I am posting very early tonight because I want to watch The Sixth Sense on TV tonight. If you haven't seen this movie. DO! It is wonderful. I am constantly amazed at Bruce Willis. He keeps playing these super hero guys but does things like Sixth Sense which show how versital and what a really good actor he really is.

I took a LONG nap today. Dick says I need more but I hate to waste the days sleeping. This morning I went to the Legion of Mary Mass and luncheon. Blessed Trinity has 90 member in its Legion of Mary Auxiliary, which is me. I say a rosary and the accompanying prayers every day. The active members have to put in a much bigger time commitment than I am able to give at this point in my life. I can however say a rosary each day. I usually say it while Chelsea and I are on our morning walk.

A Fr. Mike Dineen gave our talk at the brunch. He gave a suggestion that we go home and suggest to our husbands that we say the rosary together. He suggested that at the beginning or end of each decade we hold hands and give each other a kiss and tell each other we love each other. I told Dick the idea. He said that he doesn't have to pray for kisses and love, he just has to get over his cold. It was a sweet suggestion though.

Mother is also a member of the auxiliary so I got to have brunch and some time with her.

Hope your Saturday was as pleasant. Dick and I filtered the Riesling wine today too.

Love

Mary

Chelsea and I walked again in 32 degree temps with no wind and nice sunshine. It warmed up to a comfortable mid 50s today which we really enjoyed.

I had lunch at Dairy Queen in Plymouth again today with the Wells people. Barb had her grandaughter with her. Anna is no 18 months old. She had a very shaky start as she has Down's Syndrome and has experienced most of the physical problems that these little people have. She is adorable and is learning sign language to express her needs. We were all SO glad to finally meet Anna.

This evening, the Environment Committee added the mums and the book listing the deceased from the past year to the altar in Church. It looks very nice. I think the relatives will be very pleased with the results. We put the book that I made on the altar with 22 candles to represent the 22 members that have passed on this year. So far God has listened to me prayer and not added anyone else. I do have room for possibly two more in the book if I have to.

Tomorrow is the Legion of Mary gathering and lunch. Mother is a member now too so I will walk her over to church and back. It is fine this time of year but I think that it is a good idea for her to have and escort whenever possible. I must remember to give her the money from the chekc that I cashed for her.

Two weeks from Monday, we will leave on our final vacation of the year. We are going to Branson. Bart and Barb are going to be able to come up and spend a day with us. I am looking forward to the trip AND seeing them. Barbara is so very proud. She has lost over 50 pounds this year and is excercizing and really getting in shape. I hope the two day trip will be good for both of them.

Til tomorrow.

Mary

Our last two nights in Kentucky were spent in Louisville or Lou-a-vul as it is properly pronounced. You kind of slur it all together too. We stayed at the historic Galt Hotel which has been and is still being refurbished and remodeled but is a very nice hotel. We were up on the 10th floor overlooking the street and the twin building of the Galt. They are connected by a bridge on the third floor. It is the biggest hotel and convention center in the state. From our window, we could also see the Ohio River and one of the bridges crossing over into Indiana and the boat that we traveled on in the rain. I will add a picture from the window here. I do love taking pictures from hotel windows. I did that a LOT in Ireland.



"Louavul" also had decorated statues of horses scattered all over the city. Much like the cows that Chicago had several years ago. I got a picture of the one that was in front of the Galt.




Today was clear but chilly. It was supposedly 32 degrees when I went out with Chelsea, though our thermometer said that it was 37. Big deal. We had a nice walk however BECAUSE it was dry and there was no wind. Chelsea is so darned happy it is funny. She REALLY misses our walks when I am gone or it is raining.

I went out with several other ladies to play bingo with the residents of Rocky Knoll. This is a group of mentally and/or physically challenged people. We bring quarters for their prizes and they love it. I was asked to be the caller today which was a kick. I like helping the residents find their numbers too. Part of our service is to sit with those who have a bit of trouble either reading the numbers of closing their boxes. They all understand quarters though. There are vending machines around you see.


The last of the questions that really need answers is:
17. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

Dick and I are both MUCH better today. We went grocery shopping this morning and out for breakfast as is our usual Thursday morning.

No other excitement. Have a nice Friday.

Mary

I finished printing the names of our deceased on the "book pages" Now I have to wait to assemble it until I am sure that I don't have to add any more. I think it will look nice. The only time I had to go out today was to pick up some more poster paper to finish the project. Roxie was a pest while I was working at it. She kept mewing at me to pick her up. Then - when I put her on my lap she would move around back of me on the chair and paw at me. What a strange little kitty she is.



The above is a picture of Cumberland Falls. We saw this just prior to our show at Renfro Valley. Isn't it beautiful. Cumberland Falls is second in size only to Niagra Falls in the United States. I go several pictures that turned out quite well. I love the digital camera. The following is a picture that Dick took of me playing the washboard at The Old Stable Restuarant. Sure was fun.




A few more questions that really need answers:
13. Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the
same tune?
14. Stop singing and read on..........
15. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
16. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at
you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the
window?

We are recovering from our colds. I am MUCH better and Dick is a day or two behind me but definately much improved from yesterday. Jim stayed home sick today too. WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Have a HEALTHY Thursday.

Mary

It was a rather uneventful day. It rained off and on ALL day. Chelsea still has not had a "proper" walk since we left on our trip. Jim just runs her outside the door and she knows that, but she expects much better from me. I don't mind walking on a chilly day, but walking in the rain with a cold seems foolish so we have only been doing what is necessary.

Dick went to see the podiatrist today. His callouses are now trimmed down and he should be much more comfortable. The trip was really uncomfortable for his poor feet.

I am working of the "book" that we will put up on the altar for All Souls day, listing the members of the parish that were buried from Blessed Trinity since last year. I hope no more die before Tuesday, I am really close to being out of room on the plan that I put together. It is sad when someone dies anyway, I think God could hold off for me for a week, don't you?

I don't think that I told you about the train ride. We went to Stearns, KY and boarded the Big South Fork Scenic Railway which took us to the Blue Heron Mine up in the hills. It was an iron mine. We got, as a part of our tour, a miner's lunch. The lunch was a sandwich, containers of pudding, coleslaw, applesauce and lettuce and chips wrapped in a cool red neckerchief emblazened with the South Ford Scenic Railway info. The trip was lovely, we had a couple of guys AND the lady Forest Ranger singing and picking for us both before the trip and at the mine. I bought a tape of one of the singers. An altogether nice day.

Tomorrow, I will get enough energy to start adding a picture or two.

Have a lovely evening. Here are a few more questions that need answers

9. If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't
he just buy dinner?
10! . If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
11. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from
vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
12. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?


Mary

Bible Study today. We have finished the Letters of Paul that we were studying and have decided that for a while at least we are going to study the readings for the next Sunday. It is a bit confusing at first but I believe we will become very familiar with the books of the bible this way AND we all have different translations which makes for some interesting insights.

I finally have all the clothes put away and have sorted through my mail. I have a few piles of stuff on the desk that I should be able to get through by the end of the week.

The third night of the trip, we went to Renfro Valley,apparantly condidered the bluegrass captital fo the world. At least a BIG bluegrass festival is held there every year. We went to the Barndance Show in the Renfro Vally Entertainment Center. This place has shops and restuarants and two ( at least ) theatres. We saw Jeff Watson (who does a mean Conway Twitty as well as his own sound), Glenn Thompson (a guitarist who owns a shop nearby), Pete Stamper (a humorist),Susan Tomes Laws (a truly lovely female singer), Pam Perry (another woman) and Wayne Combs (who actually ran into us as we stopped the bus at a Walmart to get cold medicine for one of our fellow tourists.) He was coming out of Walmart with his kids in a cart and saw the bus. So good PR man that he is, he came up to the bus and told Patty that they should bring the tour to the show in Renfro Valley where he played and sang. Patty almost had a bird as she kind of shooed him out of the bus, whispering to him that this was a mystery tour and that we would indeed be seeing him there. He mentioned the encounter at the start of the show. Talk about weird.

They sure kept us busy every day. We left the hotels at 8 to 8:30 and did not get back until 9 to 10:30 depending on the night. I slept like the dead. It is easy when one is that tired.

More questions that need answers

5. Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
6. Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't
point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
7. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are
going to look up there anyway?
8. Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're
both dogs


My cold is moving along as usual. Dick has one now too.


Later

Mary

Today was a yucky day weatherwise. It was damp and rainy and rather chilly. The only saving grace was that there was very little wind so the chill was not "to the bone."

I went to the 8:00AM Mass and sold raffle tickets after Mass. We sold a few this time. I hope the raffle does well. We really have EXCELLENT raffle items. A twin sized quilt that I made, a patriotic throw, a Janome Sewing Machine donated by The Sewing Machine Shop in Sheboygan Falls and a framed print of the Villager. The artist is our own Kitty Klitch who is also the chair of the Turkey Dinner. It is a beautiful print and she had it framed exquisitly.

Then I zipped over to Mother's for just a few minutes and then home. I had to be home by 10:00AM to receive Stenn - the Commissioner's call that it was OK for me to go in and post my selections for the Fantasy Football League. You can imagine my horror on Saturday morning, when I realized that they had moved the Miami game to Friday night because of fear of Hurricane Wilma. Stenn made it possible to post my picks except for the Miami game, of course. I stuck up for the Packers again today and they blew it. Against those mean awful Vikings too.

Brenda and Dick came to take us out for lunch at about 11:00AM. We went to Antoinette's in Plymouth. I knew that they had a rather nice selection fo vegetarian dishes. A cold and a hot sandwich, at least three pizzas and at leat two pasta dishes.

Dick was rather sick after we got home. Nothing major but he is really laying low for the next day or two. My cold is no better. I am glad that the next three days are quiet. I need to heal. As we speak, I am steeping some Respiratory Tea to help me relax and sleep tonight.

I wanted to tell you a bit more about our trip. The second day, Tuesday, we went to Keene's Depot, a store that deals in hunting and fishing gear and clothing AND food. They sugar cure their own hams. They explained the process and I bought a hunk to make some bean soup with later this week. They said it absolutely needs NO refrigeration.

We then went to Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill is a bourbon distillery in Bardstown. We were treated to a wonderful tour of the distillery museum and the warehouses where the bourbon is aged in charred new oak barrels. The three things necessary for good bourbon are - water that comes from limestone sources, good corn, wheat, rye, and new white oak barrels that are charred on the inside. It is the charred staves that give the bourbon its color and the distinctive carmelly taste. We got to go to the tasting room, (a room in the shape of a half barrel with a circular bar. We were treated to a lesson on inspecting bourbon. The master distiller seldom drinks the bourbon to test it. He relies on color, odor and the way the bourbon swirls around the glass. We all were given two samples (about a tablespoon each). One of a 7 year and one of a 12 year old bourbon. We tasted them with and without a touch of water. I liked the 7 year with water the best.

The guide told us that in 1998 lightening struck one of the 7 story rick houses (the proper name, I believe for a liquor warehouse) and it started on fire. As it burned the whole building, story by story began to collapse, barrels breaking open and bursting into flames as they fell. This warehouse was on top of the hill and the bourbon started down the hill and set six other warehouses on fire on the way to the creek. It flowed, still burning under the bridge over the creek and buckled the blacktop. It continued out into the river. Traffic on the main highway was stopped because flames were up over the bridge. They said that the flames were as high as a 35 story building at their peak. All they could do was let it burn out as it went very fast and there was no way to contain it. They have recovered beautifully and he did say that all the warehouses have different ages of bourbon in them so that there was never a year without a certain aged brew.

I recommend that you visit Heaven Hill if you get the chance. A nicely put together tour and you do not have to taste the bourbon but you do get samples if you want to.





Questions that really need answers...
1. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze
these dangly things here, And drink whatever comes out?"
2. Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat
the next thing that comes outta it's butt."
3. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
4. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Til Tomorrow

Mary