It has been a long wonderful day. Wonderful is a word that is much overused, I know, but that is the easiest word that comes to mind tonight as I am trying to wind down.

Quite a bit of snow had piled up by this morning, perhaps two or three inches. Chelsea was delighted, of course. I tried to take her for a walk but upon reaching the road immediatly knew that walking was NOT a good idea, as the road, though plowed was covered with ice and slippery patches. So, no walk.

I kind of lazed around the rest of the morning, though I did call to see how Bart and Barb were doing.

I left home at about 11:15 to pick up Mom's corsage from Rick's Florist. It was lovely, two white rosebuds with baby breath. It looked so fresh against the red and black jacket that she wore. We got to the Villager for her party at about 12:15. Bobbie came in just as we did and Dick and Jim shortly after. All of us children were there and a goodly number of the grandchildren and the great grandclildren. That pretty well fills up the room. The dinner was so good. Chicken and beef tips with potatoes corn and salads. Then we had Mom unwrap her presents. The guys plugged in the TV/VCR/DVD that some of us had pooled our funds for and put in the DVD that Randy and Mom had chosen pictures for and Brian (Becky's husband) had assembled with music. They made a copy of the DVD for all of us. I am going to see if I can get it copied for Bret and Bart. It is really a treasure.

Friends and relatives showed up all through the afternoon. What a pleasure to spend time with all of them. The biggest surprise was when my cousin Chris and her husband Rod came in with AUNT KATHLEEN who wasn't going to be there because she and Bob spend their winters in South Carolina. She said that she just couldn't stand not being here so decided at the last minute to come. We have great pictures of her and Mother and Uncle Pat. They are the three remaining Bowser kids.

This evening, after bringing Mother home, I came home myself, napped and then went over to Eileen's for a bit as all who could were going over to Legand Larry's on 8th and Penn to see John (Eileen and Fred's son) perform in the Martini Lounge. He and his friend do a nice act and there is no smoking in the Martini Lounge. I am still just a bit hoarse from hollering conversations because of the noise. Had a nice visit with Britt and her friend Andrew who is an artist/photographer. (Photographers are also artists - I mention both because he paints too.)

I should have neat pictures to share soon.




I decided to share an old picture - this is the sample of the Maid Mother Crane blocks that I designed a couple of years ago.

Happy Sunday.

Mary

Another busy day. It was kind of chilly and damp most of the day. Tonight it is snowing. A bit more than we expected. We even heard a snowblower going accross the street. Chelsea is quite pleased.

Went to the Dairy Queen in Plymouth to have lunch with the Wells Fargo people. The only one who is still working is Barb Wollner and she has moved to Community Bank.

On the way home I went to Younkers. to shopp with a gift card that Dick and Brenda gave me for Christmas. I had waited for a big sale and this weekend was a good one. I found a new pair of black pants, a black short jacket with red lining (that will look good with my red kilt which I intend to wear to the big birthday party tomorrow) and a pink washable "suede" shirt. Not bad. It was fun. I haven't shopped for quite a while.

I tried to get 2Cent stamps today too, but for the THIRD time in three weeks, the post office said they were on backlog from Milwaukee. This time they say that they don't know WHEN they will have them. No wonder the Post Office is failing as a business. I stopped to let Mother know and will bring her a few 39 cent stamps for just in case situations until we can find the others. Flowers are arriving for her birthday. She got an azalea from the neighbors and Mike Holehouse and family sent a lovely cut flower arrangement. I know Jennifer Holehouse and Andrea Ayers are also sending some. They are unable to come and want their presence known. Mom's house will be a beautiful greenhouse, full of beautiful flowers.

Tomorrow is her big day. Ninety - Wow.

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne Tyler








Goodnight. Mary

What a day. It was fairly warm. In the mid 30's, sunny (most of the day) and not at all windy. However, when I cam home from choir tonight at 8:30PM or so it ws very foggy. Really foggy. I drove much of the way by just following the white line.

Dr. Hodous, the podiatrist, looked at Dick's feet this morning and declared them much better. We will have them checked every two months or so to be sure that the situation doesn't arise again. He also had his blood checked and AGAIN it is perfect. He is now Sue's pride and joy because he has been in the perameters for a year now.

Then I took Dick home (he had a bit of a sore throat) and went grocery shopping. This was quite a saving week. They had a "meal plan" (you buy the meat and they give the side dishes), a lot of items marked down to $1 and coupons, plus I had earned a $25 gift card from them. I felt REALLY good about the bill.

Tonight I had to go to choir so I visited Mother for a bit too. I did get the words together for the Unity Concert. I will enclose them here for you, but don't tell anybody. They chose two of the 5 verses because of the time constraint. These two seem to reflect the mission of the Concert the best.

BEACON OF HOPE


I.

We are all but a shadow in life.
We are cast by the light of the Lord
Made tall by the strength of His love.
As we go out as Jesus commands.
May we reach out our hands to the poor
To the lonely, the sick, the afraid.
To the families and neighbors we know
And to those who are lost in despair.


CHORUS

I'm the kiss of the breeze on your cheek
I 'm the choir of avian songs
You can find me in flowering fields
And the gentle soft fingers of dawn

II.

Whe-en thunder and lightening surround
I’m beside you to calm all your fears
If the world is a frightening place
I'm the lighthouse that shines through the storm
Jesus taught you that Love is the Way
And by sharing the journey you grow
Heaven is coming safely home
With your hand in the hand of the Lord


This is sung to the tune of For Ireland, I Won't Say Her Name. This is my favorite traditional Irish Air and it is believed to have been written in the late 1700s or the early 1800s.

Have a great Friday.

Mary

It was very sunny today, but cold. When Chelsea and I walked at about 10:30AM it was only 27 degrees. There was very little wind, so we took the whole walk but my legs and face were really stiff by the time we got back.

I did end up going out once today after all. Since I had finished the mailing for the Senior Saint program, I took them to Sandy at church to get them mailed. Then I met Marcie In church and we changed the altar cloth and took down the Christmas hangings.

I also worked on the baby quilt and the quilt that I am doing by hand. Since we are going on a bus trip to the Fireside on the 28th, I wanted to have the next piece ready to do. I have two borders, the trees, the assembly and the edging. It is a very bright quilt. I think it will be really sharp when it is all done.

Tomorrow, Dick gets his blood tested and the doctor will take a look at that callous that had the blister to be sure that it is all healed. I also have choir in the evening. We will see what the "experts" think of the words to the song I have assembled. I did a bit of revision and added a verse.

Would you believe that Ice T - the rapper said "Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place."

Safe places are nice. Jim said he saw a BIG bird swoop down in front of his car the other. Perhaps that is why animals are disappearing. Wouldn't that be awful.

Ours are safe, they never roam around loose.

Later

Mary

It rained a bit and even snowed, but none of the snow stayed on the ground. It does not seem to be freezing either. Today, in the mailbox I found a notice that a family up the street has lost their big black fat cat called Harry. That is two animals in a week in the neighborhood. I don't think that Wishbone has been found either. Sure glad we keep our cats in and Chelsea leashed - Hunters Glen seems to be rather dangerous for critters these days.

I received a call last night from a woman, Mary Ann Wildbauer, who is part of organizing a unity conder to raise funds to help Cancer patients in Sheboygan County. The group is called Sheboygan County Cancer Care Fund. They help anyone, at any facility, of any background and with any financial needs. She called because Beth Hoegger (my choir director) and Jim Wilsing (my bagpiping friend) told her that I could write words for the song that we used for Celtic Faire for this concert for the ecumunical choir to sing. I talked to Beth and she said that the words I had were fine with some adjusting and additions. I am rather excited. This would be a REALLY big audience for my poetry. I did some revising and minor additions to the song and will review it with Beth, Jim and MaryAnn on Thursday.

Dick and I only went out to the Drug store to pick up a prescription and to OfficeMax to get some ink cartridges. The rest of the day I just worked on several of my projects, the Environment Committee notes, the song lyrics, the baby quilt. It was FUN.


Have a good Wednesday, It should be more of the same for me.

Charles M. Schulz said. "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

Mary

Today, I FINALLY got all the ornaments off the tree and packed away. Even the Santa's are back in their boxes to wait until next year. Now all we have in the living room is a tree with lights on it. The kitties will be able to enjoy sitting under it for a day or so longer, I imagine, as Dick will have to take the lights off an disassemble the tree.

I will here share with you my brother Matt's poem about Christmas.

CHRISTMAS IS OVER

christmas is over again
it won't be back for another year
the lights have been taken down
santa claus went back to the toy factory
so we can all fight each other
with a clear conscience once more

Matthew, as you can see from this poem, did not believe in capital letters or most punctuation for that matter. He had a very cynical view of life. I do not really share that.

Tonight, we "took down Christmas" in church also. We put away the trees and wrapped and stored the ornaments and the creche and the wreaths and garland. We will enjoy the pointsettias a bit longer and leave up the red and gold on the back altar.

To get back to Matthew's poem, one of my friends, Ione Gregoire, said that she always leaves one Christmas decoration out to remind her to keep the joy and love of Christmas in her All year round and not let it fly away at Christmas. I think I will take her example to heart. Now, what should I bring back out? Perhaps, Grandma Bowser's little Nativity scene.

Be happy.

We may have snow by the end of the week.

Mary

The choir sang at 10:30 Mass this morning. We sang Just as I AM, which is a real favorite hymn of mine. The harmony is really easy and lovely. We sang ALL six verses. After Mass, I had to head right out to Rhine because it was my Sunday to work. It was very cold but we had 11 squads and the clubhouse was full of people enjoying their beer and the playoff games.

Rebecca, 15, one of our members who is turning 15 on Tuesday, brought birthday cake. Jim got out there about 2:00 so he and I went down to shoot. I had a rather low first round, only a 38 but the next two did go up - only 45 and 48 but at least they did improve. I have purchased an elbow brace and am going to try that next week to see if it helps steady my arm.

This is a comparatively quiet week, though Thursday, Dick has two appointments at the clinic and Saturday is Mother's Birthday. Mother said that Nora and Leif and George and Betsy will be in on Friday. It will be good to see everybody again. Tomorrow, after Bible Study, I am going to Rick's Florest to pick out a corsage for Mother.

Her is a quote that if found by a Rober Brault. "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they wer the big things."

Mary