prepared a relish tray of vegetables and little sweet pickles.We will have iced tea.

Sunday evening

At church this morning we had a fellowship coffee between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. Many of us brought rolls and sweets to go with the coffee.

Then church started at 10:10 a.m. Two young children were baptized during the service.

After the service there was cake and punch for the reception, but I didn't stay for that. I went to Sis's church where they were having a Thanksgiving dinner after church.

All in all I ate way too much today.

Sis talked to Fred tonight. Holly is planning to get married on Dec 27th.

Saturday night

I helped clean the church this morning. I vacuumed both offices and the filing room.

Then I took the dog to the vet and got her annual shots, had her nails trimmed, and a flea treatment. It all cost $94.50.

Sis cooked a turkey for tomorrow's dinner after church.

For supper tonight we had beef tips with rice, pea salad, and mixed fruit.

Thursday and Friday

Friday night: I cancelled my beauty shop appointment. It was just raining too much. it let up later in the afternoon and Sis and I went to the Third Friday Supper at a nearby church. I had lasagna, green beans, salad and garlic bread with pumpkin pie for dessert..and coffee. Sis chose fried fish, green beans, cole slaw, garlic bread and banana pudding and coffee. It was a really good meal and only $13 for both of us. That church puts on this dinner on the third Friday of each month, as a fund raiser.

It rained a little more tonight after we got home.

Friday morning while at work:
It has been raining extremely heavy most of the morning and flood advisories are out. The roof is leaking at church and I've got buckets catching what I can and mopping around them on the floor every so often. I get off at noon, so if it keeps raining it will be more to clean up by tomorrow.

Okay, so it's Friday morning when I'm writing this and now I'm trying to remember what all happened yesterday.

Sis and I went to Wendy's for lunch yesterday. I had a double stack hamburger and a small chocolate Frosty. For supper we had leftovers. I ate the rest of my Chinese dinner from the other day. They give such large servings. I got three meals out of that one.

Calvin is being a nuisance this morning. He has already had his breakfast but I guess he just wants attention. He jumps on chairs at the windows and pulls the window blinds back and forth - or jumps on the back of the swivel rocking chair and tries to turn it over. Sometimes he succeeds.

It started raining during the night and is raining very heavily right now. The forecast is for it to continue throughout the day. I don't enjoy driving in rain and hope it slows down somewhat by the time I leave for work.

We have a leak in the roof at work and so there will be water on the landing despite the buckets we keep under it. Too bad we don't have the $62,000 it will cost to replace the roof on that aging church building.

Since our custodian is off work, recuperating from major surgery, guess who will end up having to mop up water. I am the only working there today, so that should give a clue.

Calvin must have gotten tired. He's lying quietly on the back of the rocker right now. Precious had to go outside but put it off when she saw it was raining. She kept coming back and wanting to go out, so finally I went outside on the patio with her and made her go out into the yard. Then when she got done and came back in, I dried her off with a towel.

Wednesday night

The food pantry at church was open today and I've never seen such a crowd. I guess the word really spread around that turkeys were being given out. The pantry doesn't open until 1 p.m., but people started lining up outside the door at 11 a.m. and by 1:00, the line was clear back through the parking lot by the building almost back to the street. More kept coming and at 3 p.m. when they closed, there were still a few people outside in line. They took them all inside and shut the door to any new ones. It was 3:30 p.m. by the time they got them all out of there. They had 100 turkeys and 40 packages of turkey breasts. They ran out of turkeys and almost out of the turkey breasts. They had plenty of fruit and shelf-stable milk, but ran out of rice, vegetables and bread. There were a few packages of dry beans left. But no one left without getting some turkey and other food.

Sis worked with the volunteers and by the time she got out of there and came home, her back was really bothering her.

Tuesday night

Sis was going to bring some lunch to me at work today and when she started out, she discovered she had a totally flat tire. She called me and then was going to call AAA, but the neighbor saw what had happened and he came over and said he would be glad to change it for her. So he did and then she went to Firestone and bought a new tire. The old one was totally shot. So I drove home and had some leftover pizza and Snapple tea for lunch.

We had our finance meeting at work and it lasted a little longer than usual so I was a little late getting home from work.

This evening we went to a Chinese/Mexican restaurant for supper. I had the almond chicken with rice, Sis had chicken huang (or something like that), and we shared an order of 6 crab rangoons. They have such large servings that we asked for carryout boxes and brought enough home for two more meals each.

Sis’s cat, Digger still won’t eat, but she does drink a little water.

Mon, Nov 16, 2009

It was a hectic day at work. Lots of reports to work on and I ended up finishing up the treasurer's report at home tonight.

The pastor and Nancy and I went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. I just got a side order of six crab rangoon and iced tea.

When I got home, Sis was cleaning out the refrigerator out in the garage..a long overdue job that we had been putting off.

We had carne guisada and cole slaw for supper.

Sis's oldest cat, Digger hasn't been feeling good today. She didn't eat anything all day. She is 18 years old. Sis took her to the vet last week and he ran tests, but I think it is mostly her age.

I was so tired tonight I could hardly stand it so I went to bed a little after 7 p.m. Then I got up at 8 and watched most of Antiques Road Show before going back to bed. A little before 3, Precious woke me up wanting to go outside, so I stayed up a litttle while longer to check email and write this, but I'm about ready to go back to bed for a little while.

Sunday evening

It is only 6 p.m. but seems so late. Since the time changed and it gets dark so early, it is a bit disorienting. Makes it feel like much later at night.

After church today we were going to go to Luby's for lunch. But we couldn't get onto Military Drive. It was blocked off by police cars every where we tried. I'm not sure what was going on. It's odd to have a busy highway like that closed for construction on a Sunday.

We ended up coming back and having lunch at Pizza Hut. That turned out "different" too. We ordered a medium supreme pizza, salad bar, and diet Pepsi's. We got our salads and beverages. Finally the waitress came back and asked again what kind of pizza we had ordered. She said they would have to make another for us, as evidently the delivery man had taken ours on his route. So we ended up getting a freshly made pizza at a $4 discount and they gave us our salads and drinks free to make up for the inconvenience. We got the pizza to go and brought it home.

It got up to 78 degrees this afternoon but has started to cool down now and rain and a cold front are expected after midnight.

Saturday night

Sis was at the craft show from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. today. I was there with her a lot of the time, but I also went to the grocery store, Wal-Mart and Office Depot. I picked up my prescription at Wal-Mart and got a wireless computer mouse, printer ink cartridge and 2010 desk blotter calendar at Office Depot,as well as groceries at the grocery store.

I got my hair cut this afternoon. I have to look slightly down when I take my picture with the webcam to avoid reflections on my glasses.

This evening we took Sis's things to the hall where the craft show will be held tomorrow. They had said the dealers could set up anytime after 5 p.m. The craft show starts at 8 tomorrow morning and runs until 4 p.m.

After she set up her table, we went to Wendy's Restaurant near there and had supper. I had my favorite - a double stack hamberger, and a cup of coffee. Sis had the homestyle chicken filet sandwich and a cup of coffee. Later at home we ate the two apple dumplings that were left from lunch.

Wednesday night

Our office did not close for Veterans Day but it was a fairly quiet day. The art group met in one of the rooms for their weekly class. One of the church members came to work on the sound system. A couple from another area church came and brought several bags of beans and rice for next week's food pantry. It is always open on the third Wednesday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m. I get several telephone calls daily asking about it. The volunteers give out food to nearly 100 families each time it is open. This month they will be giving out additional items such as turkeys and Thanksgiving-related items to help provide each family with the ingredients for a nice Thanksgiving meal.

It seemed strange not to get any mail and a couple times I found myself starting to go check the mailbox.

Recently I found a recipe for whole wheat Bisquick substitute. I made up a batch this afternoon after I got home from work and put most of it in ziplock bags in the freezer. I kept out enough to make biscuits for supper and we had sausage gravy with it. Delicious!

I did have trouble with the oven of our new stove. It has an electronic pad to use to set it and I thought I had it set for 450. It heated up and started baking the biscuits but when I checked on them a few minutes later the heat had gone off and they weren't done. With my cataract, I have difficulty reading that dial which is on the back of the stove and I had to wait until Sis got home from her Wednesday night church service to re-set it and finish baking the biscuits while she made the gravy.

I'm so short that I can't lean over and see the dial at a good angle, even with the light on the range hood turned on. I like this new gas stove but I wish it had the old style knobs to turn it on and off instead of that touch pad panel that I have to touch bake, then keep touching the up arrow until it reaches the right temperature, then touch start. It is the temperature part that is so difficult for me to see.

Tuesday night

It got into the mid-70's again today with lots of sunshine.

I was busy on the computer most of the day az work. You wouldn't think I'd want to touch a computer when I get home, but I do.

We had sauerkraut and sausage, mashed potatoes and salad for supper.

Monday

Mondays are always busy at work. We sent out a big mailing so that took up a good bit of the day. I didn't get them all ready until after the mail went so I dropped them off at the post office after I got off work.

Sis wasn't feeling well a good bit of the day - don't know what is causing that. She was better by evening.

We had spaghetti, garlic bread, and broccoli for supper.

Sunday evening

It has been a long, rainy day. I got a call last night from one of the church members who usually comes by bus, asking for a ride today because of the predicted rain. I was glad to do so.

It wasn't raining when I left for church but after the church service started I could hear it really coming down outside.

We had a meeting after church to discuss some of the options given us by the district superintendant at the church conference.

When I finally got home we fixed lunch at home. We had salisbury steaks, potatoes, green beans, and corn on the cob.

I wasn't feeling too well and took a nap for an hour or so. This weather gives me a little sinus headache. I'm feeling better now but it is raining steadily again.

Saturday night - a long day

Sis got home from her church retreat this afternoon.

I agreed to help serve lunch at the church to a group of volunteers from another church. They planted trees and plants in our courtyard and put down mulch. Sis made up bowls of egg salad and tuna salad and I made sandwiches out of that and pimiento cheese spread and brought three trays of them. The pastor is out of town today but she bought soft drinks and cookies to serve them. We also brought some potato chips. So we just put everything out on a buffet table in the fellowship hall at noon and let them serve themselves. Two other ladies came to help serve also.

I left before the volunteers had finished their work in the courtyard so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how it turned out.

Sis does a lot of crocheting and other crafts. She had our third bedroom all set up for her craft room, but she had so much stuff in there she could hardly move around. So over the last couple of weeks she bagged up a whole lot of it that she doesn’t use anymore and donated it to a thrift shop near us. They were glad to get it.

Right now she is working on crocheting chemo caps. She has some other crocheting projects that she has either started on or plans to.

I don’t do crafts, but I sure do love to read. I have two six-foot high bookcases that my husband built me and I have them full of books. I also have books on smaller bookshelves throughout the house, as well as on my bookcase headboard and stacked in the corners. I re-read the ones I really like, so I don’t like to get rid of too many of them.

I picked up some extra Thanksgiving-type stuff to donate to our food pantry. They will be open on November 18th and will try to put as much things in for Thanksgiving as they can. I brought 10 boxes of Stove Top Stuffing, 10 packages of gravy mix, and 2 cans of cranberry sauce. They ordered turkeys from the food bank and the things they usually give out, such as rice and beans, fruit, canned green beans, etc. Sis usually picks up bread at the bread outlet store and donates enough for the number of families that usually come. They usually give out food to nearly 100 families a month. With the economy the way it is right now, there are more families than ever that are having a hard time making ends meet.

Friday night

It was very foggy when I left for work this morning, but warmed up into the 70's during the day.

Sis is on an overnight church retreat and will be back sometime tomorrow afternoon.

i got my hair done this afternoon, went to a garage sale a couple of streets over from my house, and got groceries. The garage sale was a moving sale for a member of our church. I bought a one-cup coffeemaker, a desk lamp, and a cake plate.

I got a coupon in the mail today for a free meal at the new IHOP Express that just opened near us, so I turned it in for a turkey club sandwich with onion rings and brought it home for my supper. It was delicious and almost more than I could eat. I could (and should) have made two meals out of it.

Too early Friday morning

I'm being a night owl tonight. I couldn't sleep .

Sis and some of the other church ladies are going on a retreat today, but it will just be a 2-day one. They will be back tomorrow afternoon.

I will be busy helping out at my church. A group of young people from another church will be coming tomorrow morning to spruce up our courtyard and plant some trees and plants and spread mulch. We will be providing lunch for them and I will be taking sandwiches and chips and helping serve and clean up.

One of the ladies from our church is having an estate sale today and tomorrow and I hope to find time to get to that too. Her husband died not long ago and she moved to a senior citizen apartment building on the other side of town. She had lived just two or three streets over from me.

Precious just came wandering out, so I had to turn off the alarm and let her out. When she comes back in, I'll go back to bed and try for another hour or two of sleep.

Thursday night

Sis is feeding pastor's cats again while she is gone.

We had fish and broccoli for supper.

Thursday

Another beautiful day.

My 2-year contract for my cell phone will expire in January and I have been researching phones. When I looked at the reviews for the different phones available, it made me think more seriously about just keeping the one I already have. I have the "new every 2" feature but the ones available don't tempt me to change. The only problem I have with the one I already have is that I have to keep tape on the lid to the battery compartment to keep it from falling off.

From the reviews I have read, many other models also have that problem.

Each phone I've upgraded to in the past has required a lot of adjustment. My favorite ringtones were not available on the new phone - or the ability to assign pictures and/or ringtones to individual callers. I have that with my current phone.

The more I write, the more convinced I am that I'd better stick with what I have.

Wed night

Today was a beautiful day. It was around 50 when I got up this morning and got up into the mid-70's.

We had Subway tuna sandwiches for lunch and meat loaf and vegetables for supper.

There were several meetings and activities going on at church today but none that I had to attend.

Tues night - Nov 3

There isn't much to write tonight. I was pretty busy at work.

Sis brought us each a What-a-burger hamburger for lunch.

We just had sandwiches for supper.

The book I ordered from Amazon came today.

Monday night - Nov 2, 2009

After I got off work this afternoon we went to Wal-Mart and I picked up my prescription. Then we went to IHOP and ate supper. It was rather decadent: pecan pie pancakes, scrambled eggs and hash browns and hazelnut coffee. But it was delicious.

Sun, Nov 1, 2009

It was light when I got up this morning. What a difference an hour makes. But tonight was another story. It seemed to get dark so early and even though it is only 8:47 p.m. it seems like the middle of the night.

After church this morning we went to El Tipico's. They recently reopened after being closed for remodeling for about a year. I had grilled Monterey Steak, baked potato, salad and roll. It was delicious. I brought part of mine home for another meal.

We went on to Wal-Mart and I ordered a refill of my blood pressure medicine. They said it wouldn't be ready until 4:00 p.m. so I decided to go back tomorrow after I get off work and pick it up.

For supper we had pancakes.

About New Braunfels Wurstfest

We went to New Braunfels today to the annual German festival, Wurstfest. It started out pretty chilly – 43 degrees, but soon warmed up. We wore our jackets but soon had to take them off and put them back in the truck. It was in the mid-70's by the time we got home.

It was a fun day. When we got to New Braunfels, the things that were advertised to open at 10 – weren’t open and they said, “0h no, not until 11”. We had parked in a paid parking lot, so we left the truck there and walked several blocks downtown to the main plaza. There is a German bakery there and we got coffee and rolls and sat outside on the patio at a table and ate.

By that time the plaza was filled with craft tables and booths so we spent probably an hour wandering from booth to booth looking at everything. Well, not everything. I think we could have spent all day there. Phoebe got a couple of things. We both enjoyed looking at everything there and she got some new ideas for her crafts.

Then we walked back to where we had parked. There was an arts and crafts show set up in the Knights of Columbus building and they also had food available there. It looked good but we didn’t get anything right then. We went on across the highway to the Wurst Fest grounds. It cost $8 each to get into the grounds.

We walked around in there and listened to a German band. It was really good. We got a bratwurst sausage with sauerkraut in a pita but you know how they over-price things at festivals. It was good though. There were other bands playing and lots of things going on and of course all the usual food booths - funnel cakes and all kinds of things.

Later we went back across to the arts and crafts building and got potato soup and coffee in there. That soup was delicious and very reasonable. We each had a large cup of soup and a cup of coffee for $5.00 for both of us.

By that time we were ready to head back home. It is a 45-minute drive and traffic was heavy on I-35 but we got home by 2:00 p.m.

Sis’s church is having a harvest festival tonight for the neighborhood children. She plans to help with that. I may go along and help too.

This article was in this morning's news about Wurstfest.

First bite of wurst to kick off Wurstfest in Landa Park in New Braunfels on Friday.
If you go
WHAT: Wurstfest
WHEN: Through Nov. 8
WHERE: Landa Park, New Braunfels
COST: $8; children 12 and under admitted free
INFO: (830) 625-9167; www.wurstfest.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jennifer R. Lloyd - Express-News NEW BRAUNFELS — The 10-day celebration of sausage, beer, polka and all things German kicked off with Wurstfest’s ceremonial biting of the sausage Friday as a visiting German couple celebrated a ceremony of a different kind.

Newlyweds Jessica and Antonio Mastandrea, from the area near Braunfels, Germany, were spending a week of their honeymoon experiencing New Braunfels’ version of the traditional German Oktoberfest. Festival officials predicted that between 120,000 and 150,000 visitors will attend the 49th annual Wurstfest this year. About half of those, like the Mastandreas, likely will come from outside New Braunfels, said Herb Skoog, director of Wurst Relations.

Jessica Mastandrea first visited New Braunfels eight years ago through a Wurstfest exchange program. After a fellow exchange student attended the couple’s wedding two months ago, the Mastandreas decided to return the favor with a visit to New Braunfels during their honeymoon.

The biting of the sausage to herald the festival’s beginning is one example of how Wurstfest organizers have adapted German traditions over the years.

“At the Munich Oktoberfest, they start with tapping of first keg,” Skoog said. “We’re a sausage festival, so we have officials onstage and on countdown, we bite into string of sausages.”

The festival dubbed the “Salute to Sausage” has been a staple since the city first honored the food in 1961 as a way to promote the local commercial sausage makers, Skoog said.

Grammy-nominated accordionist Alex Meixner, who led the countdown to the communal sausage chomping, said he steps off his diet and consumes sausage, fried Oreos and “one, two or 50 Shiner Bocks” when he comes to perform at Wurstfest.

“Although I have known vegetarians who have attended Wurstfest, it’s not exactly a vegetarian wonderland here,” said Meixner, who hails from Pennsylvania and is back at Wurstfest for his 11th year in a row. “There are so many great varieties of sausage.”

The variety of edibles — from fried cheesecake to German tacos — can only be topped by the variety of people in attendance. The 2,000 people who attended the first Wurstfest couldn’t even man all the volunteer positions for this year’s festival. Skoog estimated about 5,000 volunteers are in some way involved with the festival, including the nearly 300 people who make up the heart of the nonprofit Wurstfest Association.

“There are all kinds of different people and everybody just congregates together and has a good time,” said Glenn Herfurth, who leads the Cloverleaf Orchestra. The orchestra has played German waltzes and polkas at every Wurstfest thus far, and Herfurth has been a part of the New Braunfels-based group since the 1980s. Despite his years of performing, Herfurth said he never grows tired of playing crowd favorites like the “Chicken Dance.”

“It doesn’t matter where we go; they want the ‘Chicken Dance,’ especially the kids. They love it, and that’s good because it gets the young people out to dance to more of the German music,” Herfurth said.

While the Mastandreas donned the traditional German wear for the first day of the festival — Jessica in a dress called a dirndl and Antonio in knee-breeches called lederhosen — the two pointed out a few differences between the Oktoberfest in Germany and Wurstfest. The German Oktoberfest is much larger and no one drinks beer out of plastic cups, Jessica said. But that didn’t detract from their honeymoon.

“We’re going to have a good time and see how the American people see the German way of life,” Antonio said. “That is great that one American city is cheering German culture.”

Friday night

It was quiet at work this morning - only a few people in and out. After I got off work at noon, I came home and we had chicken-etti and mixed greens for lunch.

Then I went to the beauty shop and got my hair done. After I got back from that, we went grocery shopping.

For supper we had lemon-pepper fish, fried potatoes, and the rest of the greens.

It was sunny today but not very warm.

Thursday night

We just talked to our brother and sister-in-law in Longmont, Colorado and they got at least 10 inches of that snow. I think they said the high today was only 27 degrees.

Their son slipped on the ice a few weeks ago and broke several bones in his shoulder. He is off work for awhile until that heals.

Here it got up into the 80's but then a cold windy front came through after I got home from work and it is expected to get down to 48 tonight and the high tomorrow is only expected to be 63. So it will be quite a change from today.

We are hoping to go to New Braunfels Saturday to Wurstfest. I hope the weather is better then. It is about a 45 minute drive from here.

Wednesday night

It wasn't quite as cold this morning but still chilly. It warmed up to the 70's later today.

The painting class didn't meet today but there was a lot going on anyway. The nurse and some of her students held an "event" at the monthly diaper giveaway. They had samples of foods, clothing to give away, a few food items to give away, and lots of parenting information.That was downstairs.

At the same time on the main floor, some members of the women's groups of two churches were meeting, and in another room a counseling session was going on.

Before noon the ladies from the bunco group arrived and set up in the room they use for their monthly bunco games. Sis plays bunco with them, so she was there too.

The Lutheran church down the street was having their annual turkey dinner today so Sis went and bought two take-out dinners for us to have for our lunch. It was a delicious meal.

The editor of our monthly newsletter brought it in for me to make copies and distribute. I had to wait for the nurse's page for it, so I didn't get that done today but it should be ready to go out tomorrow.

After I got off work this afternoon I went to the bank and made a deposit.

By the time I got home I was pretty sleepy so I took a nap until time for Jeopardy.

Tuesday night

It was only 46 this morning. When I got up it was down to 69 in the house and I had to switch the thermostat from a/c to heat. It did get up to 65 outside this afternoon and was a very pleasant day.

Sis and I ate lunch at the new IHOP Express that opened at the shopping center near us just recently. It was very nice.

I was very busy at work all day but nothing of any moment happened so there isn't too much to write tonight.

Monday night

It started raining early this morning and rained heavily almost all morning. This afternoon was sunny and cool.

Tonight we went to a funeral mass (the first I had ever been to at a Catholic church). It was for a man who had done a lot of painting and other work for us and a lot of other people in the neighborhood. He was only 52 and died of cancer recently.

Sunday evening

We have really had amazing success with our "buck-a-book" fund raising effort at church. People were invited to bring in books they were finished with. These books were placed on a table in the narthex (see photo above), and could be purchased for a dollar each. Over $150 has been put into the church general budget fund in October in this way. We will look for something different to do after October.

After church this morning I went over to Sis's church which starts later. I got there in time for their sermon. Today was Pastor Appreciation Day at that church and after the service, a potluck dinner was served in their fellowship room. Sis had made chickenetti and several rhubarb and apple pies and a sausage cake to take to it. I ate dinner there with them.

A sleepless night

I woke up at 2:00 a.m. with a headache that reminds me of the kind when I haven’t had any coffee for too long. I got up and poured myself a cup from the thermos but it hasn’t helped that much. Maybe it is a sinus headache. Not a good way to start the weekend.

I went back to bed at 4:00 a.m. and slept until 8. My headache was gone when I got up the seond time.

Saturday night

We had pizza for lunch. Sis picked it up and brought it to the church where I was waiting in the office while the yard man mowed and trimmed.

Our next-door neighbor came over last night and told us that there will be a mass at the Catholic church Monday evening for our former handyman who died recently.

For supper we finished the eggplant casserole from the other day and had some mixed fruit.

Friday evening

After I got off work at noon, Sis and I ate lunch at a barbecue restaurant. They serve much more than barbecue, though. We each had the fish dinner. I had steamed carrots, marinated cucumbers, fruit salad, and wheat bread with mine.

Then I went to the beauty shop. On the way home I stopped and picked up some food for the food pantry from a lady who lives the next street over from us. I also stopped by the church and checked the mail.

The water bill came in today's mail. It is down a few dollars from last month.

Friday morning

I was wakened by the telephone at 4:23 this morning. Lifeline called to let the church know that one of our members had fallen and they had to send the fire department out to get her up. She told them she was okay and wouldn't need to be transported to the hospital. The church is listed as emergency contact on their records. I suppose if the call forwarding hadn't been on, they would have left a message on the church answering machine.

I usually get up around that time anyway so I stayed up.

It is 54 degrees right now.

Thursday night

The rain finally let up this morning and we had a sunny afternoon. The yard man called and said he could come Saturday morning and mow and trim the church lawn.
I came home for lunch and we had egg salad sandwiches. Then I went to the bank and made a deposit before going back to work.

My 2010 version of Quicken software came today from Intuit. I installed it on my computer this evening.

I fixed a sausage-eggplant casserole for supper and we both really liked it.

Sis has an interview tomorrow for a part-time job. We drove over to see how to get to it. There was a lot of construction between here and there. They will be interviewing several people for the job so she might not find out for a few days if she gets it.

On the way home we stopped at the grocery and picked up a few things.

We played a few games of Mexican dominoes tonight.

Thursday morning - Rain

It was raining quite heavily when I got up this morning and still is as I write this. It seems unlikely that the yard man will be able to finish at the church today. There is a flash flood watch in effect for this morning.

Wednesday evening

The food pantry gave out food to nearly as many families as the last two months. The parking lot was quite full most of the two hours. Sis had quite a backache by the time it was over.

Our yard man mowed our yard and the parsonage this afternoon, but the church parking lot was so full that he was afraid to try weed whacking along it and said he would come back tomorrow morning and do that. Well, this evening we are getting a good bit of rain so it may be wet to work in tomorrow. He has to mow the inside courtyard of the church too.

The pastor got back to town shortly before the food pantry closed at 3 p.m. and was downstairs talking to the ones who were working there when I left for the day. I came home and took a nap for an hour, so I was able to stay awake through Jeopardy and the news tonight. I usually sleep through both in the recliner. No wonder since I get up so early in the mornings.

For lunch I just had a bacon and egg taco and an apple, but for supper we had country-fried pork chops with gravy, cheddar-bacon mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables,(compliments of Marie Callendar), and buttered rolls.

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2009

I didn't get to watch the Fox News last night because a ball game was still in progress at 9:00 p.m. I didn't feel like staying up until 10 p.m. so I just went on to bed.

I expect a busy day at work. The monthly food pantry will be open downstairs from 1 to 3 p.m. and each of the last two months they served nearly 100 families. Phoebe plans to help with it. I will be working upstairs in the office.

Both Calvin and Digger are eating their breakfast. Digger eats canned food and Calvin eats some that comes in a pouch but this morning they were both being contrary so I switched dishes and they are cleaning up each other's food. Ordinarily Digger refuses the pouch. I'm having to watch Precious that she doesn't go eat both of theirs. I've heard that it isn't healthy for dogs to eat catfood but it doesn't hurt cats if they eat dog food. Strange. It doesn't make sense to Precious either. Ha!

Tuesday Night

We ate lunch at Wendy's Restaurant. I tried their new Bacon Burger Deluxe and really liked it.

The man never showed up to mow the yard and there is a 60 to 70% chance of rain tomorrow. It looks awful already and if he doesn't get here early and get it mowed before it rains, what a mess it will be.

I had a Birdseye Voila Cheesy Ranch Chicken meal in the freezer, so I fixed that for supper. It was pretty good.

Later Sis microwaved a cake in a mug and we had that with a little ice cream while we played a few games of Mexican dominoes.

It is almost 9 p.m. so I am going to get off here and go watch the Fox News before I go to bed.

Tues Morning

We were watching Antiques Road Show last night and I was so tired and sleepy that I just couldn't stand it anymore, so I went to bed at 8:45 p.m. Then I didn't sleep good and dozed off and on, having weird dreams for much of the night. Finally at 4:00 a.m. after a particularly wild dream, I got up so I wouldn't go back to sleep and continue in the same dream.

It is 5:30 a.m. now and I've had a cup of coffee and a little breakfast and am sitting here at my computer with Digger beside me. Digger has been meowing at me and telling me she wants to go back in Sis's room, but she jumps on and off the bed and wakes Sis up and then she can't get back to sleep, so she has to stay out here until after Sis gets up. Calvin is just as aggravated because that means he has to stay in my room until Sis gets up so that he won't jump on Digger. What problems pets can be sometimes. They fuss like children, but we love them and wouldn't want to be without them.

Oct 19, 2009 - Monday evening

One of our church members donated a new printer to replace the one that “died” last week. He brought it in and set it up this morning.

Pastor left this afternoon for a 2 ½-day training course in Houston.

Sis picked up hamburgers and salads for our lunch and brought them to the office. She will be taking care of the pastor’s dog and cats as well as bringing in the mail as she usually does during their out-of-town trips. They usually put the dog in the kennel but left it here this time.

We had the a/c and heating company come check our furnace for the winter. He vacuumed it out, cleaned it and said there are no leaks, but reminded us that it is 22 years old and won’t last forever.

For supper we had pancakes and scrambled eggs.
It got up to 79 degrees this afternoon and was sunny.

Monday, Oct 19, 2009

We moved Digger's food and water and litter box into the family room last night. She has been sleeping in Sis's room and wouldn't keep quiet at night so Sis could sleep. That meant I had to put Calvin in my room and close the door as he is very aggressive toward Digger.

Well. . . Calvin was not amused. He is used to sleeping on the foot of my bed, but when he couldn't get back out of my bedroom at will, he started prowling around the room and knocking things around.

I finally gave up, took my pillow and went out to the living room to sleep on the couch, leaving him shut in the bedroom. He quieted down when I wasn't in the room to see or hear him. Then at 1:45 a.m. Precious scratched on the bedroom door. She wanted to go outdoors. So I let her out but left Calvin shut up in the bedroom. When Precious came back indoors, she slept on the end of the couch with me. Then Digger jumped up on the back of the couch and slept there too. I let Calvin out at 4:00 this morning when I decided I was "slept out" and could be up to watch him and Digger and keep him from trying to jump on her.

Sunday, Oct 18, 2009

Our custodian is sick, so I went in to church early this morning to open, turn on the air conditioners and get things ready.

Today was our annual church conference. The district superintendant and his wife and one of the conference lay leaders were there. The district superintendant preached at the morning worship service, then immediately continued with the conference. It lasted quite awhile.

Then after it was all over, we had a light lunch in the parlor - sandwiches, chips and dips, deviled eggs, relish tray, cut up fruit, punch and cake.

I stayed until everyone had left to close everything up and re-lock the building. So it was almost 2:00 p.m. when I got home. I didn't have to do all the clean-up though. We all worked together to clean up everything.

We had pancakes with diced apples stirred into the batter for supper. Real comfort food. Mother used to make them and we always liked them.

The start of another blog

Sis got home this afternoon from the ladies' retreat she has been on for the last couple of days.

We went by Walgreen and dropped off her film for the one-hour developing, then went to a fish restaurant and ate supper.

n the way home we stopped and picked up the pictures that she had taken while on a mission trip to Mexico recently. The mission team worked on a boys dormitory that is being built at an orphanage there. They tiled a bathroom, painted and did other work on it. They did work at two orphanages and a church/school. Here are pictures of them doing some of the work. There is also a picture of sheep and goats that the church/school raises. They go on these trips three times a year.

Sis painting the orange wall


The church/school raises sheep/goats too.



This picture was a hydroponic garden that the church/school built to raise vegetables for sale and to feed the community.



Here they are tiling walls in a bathroom in a boys dorm at the orphanage.



Today was a beautiful sunny day with a low of 55 and a high of 76 degrees.

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