It was 0 degrees when I woke up this morning. The high was about 19 which was a real pleasure after these days of sub zero that we have had the past few days.

I opted not to take Chelsea for a real walk though. The roads are really quite slippery and I am not taking any chances on slipping again. I fell twice at the beginning of the winter and managed not to hurt myself. I am not pushing it.

I was a medical taxi today. This morning Dick had to to to the anti-coagulation clinic. Not good. His reading was 3.9. It is supposed to be between 2 and 3 and last time it was 2.1. We think we know why. Sue has adjusted his meds and will see him next Thursday to see if it is working. Then we have to go back the following Tuesday to be set for his surgery on the 15th.

At 10AM I picked up Mother and took HER to see Dr. Hancock for her checkup. All of her readings were good. He said she can wait four months for her next appointment unless something comes up.

Then I came home and spent the afternoon cleaning bathrooms and getting ready for tomorrow.

It is set, Maureen, her friend, Gail, Rosemary and I will meet at 5PM at The Gathering on Hillside (we liked the idea of the name Gathering, it sounds so Irish) for supper. We will check in at the Retreat Center after 6:15PM.

Hope your day was nice and warm and went Just the way you wished.
Love
Mary

It was frigid today. When Chelsea woke me up at 5AM it was -10degrees. I was not really happy with Chelsea. We zipped out and even she agreed that it was much too cold. She piddled and rushed back to the house. It took several trips throughout the day to be sure that she was not in trouble that way.

Of course, there were no walks and she did not ask either.

I worked on the denim quilt today. Two more seams, then stitching around the whole quilt and it is assembled. Then all I have to do is clip the seams and wash it a couple of times to fray it.

Dick was really tired most of the day. We did manage to go grocery shopping despite the cold. Then we were able to stay home safe in our nice warm cave away from all danger.

We watched some of the Republican debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. I had friends in Simi Valley. I still communicate with Steve Hansen, a dear friend, and classmate of my ex husband. They lived there when the Sylmar Quake hit and had some damage to their home. I remember his ex wife telling us the tale of th quake.

They had four children who were sound asleep in bedrooms around a two story house. Then came the quake. Jean said that the noise was incredible and the kids started hollering as they were, of course terrified. The shelves and cabinets in their bathroom were rattling and clanging and poor Steve, waked out of a sound sleep, headed into the bathroom and "saved" the bathroom cabinets. He valiantly held them on the wall until the crisis was over.

About the quake, though, Jean said that there was not one thing in their house that was in the same place that it started. Fortunately there was no major structural damage and not one of that six member family was injured.

This is the same quake that woke up me and my ex. It was the noise that woke us. First we thought it was a plane flying really low as we lived near the Orange County Airport (now the John Wayne Airport) then realized that the noise was coming from underneath us. It went on for well over a minute. I remember asking Dick, my ex, if maybe we should be standing under a door frame or something. But we just waited. And it subsided. It was loud, like a huge animal growling underneath us and everything in the house shook. Bret had crawled in bed with us and never even woke up.

Boy is this week going fast. Tomorrow I take Dick to get his blood test and then will pick up Mother and take her for her physical. Whew.


Have a nice evening and a good Thursday.

Love

Mary

It was 39 degrees when I took Chelsea out for her walk this morning. The promised cold front waited until just a bit ago to come in. Now it is blowing, snowing and Cold.

I made salmon croquettes for supper tonight and took Chelsea for what was intended to be a LONG walk before the cold set in. We got to the corner of Tall Grass and Highland and started to head around the park. A lady and her black lab were also walking. Chelsea apparently got way to excited and had a seizure on a snowbank. She just flopped down on her belly in the snow and trembled. I held her and her little heart was like a sledgehammer. So. I carried her back towards home until I could tell she was OK. Then she walked the rest of the way. This is the first seizure she has had in at least a month. I am quite distressed.

At noon, I met Kate and Toni at Antoinettes to do some planning for the Spring Fling. We have good solid ideas for gift bags and name tags. I think the board will like the ideas. We had the best turkey spinach wraps I have ever had for lunch.

I got my hair cut at 2:30PM. That was fun. There was a gal in there tuning to a blond as I watched. She has dark dark hair naturally and is really trying something new. What a blast.

I told them about the time I lightened my hair to blond - about 50 years ago. I told them that I used Light and Bright. These young chicks laughed and admitted that they had never heard of such a product. When I did that it seemed like such a good idea. After all, I was blond when I was a little girl. However, before long the roots started showing. Do you know that you have to keep taking care of the roots? I am much to lazy for that and because of that have never even thought of dying or bleaching my hair again. My friend Rita Petrie Ertl still doesn't believe that I don't touch up my hair. I am actually pretty lucky. There is some gray but not much.

Tomorrow is a quiet day. Dick and I will go grocery shopping unless the roads are too bad. We don't have far to go.

The salmon croquettes were great. We had mashed potatoes and creamed peas to go with them.

Love

Mary

Another Monday. I still have Mondays. Today was a full day.

Chelsea and I started with a nice walk. It was only degrees 19 at the time. I knew it was supposed to get up to almost 40 but figured it was just a well to get the walk over with when I knew I had the time.

Bible study was interesting. There were six of us there today. Next week's gospel is Matthew's presentation of the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes. They are a road map of how to live and a promise of wonders in eternity.

Then I stopped at Mother's and brought her a meal and some dessert. We signed her up for Equifax monitoring of her credit as it was offered free because she was one of those whose SSN was sent out on a mailing. As Mother does not use credit cards or even her debit card, which she does have, there is little chance that she will be hit, BUT we figured that if this was offered, we might as well take advantage of it. That is the dumbest system for signing up. Mother could never have done it. It is an interchange with an automatic system. Voice and keypad were offered. The machine had difficulty picking up my voice. I ended up shouting and Mother thought that was very funny. It is done anyway.

Then home again where we got Dick ready for his shower. I made some chicken salad for his lunch tomorrow, as I am going to meet Kate and Toni to discuss the April Spring Fling for CWI.

Does anybody know of a good place to eat in Oconomowoc that is easy to get to and near either Sawyer or Delafield Road.

We listened to the President's State of the Union. Lots of Hoop La. He spoke of balancing our budget and living within our means. He did not mention that his war got us to the majority of the debt that we are in right now and we are sinking deeper with each day. I am glad that some troops are not being replaced when they come home. I find the fact that no one wants to admit that SSI SHOULD be solvent and WOULD be solvent if it had not been tapped for things that it was not intended to be used for.

Anyway, now the Democrats are responding and we will see what they have to say.

Apparently there was a death in Tall Grass today. Helen and Harold said that the emergency vehicles, followed by and ambulance and then the hearse from Sushon Funeral Home blocked off the street this morning while I was still in Falls. I will know for sure in the morning. It was probably early enough to be in the Press's death announcements.

Well I have to get ready for bed now. Have a good Tuesday.

Mary

Sunday and Much warmer than it has been. Chelsea and I took a walk. A nice walk. It was about 19 degrees when we went out. As we were nearing home, she suddenly stopped and looked at me so sadly. I do worry. She is getting old and I see her aging. I am minded of the little boy who said that dogs don't live as long as we do because: God puts us on earth to learn how to be good so we can come and be with him and dogs are good to begin with so it doesn't take them so long.

Betsy is in town to stay with her mother for a week. Don't know if I will get a chance to see her. Sure hope so. But I KNOW how precious that time is when one comes from out of state and I am sure that Dorothy is in need of a lot of TLC.

Went to the 8AM Mass. It was still a bit slippery at that time. The Mass was nice. Fr. Van Beeck does do such a nice sermon. He spoke of John the Baptist saying that people were to "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand." Then Jesus preached the same thing. The thing that was interesting is that we think of "at hand" meaning either the end of the earth or our own death. What if he just meant that God Is Here! Why not.

The rest of the day was quite lazy. I finished a sweatshirt jacket for a CWI member and finished crocheting a hat and Dick and I bottled some current wine.

Now it is after 7, we are watching the Screen Actor's Guild Awards and winding down for the evening.

My son in law Bill Smith sent the following. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Read til the end please.

Mary

SIGN IN A PHILADELPHIA STORE WINDOW

"WE WOULD RATHER

DO BUSINESS WITH

1,000 AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS

THAN WITH ONE SINGLE AMERICAN SOLDIER!"

This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia . You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement.

However, we are a society which holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty.

And after all, it is just a sign.

You may ask what kind of business would dare post such a sign.

Answer: A Funeral Home

(Who said morticians had no sense of humor?)