Good morning ladies. We have rain, rain, rain in the forecast for the future but so far just gloomy no rain. I do expect rain today though as it looks like the percentage is up for today.
I got the pants pinned up and was going to sew them today but my knees and hands hurt so much that's out. I can always do them last minute after we get back from our trip as his bday isn't until the 25th. He will be going to Europe again I think next week and then in July to New Mexico for boy scout camp with his dad so will gone a couple weeks there. I don't know if we will even get to see him for awhile with us being gone and he being gone, etc.
I will start tackling my packing list tomorrow with stuff that won't wrinkle and such and putting outfits and shoes together. I have to make a separate bag for the overnight stay in Effingham on Thursday then repack it for going back home. It is just so hard on us anymore to ride in the car 12 hours and once you hit Arkansas towns with places to get out are few and far between and they took out all the rest areas from Memphis to the Missouri border a few years ago because of costs. It is always so anxious for me to travel that long space because of my colon situation and having that flare up once in awhile. I try to stay calm about it and read or whatever to try and keep my mind off it as stress tends to make it flare up sometimes.
Maggie: The recipe calls for smoked sausage and that's what I used. I guess you could use whatever you wanted as long as you sliced it thin enough that it would could as smoked sausage is already cooked and ready to eat.
Jean: Your trip sounded really fun. The bad thing about flower arrangements like that is trying to keep the darn things clean. I know there is some secret using salt I think, but I can't remember what it is to clean them. I would imagine the cats would love ripping it to shreds and then you would have it and their cat hair to clean up! I am thinking about making some cookies to take on the trip for Jack. He loves the frosted sugar cookies. We have family that live in Lubbock, Slaton and Houston Tx and they are all ok. Houston got hit pretty hard and it has continued to rain in TX with a lot of fierce stuff.
Good Afternoon! Another cloudy cool day, but no rain so far even though the weatherman promised there would be showers today. Bob is going on a tractor ride tomorrow so I hope it doesn't rain -- not supposed to. He will take his trusty rain suit just in case. I worked the gift shop this morning and it was pretty slow, some lookers but no buyers except for a greeting card. The coffee shop was slow too. I brought the money home, counted and made the bank deposit, then picked up a prescription. Now to put my paperwork together and away for another week. Tomorrow is the first day this week I don't have to be somewhere. Yay!
"Gma," I think measuring and pinning is the hardest part of shortening anything. I do most everything by hand, and it's been a long time at that. I've taken a couple jackets to the cleaners for the sleeves, and thought the lady did a sloppy job. Jason always liked going to scout camp but he never went as far away as Thomas. At that time the camp was just over the border into Nebraska. It had a lookout tower in the woods and he made Amanda climb the tower before he proposed to her. I thought that was mean but she said he was worth it! I'm glad your Texas family members are ok. The southern states have really gotten hit with storms this year.
Not much else is newsy from my corner of the world. Hope you all enjoy a nice weekend!
Good morning to you all. I keep saying we are supposed to have rain, but so far nothing but gloomy all the time. We are again supposed to get rain today and our temps are starting to really heat up fairly quickly.
I was supposed to take the hold card over today, but our bank sent us new credit cards that now have those chips in them for safety and we haven't gotten them yet. They said they were mailed a week ago but with the holiday that may be the hold up. I hope they come today as it always makes me nervous until they get here and I sure don't want them at the post office while we are gone. We didn't have a warning ahead of time to tell them to hold off sending them so I just hope they are here by Tuesday at the latest as I really need at least a day or so to make sure they don't screw up and deliver the mail.
I put pork in the crockpot this morning and am making shredded bbq for dinner tonight with mac and cheese I think. Haven't decided on that yet. I am trying to use up anything that might go bad while we are gone then will throw out any leftover milk, bread, etc.
Jean: I have the pants all pinned up and with it being fleece it was a bit of a job, but they are done that way. I haven't sewn them up yet though. Think I will wait until we get back. Where do they go on their tractor rides? How is your farm land around there? Ours is really saturated down by the Navy base and a lot of it is for cotton and that has a long growing season and they haven't planted yet because it is too wet. I always feel for farmers as the weather really determines their livelihood when it comes to crops for sure. It is sort of feast or famine and now with the poultry stuff going on it is a big headache for farmers. Hope you had a nice "day off." There is some big boy scout camp in New Mexico that I hear is pretty famous. I know Jack went to it, but then he grew up in New Mexico. I just hope they don't have weather problems continuing like it is now in that part of the country. I guess I worry too much about him, but I only have two so my worry isn't spread out much.
Everyone have a great Saturday. I am going to make frosted sugar cookies for Jack today. We shall see if they last to take any with us on the trip. It is doubtful as the man has a horrible sweet tooth.
Good Afternoon! The sun is shining and the wind is blowing which makes it seem colder than it should be this time of year. Will the crazy weather ever be "normal" again?! I had planned a grocery store trip for first thing this morning. You guessed right, I just got home! My friend whose husband died last fall, called this morning and we talked for almost two hours. Mostly she talked and I listened. She has a son and daughter but both are busy with their own lives. Her son lives with her but is the fire chief, on the ambulance crew, and the head maintenance man for the town. Her daughter also lives in the same town but has a husband and three daughters in various activities. I've tried to talk Kathy into doing something part time whether it's working, volunteering, church, or whatever. She does go to all the kids' activities but still says she is bored, but has no motivation to do much of anything. Anyhow, that took care of my morning except for getting the laundry started. I do need to vacuum! The furry dust bunnies are multiplying and will soon take over!
"Gma," if it's going to be gloomy I'd just as soon have the rain to go with it. It's just unusual for us not have sunshine and warmer days for a week or ten days. It's been the other way around here, cold and gloomy for days on end. This tractor ride is to a little town about 40 miles south of us. They always take back roads so they don't tie up regular traffic. It's safer for them and they get to see more of the countryside that way. Bob left with multiple layers of clothing topped with a nylon jacket and pants set plus his rain suit packed just in case. Like he said, he can always take it off but would be miserable if he didn't have the warmth and needed it. It was only 46 when I came downstairs this morning. My furnace has been running today! Very few of the farmers are done with beans because of all the rain. We haven't seen any flooded fields but many have water standing in the low spots. How did you and Jack meet if he grew up in NM and you in Indiana? Wish I could sample one of Jack's cookies to make sure they are ok. They are my favorite!
I need to get going on the vacuuming Hope you all enjoy a nice day wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
Good afternoon everybody. It is raining here and terribly humid and sticky. We have worked on packing and I have brought down most of the stuff to run through the dryer on steam wrinkle thingy so I can fold it and pack it up. I did some packing of stuff like our swimsuits, undies and such and shoes of course. I took a ton of shoes of course and took two extra handbags, one for the alumni banquet and the other a crossbody to take to the museum so I don't have to carry a full handbag.
We have the Cubs game on and they said it was only in the mid 40's there today and it is really windy so I imagine everyone is freezing in the stands. We went to a Cubs game one year in September and it had been warm and a freezing cold front moved in overnight before the game and we had no warm clothes with us. We froze to death and didn't stay the whole game.
Jean: I am sure your friend is still in the grief process even though she may not even realize it, but I agree I think finding something to take her out of the house would be good for her. Maybe she should find some craft or hobby to do outside the house, like learning to paint or taking knitting or crochet lessons or sewing or something like that. Even do cooking lessons or cake decorating. She sits around thinking too much, poor thing. Oh boy let me give you the lowdown on how we met. It is actually pretty cool story. As I have said, I had to go and live with my grandparents my last two years in high school. I had a huge crush on this guy that was in my church youth group. He considered us only friends though, but I kept hoping. Anyway, he brought me home from church one Sunday night and we were sitting in his car talking and he told me he had something great to talk to me about. It sure wasn't what I thought. He told me he had met a girl and they were going together and planned on getting married after college. I was crushed. I was living a life that was miserable pretty much and this did me in. I went into my bedroom and got down on my knees next to the bed and cried and cried and prayed and ask God to bring someone into my life that would love only me. Anyway, about 2 weeks later we went to visit my aunt in Arkansas like we would do every year. I have a cousin around my age and she said that her older brother had this friend in the Navy that came home with him a lot and that her mom made them write to because his family lived out west and he never got to see them. She said she had a boyfriend and he didn't like her writing to this guy would I do it. I wasn't real keen on the idea because the little town I grew up in had the opinion that military guys were bad news, ie smoking, drinking, sex, etc. But, I did it anyway when I got home. I wrote him a letter and told him all the things I didn't approve of, that I was a Christian, etc, etc, hoping that would be the end of that. I got a letter back almost right away and that was that. We wrote each other from August to November of my senior year then he came to visit. After the very first time we had ever seen each other I guess he was hooked as he sent me a dozen gorgeous red roses with a note that said, "just because I love you" and then ask me to marry him the following February. We had gone to see the Ice Capades and were on the way home in a driving snowstorm. You couldn't see the end of the road it was so bad. He was driving down the state road home, stopped the car in the middle of the road because he couldn't pull over on the shoulder because of the snow, turned off his headlights, got the ring out of the glove compartment and ask me if I would marry him. I don't know, maybe it was terror that we would get hit from sitting in the dark that I said I would. Here we are almost 43 years later.
Good Evening! It has been another cool day in my corner of the world. We had sunshine until mid afternoon and now the clouds have taken over. Went to early church and could hardly wait to get out of there afterwards when the band members moved in, and the "do-rag" wearing guy showed up. It's all I can do to not march up to him and rip it off! I did voice my opinion to the pastor when we visited in the gift shop the other day. His comment was that he was sure there might be something online about wearing caps inside public buildings. I wanted to ask why he couldn't just tell him to get rid of it. I know I am crotchety about some things!
Anyhow, was surfing recipes this afternoon and the iPad froze, then a box saying an application on my phone had compromised my iPad and gave a phone number to call immediately. So I called, no answer, called again and got a non English speaking man who kept saying "Lowa?" I finally said I couldn't understand him at all and to get someone who speaks plain English. I think he was saying Iowa because he asked where I lived. The jerk hung up on me and when I called back several times, no answer. When I got my iPhone, I was given a tech support phone number for anything Apple. So I called and got the nicest English speaking gal. Push came to shove and she needed Bob's permission to get into the account since my name isn't on it. Well, he was out in a field pulling a stuck tractor out of a mud hole! I gave her his number but he didn't answer. I called him and left a message. She and I agreed for her to call back three hours later, me hoping he would be home again. After trying several different things she did get it fixed! She said it was a virus is some sort, unusual for an iPad to get one. Of course all of my user names and passwords were deleted in the process. I've been "here" for so long I knew I had a different password but couldn't remember it so had to jump through those hoops. I don't know why I always manage to get in these technology messes!
"Gma," I never thought I would use the steam feature on my dryer, but I have several times. I hope it warms up for when you attend the game, and they win! What a neat story about how you and Jack met! You are lucky you didn't get rear ended in the snow storm!
Tomorrow will be a busy day, I have church counting first thing, then a funeral at 10:30, and a P.E.O. meeting at 1:00. Ian has an early game that we will miss because Bob has a board meeting about financing the proposed addition to the retirement community. He's missed the last two because of concerts and soccer so felt he really needs to be here for this one. There is another early game on Thursday we will go to instead.
Enjoy the rest of your evening and have a marvelous Monday!
Good morning to you all. We had rain yesterday and probably more today. As usual here, it is very humid.
I am starting the dewrinkle process for my clothes so I can pack them and then start gathering up other stuff to pack in the hygiene bag. I take everything but the kitchen sink just in case though the hotel we will be staying at is about 1/4 mile or less from a huge store like WM. It stays open all night too, but I take stuff anyhow you never know.
Poor Jack is going through another few days of his lower back hurting. It comes and goes and I think the packing and such has flared it up again. He took some Aleve before he left for work so I hope it helps. I may be driving if it doesn't clear up by the time we leave. He usually drives all the way if it is shorter than 7 hours. I tell him I will drive but he says that's ok and drives it all so I give up and let him.
I wrapped or in this case bagged my dil's bday present and signed her bday card. Her birthday isn't until next month, but since we are going to be up there I am going to give it to her so I don't have to ship it. I hope she likes it. I bought her this pretty Vera Bradley weekender bag since they go on a lot of overnight stuff. It can be a challenge to buy them things sometimes and I don't always want to be giving them gift cards. I think I may buy Jay something from the Cubs for his birthday in October. Tom is the hardest to buy for and I always ask Kelly what to get for him.
Jean: I am sorry I guess I am old fashioned too, but wearing something like a do rag or bandana etc I find disrespectful. He isn't playing at a bar for heaven's sake. I agree the pastor needs to just tell him to leave it at home. Glad you got your Ipad fixed. From something I read recently there is a virus going around with messenger so I wonder if you got that if you use it. I don't use the messenger feature. Jack had to go out and buy a monitor for his laptop as his screen when flewey. He said he would rather have a regular monitor than getting a new screen and since he has an Ipad he doesn't need to take his laptop when we travel anymore. I think his laptop is about 6 years old and when it goes he is going to get a pc for his office I guess. I just dread spending the money as he is talking about something pretty expensive. ugh!
Good Morning! Just got home from the funeral and Bob is on the answering machine to say he is farming and won't be home for lunch. He'll get fed at the board meeting tonight so no cooking today! bigSmile We balanced on the first try at church, and my part was short and sweet. Since I counted gift shop money on Friday I didn't have to do that today. I expected the funeral to be a long one because it was a Lutheran service, but it was less than an hour. I'm home for an hour and then off to a meeting this afternoon.
"Gma," will you be able to check in while you are in Indiana? The sun is shining and I would be glad to share. I hope Jack's back feels better soon. Bob is not a good rider so I don't even offer to drive any more. If he gets sleepy he will stop for coffee or a Coke. Since my iPad message said the problem originated from my phone, I asked the tech if my phone would have the virus. She said no since everything on it was working. I don't use the phone to surf, just text or phone calls. The phone worked fine, and I could get mail and go to FB on my iPad. The part that was frozen was sites like this. I was surfing recipes and don't remember what specific site. I just hope it doesn't happen again! My bp goes sky high when I get a person who doesn't speak good English and has no clue what I'm talking about. I do use the messenger from time to time.
Maggie, have fun on vacation!
I should fix a quick lunch and get a load of clothes in the washer. Hope you all enjoy a great day!
Good morning to you all. Looks like we are finally going to start getting some sun around here. It has been much cooler than normal this time of year, but looks like it is starting to warm up later this week.
We sat and watched the Cubs last night and that was about it. I have my clothes all done and packed, but have a few more things to throw in the bag at the last minute and have to get all the hygiene stuff gathered up and packed tomorrow evening.
One of my friends from high school that I haven't seen since I was 17 messaged me on FB and said her bil collapsed and was found unresponsive on Thurs. He coded 7 times I guess and died on Saturday. So, they have to make a quick trip to Ft Lauderdale from Indiana and she said they should be back by Saturday for the banquet. She said if they weren't we have to try and get together. She said, "If I don't get to see you, I'll just cry!" I thought what a nice thing to say since we weren't best friends just good friends and haven't seen or talked to each other in decades. She had to move her senior yr in high school so didn't graduate with us so she didn't go to our class reunions. We connected back on FB a few months ago. We do have some funny stories between us though. I went to a slumber party at her house and a roller skating party. I was about 15 and this guy at the party, which was sponsored by a church, kept watching me and finally asked me to skate with him. He was a lot older than I and I didn't know him other than he was from my hometown. I was pretty naïve back then and didn't know how to handle the flirting and stuff and he really was interested in me. He wasn't creepy or anything, I was just naïve. So, I panicked, hid in the bathroom for a long time afterwards then the girls helped sneak me out to Jane's mother's car and I climbed into the back seat and got down on the floor. Come to find out, he was 23! They lived in the country and her dad collected and sold maple syrup. We got to go out and tromp through the snow with a little sled and collect the syrup and come back and watch how it was made and he would put eggs into the syrup mix and boil them and boy were they good. Funny things you remember. She and I also went to see Romeo and Juliet at the theater. First time I ever saw a guys naked behind! Very salacious back then.
Jean: I will have my Ipad so I can post. I just have to remember to do it! I tend to get very frustrated when I am trying to understand someone on the phone. We keep getting these phone calls from this company wanting to sell us extended warranty on our Mariner. They send mail all the time too. I guess they are either a scam or nuisance call as I noticed when I did a reverse directory a lot of people had posted complaints. I sent a complaint through to do not call since I am on the list, but they keep calling. I have hung up on them, screamed at them to quit calling and tried to be nice in the beginning but to no avail. Now, I just continue to block their number whenever it is someone I don't know and look up and find it is this company. You know in the southwest they never have viewing services except for the family. You and your family come in one evening for a couple hours and that is it. Frankly, I think the whole viewing thing is kind of ghoulish. Having friends and family wishing you condolences is ok, but having the dead person lying there for people to walk up and say, "She looks good," is just sick. I always get the giggles when I hear that hoping the person will open their eyes and say, "Thanks!"
Susan: Oh no, feel better soon!!! We'll be here when you do.
Everyone have a great Tuesday. I am getting nails and toes done today and getting some stuff for the trip.
Good Morning! The sun is shining and it's a cool 50 degrees. Rain and thunderstorms are to arrive this afternoon. I am home all day and need to decide which cleaning or sorting chore to do first. I really need to go through clothes in the basement that I haven't worn for years. Think that should be a rainy day effort!
"Gma," I do hope you get to meet up with your friend from high school. It's too bad about her bil. The roller skating story is funny. It's interesting how memories will pop up when we least expect them. I've never been to a class reunion; I think because we lived in Ohio for my 10 year, and then my best friend died, so I really had no one that I really wanted to connect with. My class was quite clicky and I rotated between that group and another less popular group. Looking back think I felt more comfortable and fit in with the second group better. I had more fun with them anyway! I can block phone calls on both my house and cell phones. I got a call this weekend, from Des Moines, and didn't recognize the number. I did answer it and it was my next door neighbor who was visiting her son. She couldn't find her cell phone and wondered if she'd left it home on her counter. When and if I answer an Iowa area code, and it's a recording I block the number. The company where we had our time share keeps trying to talk us into "free" visits to anywhere. They must use different ads to attract callers because the calls come from all over the U.S. I've told the first few to remove our number but now I just block them. The phone still rings once but the ID shows as "blocked." Love that feature now that the politicians are back in action. The nice part about the funeral home visit, the night before the funeral, is that you get to talk to the family if you choose to. I try not to view the dead body! The body was at the church yesterday, but he will be cremated and buried later. It was a large funeral and I managed to sit by a door and left as the ushers walked to the front to escort the casket and family out. The widow is one of my lunch bunch so I will get to talk to her next week. I will think about the body responding to "looking good" next time. I have to admit my mom did look so nice after being sick for so long. My dad wasn't sick very long and looked good too.
Not much else is newsy so far today, and I need to accomplish something this morning! Hope you enjoy a terrific Tuesday!
Good morning to you. It is the last surge before we go. Lots to do today. I have to finish packing our overnighter bag that we take into the hotel at Effingham. It has one set of clothing each so we don't have to drag all the big bags in. I need to remember to put a nightgown in there though. Then I am working on putting hygiene stuff in the hygiene bag and Jack can bring it downstairs in the morning after we shower and brush teeth and such. We have to go out and get whatever snacks Jack wants for the trip, get the car vacuumed and washed and go to dinner. Jack wants to go to Red Robin and it is right in the area of the car wash so it will be convenient. Then home to watch the ballgame and bed. I have to get up around 4 AM so to be delicate my colon has worked a couple times in the morning before we head out. Like I said before, driving about 3 or 4 hours through Arkansas is mostly farm land, not many places to pull off to go into a McD's or something to go to the restroom and they have closed down all but one rest area going that direction and it is a good 2 hours out.
I got my nails and toes done and really like the new color I bought. I had to put up with the owner doing my hands and I hate the way he does the fills. He flattens out the nail instead of rounding it. He also is too fast and at least once whacks my cuticle. I didn't have time to wait around for the other two girls to finish their pedicures so had to endure him. Luckily, I have some Burt's Bees Cuticle salve I always put on them when I get home or they will eventually start itching like crazy and get red for a couple days.
Jean: I had one funeral experience I never ever want to repeat and that was an open casket baby's funeral. I worked for a church school as the secretary and one day the wife of one of the teacher's who also drove one of the buses came into the office cradling their baby and talking to it and such. She said she needed to see Rudy right away and I said he hadn't gotten back yet. Way before cell phones and they didn't have any way of communicating with us unless they pulled over to a pay phone. Anyway, I was alone in the office and she wanted me to see the baby. She had brought him in numerous time and he was a sweety about 9 months old or so. I remember walking around the end of the island and going up to her and Jean, he was dead, bluish purple and stiff. How I held down my breakfast I don't know and I was pretty young about 21 or so and was pretty panicked as no one was supposed to be in for at least half an hour. She kept rocking him in her arms like he was alive. I walked around the end of the island, went into the principal's office and called the police. I didn't know what to do as no one was at the school yet, not teachers, or Barbara the principal or the pastor or anyone. Pretty soon Barbara came in with her husband who did the books and I took them into her office and filled them in and about that time the police showed up. He had died of SIDS and I will never know why they had an open casket because he had been dead so long they couldn't make him look "right" in the casket. It really effected me for a long time as Jay was about 2 at this time. When I was in my first two years of high school I belonged to the second clique, not the show off football players rich kids, but a big group of girls who did a lot of stuff together like skating parties and slumber parties and such. When my mom moved us during my jr year, well when we came back, which was just 6 weeks later, everyone knew about what had happened in town and I was a non entity from then on. I was no longer part of that group and had basically one friend I hung around with. Little towns can be pretty cruel and they were including my friend's b of a mother. She treated me like I was going to give her daughter typhoid or something.
I guess this isn't getting anything done. I better get going. Have a good day and I will post again asap. Don't know if I will remember to do it tomorrow, but if I do it will be in the afternoon sometime at least.
Good Morning! We got up to "wet" which has now disappeared and the sun is shining. It's a cool 60 degrees. I've done some laundry and unloaded the dishwasher so far this morning. I need to make a WM run after lunch. I will warm up some leftover grilled turkey for lunch. The package was labeled chicken but when Bob unwrapped the meat, he commented they must have been huge chickens. Come to find out it was turkey! I'm cleaning out the downstairs freezer so it's pot luck!
"Gma," how awful that the woman brought her dead baby to the school office! We've only been to one funeral for a baby. She looked perfect in every way, almost like a doll. She was born early and without some of her organs necessary for survival. The Omaha hospital, where she was born, made a casting of her feet and hands for the parents. Iowa has been remodeling their rest stops, but I don't know how far apart they are. With more people driving cars you wouldn't think they would close any rest stops. What color are you wearing on your nails this time? I've lost skin to the drills too. That hurts! I hope you have a wonderful time in Indiana!
Steel Magnolias #112
I am thinking about making some cookies to take on the trip for Jack. He loves the frosted sugar cookies. We have family that live in Lubbock, Slaton and Houston Tx and they are all ok. Houston got hit pretty hard and it has continued to rain in TX with a lot of fierce stuff.
Jason always liked going to scout camp but he never went as far away as Thomas. At that time the camp was just over the border into Nebraska. It had a lookout tower in the woods and he made Amanda climb the tower before he proposed to her. I thought that was mean but she said he was worth it! 
They are my favorite!
She said it was a virus is some sort, unusual for an iPad to get one. Of course all of my user names and passwords were deleted in the process. I've been "here" for so long I knew I had a different password but couldn't remember it so had to jump through those hoops. I don't know why I always manage to get in these technology messes! 
Marvelous Monday
Since my iPad message said the problem originated from my phone, I asked the tech if my phone would have the virus. She said no since everything on it was working. I don't use the phone to surf, just text or phone calls. The phone worked fine, and I could get mail and go to FB on my iPad. The part that was frozen was sites like this. I was surfing recipes and don't remember what specific site. I just hope it doesn't happen again! My bp goes sky high when I get a person who doesn't speak good English and has no clue what I'm talking about. I do use the messenger from time to time. 
I am home all day and need to decide which cleaning or sorting chore to do first. 
