Thursday, December 31, 2009

Cyclones Win!!!

The Cyclone football team won the Insight Bowl tonight 14-13! It was one of those games where we tried to beat ourselves...I think we had 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles! But, in the end, the Insight Bowl belonged to the Cyclone Nation! At the end of the game, Kyle, my great-nephew was on the tv screen for a good 5 seconds - just him, close up! I called his mom to let her know, but she'd already heard from her dad, her sister, and her mother!! She said it had really been fun and tonight they were headed to a big block party in Tempe - 100,000 people were expected to be there. She thought Kyle and some of his friends were going to join them at that party. I just hope the players are all smart!!

I'm not very wordy tonight - it was so noisy in the bar where we went to watch the game that I'm just trying to wind down. I guess I should tell you that we picked up our new truck today. It is really pretty - a beautiful burgundy with lots of chrome. It went into the garage tonight and will stay there now for 2 months. I have to get some things put together for the young lady who is going to be staying in our house while we're gone and I have some packing to do yet. Dave was just reading me the weather reports for the various cities on our way south - looks like we're going to need to pack a jacket or two! Sarasota will be cold the whole time we're there. I'll really be glad to get to Fort Lauderdale.

I also want to say that I have sure enjoyed doing this blog. I know a few other people have also enjoyed my ramblings, but basically I'm doing it just as a form of self-expression. I want to keep my brain working and part of my challenge is to write correctly. With that said, I want to wish you all a very happy new year - I hope that 2010 is all that we hope it will be. See you next year!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Another Day...

We're getting closer to leaving this north pole location for parts warmer!! It snowed all day today and, frankly, I'm getting tired of this white stuff! It's still snowing, but it's supposed to quit tonight. Then tomorrow and for several days, we're supposed to be in the deep freeze! It's only supposed to get to 8 degrees on Saturday! I think that's probably the day we're going to leave for Florida. That happens to be Aunt Helen's 103rd birthday and I feel like I want to wish her a Happy Birthday before we leave. This morning, we went out to Vista Woods for a care conference with the different department heads. I went in early and visited with Aunt Helen for about 30 minutes before Bob and Ann got there. She was really good this morning - the only problem was that I couldn't hear what she was trying to say. She did tell me that she loved me, though. That I heard! She barely whispers and they were running the floor washer, so I struggled! When they came to get us, they had just taken Aunt Helen to give her a shower. So when we got out of our conference, she was too tired to talk! In fact, she couldn't have cared less if we were there or not!

I've had a good evening - I found a couple more ex-ISU football players tonight...or rather one of them found me and through him I found one of my favorite guys. It looks like he's married with two little children! What a hoot - I can't imagine him married with kids! He'll always be forever young in my mind.

Tomorrow I've got a lot of errands to run and then i've got to finish packing. I paid all the bills tonight, so I'm done with that unless another one comes tomorrow. Tomorrow night we pick up the new pickup!! I'm ready to see it. More later...

Since I didn't sleep worth a darn last night, I'm headed to bed early tonight. More later...

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tuesday Ponderings

I think it's Tuesday...maybe not...I get a little confused about what day it is! Oh yeah, I know it's Tuesday because we had our substitute mailman today! I went out to see Aunt Helen this morning. She didn't want to talk, but she was content for me to touch her while she slept. I was there for about 45 minutes when Bob and Ann came in. We stayed for another 45 minutes or so. Aunt Helen would wake up and say a word or two, but mostly she just slept. Bless her heart.

I've been trying to pack and trying to wrap up any loose ends before we leave. I have gotten the newspapers stopped and all of our meds in, so now I've just got to pay the bills before we leave and get the rest of my Christmas cards out!! Yes, I'm a little late on them, but that happens!

I'm afraid that we won't be able to leave on Friday, but we'll just have to wait and see. More later...

Monday, December 28, 2009

My Impulsive Husband!

My impulsive husband...when he gets an idea that he should do something big (like trade cars, for example), he just can't wait to do it. So as of tonight we are the proud owners of a 2009 Chevy Silverado pickup! We'll get it in a couple of days - hopefully before we leave for Florida because I'd like to see what our money is going toward! He's so funny - yesterday was the first day I'd even heard him talk about trading vehicles and I asked him to wait until March when we get back...but no, he just can't wait! Anyway, he did get a good deal and our payments are actually going to be less than they were on the old truck! So that's a good thing!

Aunt Helen wasn't very good today. I went out and sat with her for about an hour. She has lots of pauses where she doesn't breathe at all, then she breathes again. The doctor came in while I was there. He told me that was pretty normal in the last few days or a week before they pass. She didn't eat or drink anything the last two days, so I can't imagine that it will be long now. I actually wrote her obituary tonight - Bob didn't want me to leave town without doing that. That's a first - I don't recall ever having to do that before! I'm pretty sure we just gave the info to Raymond's Funeral Home and they did it for us with mom and dad.

Other than visiting with Helen, I didn't do much today. I was sort of bored today...but tomorrow's another day! More later...

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Sunday at Home

Sundays at home are the best! Especially when they are snowy and cold! It was a great day to read a good book and then take a nap.

There were probably only 35 or so people at church this morning - Pastor Sarah Palmer was our guest pastor today and she said that the Sunday after Christmas as well as Father's Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day Sundays are just not high priority Sundays for people to be in church. She really gives a great sermon. I enjoy her a lot. During prayer time, she said (and I quote)..."Please be with Dave and Margaret Mae as they head south for their winter vacation." I was so shocked, I'm sure I made a noise out loud! I couldn't figure out who had told her that my real name was Margaret Mae! When church was over, I asked her; she said she remembered us talking about names several months ago. Her name is Sarah Mae and there was a Sylvia Mae in our group that day, so it just stuck with her. What a hoot!

After church, Dave and I went to Riverside for eggs, but the line was clear out the door, so we left and went to the 2nd Street Cafe. It wasn't busy at all, so we had our eggs and bacon for lunch! Then we came home, put away all the Christmas stuff, changed sheets on the guest bedrooms, got out the suitcases and then it was nap-30! That's what Dave calls nap-time! What time is it? Nap-30! So I read and then fell asleep. He actually went to the Mall to exchange a pair of shorts he'd received for Christmas. NOW, when it's 9:00 and about bedtime, he's taking HIS nap! What's funny is, he'll be able to go upstairs in a little while and go right back to sleep...not me. If I were napping now, I'd be up for the whole night. Who knows, I may be anyway, since I took a nap this afternoon. Oh well, if I am, I am! More later...

Saturday, December 26, 2009

More Computer Problems!

Merry Christmas a day late! I haven't been able to get on my computer since Christmas Eve at about 3:00 PM. I wasn't home for most of the evening on the 24th, though, so it wasn't really a problem. We had our family Christmas at my brother's house and we had a great evening! But I digress; let's go back a few hours to about 12:30 PM. Bryan arrived and we decided that we should eat a bite of lunch, so we each had a bowl of chili with spiced oyster crackers...actually Dave and Bryan had 2 bowls of chili and I had one! Then I started making the egg casserole for brunch on Christmas day. It has a lot of preparation to it, so it took me about an hour and a half to get it ready for the refrigerator. So, now, it;s about 2:30 and the phone rings. It's my niece asking where we are. I thought we were supposed to go to Bob's after we got out of church on Christmas Eve...but I guess not! We were supposed to be over there for a 3:30 meal of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, noodles, squash, salads, pies, etc....! Well, if I had known that, I certainly wouldn't have eaten at 1:00! Anyway, we already had the presents in the car, so we rushed upstairs, changed clothes to our church clothes, and got to Bob's at 3:17 PM just in time to eat again!! Our meals are usually long and drawn out, so we didn't get done eating until about 4:45 when we had to leave for church. (We got out of dishes at least!!) Then the lessons & carols program took more than an hour and we left church about 6:45 to go back to Bob's where 12 people were waiting to open packages! I think Allison and Cheyenne had already opened a couple of gifts, but basically we got there in time! What a wonderful evening! I love being around my nieces and their families. We just have a great time together.

Christmas morning, I didn't get up until almost 9:00! The guys were up, but they let Deanna and me sleep in. When I came downstairs, we put the casserole and the cinnamon rolls in the oven and about 35 minutes later, we had our brunch...again, enjoyed by all of us. Then Bryan, Deanna, Dave and I opened our presents and shortly after that the kids left - Deanna was going to her sister's for a couple of days and Bryan went back to Waterloo. Linda, Al, Kyle and Kaylee had to travel back to Ames on Christmas day too, because Kyle had to be ready to board a bus for the airport at 6:00 this morning for his flight to Tempe for the Insight Bowl! He was so excited!

Back to the computer problem, after Bryan and Deanna left, I came in to get on Facebook and found out that the internet was down. Since it was Christmas day, I didn't call it in, but I did call first thing this morning. Guess what - it wasn't a server problem; somehow our router had shut off and lost all of its settings, so we were the only ones without internet! Our tech person called me back this morning and in about 3 minutes had me back up and running!!

It snowed all day today and most of the night last night evidently. We've had about 5" of new snow and it's still spitting snow here tonight. Dave said it was slick and he didn't want me driving the Cadi, so he came home after cleaning driveways and took me to see Aunt Helen and to run my errands! Aunt Helen wasn't very perky today. She was sitting in her chair up by the dining room, waiting for lunch. She did talk to me, but I'm not sure she even knew who I was today. The only way I could hear what she was saying was to get my ear right in front of her mouth and then I didn't catch everything. She just kept saying that she wanted to lay down. So they took her back to her room and put her to bed. So we left and ran errands - I had gotten two of John Grisham's new book "Ford County" and two of the "Angels and Demons" DVD so I went back to Target, only waited about 3 minutes and got my money back. Then we went to the book/movie section and I got the new Ted Kennedy book and the DVD "Paul Blart: Mall Cop". Then we went to Bookins to get the bail on my new gold cross replaced with one that is larger and came home. Dave went to work at the Habitat House and I took down Christmas decorations. Tomorrow we'll put away the trees and start packing, but tonight we watched "Ice Age III" - what a hilarious movie!! Last night we watched "PS I Love You" and "Public Enemies" - both very good movies! PS I Love You is at least a 2 tissue movie! I think between Dave and me we got 7 movies!

I gotta run - more later...

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Computer Woes

Actually, I shouldn't have said computer woes, I should have said provider woes! Last night when I was trying to do things on the computer everything was taking forever, so I went to speakeasy.net/speedtest to see what my speed was...it was 360 download (should be around 1200) and 240 upload (should be around 800)! So I shut it off and walked away! I didn't even come back at all to see if they had the issue fixed. Today has been much better, so whatever happened wasn't an issue today! Needless to say, I didn't blog last night!

I got up kind of late this morning. I was having a hard time sleeping last night, so I came downstairs and slept in my chair. I don't necessarily sleep soundly in my chair, but sometimes it just works better than the bed. Don't know what there is about that! Anyway I came down about 12:30 or 1:00 and fell asleep right away - slept until I heard Dave moving around upstairs this morning - about 7:15. He told me I should go upstairs and sleep a little longer, so I tried. I got up about 8:00 - came down and ate my breakfast, read the paper, played a little Mafia Wars, Farm Town, etc., and by the time I got my shower taken it was 10:30! My oldest niece came over about 11:45 and we chatted for about 2 hours! Then I went out to see Aunt Helen, who was having a decent day today. She didn't really want to chat - everything she said was so quiet I couldn't make out what she was trying to tell me. They came in while I was there and moved her arms and legs - sort of physical therapy. She got along real well with that! Then she was very tired, so she fell asleep. I got home about 2:30 and ate my lunch! Do you see a pattern here?? Late rising, late for lunch, hope it's not a late night at choir practice!

My friend, Sudi, called today - she and Howard are in Fort Lauderdale. She said she wore shorts today! I can hardly wait. I thought it was awfully cold today - it was about 34 with rain all day. Imagine - rain on the 23rd of December! From the forecast, though, it sounds like we may get some snow tonight or tomorrow. I just hope the girls and their families and Bryan and Deanna all get home before it all hits. Some places got an inch of rain today and, in fact, we're in a flash flood watch!

Tonight is choir practice and tomorrow evening is my family Christmas after church services! Should be a late one tomorow night. Oh well, Christmas only comes once a year!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Brrrr.....

I had another busy day today - I wrapped packages (one of these days I'm going to be done with this job!!!) and I mailed out our Christmas cards (or most of them anyway). Then I had to run errands - had to pick up Dave's shirts at the dry cleaners, went to HyVee Drugstore to make copies of the Allison family picture, went to the grocery store, and went to visit Aunt Helen. She wasn't so good today - didn't want to talk. She told me she was good, but when I went on to talk to her, she just rolled over and buried her head a little deeper into her pillow. So I took that as a hint!! After visiting her, I went out to Bookins Jewelry and talked to Bob for a little bit. Linda had sent an article about Clayton (Kaylee's boyfriend) that she thought her dad would like to read. Since Bob and Ann don't have a computer at home, she asked me to print the article and drop it off with her dad. That gave me a chance to visit with him for a little bit.

Tonight Dave and I along with 3 others from our car club worked Holiday Nights and Lights at the Ottumwa Park. We had 102 cars and 2 buses in 2.5 hours with almost 500 people go through the display!! Now that was fun! There's supposed to be a big ice storm coming through our part of the state on Wednesday, so I think people were out and about tonight instead of waiting!

Tomorrow morning I have to take my car to the shop at 8:00 AM. We've got a couple of things that need fixed, plus it's due for an oil change before we head south. Then in the afternoon I've got a dentist appointment to clean my teeth. After that I'll go to the used book store to stock up on books for Florida and then back home to wrap a few more gifts and make peanut clusters!! Ho! Ho! Ho! More later...

Sunday, December 20, 2009

What a weekend!

Whew! I'm glad that weekend is over. We just had way too many commitments! We had our flu shots on Friday - we went to Public Health to get them and that's a trip in and of itself. They booked 8 people every 15 minutes, so when we got there at 3:00 for our 3:00 appointment, the 3:15 people were already there and they went ahead of us. I wasn't going to have an H1N1 shot, but they I got to thinking about being around the grandkids for 2 months and decided maybe I should have one of them too. We got a shot in each arm! I'm not a fan of flu shots - to me they hurt for about 3 days. This one hasn't been bad - just the injection site itched a little and felt a little warm, but didn't really hurt this year. The H1N1 hasn't hurt at all. In fact, it didn't hurt when they injected it. So now, on January 1st, we will be protected from both kinds of flu - just in time to leave for Florida.

We also had Dave's Golden Furrow Christmas party this weekend. There were approximately 150 people at the party and that's not even everyone! It was in Fairfield at the Best Western. I think everyone there had a really good time. Dave was the co-planner of it, as well as being in charge of pictures, etc. So, I took pictures all night while he worked the room. We stayed at the hotel after the party and it was a good thing. It seems my husband had a little too much whiskey, so we were up until about 2:30 AM!! Hopefully he learned his lesson - we're too old to be up that late!!

This morning after church, it was snowing. I left to go up the hill the way I always go home. I got 3/4 of the way up the hill and my car just stopped - I couldn't get any more traction - I was stuck on a very narrow street with cars parked in 1 lane and I was in the right lane. So, I had to back down the hill until I could get to a side street that I could turn around in. I'm glad I'm a good backer and I'm especially glad that no one tried to come up the hill while I was backing down it. When I got down to 5th Street, I went east and it was a 1-way street going west! This guy was coming out of the church on the corner of Washington and 5th (a Spanish speaking church) and he's trying to tell me that I'm going the wrong way - well, I knew I was, but it was only a block and since I was already commited to going that way, I kept going! You should have seen the look on his face!! Anyway I got over to Jefferson and didn't have any problems getting up it. They had already sanded Jefferson.

This afternoon we went back to church to eat lunch and go caroling to our church shut-ins. There were 15 of us and I think we sounded great! Dave even went too. He usually lets me do that on my own. After caroling we headed home and this black blazer was behind me flashing his lights. I said to Dave a couple of times, I wonder what that guy's trying to tell me. Finally, I just waved to him and he flashed me again. I got a glimpse of his license plate and realized it was my niece and her family from Texas - they had just gotten to town! So went led them to Bob's so we could say hello to all of them. It's so good to have them in Iowa. for the holidays. Then later this afternoon, Dave and I got our Christmas cards ready to mail in the morning. I want to put pictures of the Allison family reunion in several of the cards, so I'll take my CD down to Drugtown tomorrow to get prints made.

Since this has become as long as a dissertation, I think I'd better quit. Tomorrow I have to get some pictures made; I need to wrap packages; I need to make peanut clusters; and tomorrow night Dave and I, along with a couple of others from the Vintage Cruisers are working at Nights and Lights at the Ottumwa Park. Hopefully we won't freeze!! More later...

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Busy weekend.

This is a super busy weekend. Dave's company's Christmas party, finishing shopping, wrapping and getting cards ready to mail. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Aunt Helen wasn't very talkative today - she mostly just looked at me and moved her head a couple of times when I asked yes or no questions. She had a perm yesterday and a shower today, so she was really tired. Stay tuned...

Thursday, December 17, 2009

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

What a gorgeous day we had today! My car said it was 46 degrees at 3:30!! I didn't even have to wear a coat this evening. Dave came home early and took me to Oskaloosa to try to find that one last gift I've been looking for. We left our coats in the car! After we shopped for an hour at Mahaska Drug - which, by the way, is a wonderful store - we went to Mi Ranchito for supper. We hadn't been there for a long time. It's the same menu as our Mexican restaurant here in town, but for some reason the food tastes different. Back to Mahaska Drug - I can't believe what all they have in their store. If you're looking for something for Christmas, or for a snowman, or for Hawkeye or Cyclone stuff, that's the place to go. Their aisles are so narrow because of all the "stuff" they have!! I called it sensory overload. I WAS able to find that one last gift there, so basically I'm done. I've still got a couple more things to get for our grandkids, which I hope to do tomorrow. Then I have a few more gifts to wrap, and Christmas can come any day after that! I've even got 63 Christmas cards made. Tomorrow I plan to print our Christmas letter and get them addressed and ready to go. I'm hoping that 63 cards is enough. If it isn't, then I'll have to make a few more!

I went out to see Aunt Helen today - Bob was at work again. Hopefully he'll go tomorrow. I thought her color was really bad today. She told me she didn't feel any better today. She was dressed, though, and had her glasses on. I asked her if she wanted me to take her glasses and put them on the shelf, but she said no that she hardly ever takes them off. That struck me as funny, because she hasn't had them on for at least a month. More later....

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

I'm Ready to Go

As you can tell by the new picture and the color of my blog, I am getting ready to head south! In fact, I'm ready! I guess I should wait for Christmas to come and go first though!

I don't have much I'm pondering on today. I had a hundred different calls to make today and I actually got them all done. We're looking at getting our attic insulated with foam spray. The guy that runs this company came and after he left I had to call MidAmerican Energy to schedule an energy audit and find out about rebates and tax credits involved. I'm pretty sure we'll qualify, but it's a formality you have to go through. The energy audit is free so it'll be interesting to find out how bad this house really is! Then Dave had me checking on Qwest internet services. I think we'll probably change from Affinity to Qwest when we get back in March. They have a 30 day free trial, so we don't really want to change now when we're not home to use it. Dave also wanted me to check on when I have to apply for social security benefits, so rather than calling I got online and applied tonight! I will start getting my checks in April of 2010!

I also went out to see Aunt Helen today. She told me she felt awful today. I asked if I could help her in any way and she said no. She told me they gave her a shower today and that it felt good. She seemed to have a lot of "debris" in her mouth (her word, not mine), but it was really a thick phlegm that she was able to spit out, but it took a lot of effort on her part. I just feel so bad for her.

Tomorrow I've got to go to Walmart (yuck!) and a couple of other places. I'll try to go in the morning before some of Ottumwa's finest get out of bed! More later...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Tuesday Ramblings

Here are a couple of birthday cards I made recently. The first one is on hot pink; sorry it looks so weird on here! All of the stamps, paper, etc. are from Stampin Up. I really like this second card. I think I probably like it because it's pink and green which just happen to be two of my favorite colors. Again everything about this card is from Stampin Up. I think this could be done in many different color combinations and used for a variety of cards - thank you, anniversary, get well, even sympathy with the right colors. I'm sure I'll do this card several times.
I had a great morning. This was my massage day! After my massage, I had to run to the mall because the shirt I'd gotten for Kaylee was an XL instead of a M. For some reason we grabbed the wrong shirt when we were shopping a couple of weeks ago. I just noticed it when I was starting to wrap it yesterday. Can you believe they actually still had the medium in stock, so I didn't have to shop, I could just exchange! Then I went to Herbergers and bought myself some CuddleDuds. Dave and I have to work Holiday Nights and Lights a week from today and I know how cold it's going to be out there. A new set of long undies will come in handy! I continued wrapping packages when I got home, and can you believe it...we also got the wrong size for Al R. So tomorrow I'll go back again to see if they happen to have this same shirt that I can just exchange for an XL. We didn't do very well shopping this year. I've still got a few little things to pick up, so hopefully I can get everything done tomorrow! Then the next project is finishing making the Christmas cards!! I keep telling Dave that 75 handmade cards is waaaay too many, but he said we've already cut back! I had to go get some more red cardstock today so that I could finish the cards. I got it from Baileys and it's not card quality, but I think it's heavy enough to work. Since there's no scrapbook store in Ottumwa anymore, I didn't have a lot of choice.
I was glad to hear from Sudi - they're in Fort Lauderdale! She said their condo is nice and even the couch is comfortable to sit on! I can't wait to get there! More later...

Monday, December 14, 2009

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Man, is it ever cold outside. It's 16 degrees right now, but the wind is blowing from the north enough that our flags are completely unfurled which means that the wind chill is probably below zero. This morning when I went to see Aunt Helen it was 40 degrees out - by the time I came out of Vista Woods it was down to 28 and at that time the wind was blowing hard - probably around 25 mph. Speaking of Aunt Helen, she was great today! When I went into her room she was propped up in bad but asleep. I always say, "Hi Aunt Helen". She woke up and wondered who it was so I told her it was Margaret Mae. She smiled and grabbed for my hand. She said my hands were cold, but she wanted to hold them anyway! We probably talked for about 25 minutes today, then she told me I could go home because she wanted to take a nap. Indian Hills' CNA students were at Vista Woods today, though, so she didn't get to nap right away. One of them came in to do her nails for her. She acted excited about that even! I told her that her new haircut made her look young - about 75 and she just laughed!! She said it felt like an Australian chicken with all those feathers sticking out from its neck!! She was truly my Aunt Helen today - it was so nice to see that Aunt today instead of the one lashing out at everyone.

I wrapped packages today and even made a few more Christmas cards. I've got to get busy - my goal is to have the cards out by the 19th. I'm not sure I'll make it though! We send out way too many for me to make homemade ones for everyone. I'll keep you posted...

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Sunday ponderings

Church was good today! Our anthem, "The First Song of Isaiah", was a combined effort with PraiSing which is a group of 8 young girls in our church with absolutely beautiful voices! Then during the refrain, the congregation was supposed to join in also. It made for a beautiful song. It's one of those songs that stays in your head long after you've presented it.

I was glad to hear from Sudi that she and Howard made it south of Memphis today. The way it looked when we went to bed last night, I didn't know if they'd even get out of Iowa! Tomorrow, hopefully, they'll get into warmer weather. I haven't looked to see how warm it is in Tallahassee, but it has to be better than here! It was 86 today in Miami - I'm getting anxious to get there.

Today is Megan's birthday (our middle grandchild). We called and sang happy birthday to her! She is so cute! She loved it. Tomorrow is my middle niece's birthday. She's going to be 45 I think - it's hard for me to believe those girls are that old! I haven't heard from Bob today - I don't know if he went to see Aunt Helen or not. I just have to assume he did and that she hasn't changed much.

I took a 4-hour nap this afternoon. I have a feeling that I'll have trouble going to sleep tonight! I also finished my Tess Gerritsen book, "Keeper of the Bride". She's such a good author. This book was written before she started being so gruesome!! More later...

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Saturday Musings

Another beautiful winter day. I love it when the sun shines! (I know, I think I said the same thing yesterday!) It was a pretty day - the sun shining on the snow makes for pretty sights! I'm sorry that I didn't get to enjoy much of the day. This morning I had a meeting to help design our new church website. Unfortunately it was inside and in a room with only 1 window - looking out at a roof that was completely covered with snow. It looked as if we were snowed in clear to the top of the window. Our meeting lasted for 3 hours - my seat was tired of sitting! We did, however, get lots done! I am very happy with the design so far - now we're ready for the contents of the website, which to me is the hardest part. We've got a goal to get most of it done by January 1st, so we're really working hard.

After my meeting, I went out to see Aunt Helen. I love her haircut. It just looks so cute! Her hair is the prettiest white and this "style" is so out of character for her, but I just loved it! She knew who I was as soon as I told her and she grabbed for my hand. Then while we were talking she fell asleep again. The gals came in to move her back into her bed, but when they woke her up she was GRUMPY! She was yelling at them and slapping at them. I couldn't believe the difference. Then once they got her laid down, she seemed to calm down again. I must remember to get one of her afghans out to her - she needs a lap blanket. She didn't eat anything again today. I just don't understand what God's waiting for. I know I shouldn't question Him...that's just one of my "ponderings". Maybe His purpose in keeping her here is a lesson on patience for Bob and me. Do you suppose?

Dave worked at the Habitat for Humanity House all day today. He loves doing that! Tonight we went out to Craig and Sue's for pizza. It was fun to be with them again. We haven't seen each other for quite a while and may not be able to see them again before we leave for Florida. Speaking of leaving, it's drizzly tonight. I'm sure hoping Sudi and Howard watch the radar for ice before they leave tomorrow. It's still not freezing here, but that doesn't mean it isn't somewhere else.

Friday, December 11, 2009

I love Fridays!

This was such a beautiful day! The sun was shining brightly and the snow is gorgeous! That being said, I'm still ready to go to Florida for the rest of the winter! Dave left me a whole list of honey-dos, so a lot of the day was taken up doing projects that he thought I should do! The rest of the time was spent either in my craft room or in front of the computer! Plus, I even watched All My Children while I ate lunch and played Mafia Wars.

Tonight we went to Fairfield to have dinner with my high school classmates and their partners: Sudi & Howard, Chris & Earl, Rita & Bob. I think everyone had a great time - lots of conversation and stories! I kept an eye on the television, though, because my Cyclones were playing the Hawks in basketball. We won! It was a very good game from an Iowa State standpoint. I'm sure the Hawkeye faithful weren't happy with it, but I enjoyed it definitely. Sudi and Howard are leaving for Florida on Sunday, so we won't see them for about 3 weeks or so - until we get there! I hope they have a safe trip and that they can enjoy the ride!

Tomorrow I go out to see Aunt Helen and I have a meeting to work on our church's website. Then I'll be free for the rest of the day. Aunt Helen got her hair cut today. Bob said she made it through that just fine. They had given her a shower prior to taking her to the beautician, so she was awake and seemed to enjoy it. Her hair had gotten so long! Next week they're going to try to give her a perm. I can't imagine how that will work, but I guess she can sleep thru most of it!

I'm done for tonight - I've still got to check my email and my games and then I'm off to bed. I'm reading another good Tess Gerritsen book, so I can hardly wait to get to it! More later...

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Slipped Up Again!

Sorry, I could have sworn that I posted something on my blog yesterday, but I guess I didn't! I was working on downloading songs from CDs to my IPod and copying CDs for a friend. I guess I plain forgot! The CDs to IPod thing didn't work, and I don't have any idea why. I even tried just dragging them from the CD to the IPod, but that didn't work either! I guess some of this technology is way over my head! I'll have to ask Bryan what I'm doing wrong!



Right now I'm on my way to sing with the IHCC Staff Chorus at the annual Christmas Concert. We practice at 5:00, then Christmas party, then sing! Hope I don't drink too much wine!!! More later...

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Snow, Snow, Go Away!!

We are really having snow here in SE Iowa, but it's nothing like what they're having around Ames. We've probably got 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. This afternoon, however, it started raining! So some of the snow squished down and there appears to be a lot of slush. This could really save us as they are calling for high winds tonight and tomorrow with blowing snow. It seems to me that if it's slush, it can't blow! Dave's been outside working on moving the slush off our driveway so that it won't just be ice. Actually, he's done with that now and he's putting together a generator that he bought - just in case the electricity goes out. We said that we were going to buy one last time the electricity went down, but didn't until today. I guess that's going to be his Christmas present!! He does love to fiddle!!

I've been working on paperwork today and I installed a new external hard drive for my computer. Now I just have to figure out how to use it! I sure wish they gave you user guides when you bought these things. I don't much like reading it online and trying to follow their steps - too much going from one screen to another!

I went out early this morning to see Aunt Helen. She had just gotten back from having a shower. Bless her heart - she said she was really glad to have that shower! I'll bet she was - she hasn't had one since September! It did wear her out, though. She tried to tell me a couple of different things, but I couldn't understand her - she was just talking too softly. She didn't even open her eyes - she just wanted to sleep. Oh well, I talked to her anyway!

I've decided we have a Christmas gremlin! When I put up the tree in our office - my Victorian tree - the top half of the lights wasn't working. In fact, those lights have been out for about 3 days. This morning when I came downstairs, the lights were all on! Don't know what happened - I think it's the Christmas gremlin! I wish he'd wrap all the presents for me! Probably won't though! More later...

Monday, December 7, 2009

Happy Monday!

Last night right before we went to bed, Dave had the TV turned to the weather station and it showed a band of snow over Ottumwa. I looked out the dining room window and it looked like someone had opened a bottle of Fresca! (You have to remember the commercials!) So this morning we woke up to a couple inches of beautiful, fluffy white stuff! The weather station is calling for even more snow tomorrow and Wednesday! Is it time to go to Florida yet?

Today was the cookie exchange that I made the four dozen cookies for. What a fun time. Juliene had invited 11 other ladies to attend, so we all went home with 4 cookies from 12 different selections of cookies. These are not your basic chocolate chip cookies either. They were all what I would call "exotic" cookies - some made with dates, some iced sugar cookies, spritz cookies, cranberry oatmeal Weight Watchers cookies! Juliene had mod-podged decorative Christmas napkins on 12 clear glass plates, and we gathered our cookies on them. Then as we were leaving, she gave us a little paper box, which she had made, with some candy in it. She's a clever lady and a good friend!

The rest of the day I worked on paying bills, shopping online, and writing my annual Christmas letter. We have a great deal of our Christmas shopping done! I just have to get organized so that I know what else I need to get. I know I haven't gotten anything for Ann yet - she and Bob are usually my hardest ones to buy for. This year, however, I am very excited about what I got for Bob. I think he'll be surprised. Tomorrow I go see Aunt Helen and have several items on my to-do list! More later...

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Another Productive Day

After church today, I went out to see Aunt Helen. She said she was having a bad day and she was tired. They had just moved her and I think that completely wears her out. I hope she got to feeling better after I left.

I came home and asked Dave to go Christmas shopping with me. He didn't want to, but he did anyway. We got a lot of our shopping done today right here in Ottumwa. It really helps that our families make Christmas lists - at least you don't have to wonder what to get for each of them. We only shopped for about an hour and a half and then came home and had bacon and eggs for lunch! Dave fixed the bacon and I fixed the eggs.

Right now, I'm getting my sports fix for the day...I'm watching ISU-Iowa wrestling on AND the BCS Bowl Selection. I may be on sports overload after this and last night's football game between Texas and Nebraska! Wow, what a game. Maybe I should say what a finish - the last 1:49 was wonderful and indicative of what college football is all about! I know my Hawkeye friends are excited about Iowa going to the Orange Bowl, but we Cyclones are equally excited about us going to the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona on New Year's Eve. I was kind of hoping for the Independence Bowl in Louisiana, because we were going to try to make it on our way to Florida. Now that they're going to Arizona, I will be happy watching it on TV. Go Cyclones!!

Tomorrow I go to my cookie exchange. I don't exactly know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be fun!!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Super Saturday

It's amazing what all you can get done when you get off of Facebook!! I mixed up a batch of expresso cookies and about 3/4 of the way thru the mixing process, my stand mixer died a slow death. So I went to O'Hara Hardware and bought myself a new KitchenAid Artisan mixer - a black one! I had no problem whatsoever mixing the second batch of cookies - it's got a ton of power!! In all, I made 56 cookies - I needed 48 for the cookie exchange I'm going to on Monday morning. Unfortunately, I let the last 7 cookies get a little overdone because I was working on making a grape salad for tonight's Vintage Cruiser Christmas party. I even heard the buzzer go off, but I just ignored it, I guess. Oh well - I had 48 good ones so that's all that's important. This recipe is worth keeping - in fact the cookies are really good!

Tonight's Vintage Cruiser Christmas party was fun. I wish Sue and Craig had been there though. It's just not as much fun without them. We had lots of good food, as per usual! The gift exchange was fun again, as it always is. I came home with a cheesecake mix and a decorative plate/server set. Dave got a cool clock for his shop. It's got muscle cars on it and every hour it makes an engine noise. Most of the gifts were very nice, although poor Mike got a pair of boobie danglers (instead of fuzzy dice).

That's all I have for tonight. Tomorrow's a typical Sunday - church, then to see Aunt Helen. More later...

Friday, December 4, 2009

She's Out of Sunny Brook!

Today was moving day for Aunt Helen. When I got there this morning about 9:00 Aunt Helen was fighting with the aides who were trying to get her ready for her ambulance trip to Ottumwa. She fought with me; Ann came in and she fought with her. When I looked at her eyes and she looked at me, it was as if no one was in there. I don't believe she had any idea who I was. She called me lots and lots of names, none of which were Peg or Margaret Mae! When Bob came in she was still fighting, and when the ambulance ladies came in it was just more of the same. When they were trying to move her to the gurney, she started calling out for mama. I decided maybe I should "be" mama and maybe that would soothe her. It didn't that I could tell, but they got her onto the gurney and strapped her down for her ambulance ride to Ottumwa. Ann decided to go with her in the ambulance. When they got Helen out into the hallway, she calmed down. Ann said she didn't say a word all the way to Ottumwa, or even when they took her into Vista Woods! While she was enroute to Ottumwa, Bob, Steve, and I moved everything out of her room into a trailer also bound for Ottumwa. I had driven separately, so I stopped at VW to pick up Ann. I walked into Helen's room and she was sitting up in a chair. She had let Ann comb her hair and brush her teeth. I went over to talk to her and she knew me. I told her that her hands were so dry she needed some lotion on them. She replied, "They're dry as bones!" So Ann got some lotion and squirted some into her hands. Aunt Helen just laughed and laughed! She said we'd better put some on our hands too. So we had fun rubbing the lotion into her hands and arms and the excess into ours. A little later when I told her I loved her, she said she loved me too. What a difference. Dementia is really something! When Ann and I left VW, the hospice worker was trying to get her to eat a few bites of food. She wasn't crazy about the food, but she sure liked the milk and the water. Poor thing, I really don't think the aides at SB ever really tried to help her. I hope not, but she may die tonight; and if she does, I'll rest easier knowing that she's someplace she's going to get some attention.

As for her "stuff" - it's mostly in our sun porch. It's going to be lots of fun going through all that stuff! I'm sure I won't have Bob's help! At least I don't have to worry about it tonight!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Thursday Thoughts

I had my final physical therapy appointment today. Amy made me use 3# instead of 2# and let me tell you, going up one pound is really hard...but I did it! We'll see how I feel tomorrow! It was sort of sad to end physical therapy. Those PTs have been a part of my life for the last 4 months and I'll really miss them. On the other hand, I'm glad I'm better. I have to continue my exercises for quite some time, though.

Last night was such a rough night - I'm existing on about 4.5 hours of sleep. Dave went to the ER at 1:19 this morning. Last night he jumped down from his pickup bed and twisted his ankle when he landed on something on the floor. He thought he'd broken a bone in his foot, but it's just a bad sprain. He woke me to tell me he was going to the ER and that I should just stay home and sleep - wrong again! I couldn't go back to sleep. At 3:50 when he still wasn't home, I called him. He was just waiting and waiting and waiting. He got home about 5:15 this morning! That is totally ridiculous! There is no way a patient should have to wait 4 hours in an emergency room!

As for Aunt Helen, we are moving her in the morning to Vista Woods here in Ottumwa. It will be so much more convenient for Bob and I, plus she'll get better care. Hopefully, we'll be able to get her moved and she won't even know it. Bob said he couldn't get her awake again this morning. She woke up when the aides came in to move her, just long enough to tell them to go away! I'll be glad when this is over. Tomorrow is my PEO Christmas luncheon, but I guess I'll have to miss it.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Hump Day

Sorry I didn't post last night. By the time I got home from my sorority Christmas party, I was too pooped to pop, let alone blog. The party was fun - we had lasagna and a mixed green salad for dinner, plus a cute little ice cream dessert. The social committee this year has done a wonderful job! After we had eaten, we went to the living room and started our gift exchange and secret sister reveal. I got to go first this year - usually I'm one of the last ones! I opened my package to find out that Sue S. was my secret sister...and she was mine!! Out of a group of 19 of us, this happened two times! Pretty funny when that happens. It takes forever to open the packages, because everyone tries to guess who their secret sister has been and each of us hide our names somewhere in the package - except me, of course. My gift is a quilt, so everyone knows it's me when the quilt comes out. I won't be back to a sorority meeting until March, so I had to tell everyone Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Valentine's Day. There's another one of us who goes for the winter too, so she was in the same boat.

Today was my day to see Aunt Helen. I could barely get her awake. She said two things to me - one was my name and the other was for me to go back to sleep. I took that as my hint. Bob called me to tell me that there's an opening over here at Vista Woods, so he's going to check about getting her brought over here. That will sure be a lot better for her and more convenient for us.

Tonight we're getting the trees put up and then I have choir practice. More later...

Monday, November 30, 2009

Very Productive Day

I think I had a very productive day, today. I even went to Fairfield to see Aunt Helen and had lunch with Sudi too! When I got home from Fairfield, I went immediately upstairs to work on my secret sister's quilt. It's all ready for me to do the hand sewing of the binding. Everything else is done on it. I just had to quit for today, though, because my shoulder was feeling the stress! I told Sudi today that I should start a PA (Procrastinators Anonymous) club. Tomorrow night is when I give my secret sister her quilt - why should I finish it any earlier than right before the party! I've been known to do this every year - I just put it off until the last minute! I think I'll make another quilt when I get back from Florida - I've already got all the parts cut out! I just need to fuse them to a background, quilt it and bind it and I'll be done. Do you suppose I'll actually do it early????

That's it for tonight's ponderings - I'm not very full of news today. Sorry.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

I'm Pondering Today!

I heard something on the radio this morning that set me pondering. You know about the bracelets/wrist bands that say WWJD...well, how would I change things, if people wore a band that said WWPD (what would Peg do?) That's something to strive for - just act like everyone on earth had a band on their wrist with your name on it and they were all going to act the way you do in situations. Deep!

Dave and I had a good day today. After church we came home and Dave said we were going to rearrange our office - ugh. Not my idea of a fun way to spend a Sunday. But we did it and it looks really nice. He's hardly ever at his computer desk, so he cleaned it off and traded places with me so that I can see the TV when I'm on the computer. We got a new 27" flat screen TV for the office with hi def, so it's really fun to watch! Our old one had the color starting to go bad. We also put away a lot of books, notebooks, magazines, etc., that seemed to cover all the built-in shelves. It just looks so much cleaner in here now.

I'm getting ready to watch Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters, so I am putting my computer away for the night. Sleep well, little Dell!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Happy Turkey-Day!

This was our turkey day and we had a wonderful day. We are thankful for our wonderful family and that we are most of us able to be together for the holidays. We miss Rhonda and her family, though. Allison kept saying she couldn't wait for Christmas because then Cheyenne would be here! Again we had so much food that we could have feed the entire homeless population of Wapello County!

After dinner Kyle and Kaylee played a game with Allison - it was so cute having these two college kids playing a game with an 8 year old...and guess who won? The 8-year-old!! They're all wonderful kids! When the Missouri-Kansas football game came on, we were all glued to the set. If Missouri could win, then Iowa State would be assured a bowl game. Kansas led most of the game, but Mizzou came through in the end! So now we're going bowling!! We are thinking it might be a bowl game in Shrevesport. My family is talking about going! Wow, that would be fun! We won't know for sure until next weekend, so will keep you posted!

Another thing we are definitely thankful for is the beautiful weather we had today. We actually sat outside for quite a while today - it was that warm!

Friday, November 27, 2009

What an awful day!

I had a terrible day today! I guess I was due! First thing that happened is that I reached for the phone before I was out of bed and knocked my glasses off the end table onto carpet, mind you. Nevertheless, one of the lenses popped out of them. No problem, right? Surely the eye doctor will be open today! Wrong, again. They're not open until Monday! Thank goodness Dave told me I had to get another pair of glasses several months ago! So I put them on. They're the correct prescription, but they're not adjusted correctly so it's taken me most of the day to get used to them. Plus, they're a totally different style of frame than the ones I wear all the time, so I've had a headache for most of the day.

The second thing that happened to me is that my physical therapist is still sick. So I got up at 6:30 again for nothing! I was, however, able to get in to see one of the other PTs at 1:45. For that I am grateful.

The third bad thing was that I went over to see Aunt Helen and she was a real witch today. I was shocked to see the anger she displayed to all of us. Usually she's so nice when I'm there, but today she just tried to physically hit everyone or break their fingers or bite them or something. I was also appalled at the level of care AH is getting at Sunnybrook. Her bedding was filthy! The whole visit was just awful. Thank goodness for Sudi and Howard and Missy! I went over there and unloaded on them! Sudi even fed me a peanut butter and pickle sandwich and the last of her chocolate chip cookies! Thanks, Howard, for sharing with me!

My day did get better - when I finally got home from Fairfield and then from physical therapy, Dave was home and we started making a grape salad and three pies for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner with my family. I'm so anxious to see everyone. I haven't seen Vicki, Al and Allison since I don't know when! I think it might have been August 8th at the family reunion. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it. I wish Rhonda was coming home, but we hope to see her at Christmas, which isn't far away! Then, another good thing happened - Bob is finally home from Florida! Now he can share in the AH duties! For that I am VERY grateful!! Tomorrow is going to be a better day!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving Day

Thank you, Lord, for the friendship which spans a multitude of years! We had a lovely lunch today at the Methodist Church in Fairfield. Sudi, Howard, Dave and I arrived at the church just as the ambulance arrived! We wondered if we should go in, but there was a man at the front door who waved us on in. As it turned out, one of the ladies who was working in the kitchen had gotten a little too hot and because of the meds she is taking, she became very weak. She was fine a little bit later - in fact, she was enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving meal! Another high school friend of mine and her husband joined us - Gloria and Phil. It was great to see them again too! The church said it planned to serve 300 and it was free to the community! What a wonderful service. We're going to send them a donation anyway because we didn't expect that.

Bryan came by this afternoon. He and Dave went over to Moravia to see Dave's new plant. It gave the boys some bonding time. When they got home we had soup for supper and thank goodness we did. Bryan had brought two pies - one was a boubon pecan pie with chocolate genache on top and the other was a pumpkin pie with a cream filling...both were absolutely wonderful. Now I'm really stuffed!

Gotta run - Happy Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

I can take a hint!

I had a good day today, although it was a little trying. This morning the physical therapy department called to tell me that Amy was ill and I'd need to reschedule. So I got in to see Michelle at 1:00. That was fine, except my original appointment was at 8:00 so I got up at 6:30! Actually I was awakened at 4:55 when Dave got up, but went back to sleep. He forgot to turn off his alarm clock, so at 5:45 it was blaring and I couldn't figure out what it was! So, that woke me up and I went back to sleep. At 6:30 he came up to tell me goodbye and to bring me my breakfast and promptly knocked something off the dresser which brought me up out of another deep sleep! I'm surprised that I was in a good mood after all of that! The moral of this story is that I could have slept in if I'd known that I didn't have 8:00 PT! Oh well!

At 10:00 I attended JoAnne Radosevich's funeral mass at St. Patrick's here in Ottumwa. She was a wonderfully kind woman who had battled cancer for the good part of 23 years. She's cancer-free at last!

Today's "feature" story is about Aunt Helen. After JoAnne's funeral, I stopped by the chiropractor's office for an adjustment, came home for lunch and then went to PT. As soon as I was done there, I headed to Fairfield to see Aunt Helen. I've always had a good experience when I go to see here - well today was an exception to that!! She just couldn't or wouldn't wake up for me. She talked to me, but just couldn't get clear awake. She was so slouched down in her bed that Emily (one of the aides) and I decided to move her a little and put her head on her pillow again. She came up swinging! She said, "Why can't you just leave me alone, for God's sake!" She still didn't open her eyes, though and let us know that she just wanted to sleep. I can take a hint, so I told her goodbye and that I loved her and left! I wasn't there more than 15 minutes probably, but I don't appreciaate getting hit at! She certainly didn't act weak during that episode! I guess I'll try again tomorrow - but this time Dave will be with me. Maybe his voice will make her wake up.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow - we're going to eat at the Methodist Church in Fairfield and then in the afternoon, Bryan will be here! I think they're even spending the night! More later...

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I'm Depressed!

I'm depressed tonight. I think it is mostly the weather and probably going to see Aunt Helen every day. Regardless, I'm having a down time tonight. My shoulder hurts...I just did my exercises but I only used 1# instead of 2#. It seems that every time it gets rainy and cold, my shoulder hurts. Do you suppose it's going to do this for the rest of my life, or will it pass as my shoulder gets stronger? I guess this pondering is why I named my blog the way I did! Anyway, I'm really ready to go to Florida!

Aunt Helen wasn't so good today. She wouldn't eat and her eyes were just little slits because of the matter in them. It's not really visible matter, but you can tell her eyelids are stuck together. I took a wet washcloth and washed them which seemed to help her. The Hospice ladies came while I was there. They moved her over to her back which helped her legs - today she actually complained to me that her legs hurt. I wish Bob would move her to a nursing facility so she would get better care. I know he doesn't want to do the paperwork, but I don't think I should be having to do the things I'm doing.

Yesterday, Sudi and I were at lunch and saw another high school friend and her family. It's always nice to see her and I absolutely loved having her mom for my music teacher/choir director. It was nice to see her happy again.

I've been working on my secret sister's quilt - I think I should be able to have it put together tomorrow. Then I'll have to figure out how to quilt it. More later...

Monday, November 23, 2009

It's Monday Again!

It's so nice being a grandma - especially since I skipped the mother part! These are my beautiful grandchildren. We just got new pictures this week, along with notes from the girls! What fun! I am always so excited to open mail from Jami because almost always she includes pictures for us.

Today was another beautiful day. My car said it was 62 degrees out! It's really hard for me to believe that it's the 4th week of November! The weather experts, however, are calling for a dramatic change for the rest of the week. Gee, I may have to get a coat out before we leave for Florida!

Aunt Helen wasn't very good today. When I walked in the aides told me she was really grouchy today. When I went into her room, she was sleeping very soundly and it took me a little while to wake her. Once she got clear awake though, she was pretty good - just seems to be very weak. She was also kind of confused today - she told me she was going out for dinner tonight. She couldn't remember who, but someone was coming to pick her up! I was able to get her to eat some ice cream and drink about 10 swallows of water, but that's all. She was mostly uncovered too, which I thought was pretty odd. She usually tells me that she's so cold, but not today. When I felt her arms, though, they were cool to the touch. I don't know what to make of that!

Well, I'm watching Dancing with the Stars, so more later...

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Johnny Depp

I can't believe I didn't blog yesterday. I guess it's all Johnny Depp's fault! Dave and I sat down to watch the marathon showing of the third of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I hadn't seen it yet. Little did I know that it would go until 10:00! After it was over, I just went to bed - didn't even think about the computer! Those movies are lots of fun. I've always thought about how much my grandchildren loved the first of the Pirates movies. Then when I watched the 2nd one, I though how scared I would be if I were little like my grandchildren are! The special effects and the "costuming" are wonderful in all three of the movies. Why, they even made Keith Richards look good in #3! After watching the third one last night, I think Disney left themselves an opening for Pirates #4. Captain Jack Sparrow needs to be reunited (again) with his beloved Black Pearl before the series can end!

Church today was very good - we actually had three new couples in the congregation today. I also found out that Cameron (a young man whose wife grew up in our church) worked for Tyler Kruckenberg in Ames. It's such a small world! Our choir sand two really difficult songs today. "Christ Is King" was beautiful and "Ride On King Jesus" was interesting! There's a part of the song where we have 8 different groups singing separately - kind of like a round, only I call it cacophony!! The congregation liked it, so I guess that's the important thing! We also sang an introductory verse to "Crown Him With Many Crowns" and a benediction response. Normally we don't have that much music in one service, but today was just special.

After church, Dave and I went to see Aunt Helen. The aides said she was kind of nasty today, but when I went in and woke her, she was just fine for me. She didn't eat but 1 bite of deviled egg and 1 bite of mashed potatoes and gravy for me. She's having lots of mucus in her mouth, so it is really suppressing her appetite. She was extremely weak today. I don't know if she'll make it until Bob gets home from Florida. But then, she's surprised me before!

Right now, Dave is loading up some things to take to Moravia tomorrow, so he's at work basically. He worked yesterday too. I'll be glad when we can go to Florida so I can actually see him!! I'm watching the Nascar race, but I'm sick of Jimmie Johnson winning everything, so I'm not paying a lot of attention!! Everyone will be booing him next year!

I've got to run for now. More later...

Friday, November 20, 2009

Busy Again

This was another busy, busy day. I had physical therapy at 7:45 and then card-making club at 9:30. I was the demonstrator today and showed them how to make a card that looked like it had ice cream cones on it. It's kind of a complicated card, in that it has lots of steps to it, but it's easy to do once you know how. To make this card, you use punches, a ScorPal, and the Cuttlebug.
I also showed them how to fold a dollar bill into the shape of a man's shirt. This pattern can also be used with designer paper to make a card for a man. Origami folds are a great way to fold money if you've decided to give someone a gift of cash. There are lots of websites for these folds. So check them out!
After I finished with card club, I came home and grabbed a bite to eat and then went to see Aunt Helen. The first thing she said to me was that she was hungry. I asked her if she wanted some ice cream, which has been just about the only thing she will eat. She said that ice cream would be ok, but she thought she needed some meat! I knew that chewing meat would about wear her out, so I asked the girls to make her a scrambled egg. She ate about half of it, as well as 5 bites of ice cream. Then Heather brought in a banana thinking we could mash it up and she might eat it...instead she ate about 3 bites of it just out of my hand! She even told me that I was shaking so badly she about missed it! Then in just a couple of minutes she must have thought she had hurt my feelings, so she said, "I was just teasing you about your shaking." I laughed and told her I know. Shortly after eating she was ready to take a nap and for me to leave. So tomorrow, hopefully, the aides there are going to give her a pancake and maybe even some bacon if she'll take it. Oh, I forgot something else: When I gave her the first bite of egg, she said, "That went all the way to the bottom of my stomach." She really was hungry and she ought to be since she hasn't had much to eat for the last 7-8 weeks. You know, she may make it to her 103rd birthday on January 2nd after all!
More later...

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Third Post Today!!

My visit with Aunt Helen went well. She was awake when I got there and seemed to be happy to visit with me. She told me she was hungry, so I got her some softserve ice cream. She ate 5 bites for me, then she wanted some iced tea - so I got her some of that too. I just wish someone there would offer to feed her a little more often, but maybe she doesn't want to eat for them.

Tonight I had IHCC staff choir practice and then a supper at church. This was a soup supper that we had "purchased" at the mission auction. The hosts presented us with 6 different soups that we could sample. After we'd had our fill of soup, we then were given ice cream and homemade cookies. The 6 soups were wonderful - one was a Virginia B____ Stew (sorry, can't remember the B-word), a tomato bisque, a mashed potato-celery-bacon soup, a vegetable beef soup, a cheese vegetable soup, and an Italian garbonzo soup. There were 20 of us there and after everyone had all they wanted of the soup, they put the leftovers into freezer containers and we each got to bring home 3 containers! So now, we've got soup for 3 different nights this winter! Great time - good fellowship and soup-er food!!! More later...

More cards

Here are some of the cards I made yesterday. I like all of these. This image is from Plum Purdy. If you're reading this and you're one of my card-making friends, you'll love her images. She has some wonderful stamps. He's colored with colored pencils and then a blending pen. I love what a blending pen does to colored pencils! This card was run through the Cuttlebug using a wooden frame to highlight all but the oval center. I then built up the center with Nestabilities scalloped oval and plain oval papers. This card is one that was also run through the Cuttlebug using a wooden picture frame to highlight all but the oval in the middle. You can see it a little better here. I then took an oval Nestabilities die and embossed the remaining oval. This wreath is a Cuttlebug folder/die combo set. I then highlighted the berries with red Stickles. I love this card! Very simple, yet very effective.
For this card, I used the same technique as above only I added a Nestabilities tree from their Christmas tree limited edition set. I had all these cute brads that I'd bought when I was at Archivers last year, so I decorated my tree with them. The gold star is a 1" star cut from the George & Other Shapes Cricut cartridge. I think it's a pretty cool card, too.

This is the last card where I used the above picture frame technique. This may be my favorite of all the cards I've made so far! This image is also one of Plum Purdy's stamps. Isn't he just the cutest snowman you've ever seen? I'll be taking all these cards to my card-making club tomorrow, just so they can see some ideas of how to use this Cuttlebug/picture frame technique.

Now we come to this card! I can tell you right now that Murphy's law was in effect when I made it...everything that could go wrong did! This card is a beautiful card, but a very time-consuming one. It's one that you need 3 coordinating images to use as your focals on each "page". For the octagons, I used my Cricut, BUT it only cuts in 1/2" increments, so I had to trim the white octagons down by hand. I think I'll use Nestabilities circles next time I make this card. Since they are nested shapes, they are 1/4" increments, which is what you need. All this paper is from Stampin' Up as are the images. After stamping the images, I then decided to emboss the white octagons with clear embossing powder. Well, I scorched the paper because I was using cheap paper (not SU)! I also got ink on one of the middle sections and on the front octagon (which is conveniently covered up with ribbon!!) It's a mess, but a cool card nonetheless! I will put it in my album as an example! Other than the white octagons, all the paper is SU. The snowflake brads are from Hobby Lobby and the ribbon is a Walmart special!I hope you enjoyed my creations today. I had fun making them and sharing them!! Now I've got to get ready to go to Fairfield to see Aunt Helen. More later...








Busy Wednesday!

Yesterday was supposed to be an easy day for me - NOT! I made cards all morning - I'll post some later today, hopefully. Then I decided to get my hair cut and get groceries - that took about 3 hours!!! Choir practice last night!

Today I've got PT and then I'll head for Fairfield somewhere around noon, hopefully to have lunch with my friends, to see Aunt Helen. Bob said she was really bad yesterday. He couldn't get her awake, had to get the aides to help him. Of course, he leaves this morning for Florida for a week!

Gotta run - I'll be late for PT but wanted to ge this posted before my friend checked it this morning! Did I make it in time?

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Made It Through This Day!

I had such a busy day today that I didn't think I would make it through. I woke up at 5:51 this morning with a severe pain in my right bicep. I think it must have had something to do with the weather. After I'd been up for a while, the pain seemed to subside. I had physical therapy at 8:00 so Amy really worked my arm hard. By the time we were done and had it under ice, I felt a lot better. Then at 10:00 I had my monthly massage. Gerrii worked my muscles so much that tonight I'm going to have to take a bath in Biofreeze!! She really concentrated on my right bicep, so hopefully that will be the end of that awful pain! After I got done there, I took Ann's camera's memory card to HyVee Drug to get my pictures off of it. She had 582 pictures on her card - and all I wanted was 33 of them! So I had her pictures copied onto CD's and then erased her card. Now she can take her camera with her Thursday when they go to Florida and the memory card won't be full!

Following all of that, I had to wait for the TV repairman to come from Washington. He called me and told me he was running a little late! He was supposed to be here between 1:00 and 2:00 and he got here about 2:45. I helped him load the TV and then at 3:05 headed to Fairfield to see Aunt Helen. She was real good today. She ate a whole cup of ice cream and drank a whole glass of iced tea. By the time I got home, it was 5:10 and I had to be at a dinner at the Country Club at 6:00, so I ran upstairs, changed clothes, combed my hair and took off again. I got home about 8:15 just in time to see most of DWTS. Bummer, Derek and Joanna got booted tonight. I didn't dream it would be them! I figured Kelly or Donnie would be gone. Oh well, there's always next season!

I'd better quit for tonight. More later...

Monday, November 16, 2009

Rain, Rain, Go Away!!!!

I am truly sick of this rain! It seems like we get one nice day and then several rainy days. I think it's supposed to rain all but Friday and Saturday in the next 7 days! I'm going to need the sun!!

Since it was raining, I was determined not to go out of the house today, and basically I accomplished that goal! I had a fun day, though. I made several cards, got part of my secret sister's quilt ready, and even played some games on Facebook. Tonight's Dancing with the Stars was a good one. I'm sorry that it will probably be Donny Osmond who will be done after tomorrow's show. He messed up in his first dance and then came back with solid 9's on both of his other dances. I think he's better than Kelly Osbourne, but she had slightly better scores than he did tonight. It'll all depend on the audience vote. Who knows, it could be Joanna or Mya going home. Mya had 5 tens out of 9 (with the rest being 9's) I'm afraid she will win the trophy this year. I think she's very good, but there's something about her I don't like. Oh well!

Tomorrow is a very busy day for me - physical therapy, a massage, the TV repairman coming to pick up our TV and sorority tomorrow night. Sometime in there I've got to go see Aunt Helen too. More later...

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Uneventful Day

Today was sure an uneventful day. In fact, it was almost boring. We went to church this morning. There were only 10 of us in choir today and we sang a very hard song, "Canticle of Christ." It's an 8-part harmony and we only had 10 people!! It turned out beautiful though. We were able to pull it off without a couple of our strongest singers present! Hopefully they'll all be feeling better for next week's anthem. After church we came home and Dave went out to mow the leaves for the last time. When he had finished mowing, he took off the mower deck and put on the....snow blade! Yuck! He says he's now in full winter mode!

I did house-type things: I emptied the dishwasher, cleaned up the kitchen, etc. Like I said, earlier, just a boring day! I even got bored with Facebook! In fact, even the Sprint Cup race was boring. I'm a Hendrick Motorsports fan, but I'm getting sick of Jimmie Johnson winning everything. He's won something like 9 races this season, plus all he has to do is finish 25th or better and he'll win his 4th consecutive Sprint Cup Championship - boring! It's time for someone else to win.

I didn't go to Fairfield to see Aunt Helen and I haven't heard from Bob. It was his turn to go, but since I haven't heard from him yet, I'm afraid he didn't go either. Poor lady, neither of us was there yesterday either.

I've got a busy week this week. Besides seeing Aunt Helen every day starting Tuesday, I've got a massage this week, physical therapy 3x, sorority, and I'm the demonstrator at card club Friday morning. Then there's choir practice at church on Wednesday night and at IHCC Thursday night and following the Indian Hills practice is a dinner that we bought at our annual Mission Auction. I'm tired just thinking about this week! More later...

Saturday, November 14, 2009

What a Fun Day!

We left this morning at 7:30 for Ames - it was drizzling all the way up there. When we got to the stadium, for some reason, the drizzle quit. By the time we went into the game, the sun was shining and it was a spectacular day. Kyle was the second senior introduced and Linda and Al got to meet him on the 50 yard line! Really cool - it was one of those Kodak moments!! Too bad my camera battery was dead! The seniors were all introduced individually, as well as their parents who were there with them. Then, after the start of the game, I took off for section 17 where the ISU Letterwinners Club had their seats. I saw so many of the old guys, including two of my absolute favorites - Dennis Gibson and Randy Richards. I haven't seen Randy since he graduated in about 1987 or so. He and Dennis lived together and had some wonderful parties during their time at ISU. It was fun to reminisce with them! I think I have a picture somewhere of Dennis and Randy when they were freshmen and Ann lent me her camera so I could get a picture of them today! They both look so good! I just had a ball!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Road Trip Friday

Sudi and I went to Amana today. Heritage Designs was having a fabric sale, so we scored some bargains...one of us more than the other! We ate a light lunch at the bakery and then headed to Fern Hill. Fern Hill also has fabric, but all we got today was fudge! Then we were off to Williamsburg to shop at the Tanger Outlet Mall. Both of us got some bargains there as well. We couldn't believe how late it was when we left the mall - we just had a wonderful day. After I dropped Sudi off at her home, I went to Sunnybrook to see Aunt Helen. She was again pretty talkative, although she was a little mixed up today. Most of the time, however, she was in the moment and we had a good talk! She's pretty amazing.

I got to watch the Cyclone basketball team win their home opener tonight while I caught up with my Facebook friends and games. Dave slept in his chair. He'll be ready to go in the morning. I was sorry to hear that Harrison Barnes isn't going to ISU - it's always fun to have a hometown boy on the team. He would have had a wonderful career at Iowa State. I was also sorry to hear that the Dowling Maroons got beat tonight. Their quarterback is the son of some of my friends. They were undefeated until tonight, but then so was Marshalltown, their opponent.

Tomorrow is another exciting day...we're going to the football game at Iowa State. So I get to see my niece and her family as well as some ex-ISU football players. I can hardly wait. I sure hope I sleep tonight! More later...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Fun Day

This was a fun day for me. I made a birthday card for Danny today. Unfortunately, I mailed it before scanning it in. Then I worked in my studio, creating the projects that I'm going to demo next Friday. Now I just have to get the supply list ready for the participants. My theme for that demo will be "All About Tools!" Participants will be using the ScorPal, different punches, the Cuttlebug, etc., all to make one card! I hope they enjoy it.

This evening I had fun too. I went to choir practice at Indian Hills. I'm going to sing in the Staff Choir on December 10th at the annual IHCC Christmas Concert. I did this a couple of years ago, but the last 2 years we've been in Florida when the concert was held so I didn't get to participate. It's always fun - there are some really talented people on staff at the Hills or retired from there. We're singing 5 songs!!

Tomorrow will also be a fun day. After I finish with physical therapy in the morning, Sudi and I are going to Amana to Heritage Designs. They're having a sale on fabric!! Just what we both need! Then on the way home, we're going to the outlet mall at Williamsburg. Should be lots of fun!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Oops, I Missed Again!

For some reason, I forgot to blog last night. I was home, but I watched Dancing With The Stars and then Robin Roberts had a show called In the Spotlight w/Robin Roberts. She interviewed several of the country music stars like Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and Martina McBride. So I sat there and watched it - then I went to bed! I didn't even think about blogging.

Today was another physical therapy day. Amy changed all my exercises to include a 2# weight instead of a 1# weight. It's amazing what a difference 1# can make! Then she added a couple of stretches. I think she's trying to get me to where I'll be okay when I'm all done with physical therapy in a couple of weeks. Sudi and Howard came over for lunch and then I went to Fairfield to see Aunt Helen. She was very talkative today. The aides said she ate most of a bowl of oatmeal this morning and she drank several swallows of apple juice for me. I hope they fed her some ice cream after I left. She was even very witty today! I told her I might take a nap when I got home and she told me to be sure to go home first, she didn't want me napping while I was driving!

Tonight was choir practice. Michael Philipsen was there to help us with the song we're singing this Sunday. He told me to come to staff choir rehearsal tomorrow night, so I think I will. It's a fun opportunity to see some of the people I used to work with and another opportunity to sing! The concert is December 10th, so I should be here this year!

Well, as Dave says, I'm toast!! I'm off to bed. More later...

Monday, November 9, 2009

Another Good Day

I love this mild weather! It was 65 again today. Any day I can wear shorts in November is wonderful as far as I am concerned!

I had a really bad night last night. For some reason I couldn't go to sleep, so I was still awake at 2:00. I finally ended up sleeping in my chair, but I'm sure it was closer to 3:00 when I finally went to sleep. That was a bad thing because I had physical therapy again this morning - good job, Amy! I'm up to 5# bicep curls and 2# of most everything else. My arm is a little tender tonight. I've still got to go exercise then off to bed.

Visiting Aunt Helen was good today. She appeared to me to be very weak today. When she talked it was hardly above a whisper...but she DID talk! We talked for about 30 minutes, maybe more. Then she said she was getting sleepy. I told her I was too and I told her that I couldn't sleep last night. She said, "You can't go to sleep yet, you have to drive to Ottumwa. I can just close my eyes!!" Pretty smart cookie sometimes! When she told me that she was going to go to sleep now, I told her goodbye and came home. I wanted to watch both Dr Phil and Oprah today, so I turned on the big TV and after about 20 minutes or so, a big pillar of solid pixels appeared near the middle of the screen - it's about 5" wide and obstructs whatever happens to be in the center of the screen. Dave called Samsung when he got home and they're supposed to have a technician contact me in a couple of days. We just got this tv in April, and since it's a 52" LCD, I don't want to have to replace it.

That's it for tonight - more later...

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Indian Summer

First of all I hope everyone was able to get outside and enjoy the last couple of days. They were certainly what I remember Indian Summer to be like. There were so many cobwebs - everywhere you went, you'd get hit with a web. Unfortunately along with this wonderful weather we had an influx of Asian Beetles and those little, bitty gnat-like bugs that bite so hard. Dave and I went to church this morning. I sang in the choir and loved every minute of it. We sang "He Gives Me Joy" - a spiritual which was so fun to sing. We rocked the church!!! After church we loaded up the "lift chair" that Dave borrowed for me to use while my arm was in a sling. We called the people he borrowed it from, but of course they weren't home! They called about 2:30 so we went to their house to return it. I'm so glad it's out of my living room. I was afraid we were going to have it forever! Then we came home and watched the race. It wasn't a good race for Rick Hendrick Motorsports, but it was cool that Kurt Busch won. Dickies, who is one of Kurt's sponsors, put up a million dollars today. If Kurt won, the million went to the winner of their "Hardest Working Man" contest - a school teacher!! I'm not particularly a Kurt Busch fan, but I was hoping the teacher would get the money!

These pictures are of the items we made at card-making on Saturday morning. Everything is made with Stampin' Up papers, inks, ribbons, and stamps. This first one is a folder which holds 2 pieces of Ghiradelli chocolate or something similar. It's pretty cool. I think it would make a good stocking stuffer. The next one is a card which is quite complicated, although you can't tell by this picture. We stamped snowflakes on the raspberry background, then covered it with a piece of clear acetate stamped with the trees. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can kind of tell that there are two layers here. We also did a couple of these in navy blue.
This ia a paper-folding project. Could be a tree ornament or a tag for a package. It was kind of hard for someone like me who shakes a lot!


And last, but not least, is my favorite. This is a Christmas card that opens up where the trees are so you can write your Christmas note inside. It fits in a regular business envelope. We also did these in a traditional red. It's an easy-peasy card, but very cool!!

On another note, my brother just called. He and Ann had been to see Aunt Helen and she was a real _itch today! She was angry at Bob and Ann for bringing in the aides to move her. She called them turncoats and told them she didn't want to see them again. She hit Ann and the aides, so Bob said if she was like that very often he wouldn't go see her again. Sure makes me want to go tomorrow :(!
Well, I'd better close for now. I've got to do my arm exercises and get ready to watch Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. More later...



Saturday, November 7, 2009

Finally!

There was no blog yesterday because I couldn't get on! So you get two days of news for the price of one! This is a card I made the other day - the color isn't quite right though - it's more orange than it looks here. I think it's a pretty cool card. It's done with stamps and paper from Stampin' Up. I used a brayer over embossed stamped images to make the flowers. The sentiment is just done on my computer.

Yesterday was action packed - I had physical therapy at 8:30, PEO at 9:30 and a luncheon at 11:30! I didn't go to Fairfield because I thought Bob would be going...well, he didn't, and today he couldn't go, so I went this afternoon. Aunt Helen was pretty good today. She was very talkative and helped us move her over in her bed. The ladies at the "home" said she was kind of grumpy, but she didn't seem grumpy to me. She smiled when I said hello to her. I told her who I was and she said, "I know." We talked about when she taught school way back when. She taught 2 of my aunts and one of my uncles on my dad's side of the family. Bob's going to go over tomorrow. Her caretaker today looked so familiar - she said her name was Gloria (Lamb). She looks just like her mother did!

Today was my card-making group at Juliene's. We made Christmas cards, a cute Christmas wreath, and a gift card holder. What fun! After that I started out to Sue's to see all her grandchildren. On the way out there I called Dave to see what he was doing. He said he was going out to Sue's too, so I came back into town and picked him up and we went together. Sue and Craig's grandkids are so cute! There are 2 boys and 5 girls all 6 and under. The two oldest kids are girls who play together...they're less than a year apart. The next two are a boy and a girl (again less than a year apart), then a 3 year old boy and a 3 year old girl...and a darling baby girl who is about 10 months old. They are all so fun and loveable. Dave and I get hugs from all of them! We are always glad to get our grandchildren fix at the Sylvesters!! Thanks for sharing with us!

Since Dave was with me anyway, he went with me to Fairfield. We ate a late lunch at Kokopelli's - and we ate outside - in Iowa - on November 7th!!! That was really something - we had an absolutely beautiful day today and it sounds like another beautiful one tomorrow. When we finally got home, I turned on the tv to watch the ISU football game. That was a disaster. I had said all week that I thought we'd get clobbered - and we did. I also said that Iowa would win by 30 - I guess I was only .500 on my picks this week. Since the ISU game was so boring, I turned to ESPN and watched the Breeders' Cup Championship. What a beautiful horse that Zenyatta is. I hope she gets "Horse of the Year" honors...she didn't want to get into the chute, then when the gates opened, she didn't really want to come out. She did, but she came out with the wrong lead so she was last for almost 3/4 of the race. Then she started making her move and ended up winning! She is a hoot to watch before a race - she kind of struts with her front feet - I would think she'd be a very uncomfortable ride in the pre-race parade! The jockey even made the comment that she heard the crowd roar as she started toward the lead and kind of wanted to stop and pose for them!! Cool race and cool horse!! Quite a personality. This is the first time in the Breeders' Cup history that a filly has won!

Well, I'd better quit for tonight. More later...

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Another Day...

First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers and families who have been affected by the horrific shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. When you are a member of the military (or when your spouse is) and you live on a military base, it feels like such a safe place. It's hard to believe that something like this could happen, PLUS I know how everyone on the base is feeling tonight...completely devastated and violated. It's bad enough that our soldiers have to fight in foreign lands, let alone have to worry about being safe on their own military base!

On another thought, I had physical therapy at 8:00 this morning...it sure felt good until she gave me a 2# weight instead of a 1# weight! No, actually it felt good anyway. I had gone to choir practice last night, and when I'm there I hold my music book for about 1 1/2 hours straight, which puts a lot of tension on my shoulder. Therefore, Thursdays are always sore days. Then a little while later, I had a follow-up appointment with my oral surgeon, just to see how I'm getting along. He said I was doing great! So, basically he released me - all I have to do is rinse twice a day with warm salt water....oh, and finish my round of antibiotic!

After all of this, I went to Fairfield where I had lunch with Sudi and then went to visit Aunt Helen. She was doing pretty well today - she was talkative, but pretty weak. The hospice workers came in while I was there. They told me they were surprised that she was still with us, although they admit that her heart rate hasn't changed and her vitals are great. Since she hasn't eaten enough to keep a flea alive, they feel she should be gone by now. She just isn't ready yet!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wednesday Again

Here it is Wednesday again - where did the first half of the week go? I had a fun day today...I made some cards...typed up some family history...got my desk somewhat cleared off...and even went to choir practice.

Here's one of the cards I made today. This is for my great-nephew who just happens to be on the Iowa State University football team. I love the paper that is the background of this card - it looks and feels just like a football! I hope he likes it. I'm sure he'll like what's inside of it!!


Choir practice tonight was really good. I felt a little better about singing again. The main problem I have is holding the book for an hour and a half...the muscle in my shoulder isn't used to having tension for that long of a time! We're really singing some interesting songs before Christmas...some I really like and some not so much!!

Tomorrow I've got physical therapy and a follow-up appointment with the oral surgeon. I think he'll be happy with the way my extraction spot is healing. I'm happy with it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I figured it would be. The only issue I'm having at all is where the gum in front of the extraction site is bruised, but even that is healing quite nicely. After I get done there, I'll go to Fairfield to see my aunt and hopefully have lunch with Sudi and Howard. My dental appointment isn't until 11:15, so I'll probably get to Fairfield a little after noon. Tomorrow night, Al B. is coming over to fix a couple of our windows.

That's it for tonight. I'm tired and want to just relax for a while. More later....

 My blog has been hacked so I am suspending blogging for the immediate future.  Sorry!  More later...