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.

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!

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!

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!

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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?

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...

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...

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...

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!

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...

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!

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 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....

Whew! What a Day!

I got up this morning at 6:15 and it's been mayhem ever since! I had an 8:00 appointment at physical therapy where I got a new exercise with a 5# weight! I've been at 1# but for my new bicep curl I cut right to 5#! I got finished at PT at 8:55 AM, drove home, changed into my Wartburg colors of black & orange, and got into Bob's Explorer at 9:00 for a 3 hour drive to watch the Wartburg women's soccer team play in their conference tournament. It was 47 degrees in Waverly, but at least the sun was shining during the first half! Wartburg probably took 40 shots on goal to Simpson's 5; however, Simpson got one into the net and Wartburg just couldn't get anything past the Simpson goalie. It was sad, because the best team didn't win, but I'm glad we went. Kaylee played a good game and it was a fun game to watch. The bad part of the game was that in the second half, the sun went under the clouds and the wind picked up. By the time we said goodbye to Kaylee, Linda and Al at 2:20, Bob and I were frozen! We also hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we stopped in Cedar Falls at Old Chicago Pizza and had one of their Meat Me pizzas. Boy was it good! We ate too much and are suffering tonight. We got home about 6:30 after an uneventful drive home. On the way up, Bob hit a huge hawk as it was trying to get up into the air above our vehicle - it didn't damage his Explorer at least - can't say the same for the hawk, though. We also saw a young buck deer on the way up but he stayed off the road. On the way home, we saw 2 bucks in one spot - one with a pretty big rack and the other a young one. Then a few miles later we saw a HUGE buck with a doe and then in a little while, saw another group of 4-5 deer. We also saw lots of farmers combining both beans and corn.

It was a good day! Now I'm off to bed. More later...

Another Busy Day

I had another busy day - in fact, this week looks to be a very busy week! I went to Fairfield this morning, had lunch with Sudi and Howard, and then went to visit Aunt Helen. At first, she told me to leave, but then when she figured out it was me, she talked quite a bit. I think she was a bit weaker today, but then I think that a lot. She wanted to sleep again, so I let her - she told me she'd just sleep for a minute or two. She woke up in about 2 minutes and wanted to know what time it was. I told her it was almost 2:00 and she wondered if she'd missed lunch. She told me she didn't want anything to eat, but she sure couldn't remember what they'd had! She did want some apple juice, so I gave that to her. Then she just went back to sleep!

I had an Evangelism meeting tonight and then home to watch Dancing with the Stars! And speaking of stars, I hope everyone noticed the moon tonight. It is a Harvest Moon and is just beautiful.

Tomorrow I've got physical therapy at 8:00 and then at 9:00 I'm going to Waverly with Bob to watch Kaylee play soccer! This will be the first time I've seen her play since she's been in college. More later...

Busy Sunday

This was a very busy day! It got started very early with 8:15 church in Libertyville. Today, the Faith United Methodist Church in Libertyville was dedicating some memorials that they finalized this year, including boxing in the stained glass medallion that we had purchased for mom's memorial back in 1995. When they built the new church, they asked some of us to pay for having the memorial stained glass preserved. We elected to do this and today it was dedicated, along with other memorials. It's really cool how they took the window, put an oak frame around it and backlit it! It's beautiful on the wall of the sanctuary. They have several other windows they would like preserved in this manner, but as of this time there are no memorials to pay for them. After church we (Bob, Ann, Dave & I) had some time sitting around talking with some of the parishioners we had gone to church with over the years. It was a good time.

We then left Libertyville and went to Fairfield to see Aunt Helen. She was not having a good day today. In fact she was pretty grumpy. She first told me that she wanted me to go away. Then when she figured out who I was she said I could stay, but she wanted everyone else to leave. We were there for about 2 hours and she was cantankerous the whole time! Several times she said she wanted to go to sleep now and we should leave! Ann was able to get her to brush her teeth and then to drink some apple juice. She hadn't taken her meds when we got there but she did for Ann. I just feel so badly for her.

When we got home, Dave got to take a little nap while I watched most of the Nascar race. It was a good race - lots of strategy and drafting at 197 mph! This afternoon Dave and I attended an Eagle Scout ceremony for our neighbor's son. It was a nice ceremony, but unfortunately we had to listen to the end of the race on the radio going from the Eagle Scout ceremony to the next event. This event was at the Club and was a friend's 80th birthday party. That was quite a soiree! This friend has 6 sons who are all very successful, so it was a bash - heavy hors doeuvres and champagne toasts and the whole 9 yards.

Since Sunday night is my favorite TV night, I then got to watch Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters while Dave slept in his chair. In fact, he's still sleeping. Perhaps I should wake him up so he can go to bed! More later...