The last day of 2009. WOW!

I was home all day except for going to Mass this evening. I spent the day doing various chores around the house. The front driveway needed to be shoveled. If there is less than an inch, the association does not take care of it. I did not want ice to be forming under it in the next few days. Actually it is supposed to get down to 2 degrees or less tonight. I am glad that I will be home most of tomorrow too.

Tomorrow, I will be taking supper to Mother at about 5PM. I called her today to confirm this. She sounds so weak. I will sit with her tomorrow when I bring her meal to be sure that she eats. She admits that her appetite is rather poor but says she does eat three times a day and is going to try to have a snack mid afternoons to help keep her strength up.

We had leftovers from Sweet Basil for our lunch and bean soup for supper. Boy is that bean soup ever good. If you want to share just come over for a meal in the next few days.

So Mass was nice and also short. I saw several friends and was able to wish them a Happy New Year.

A good portion of my morning was spent researching home care for Mother. Hopefully we can get someone in to help her in the mornings in the next week or so. The holidays will slow things up a bit but we will get it done and at least during the holidays she has a lot of people checking on her.

Love and God Love you

Mary

The second last day of 2009. I was, as usual, quite busy. Got up at 6AM and did all the usual morning stuff plus helped Dick get washed up and changed. Then I went to the Pig and did the grocery shopping.

When I got home, I put a pot of bean soup on to cook all day. It is done now, except for stripping the meat off the bone, and tastes wonderful.

I took a nap this morning because I was going to the Amputee Support Group meeting at Rocky Knoll at 2PM. We had sandwiches and jello salad for our lunch. I had a mushroom and cheese and Dick had a grilled cheese.

The Amputee Support meeting was fun. We played card bingo. That is an easy game. You have two decks of cards and deal one out. Then the dealer called the cards on the other one until there is a winner with the hand you are dealt. We had lots of little prizes so played three whole rounds to use up the prizes. It was fun and we shared and talked a lot.

For some reason we got to talking about kids and I remembered an incident from Bart's toddler days. He was probably about three or four and wandered over to the neighbor's house because he saw her coming out and going towards her car. He asked her where she was going and she teasing him said. "I'm going to hell, want to come along?" That was the wrong thing to say. Bart immediately turned towards home yelling all the way "Mom, Mom, can I go to hell with Beverly." Poor Beverly chased him all the way trying catch him. We laughed our heads off and had to do a lot of explaining to Bart. He still didn't know why he couldn't go to hell with Beverly. He didn't know what hell was.

We got a wonderful Christmas present today from Leslie and Bill. Framed portraits of Bill and Leslie and also of Nora and Sara and a picture of the girls with their fiances. They are wonderful and we are so pleased.

So. Have a safe and fun New Years Eve.

God love you

Mary

Another busy day. I spent the early part of the morning, walking Chelsea about 4 times and cleaning underneath the sink.

I had to be at Mother's at 11:30AM to meet with an insurance man with her so I stopped at the bank and the vet's on the way. Mom and I got a lot done and she gave me another assignment. So tomorrow I will be making some calls to gather information for her. She would like someone there in the mornings when she wakes up and is getting ready for the day as she feels weakest then. I applaud her as it is hard for her to admit that and to give up a part of her privacy but she is an intelligent woman and wants to be in her home as long as possible.

I got home shortly after one PM and just puttered around and tried to take a nap. The nap did not work too well, but I did get a lot of little things done.

Now I am watching at least part of the Kennedy Center Awards and then I will go to bed.

A friend sent me an email that amused me. I will add a couple of the quotes that were in it for you.


Mary

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not
pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - 'No good in a
bed, but fine against a wall.'
Eleanor Roosevelt


<><>
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its
way through Congress.
- Will Rogers =2 0

There were only four of us at bible study this morning. Tom and Kathy are on their way to Texas, one of the Helens is still recovering from surgery and Peggy is in Florida. Joe did not make it. And of course our Fran's funeral was this evening.

We had a nice study but veered off of the subject to talk about Fran and what she means to us. We all agreed that she certainly went the way we all would like to. She just collapsed and was gone to God. Much better than lingering in pain as many do.

Then I went over to Mom's and we had a nice visit. I told her that my friend, Beth, knows the woman who bought our old house. It is a woman with two children an she is fixing it up. That made Mom feel good as we lived there for over 50 years. It was amusing because the new owner was told by someone that she bought the Deeley house and that it had always been red with white trim. It is gray now but she went outside and found that there is red paint under the gray. She was also told about our "bombing" by the army when there was a base at Haven.

The planes went out over the Lake one winter evening and one of the planes ejected at least three of its pieces of live ammunition on the City of Sheboygan Falls.

Our family was all gathered in the lower level of the house shortly after supper, except for my brother Tim, who had gone upstairs. My boyfriend at the time, Jumbo Martin, was there for the evening too. Suddenly we heard the loudest crash from the upstairs and thought that Tim had knocked something really big over. But when we went upstairs, there was Tim, looking into the left back bedroom and there was dust and debris flying all over the place and a hole in the ceiling that came right through a beam.

There were also two or three gouges in the floor. After searching, we found under the bed what looked like a very large bullet. So we called the police. They came and took a report and the bullet with them.. Dad and the police were all handling it very casually. Later, we found out that it was a live piece of ammo.

Later, we also found out that a home in another part of town was also hit, right next to a baby crib and a small fire started. Another shell was found in the street. Miraculously no one was hurt.

The Army did an investigation. I don't know the final results but they paid for the repairs on the house and gave Dad a model of the plane and a unloaded shell for a souvenir. It was altogether an exciting time. Dad fixed the roof and ceiling himself and had money leftover for something, I am not sure what. And one day a special delegation of officers came to the house to personally apologize to Mother for the incident.


And that is the story of the time our own Army bombed us.

Tonight I went to Blessed Trinity to join the choir at Fran's funeral. She looked lovely. And we sang as best we could as she was in the choir forever and loved the joyful music. It was a beautiful service and I am glad I could go.


God love you

Mary

We got to stay home all day today. It was cold but not bitter cold. Chelsea and I were able to have a couple of short walks and she was happy except for one when the sale on the road made the pads of her feet hurt.

Then, I really upset her because I decided to give her a bath bot the wash off the pads of her feet and to clean her bottom which was quite dirty. Now she is the prettiest girl in the whole neighborhood. As we all know, she really prefers to be dirty.

The Packers won handily today and have clinched a place in the playoffs. We really enjoyed that one. My fantasy football score is looking OK. I won't win the week but am at least not out of the running like last week.

I cleaned off my desk today. We have to rearrange things to accommodate the new big screen monitors that we got for Christmas. If these are the only problems we will have the rest of the year, we are blessed. And is it ever nice to be using those big screens.

I scraped the snow off the front driveway this morning too. We are supposed to get more flurries and I am hoping to avoid ice patches. And I did three loads of wash including our sheets so I got a lot done. But I did not feel rushed and spent a lot of time just goofing off and I even took a nap.

Tomorrow will be a bit busier. I will have bible study in the morning and then go over to Mother's. Then in the evening I will go back to Falls to sing in the choir for Fran's funeral.

So we are heading downhill to the end of 2009. The news shows are morning shows ate already doing their recaps of the year. Almost every day, one gets another perspective. I remember when I was a little girl, I always thought, when it got to the year 2000 I would be 60 years old and now I am almost 10 years beyond that. Sixty seemed very old at that point. Doesn't seem so old now.

God love you

Mary

We had a pleasant day. Richard and Brenda were here until mid morning. Then they headed out to Sun Prairie for a gathering with Brenda's family. Everybody, but me slept in. I find it difficult and had to take Chelsea out anyway.

We had a really good breakfast of scrambled eggs, bagels and cream cheese and Stollen. I like having company because I can cook more.

It snowed off and on all day but very lightly. The ground is nicely white again but after all the rain, there is surprisingly very little ice. The only time I had to leave the house was late this afternoon. I drove to Walgreens to pick up some prescriptions and then on to St. John's for Mass. Definitely not as crowded as Christmas Eve when all the Christmas Catholics show up, but a nice crowd.

I prepared roast chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy for supper. Dick does love mashed potatoes and gravy. I have enough food in the fridge for the next two days.

My friend, Fran's funeral will be on Monday night. Beth Hoegger, the choir director at Blessed Trinity, asked if I would like to join the choir at her service. And of course I will.

But tomorrow will be a day at home. Perhaps I can get our house put back into order after all of the celebrating and fun. It is amazing how STUFF gets everywhere. Our house looks so festive and Christmasy. After the first of the year I will have to take it all down and stow Christmas away til next year. I dread that because I also need to clean the storage area as I put things away.

Bret got me one of those Snuggies for Christmas. I used it when I took my nap, which was a good one by the way, and it works perfectly. Roxie likes it too as it is nice and soft.

Til tomorrow then.

Love and God Bless you

Mary

What a wonderful Christmas!

Got a call this morning from Richard. He said that if it was not too late for me to prepare the meal, he and Brenda figured that they might as well come today as it was raining and warm enough that there would not be ice. So. we were on.

So I spent the day cooking. We had Over The Rainbow Mac and Cheese, Salmon Croquettes, baked squash and peas for our supper and I made a really good chocolate cake with a cranberry jelly glaze topped by a chocolate glaze.

Everybody got here between 3:30PM and 4:PM so we enjoyed appetizers and wine and opened the presents while dinner was cooking. Everybody was go generous. The gifts are perfect. Dick and I got new big screen monitors for our computers. Wow, Is that COOL!!! Lots of other things too and everybody seemed happy with the presents that we bought them too.

Shortly after lunch, Bret called. He was having a nice Christmas at home with a bunch of friends. They were having Prime Rib for their dinner. He liked his presents too and has one more coming that is backordered.

Then shortly after that Leslie called. We had a great talk. Then I got to talk to Sara who is home there with her fiance Vince. They have set the wedding date for May 8. How exciting is that. I also talked to Bill and he loved the cow that I sent to him. I was able to tell him that I found it in an antique shop and just knew that I had to get it for him.

So it was a great day.

The only bad thing was that I got news this morning that a dear friend an member of the bible study died at home last night. It was sudden, she just collapsed in the kitchen and was gone. Please pray for the soul of my friend Fran Woodke and for her family who will miss her. As will we all.

I talked to Mother a couple of times today. She sounds very good. She says she feels weak but did not have any feeling of fainting at all while she was getting ready for the day or during the day. Eileen sent dinner over for her this afternoon and she says she has enough for several meals. So she had company. I know that Randy stopped in this morning to be sure all was well. Dolores and family are going tomorrow and Jeff and family will be there on Sunday, so she is covered. We have things to discuss but right now all is fine.

God bless you all on this special day of Jesus' birth. May he bless you

Mary

Well, today was not quite what one would hope for on Christmas Eve.

Donna called me shortly after 8AM to tell me that Mom had fallen down and fainted again. Fortunately Randy had been shoveling her walk and the cleaning lady had just come and heard her fall, so she got help immediately. I drove to Sheboygan Memorial and actually beat her there. So did Randy, who had to go home to get his car but should have been behind them. Anyway. They tested her for everything that you can think of. She god stronger and more alert the longer she was there and was glad to go home at about 12:30PM after lunch. We knew she was OK when they were taking her in for a ct scan on her head and she said. "Maybe it is all in my head."

They could not find anything. There is no sign of a stoke and her urinalysis even shows that the infection is gone. She is still a little anemic but everything else is just fine. Tis a puzzle. It has been six months or so since she had the last fainting spell but it is scary.

When I got home, Bobbie and Bill were here. They came to take Chelsea out at about noon. Joan, our cleaning lady, also took her out before she left. Chelsea has to go so often that I was afraid to leave her for too long and our neighbor who helps me walk her is away for the holiday.

My Christmas present is that Mother was able to come home and seems OK.

Michelle and Jim called us this afternoon to wish us a Merry Christmas. They are snowed in. A blizzard, one of the worst they have ever had. It has brought Oklahoma City to a halt. But they were enjoying a wonderful Christmas Eve meal. Michelle's brother Jim is there and we got to talk to him too. The three of them will go to Bart and Barb's tomorrow if the weather and roads permit.

Then I went to the 4PM Mass. I got there at 3:30PM and the church was packed. The folk choir was singing and brought in a precrowd, then I suppose lots of people wanted to to to that early Mass so that they would miss the sleety weather and could spend tomorrow at home. The music was beautiful and the hymns we sang along with wer all wonderful REAL Christmas songs, like Little Town of Bethlehem and Silent Night and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. The cutest thing happened. When the Allelulia started before the Gospel, a little girl in back of me started singing loud and clear and perfectly on key. The people next to me started smiling too and we just loved it. She was so sweet, when it was over she whispered to her Mom, "I KNOW that one." We told her how beautifully she sang and thanked her at the Peace sign.

There was one other exciting thing that happened today. As I was driving through Kohler to Mother's from the hospital, a huge wild turkey came running across the road and I almost hit the darn thing. It was almost tempting, but I didn't want to wreck the car.

Merry Christmas. I love you all.
\
God Bless

Mary

The awful weather that is supposed to be starting this evening has not reached this far north as yet. Chelsea woke me up at 11:30PM last night. What a little pest. But then she slept until almost 5AM. I was actually getting worried about her when I woke up about four and she wasn't there yet. But I decided that I would not go to check on her until 6AM when I get up most mornings anyway.

I tried to take her for a few walks today as the streets are dry and there is no snow or ice to be worrying about. I figure that will change by morning and we will have another few days of staying very close to home.

I went grocery shopping this morning and have everything I need for our Christmas Dinner. We are really worried about the weather and have decided that we will have our Kunert Christmas when it is safe for Richard and Brenda and even Bobbie and Bill, who live much closer, to get here. They are going to let me know. We are hoping for Saturday but I told them to just let me know either the night before or in the morning so I can get the meal prepared. If they can't come for Christmas, this will be the first one that Dick and I ever spent alone.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning out a couple of cupboards. We had a T bone steak for our dinner. Sure tasted good. Tonight I make Dick good old Kraft Mac and Cheese. You know that when we started dating, there came a weekend where we didn't quite know what to do. We had seen the movie and didn't really want to go out for dinner. I told him that he was welcome to come for dinner but all we were having was Kraft dinner with hot dogs cut up in it. He got all excited and told me it was one of his very favorite meals. And he was not fibbing. As most of you know, Kunert's are pasta people. When in doubt, fix anything with noodles or macaroni.

God love you

Mary

Dick had two medical appointments this morning. He had his blood tested at the anti coagulation clinic at 10AM. Now his blood count is a bit low which means his blood is a little thick, so Patti adjusted the dose again and we will go back in two weeks to be sure he is back in the range again.

We went right from there to the Sheboygan Clinic to see Dr. Moreno. Whew, the wounds on the back of his leg are all healed. Dr. Moreno removed the scabs and there is good skin under them with no weeping. He also trimmed a callous for us. We don't have to see him for 6 months unless a new wound shows up.

So, we stopped and picked up burgers from the Dairy Queen on our way home. Dick had expressed a yen for a burger and fries so this seemed like a perfect opportunity.

I spent the afternoon, doing miscellaneous chores around there. The most strenuous was clearing the ice off of the front walk. I also knocked down the icicles.

Bret's package arrived today and when I opened it a lovely stuffed leopard was waiting to get out of the box. I wonder if Roxie will notice it and if so what she will think of it.

Tomorrow, I just have to shop and then will be able to be home all the rest of the day again. I can make the dessert for Christmas as it can be made ahead of time.

We decided that we are going to have steak for our lunch. I took a tbone out of the freezer.

God love you

Mary

Quite a pleasant day. The streets were dry enough that I was able to take Chelsea for quite a good walk. Of course, there is no way we can go through the park, but we walked the entire Tallgrass neighborhood and she was a very happy little girl.

I had Bible Study this morning. This is the last Monday that the Keyes will be with us until spring. They go to Texas to be with their son and his family every winter. This week we talked of Jesus statement that nothing that goes into the body is bad but evil can come out of the body. We had a lot to say about that. This is where Jesus said, according to Mark, that the dietary laws of the Jews were no longer necessary. This in effect closed the difference between Jew and Gentile.

Then I zipped over to Mom's because Jeff had to get her to the Sheboygan Clinic by 11:00AM. Between the three of us, we got a new medication ready to pick up and worked into her schedule. She is getting pretty sick of medication. Up until two years ago, she only took one medication. She had a good time on Sunday when Sara, Becky, Jessie and Erin all came over and learned how to make the Christmas Stollen (Christmas Wreath). She said they did very well and it was lovely having them in the house.

I got home in time to fix Dick his lunch and then picked up Jenna, a fellow writer, and we went to Antoinette's for our Cream City Writer Christmas party. There were 10 of us there and we had a great time. Those who wanted read lovely pieces of poetry or song lyrics. We ate a great meal and exchanged gifts before going back to our warm homes. I received a lovely little Tranquility Fountain and an oil diffuser air freshener. Pleasant gifts.

The greatest thing happened. My friend, Kate, came to the lunch and she was quite distressed. She had purchased several gift cards totaling a pretty healthy sum for Christmas presents and could not find them. She had the receipt and thought they were with that, but they weren't and she had been tearing the house apart to find them. So, we all joined hands and said a prayer that the gift cards would be found. This evening, Kate called to tell me that Ron had come home early to help her search and lo and behold, they did find them, in the closet with some other gifts that she had stowed there. So prayers are answered. This was an immediate reply.

I took a nice long nap this afternoon. Roxie started napping with me then got up and after a bit started nagging me for something. We never did figure out what she wanted, probably an early supper.

Take care and be well.

God love you

Mary

I had hoped to stay home all day today and except for having to go to the Pig to pick up confectioners sugar, I was able to do that. I went before breakfast as Dick slept a bit later. Chelsea was delighted because she got to go with me. She does like rides and I like to take her when we are going somewhere other than the vet.

There was a lot to do today. All of it little stuff. I took down the lights from the front porch because I can't get them to light anyway. I had to replace a bulb in one of the garage lights too.

I frosted and decorated the Christmas Stollens so we had a piece for dessert tonight. We had stir fry for dinner and I had enough chicken left to make a Chicken Waldorf for our supper.

Then the Packers played and lost miserably in the last 4 seconds. Ick. This is not a good week for me in the Fantasy Game. Lots of upsets.

Only four days until Christmas. I have a party to go to tomorrow. The Cream City Writers. We are meeting at Antoinette's in downtown Plymouth. That will be my last party before Christmas.

I'll end tonight with a bit of Pooh Wisdom.

I'll lean on you and
you lean on me and
we'll be okay

-- Dave Matthews

God love you and have a great week leading up to Christmas.

Mary

A somewhat quiet day. It was cloudy all day and tonight there is a little bit of preciptitation. I am not quite sure what it is. It isn't snow but it isn't rain or even quite sleet either.

Chelsea was goofy last night. She got me up the first time at 11:30PM. I could not believe it. I had taken her out at 9:30PM and she never before woke me up before 1AM. Then she got me up again at 4AM and I could not get back to sleep.

Oh well, I had a good nap this afternoon with Roxie as my willing bunkmate.

I picked up Share this morning. Got pork chops, kielbasa, lunch meat, ground turkey and veggies. I was home by 10AM and got to work baking the Stollen. They are all done now except that tomorrow, I will frost and decorate them.

Tomorrow we are home all day. I hope to get some reading in for a change and perhaps a bit of writing. I always seem to be putting those things off and then by the end of the day I am too tired to move.

I forgot to tell you that on the way back from Mother's on Friday I saw a flock of at least 6 pheasants feeding by the road. What a sight. Usually I only see and occasional single bird.

Love

God love you

Mary

This morning I picked up Mother's prescriptions at Walgreens and took them to her. She had an antibiotic that she had to start taking today. I was just as glad as Monday, I have to be home by 11AM and she has to be at the ear doctor's office at 11AM, so there will be no chance to visit then.

We got her medical list all updated and had a nice long visit. It took her some figgy hobbin too. She sent our Christmas present home with me. A cheese box. We can always use that. She is pretty much stuck at home these days because of the weather, but Sara and maybe Becky or Jessie are coming on Sunday to get a lesson in making the Christmas Stollen. She is so happy that their generation is interested in keeping the family traditions going. Mother got this recipe from my Grandma Deeley so it is really a tradition.

I cleaned the bathrooms today and did a couple of loads of wash. I also mixed up my dough for my Christmas Stollen. I hope that I can get it rolled thin enough this time.

I received a great email today. It said. "Now that I'm older I thought it was great that I seemed to have more patience. - Turns out that I just don't give a shit."

Have a nice weekend.

God love you

Mary

I ended up able to stay home all day until tonight when I went to church for a penance service. Isn't that a wonder. We were supposed to go to the Sheboygan Clinic to have Dr. Morino look at Dick's leg, but the office called to tell us that Dr. Morino was home sick. So we rescheduled til next Tuesday.

Dick's leg is looking much better anyway. All of the sores have scabs on them and are healing. He is going to start trying to walk again tomorrow.

I made a Figgy Hobbin for dessert today. Boy is that good. Jeff dropped by on his way home from Mother's with a squash and a prescription for me to get filled for Mom. So I was able to share the Figgy Hobbin with them. Kathy called to tell me she liked it. It is a Cornish dessert that I devised after Dick and I toured Mineral Point many years ago. It is like a raisin pie made in jelly roll fashion and served with ice cream.

The Penance service at Church was very nice. There were five priests available for private confession after the service. I was pleased to be able to go to Fr. Howard Johnson who was my pastor at Blessed Trinity Parish several years ago. He is a gentle and good man.

So now it is almost time for bed and I am writing this with Miss Roxie on my lap. She has become very needy these days.

So until tomorrow. I intend to mix the dough for my Christmas Stollen tomorrow. Then I can bake it on Saturday.

God love you

Mary

 

 

 

Here are three pictures for you

1. Roxie under the tree
2. The Advent Calendar
3. Jim Wilsing at the Celtic Women Tea

It was bitter cold this morning. The thermometer showed 1 degree and while I was out shopping the car thermometer hit 0.

I would have stayed home if I hadn't a couple of errands to do that fortunately were very close to home. I had to fill the gas tank, go grocery shopping and go to the bank. I got it all done before 10AM and was able to spend the rest of the day tucked into our nice warm cave of a home, except for taking Miss Chelsea out, of course. She does not mind the cold at all and loves the snow so she sees no real need to hurry. Also, with her failing kidneys and old age, she likes to go out A LOT. If I had nothing to do but take care of her, I would get plenty of exercise.

One of the times that I had Chelsea out, I heard the Phoebes singing back and forth at each other. One was in the bush right next to the garage and I got a good look at it before it flew away to find its mate. That is a memory to treasure.

Tomorrow, we have to go to see Dr. Moreno. I hope that the wounds will be pronounced healed. Dick has to get started walking again and I know that he is wary of it. Every time he does, something else happens. Pray for us.

God love you

Mary

A much quieter day today. We got Dick's legs all taken care of and I did some wash. The main thing was a trip to the post office to get the packages mailed and the Christmas Cards sent. Whew! When that is done, I always feel that I have crested the hill.

I went to the post office at about 10AM, hoping to miss a lot of the crowds and it worked. There were only three people ahead of me and I was able to park quite near the door. Also a very kind lady helped me carry in the packages. I had figured that I would have to make two trips from the car, and that was a big help.

It was SO cold today. 7 degrees on the car thermometer. I turned the heater on in the garage again tonight.

This evening Barbara called. She is exhausted but glad to be home. She had to work part of today and yesterday but now is on leave til the end of the year. It was so good to hear her voice and know that she is back home. Pray for her dad, Don, he is very ill.

Then at 6:30PM, I went to my friend Toni's for a Tastefully Simple party. I was the guest. Actually, another friend, Janet, came at shortly after 7:30PM, but everybody else called in sick or cold. So there were just four of us including the salesperson. It was fun anyway and was a good supper. I have to start remembering to use the neat ideas that I get there.

Now we are safe and sound in our own warm little house and I am going to go to bed. I am really tired. I think cold takes the zip out of a person.

Take care.

God love you

Mary

There was a lot of excitement today. Starting with the morning. Chelsea let me sleep until 4AM, a big relief after her waking me up at 11:30PM the night before. However, she make me take her out four times between four and 9AM when I left for bible study and all. The best thing was that on the third walk as we were rounding the curve at Tallgrass, we saw a deer bounding back into the wood. She stopped a bit into the woods and watched us walk by. I think Chelsea got a bit of a scent of her but did not see her.

There was a kind of damp snow falling all the way to Sheboygan Falls and for most of the morning. The roads were not too bad on the way down. There were six of us who braved the weather and/or well enough to come today. That was enough for an animated discussion of the passages that we read.

I went right from there to Mother's. I took her a loaf of Scripture Cake and some stew. She is very tired these days and I picked up a bulletin for her because I knew that she had not attempted going over to church yesterday. We always have such nice visits.

Then it was time for the Sheboygan County Writer's Club Christmas Party. I am still a member though I canot get there very often. It is just too hard to go to two meetings a month as I hate to leave Dick that often and do feel that I should go to the local Cream City group here in Plymouth. It was SO good to see all of them and meet a couple of newer members too. We met at the Villager. I had a great sandwich which I was able to eat only 1/2 of. So Dick and I shared the other half with soup for our supper.

We ate and passed on the "cow". The cow is a funny long legged ceramic cow that has been passed on to the member with the best attendance for the year. They are expected to keep it for a year, embellish it and write a story about it's year in a journal. We have had it for 5 years now. You really have to see it to appreciate it. Sy Regan made it a barn when he had it and other recipients have added flowers and a crown of bells.

We always have a present exchange. I got some foot powder cream that I will have to try. I may try it on Dick one day. We also had door prizes and I was one of the lucky ones and chose a set of two new bath towels. We have lots and lots of towels but many of them are getting really raggedy.

After the present exchange a couple of us read things. I read my newest poem called Falcon. I can't publish it here yet as I have it entered in a contest but will when the contest is over.

Then I started home and was shocked at how slippery the roads had become. I got almost home. Just approaching Eastern Avenue going south on Highland from 23, when I skidded a bit and slid into the snow bank piled along the curb. I got stuck. Of course, it took forever for anyone to stop. I kept trying to dig out the tire and under the frame with my hands. Finally a lady with a truck and a little girl stopped. She had a chain but we couldn't get far enough under the car to hook it up. After we struggled for about 10 minutes a man came by and got us hooked up just as the police arrived. He used his lights to alert traffic as she pulled me out and across the intersection. The car is all right. I did manage to have the emergency brake on which made it hard and dragged them, but no harm was done. The car drives just fine now that they are off. As they were still working, I obviously didn't ruin them. The lady was so kind. I asked if I could give her something and she just sweetly wished me a Merry Christmas. So there are lovely people in this world.

Sure glad to be home now anyway. Roxie is always glad to see me. I think she resents it when I leave. I understand that it is supposed to get very cold for the next couple of days. I am not looking forward to that , but at least we don't have to go out of Plymouth until Thursday.

Take care and God love you

Mary

It was a good Sunday. THE PACKERS BEAT THE BEARS. I was able to watch and/or listen to most of the game.

This morning I had to take the chili I made over to Rhine for the Lewis Shoot that we were hosting. I arrived at 9:30AM. Nancy Roehre joined me almost right away and we shot pistol for practice. League starts again on January 8th. We didn't do too badly, considering the cold and the fact that we had not shot for about a month.

I helped set up the food. We had four different chilis made by four of us members. They were all really good too. However, we had a very poor turnout for the shoot and there was a LOT left.

Jim let me go home after things were set up as there was a lot of help there - more help than participants. Then I went back at about 2:30 to help with the cleanup. We froze the chilis that did not have pasta in them for the next event. It will also be in winter and chili will go over big then too. The one with pasta we split up and everybody took some home for supper.

I baked some Scripture Cake while I was home between 11AM and 2:30PM and took a little nap while half listening to the Packer Game. It is nice to do some just plain goofing off on a Sunday.


Be safe this week. I will pray for a Blessed Christmas for you all.

God love you


Mary

This was a busy at home day. It was still cold but the temps at least got out of the single digits and even into the low 30s.

I had to be at the Redeemer Lutheran Church for our Condo Association meeting at 9:15 or so to help register. I had a proxy from our neighbor Dick Kastberg and drove another neighbor Jean Steiner to the meeting. It was quite successful a meeting. The budget was presented along with a summary of last year. The president gave her talk. We learned what to expect from the snow plowing crew. They are trying to accommodate everybody in a very small time frame but I believe the plan is good.

Home again, I fixed lunch, sealed up three of the four packages that have to go out for Christmas and took a nap before going to church at 4PM. It was a nice Mass. Fr. Van Beeck talked about St. John the Baptist again. These are the Gospels that tell about St. John's ministry to be the voice in the wilderness announcing Jesus.

The neat message that he had today was that we don't have to go off to foreign lands or convert a whole bunch of people to Jesus. All we have to do is be the best Mom, or Wife, or friend that we can be to the people we have contact with. To, as Jesus said, love one another as I have loved you. Then we have a shoo in to heaven.

Not as easy as it sounds.

Home again. We talked to Jim and Michelle tonight. They are baking Christmas cookies and have acquired a new puppy. A little girl called Mocha. We will be getting pictures soon.

That is the day. Tomorrow I will send pictures to kind of zip up the blog. Dont't want to bore you.

God love you

Mary

It was cold again today. It did get up into the teens but barely and that was a very short window.

Did all my early morning things and went to Aurora to see Dr. Murthy to have my blood pressure checked again. The nurse took it first. My left arm was fine 112/64 then she took the right arm and it was 158/80. She had never seen such a difference in her years of nursing. When Dr. Murthy came in, he took my right reading again and it had dropped to 138/80 which is perfectly acceptable. So, he asked lots of questions. We decided that I will check daily with our home blood pressure monitor and will see him in three weeks. He also gave me a little stronger anti depressant to take before I go to bed at night. He said it will take a few days to begin to work so I must be patient.

I stopped off at home before going to the dentist for my cleaning. That went well. As usual, Dr. Joe and the dental assistant said that I have good teeth and do a good job of caring for them. I can brag about something anyway.

After fixing Dick's lunch, a grilled cheese, I drove over to the Dairy Queen for lunch with my buddies. There were four of us and we are all having little struggles now. Especially, pray for my friend Betty's daughter, Amy, who will be having surgery on her larynx next Wednesday. She broke her food a couple of weeks ago and now this. Pray that it is not cancerous and that all goes well this close to Christmas.

Home again, I took a short nap and made the bed. Then, Dick and I went out on a dinner date to Sweet Basil. We are always happy with the meal and the service there. Dick had a fish fry. Because it is batter fried and that does not agree with me, I got the scallop special. We were both very happy, as usual. My friends, Joanne and Glen Huehns and their daughter and her husband came in. Joanne and I started Kindergarten and graduated from high school together so have been friends for a long time. I worked with Glen when he was manager of the Plymouth Branch of Wells Fargo.

We got home at about 6PM and have just been lazing around. Roxie is being very cuddly tonight. I realized that I needed to put a blanket on the cedar chest at the end of our bed for the kitty. I always had one for Oscar but had moved it. Lately Roxie is showing up during the night and I see her on the cedar chest, so might as well make it comfortable.

This morning was Diane Sawyer AND Chris Cuomo's last day on GMA. I will miss them both. Diane spoke of all of us as being her friends. After 10 years, we all feel like she is our friend. I am a GMA follower and have been for years. I am glad that George Stephanopoulis and Juju Chang are replacing the above two. It will be interesting to see how things develop. Still have Robin Roberts and Sam Champion so we won't be totally revamped. It is exciting to see Diane and Chris to move up in their fields and I am sure that neither of them will miss getting up at 4AM to check in to work.

Guess that's all for now. Catch you tomorrow.

God love you


Mary

It was Artic Cold today. When I got up it was 6 degrees. I never saw anything over 7 degrees on any of our thermometers. Chelsea surely must feel cheated the past couple of days - No walks in storms or when it is this cold. We just go outside the garage and she has to make due.

Joan, our cleaning lady, came at 8AM. She comes from Sheboygan and said that they had rain there yesterday so had much less snow. BUT they had more ice. Snow is better than ice.

I worked on Christmas cards today, I am about 2/3 done. Not too bad. This evening I wrapped most of the presents that have to be mailed and have begun to fit them into boxes. I intend to have both projects completed by next Tuesday.

This afternoon, I went to my friend Joan Kramer's home for a reflexology treatment. It sure felt good and Joan is hoping she massaged out some of the tension from my hips. I could really feel the problem while she was massaging the area that covers that in both my hands and feet and it did relax. However, there was one problem. Joan always takes blood pressure of the people she works on (she is an RN) and my pressure was rather high. So she took it when we were done and I was really relaxed and it was still high. This is NOT like me at all. I have always had low blood pressure. So I have an appointment to see Dr. Murthy in the morning to get it checked again. Weird. I don't like that though. Pray that it was just a fluke.

The best thing that happened today was that Bart called this morning to see how we were weathering the cold and ask about the snow. He sounded good, was waiting to see his doctor and nursing a Latte and is so very happy that Barbara will be home tomorrow evening. He said the kitties have been so very clingy, especially after he was gone those three weeks. They will go bonkers when Barbara walks in the door.

I am going to wrap a couple more presents and then go to bed.

God love you all

Mary

We were snowed in today. It snowed all night and left about 6 inches on the ground. All the schools and public offices were closed. I called at 8AM and told them that I would not be there for my dental appointment.

Tonight was our, (Mom and me) night for the Sheboygan Community players. Needless to say, we are not there. I left a message with the Theatre company. Haven't heard whether they put on a performance or not. But even if everything had been plowed, (which it was not. They just plowed out our driveway about a half an hour ago.) there is a cold spell following and I can't have Mother out in single digit temperatures.

SO - today, I finished decorating the tree and brought up the last of the Santas and Nativity scenes. Sad news, I cannot seem to locate my naked Santa. He has to be around here somewhere, but I can't find him anywhere.

I did a lot of cleaning too. I like to have clutter out of the way when Joan comes to do the floors.

Tonight is quiet. I am watching Shrek's Christmas show and then will begin winding down for the night. Richard and Brenda sent pictures of their snow. They had at least twice as much as we had and Richard is trying to save their Arbor Vitae from breaking with a long extension broom that he invented himself. Good luck, Richard.

So that was our day.

Tomorrow I intend to bake, and get things organized for sending the Christmas packages to the out-of-staters. I am figuring that if everything we order arrives, I should be able to go to the post office on Monday.

So that was today, busy but quiet. Hope that you had a cocoon day too and were able to take advantage of it.

God love you

Mary

Today was another marathon.

I was able to stay home until 10AM. I got a lot done during that time. I heard from Dr. Sokhi, who is trying to fix my tummy. He is pleased that, at least my stomach does not hurt at night anymore, and had prescribed another medication that he hopes will stop the pain during the rest of the day.

At 10AM, I went to Mass. It is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day in our church. I was able to go and did not have to face the weather we may be facing tomorrow, so I went. It was a nice Mass. The church was full. With the school kids and lots of adult members. I do enjoy Father Van Beeck's sermons to the children.

I went directly from Mass to the Sewing Basket and bought my Barbara's Christmas presents. Then I went to Walgreens to pick up my new prescription, a prescription for Dick and some real bargains that Walgreens had for sale. Got some really good prices on groceries and vitamins.

We had soup and quesadilla for lunch and then I took a nap.

At 2:00PM I got up, go the mail and then went to get a haircut. After the haircut I went to the Pig to do the grocery shopping because it is supposed to be REALLY bad out there tomorrow and Dick wanted me to have that chore all done.

So. It IS all done. But I am exhausted. I am supposed to have a dentist appointment at 9AM tomorrow morning. I will look at the streets when Chelsea gets me up at "the Good Lord Knows When" during the night. Mother already told me that she does not want to chance going out for the play tomorrow night. If it is as bad as they say, the play may be cancelled anyway. I don't want to go if it is dangerous either. Sufficient unto the day.

This morning I put a small venison roast in the slow cooker and used my Venison Beer stew recipe to cook it. It worked just fine. Boy is that a good meal. And to think that for years I could not make a good stew to save my soul. Oh. Well. I have this one and one other which is much more labor intensive but good.

Well, I am going to watch, A Year Without A Santa Claus, and have a cup of tea until it is time to go to bed.

Stay safe in all of this bad weather. It seems to be all over the country.

God love you all.

Mary

A usual busy Monday.

It had snowed all night. It was supposed to stop by 9:15, but kept on falling until afternoon. It was not too deep, but we did get between 3 and 4 inches. When I was driving to Falls, it was pretty slippery. I had to put air in my right rear tire which was recording a bit low. I drove between 40 and 45 all the way. There was no wind so there was no drifting, but it was pretty slippery. I slid out a bit once but I was not going fast enough to lose control. By the time bible study was over, the roads were well traveled and plowed and it was no longer slippery.

We were only short three people at bible study. One of our members had surgery so we all prayed especially for her. Jesus walked on water in our reading today. So we had a lot to talk about with that.

Then I went over to Mother's with her prescriptions. We had a nice visit as usual. Wednesday night is supposed to be the Community Play. It looks like there will be a big storm coming in. In that case, we will not be able to go. Too dangerous for Mom and Dick would be very unhappy if I go out too.

Mom said that Sara wants to learn how to make the Christmas Wreath Stolen that Mom made for years and years and years. She actually got the recipe from my Grandma Deeley. She has not made it for the past two years because it is too hard for her to roll it out. I made it those years but am still perfecting mine. Last year I did not roll it out thin enough.

Anyway, Mom gave Sara the recipe. Sara will mix up the dough on the 19th and then bring it over to Mother's on the 20th and they will finish it together. Jessie may join them. Mother is delighted and I think it is just wonderful that their generation is wanting to carry on the traditions. Besides it is a great stolon.

Dick had to go to the anti coagulation clinic today. His blood is just a smidge thin, so Deb adjusted the meds and we will go back in two weeks to check it out.

Then home again and I put the last of the decorations on the tree. I just have to put the garland and icicles on. So. I should be able to finish tomorrow. Then I just need to get the last of the Nativities and my Santas up.

Tonight was the Rhine Plymouth Annual meeting. It was election night. Greg Reich will be our new president. I agreed to serve on the board if elected. I didn't vote for myself, but still got in. I agreed to that because it just means a time commitment of an extra hour at each of the regular meetings. I think I told you that Sara Behr, an active member who had served in many capacities, resigned last month. Well, her husband, Dennis and his brothers, resigned as of the end of the year also. They were hard workers and will be missed. We have, however, recently gained a nice number of new members from the ranks of the parents of the high school kids. Family memberships which I believe will really help the club and by bringing in the high school kids too, insure that we will go on.

I will be working a shoot at the club on Sunday and am making a big pot of chili. We figure it will be cold and chili will be a good treat for everybody. Maybe I'll bake something too.

Guess that is all for tonight. Would you believe, we forgot the Packer Game was on. We have it on now and just watched Rogers throw a pass to Driver for a second touchdown. The score is 17/0. Yippee!!

God love you all.

Mary

A nice stay at home day after all the excitement of the weekend. I did go to Mass at 9:30AM. It was a nice Mass. I met my friend Ceil, who had surgery last week, in the parking lot. He daughter drove her to Mass as she is still not supposed to drive. She looks good though. She said that she should be able to drive next Thursday, but I told her that I should probably pick her up and drive her to our weekly Dairy Queen lunch.

The rest of the day was quiet. I rested after lunch, but did some decorating of the tree and also sent a memo to my Celtic Women in Sheboygan.

We had chicken, veggie loaf and salad for lunch. And miscellaneous leftovers for our supper. And that was the day.

I am ready for an early night. The week ahead is filling up already. So far Thursday is the only day without anything on the agenda. So I think I need to get as much sleep as I can tonight so I am ready for what is coming.

Take care and God Love You All.

Mary

This was a very up day for me. I spent the morning baking bread and getting things around here so that I could spend most of the morning on Celtic Women.

I got to the Plymouth History Museum a bit before 12:30PM to begin setting up for the Celtic tea. It was a smash. We had a full house. Most of the Sheboygan County Celtic Women came with treats to share. The members of the CWI board were there to sell raffle tickets and brag up our organization. Two women came up to me and are interested in being part of the group.

Jim Wilsing was our entertainment. He brought his keyboard which he has programed to play and then he accompanies himself on the whistle. He spends wonderful time telling the history of the songs and how he found them and also showing the different whistles and explaining how they are made and how their sounds differ and have quality.

We had the annual meeting after the program was over. That is done. We have a complete board again and the standing committees are in place. A good way to start the new CWI year.

I am content.

Bobbie came to the program. The first time I have seen her since she broke the wrist. Bill dropped her off and picked her up. She and Bill came by the condo and dropped off a couple of things on the way. Dick was so glad to see Bobbie and that she is OK. Chelsea was beside herself. She just loves them.

Tomorrow, except for church, I will be able to stay home all day. I intend to just kind of laze around and get rested up for the week ahead.

God love you

Mary

A full day culminating with a very productive board meeting of the Celtic Women International group.

I started off, after the normal early morning chores, by baking Lizzies. I decided that since I had contributed the recipe to our annual Holiday booklet, I would bring some to the board meeting for the members to try.

Than I put my Tom Clark Nativity set under the tree. Chelsea keeps going under the tree. I would not deny her that pleasure, but she keeps digging at the tree skirt and I don't want her to ruin it. I used the Tom Clark set because those figures are rather large, are unbreakable and don't tip over easily.

I had lunch with Betty and Joyce at the Dairy Queen this noon and ran a couple of errands. It was good to visit with some of the ladies, I have been so committed to doctors and other things for the past several months and haven't been able to do so too often lately.

Dick took a very long nap today while his computer was scanning. The virus that he had the week before Thanksgiving seems to have come back and he is trying to cure it by running the Norton scan and whatever Richard did when he was here over Thanksgiving.

When I left for lunch he was asleep so I left him a note that I would bring him a burger and fries. He was still sleeping when I got back, so I let him sleep himself out and then heated it all up for him. I hope he can sleep tonight.

I met the CWI gals, Sheila Isakson, Gail Mc Aleese, Rosemary Baumann, Maureen Smith and Betty Gavin at Dee O Malley's while they were eating and ordered a veggie pizza for myself. Brought part of it home too. It is delicious but way too much for me. Janet Bieshke joined us in time to walk back to the Plymouth Inn for our meeting.

We did a LOT. We reviewed the suggested by law revision and have it ready for tomorrow. We reviewed the nominations for board and the standing committees. AND - we collated the Holiday booklets. I was able to stay til the booklet was all collated and being stapled and folded for tomorrow.

So tomorrow, I need to do a little coordinating and bake the brown bread and I will be ready for the Christmas Tea. I have to be at the Plymouth History Museum at 12:30PM to help with the setup. The annual meeting will follow at the Plymouth Inn at least we hope it will be at the Plymouth Inn. Otherwise, we will come here and use our family room. That would work in a pinch.


So, my day is ending. Chelsea is up to her old tricks. I got home shortly before 10 and she had asked to go out three times, the last time was a waste of time.

Have a lovely weekend and God love you all.

Mary

When I woke up this morning, Dick was asleep. This does not happen too often, so I just left him along and went about my business. At 7:30AM, I decided that I might as well get the grocery shopping done, so I left a note for Dick on his wheelchair and off I went. There are not many people at the store at that hour and I got done very quickly and was home by 8:30. Dick was beginning to wake up.

I had purchased two donuts for our breakfast as it was early enough and just plain sounded good. He eventually got up and ate his breakfast too.

Mother and I went to Gibbsville for our Christmas shopping this morning. I picked her up at 10AM. We were back at her house by 11:AM feeling very smug as most of our Christmas shopping is now done and we have a nice supply of cheese for our own selves.
I got a package of ends, some Doppler Swiss, some Gibbsville 4 year old aged Cheddar and a vegetable garlic cheese. That ought to last us til Christmas when we will have our cheese package from Mother. Tee Hee. I know what I am getting from her.

I was home in time to fix a good lunch. We had turkey in gravy with mashed potatoes, vegetable and cranberry relish. After lunch, I laid down for about an hour an a half. Boy was Roxie pleased with me. She is getting to depend on that nap.

Shortly after I woke up, the phone rang. It was our Bobbie. She fell at the ice skating rink this morning and broke her wrist. Poor baby, is in a plaster cast for at least 10 days to 2 weeks and cannot get it wet or use it. So, she will not be coming out to work on wine tomorrow as originally planned. She needs to rest and probably will be really hurting tomorrow when the medication wears off. I will just do what needs to be done until she can get out again.

Now, all I have to do is change the bandages on Dick's wounds and help him clean up and I will be done for the evening.

I am slowly putting Christmas things out. Slowly, as I don't have a lot of time and don't want to over extend myself.

God love you all.

Take care of yourselves.

Mary

Bobbie and I drove to Hartford, WI today to the WB Place to take the three deer hides that the guys were so generous to give to me. Things have changed since I was there last.

The last time I was there was two years ago. Then, you brought in the hides, they were marked, you paid, and in five to six months, after you almost forgot they existed, you got a package with the hides all tanned and ready. ]

Now - you trade in the hides, for a fee, and receive right away a replacement already tanned hide. How easy is that. I had three hides that cost me just over $100.00. Now I have 8 altogether. I only need 4-7 for a jacket. The one I want will use at least 6. So I will have enough for a matching purse and some driving gloves too.

I figure that next year some time, we will be able to squeeze in the cost for the jacket and other things. Yippee.

Once I get it, it will be like my wool coat from Ireland and way outlive me. I probably can will it to somebody.

We got back to Sheboygan at about 2PM so I stopped at Walmart for a couple of things and then at Fleet for nuts and candied and dried fruits for my Christmas baking.

Chelsea was a happy girl today. I had to go out one more time to pick up a prescription for Dick and I let her ride along to Walgreens with me. Boy was she excited. It takes so little to make that sweet little dog happy. It is so hard to believe that she is almost 16 years old. Wonder how long we will have her with us. Sometimes, when she is really bugging me, I feel guilty because I do wonder that. But I get tired too.

Bobbie will be here on Thursday for lunch (liver and onions for us) and to work on the wine. She is also bringing two stewing chickens she got for making soup or chicken stew during the winter.

Tomorrow Mother and I are going to Gibbsville. Good thing, I have allowed our cheese to get down to about none and we need to restock. Also the Christmas presents need to be ordered.

Take care and sleep well.

God love you

Mary

Another PreChristmas busy day. Bible study at 9:30AM. There were 7 of us there. We had a lively discussion of the story of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes that fed 5000 men. We talked about how Jesus felt sorry for all these people who had followed him and told his disciples to feed them. Then the 5 loaves and 2 fishes fed them all. It was Jesus' love and sympathy that did it.

Kathy Keyes told a beautiful story today. She works at Mary's Room. Mary's room tries to provide diapers and food to mothers who are having difficulty making ends meet. She said that often these women come in very demanding, like the free items are owed to them.

However, last Monday a young woman came in with her baby. She told them that she is totally alone. She is in her early 20s and had her baby alone. The baby is of mixed race and Kathy said he is adorable. But this woman told them that the baby's father totally turned her away and her parents will not talk to her and refuse to accept the baby. She loves her son and is trying but is so alone and depressed.

There was another lady in there asking for supplements to her family, also mixed race. Her husband has been ill and they are really short of things. She came for diapers and food for her three month old. She had a toddler with her who was stroking the other woman's baby and cooing and playing with him.

The second lady asked for a pen and paper. She wrote her name, number and address on the paper and gave it to the first lady. Then she told her that she would like her and her baby to join them for Thanksgiving. She said that obviously, her daughter loved the baby and they would be welcome. Then she went out into her car and got a $10 dollar bill and gave it to the lonely mother so that she would not run out of food or diapers for her baby boy.

Talk about the widow's mite. This was goodness in action and Kathy said it made all her hours at Mary's room worth the time.

Next stop was Mom's . Mom had an ear doctor appointment. Jeff took her. He helped me wrap up the deer hides in paper and put them in a box. Tomorrow Bobbie and I will take them to Hartford to WB leather for tanning. I know that I will have more than enough now to make a nice deer hide coat. As I told Jeff. I will take them there and leave them. Then when one has almost forgotten that one left them there, they suddenly arrive by UPS. It is like Christmas in March or April.

Home again, we got Dick all cleaned up for his doctor appointment. Dr. Moreno looked at his wounds and said that they are much better. We now have a new topical medicine and will only have to change it once a day for two days and then once every three days until we go back to see Dr. Moreno in two weeks.

That was all I had to do today. Now it is time to wind down for the night. I am sure glad. I am tired. Boy is that new bed nice though. I really had trouble getting myself to crawl out of bed this morning. There never seems to be enough time to rest.

Do you believe that tomorrow is December 1st already? I can't and my Christmas schedule is hopelessly behind. There is an old saying that goes. The hurrider I go the behinder I get.

God love you

Mary

The new bed sleeps SO fine. I felt comfortable all night, well supported but soft enough. Dick said it is OK for him too. He can get his leg on and off without a step - at least so far.

We got to stay home all day. Dick slept most of the morning.

I sent out several E mails, cleaned my desk, fixed lunch and did some wash.

We did some catalog Christmas shopping today too. So it was a quiet Sunday, just the way it should be.

Nothing to write about either so, as it is now close to bedtime, I think I will just take Chelsea out for her walk and hit the hay.

Til tomorrow

All my love

Mary

It was an eventful day.

Our new bed arrived early. At about 9AM. The two men who brought it were very efficient. They were in and out of her in less than 1/2 hour. They took out the whole old mattress, box frame and the pump system and got our new bed and box spring on just like that. I hurried like heck to vacuum under the bed so as not to hold them up. I am SO looking forward to crawling in tonight. Dick got to try it already. He took a nap this afternoon and said it was just fine. The only trouble he might have is trying to get his prosthesis on as the bed is somewhat higher than the old one. We are going to find something for a little boost for the leg if it presents a problem.

I put the outside decorations up this afternoon. Boy do I have a problem. I can't get the outlet on the porch to work. The timer works just fine. The lights are working OK. But the outlet will not work. I checked all the switches, the breaker and just don't know what else to check. If anybody has any suggestions, let me know. The lights are there but out. I put the Santa Hat on my wood totem and I have my candles in the window. One for every week in Advent. We have the Advent Calendar up and the candy and candy canes are on it. I checked out the wreathes and got them hung too. So except for the tree and other indoor decorations I got a lot done.

I called Jacquie and Bart today also. Jacquie and the family are doing OK. She and Margaret were looking through pictures for a DVD for the memorial which is not scheduled yet. As there is no funeral and George was cremated, there is not rush for final plans.

Bart is OK but will be so glad when Barbara is home. She will be back on December 11. One more weekend of trips to see family in Germany, then home. Not a bit too soon for Bart.

I went to Mass at 4PM so tomorrow I get to stay home all day. I am so very glad that I will have that day as the rest of the week is stacking up to be pretty busy.

Take care and enjoy your Sunday too.

God love you

Mary

Sorry I did not post last night. By the time I got done with the day. After cooking off and all all day and eating and visiting with Bobbie and Bill and Brenda and Richard all evening, I suddenly was So tired that I just crawled in bed and went to sleep.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. Would that we ALL could not have been together. But Jim and Michelle, and Michelle's brother, Jim, joined Bart in Lawton for Thanksgiving and they said that Bart did himself proud with the dinner he put on. Michelle brought a cheesecake for their dessert so they ate like royalty. As did we. We had turkey, potatoes, veggie nut loaf, squash, Brussels Sprouts, cranberry relishes and pumpkin pie made from a pie pumpkin.

I hope that those we did not hear from did as well. I know that Bret is celebrating tomorrow at the river with a pot luck with all of his friends. He is designated pies which he can buy and cook in his mobile home.

Today was a double busy day. It is the annual deer butchering day and we had four deer to butcher today. I got there at about 9:30AM and took some pictures. They guys had two of the deer already skinned. So. Down into the basement we went to get started with be cutting up. We finished at about 4PM. Not to bad for four deer, and they were not small ones. Bobbie always comes to help. They give me a smaller portion (I have not gotten a deer myself so do not get a full portion.) I share it with Bobbie as we help butcher. They are glad to share as we do a lot of work. It is enough for us anyway. I also have a really nice neck roast that I will cook for the Wild Game Dinner in February.

So. it is almost 6:30PM now. Dick and I have eaten. I am ready to dress his wounds and then be done for the evening . I want to hit the bed at 9PM EXACTLY and sleep.

Tomorrow our new bed will be delivered and I have to do some unhooking and stuff before they come.

Michelle and Jim called last evening and we were all able to talk to them. All is Ok except that they had a close call with their dog, who they think got into some chocolate. Jim is in training for his new job with AFLAC. Now it all starts. The first few months and into the first year are the hardest in sales, then it becomes a matter of patience. Good luck, Jim, we are rooting for you.

Bill and Richard brought up our Christmas tree from the basement and Brenda, Bobbie and Richard got it all fluffed up and made sure the lights are working, so all I have to do is decorate it. It looks pretty just like it is, but just you wait. Tomorrow I will put the lights on the front porch and the wreaths on the garage. Then my outdoor decorating will be done.

Hope all is well with you and that your Thanksgiving was as good as ours.

God love you

Mary

I feel like I am on a treadmill.

This morning was grocery shopping. I forgot two things and had to pick them up in the afternoon, but was home by 10AM and spent the morning preparing the mashed potatoes for tomorrow. We had a can of Dinty Moore beef stew for our lunch, then I napped. I was at the Amputee Support group meeting at 2PM. We had a really nice meeting. A contingency from Ballhorn came to present information on pre-planning for one's funeral. It was very interesting. Then we had our Christmas party. We exchanged gifts and snacked. Rocky Knoll always provide us with a snack and coffee and ice water. This time it was cookies. I brought Buckeyes as I had told everybody that it was not Christmas without them. I ended up having to send the recipe to Janice Lemkuil to share with the group. They agreed that they are wonderful. Somebody asked why they are called Buckeyes. It is because when they are dipped a portion is uncovered and this constitutes the Buckeye.

I got home, after stopping to pick up the two things I forgot and a prescription at about 3:30PM. My house was all vacuumed and scrubbed. Is that ever nice.

Then I cleaned the Brussels sprouts and the butternut squash for tomorrow.

So tomorrow is thanksgiving and I am ready as I can be. We will not be eating until 5 or 6PM as Richard and Brenda are arriving at sometime between 4 and 5. So I have all day to finish everything else. It will be so good to have everyone that is in Wisconsin here. I wish we would win the lottery and I could get EVERYONE here. I miss those that are gone and really appreciate those that are here.

That care and have the happiest Thanksgiving.

God Love You

Mary

What a day. The morning was busy with just the morning things. I had one thing to add to the morning. CHELSEA GOT HER BATH. She was not happy with me but she was SO dirty and I want her halfway clean for Thanksgiving. She looks very pretty now. I know that she could care less but I like her to look good.

At 10ish, I left to take cookies to the Plymouth Historical Museum for their cookie sale. (I talked to Kate tonight and she said that my cookies are a real hit.) I went from there over to Sheboygan Falls to finish up and mail Mom's Senior Care form.

Home again, we had the last of the escalloped potatoes for our lunch, then I napped. I was exhausted and slept for over an hour and a half. I straightened up and dusted downstairs. Roxie was not happy with me for not settling down there. She likes to be down in the den but only when I am there.

So again we are to the end of the day. All the creatures seem to be tired. Soon, after Dancing with the Stars, I will to to bed. There is much to do tomorrow. Shopping, some cooking and I will be going to the Amputee Support Group Meeting. I hope Dick will go some day, but with the wounds on his leg, I am sure this is not the month. Don't anybody panic, but I am bringing a dozen or so of the Peanut Butter Buckeyes for a treat at our Christmas Party. I need to wrap a present too.

Take care. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving. Are You? If you are looking for a place to eat. We will have LOTS of food.

God Love You

Mary

Bible Study this morning. There was a good group there. Our Ione was back after being too ill to come for a few weeks so we welcomed her. One of our other members, Helen, will be having a mastectomy on December 7th. We well be lifting her up in prayer, especially that day when we will be meeting for our study. I ask you to pray also. If the cancer has not spread beyond the tumor, she may not even need chemo.

Then I went to Mom's for a visit. She is doing well and I have a couple of little things to do for her tomorrow. On the way home, I stopped at Walgreens for a prescription for Dick.

We had lunch and I called Barbara in Germany. I had talked to Bart on Sunday to tell him about his Uncle George Hiner passing but wanted to be sure that Barbara knew also. She will be home in less than three weeks. Not soon enough for Bart but that is what is not really long at all after what they have gone through. I think being with her those three weeks made him realize how much he does miss her. Pray for them too.

After lunch, I took Dick to Sheboygan Memorial for a visual swallowing test. We are trying to determine why he chokes. This did not show anything from what the technician said, but we will wait for the word from the doctor. On the way home, we stopped at Plymouth Aurora for Dick's blood check. All is just fine. We had to check because he is on antibiotics and that can thin things. He needs to be checked again in two weeks.

Home again, I started putting things away and just organizing. In two more days it will be Thanksgiving and there is a lot to do. There will be just six of us for dinner this year. Dick and me, Bobbie and Bill and Richard and Brenda. I am so looking forward to it.

Jim and Michelle will be spending Thanksgiving with Bart and Adam and his family.

Tonight was the CWI Board telephone conference. We had our majority so were able to proceed with all the business. We will be having our annual meeting after the Sheboygan Branch's Christmas Tea. It Annual Meeting will be either here at my house or at the Plymouth Inn down the street from the History Museum where the Tea will be held. So I have a busy next couple of weekends.

Now the day is coming to a close and I, as usual, am ready to come to a close also. Tomorrow will be cleaning and a bit of food prep.

Take care and God Love You All

Mary

A busy quiet day at home. Except for going to Mass at 9:30AM, I did not have to leave the neighborhood.

It was quite a day. Not the most pleasant of days. Mass was very nice. Fr. Van Beeck gave a nice sermon and I saw several friends after the service. I had changed Dick's bandages before Mass so the rest of the day should have been pretty quiet, Right?

I made a batch of cookies for the Plymouth History Museum Cookie sale and prepared a really good Ham and Potato Casserole for our lunch.

Then, as we were finishing dinner,suddenly, without a here do well, or whatever that expression is, Chelsea just started wetting on the carpet. Needless to say, I dragged her outside to finish, telling her what a bad girl she is, despite the fact that she cannot hear a thing. We are baffled. She had not asked to go outside at all. Perhaps she had too much water, or is getting senile. We will be watching her like a hawk from now on.

Then I got a call from Jacquie, my ex sister in law. My ex brother in law, George, passed away yesterday morning in his sleep. He had been on home hospice for just two days when he passed. So sad, my nephew, Todd, is devastated. It is a hard thing to lose a Dad. I know. Please pray for that family. George is to be cremated and his ashes scattered. There will be a military ceremony a the scattering. Details are to follow. I called Bret and Bart today to tell them, to save dear Jacquie some calls. Please pray for George and his family. This is such a hard time.

I got to talk to both of my boys today but not with good news. Bart is looking forward to Barbara returning home on December 11th for good. He is glad to be home but it is not good for him to be so far from her.

Bret figured that something must have happened when I called because he had called just the other day.

The Packers won today and I am not doing too badly in the Fantasy Football league. I did take a nap this afternoon but am still very tired tonight probably partly because of yesterday's hunt.

Tomorrow will also be a busy day. So I will sign off now. Take care and have a great week.

God Love you

Mary

 

The hunting party from the south side of the road.

Back Row: Jeff, Lee, Randy and Shane and Cory peeking out in the front.

Love

Mary

 

Here are Jeff and me with the deer.

 

I'll send the other two pictures also.

Opening day and I have a tale for you which will be accompanied by a picture.

To start with, I overslept. I THOUGH that I had set the alarm clock for 4:45AM. But I goofed somehow and woke up at 5:09AM. I jumped out of bed like a shot and ran around like crazy. Fortunately, I had put almost everything that was not going on my body into the car last night. BUT I had to get dressed, feed and medicine the animals, take Chelsea out and gather the last things on my list.

I was out of the house by 5:20AM. I can't believe it either. Dick felt bad. He was not looking at the clock at all- he knew that I had "set" the alarm and wasn't even thinking about it and he was up too.

I got out the the site JUST on time. Everybody was ready and we all walked in together after our last minute instructions from Jeff. He always gives the pep talk. Have fun and be safe are the main instructions.

Jeff took me to the new site which is as I said, much closer to the road and close to his stand. I got all settled in, loaded my gun and waited for dawn. It was beautiful out there today. I watched a special star that was peeking down through the tree branches fade as day came in. It was a long wait. I always bread up the wait by saying my rosary, snacking, singing songs in my head and working on the bones of a poem. I can do those things while watching for deer.

Then shortly after 10, I heard rustling going on over to my right. I shifted my body slightly and brought my gun up to be ready to site it in. Then over the hill broke a gorgeous buck. He was big and had a perfect rack. As Dick and I would say - Bambi's Dad. I shouldered quickly and took my first shot. I missed. He shot down the hill in front of me. I chambered another shell and fired again. I missed. I chambered and got one more shot off before I no longer had a clean shot. And MISSED again.

A few minutes later I heard a shot from that direction and a few minutes more another one. So I was praying that someone in our party had brought it down. A few minutes later, I saw Jeff (orange is hard to miss) off that way. He called me on the cell and he had indeed got it. He is calling it our deer because if I had not shot, it would not have gone that way and set up for him. I got to see the gutting process for the first time and I brought the liver and heart home with me to clean. I will divide the liver, which is huge, up for Cory, Randy, Shane, Mother and me and I get to keep the heart.

Then I headed out to the car. It was about noon. I got in the car and tried to drive out. I had pulled off the road onto a kind of soft shoulder that had been built up with gravel. I got stuck. So after trying to call Jeff, who had his phone on vibrate and I guess I didn't vibrate hard enough, I walked back to his stand. Randy was there too and came out with me to drive the car out. He had little trouble. Brothers are sure wonderful creatures. And so handy to have around.

So. I was home at about 12:30. I showered, ate and napped for an hour and a half. I fixed a pizza for our supper and when the guys got to Mothers to hang the deer I drove on over for pictures. I will put them on tonight for you to see. Lee got a nice doe and Jason and his party have three deer. So - at this point we will be butchering 5 on Friday.

That is all for tonight. I have to change Dick's bandages and then get to bed. Tired city at this house.

God Love You

Mary

This was a very disjointed day. The morning started off OK.

I got the buckeyes all dipped in the chocolate. Always good to get that done. We all know how important buckeyes are to the holidays.

Then I went to the Plymouth Clinic for my appointment with Dr. Fehrman, the surgeon who operated on my knee. I told him all the problems. I was able to tell him that the pain does not get worse when I am walking, which was the main reason I went ahead with the surgery. I could not walk the pain off. But the knee is still so sore, especially when I get up from sleeping or sitting. He said that it could still settle down, that he riled up some arthritis when he was in there, repairing, and also arthritis is progressive. So It my not have finished healing yet. I have to keep exercising, but be careful not to overdo, use pain meds (Tylenol etc, when needed) and hang in there.

I left there for Kohler. Met Bobbie at Woodlake and we took the shuttle over to the American Club where we had a lovely lunch at the Horse and Plow and then walked over to the American Club for the Annual Christmas Market. It was fun. We did not buy much but saw a lot of really neat things and enjoyed the day.

Then I spent an hour or so running back and forth between the Walgreens in Plymouth and Glander Drug Store. I went to Walgreens to pick up the medicine that Dr. Moreno wanted me to put on Dick's open wounds. They did not have it in stock but DID have a prescription for an antibiotic that Dr. Moreno had called in because the blood test showed a slight infection. The pharmacist checked around and found out that the closest pharmacy where I could get the wound medicine was Glander in Sheboygan. So off I went.

I was just pulling into the parking lot when Dick called. Dorothy from Dr. Moreno's office had called. With the antibiotic, he is not to use the medicine that I drove to Sheboygan for but, instead, a ointment that she had called into Walgreens in Plymouth. So I turned around and tooled back to Plymouth, picked up the prescription and came home.

I am exhausted. Tomorrow is opening day of deer hunting. I am basically all ready and intend to be in bed by 8:30 as I have to get up by 4:45AM to get out into the woods by 5:35AM. I just have to get dressed, feed critters and walk Chelsea.

Dick and Kate are both going to be available to walk Chelsea during the morning. I am staying out until noon. I think that will be long enough as I am really worn down these days. Cross your fingers that I finally get my deer. I have put in my time.

Til tomorrow then with, I hope an exciting announcement.

God Love You

Mary

We had an appointment at Dr. Marino's office at 10:45AM. So, we left here at about 10:15AM, shortly after Joan, the cleaning lady finished. When we got there, Dr. Marino was running late. Guess what, he was a new daddy a couple of days ago and ended up getting overbooked today. We weren't on any schedule so it didn't bother us too much.

I congratulated him and asked him what the new boy's name is. He said it is still pending. Apparently, they can't agree. He said they are running it by the other kids too.

Anyway, he ordered a blood test to determine if there is any infection in that leg. We are now using a petrolatum dressing called Xeroform on the sores. If there is an infection he will order an antibiotic. We did not hear this afternoon so I suppose it will be tomorrow morning.

After we left there, we stopped at Nino's for lunch. We both had steak. Nino still makes a super steak. Linda, the owner, still remembers me from Optimist days.

When we got home, I made the peanut butter buckeyes (they still need to be dipped but they are mixed and rolled.) and the cranberry relish. That can be made WAY ahead of time and keeps well.

Tomorrow, Bobbie and I are going to the Kohler Christmas Market at the American Club. I have an appointment with Dr. Fehrman about my knee too. I am afraid that my knee is as good as it will ever be and I must just learn to suck it up. Just like Dr. Ganju told me to do with the pain in my side. Frankly, I sometimes wonder why I bother going to doctors. I can probably get pretty good at telling myself to just put up with it.

Oh well, you don't want to hear my problems.

Bret called tonight. I had not talked to him for quite some time. He is really busy, working sometimes two extra days in the week just to stay even. However, He and his friends are going out to the River for Thanksgiving. They will have their celebration of Friday or Saturday. He is in charge of the pies.

We started talking about dogs, Chelsea first. Then got onto Zero. He was one special dog. Bret remembered how funny he was. There were times that Bret would start eating something sitting on the sofa. Zero would jump up next to him and wait. If it took too much time Zero would fall asleep sitting and slumped on the sofa. He was a weird little guy.

Guess that is all for now. Take care and have a nice Friday.

God love you

Mary

Today was a day that I was busy ALL day. First, I had to be at Motorville in Sheboygan to have the Passat serviced. It has to be done at either about a year or 10,000 miles. Well, it has been almost a year but I am nowhere near the 10,000 miles.

Actually I called the dealership when I got a reminder from the company to schedule a 10,000 checkup a couple of months ago. I got a big chuckle when I told the receptionist that I only had a little over 4000 miles on the car and she said, "Well, you just get out there and drive, Girl."

So today, I took it in. It took MUCH longer than I would have thought, almost an hour and a half so it must be in perfect shape now. They did wash it for me too. I had brought my copy of Mary Pat Kelly's Galway Bay to read while I was waiting so I was not bored.

I went directly from there to the Holiday In Express for an informational meeting about AARP Medicare Complete from Secure horizons. I learned enough to make my decision about next year's supplemental insurance for both Dick and me.

Then I came home and fixed lunch for Dick and myself before heading over to the bank to cash a check for Mother and then to the gas station to fill up the tank and finally to the Pig to do my grocery shopping. The new expanded liquor department is open. When I went in to check it out, noone was there except the clerk and noone came in until I started checking out all of my groceries. Usually, I do the shopping in two stages if I am getting wine. I do the grocery shopping, load it into the car and then go back in to the liquor department for the wine.

Anyway, that was my exciting day. I got home between 2:30 and 3PM, put the groceries away and then took Chelsea for a little bit of a walk. I did that so she would not be bugging me every 20 minutes to be taken outside.

That was the end of my real work. I have spent time on paperwork for the insurance, CWI and writing. But it is nice to be just sitting at my desk to do that.

The other day I was remembering planting roses in our yard in Santa Ana Heights, CA. Bret was about 4 years old. We had a pet rabbit in a cage in the back yard. I don't know why, we always seemed to end up with animals that noone else wanted. Her name was Thumper and I believe she was a refugee from a day care center. Anyway, she produced wonderful manure. Especially for rosebushes as long as you did not get it too heavy around the roots which could burn them.

Bret liked the pictures of the roses on the packages and asked if one could be his. Of course, I said yes and we started planting. I dug a deep hole, then went and got a shovel full of the rabbit doo doo and put it in the hole. Bret looked at me like I was nuts. I filled in dirt and then planted the rose. He said. I don't want that one. I'll take the next one. As it ended up, he didn't want any. Rabbit poop roses were not his cup of tea.

Have a nice Thursday

God love you

Mary

I cooked that ham that got me the free turkey, eggs and sausage today. Boy is that a good ham. Since I had invited my friend Bob over to look at sheep. (He just wanted ideas for an altar cloth that he plans to design for Grace Episcopal Church in memory of his partner, Steve Naffin, who was also my friend.)

Then Bobbie needed to come by to take a specific gravity on a wine we had bottled so she could estimate the alcoholic content. I told her she might as well come for lunch too. It is nice to have a full table. Since Bill works at Grace and Bobbie did gardening there this summer, they had some common bonds anyway.

I added Irish Herbed Potatoes, cabbage and mushrooms and a nice green salad. We had the Ricotta cheese pie for dessert.

Nice to have a table full of people. I can hardly wait for Thanksgiving. There will be six whole people then.

That is about all I did today. Dick's legs still look pitiful and I was out of the salve so I called Dr. Moreno's office and we will go in on Thursday to have the Doctor look at it. I also picked up some more salve.

Just for a laugh - from the Reader's Digest by a Carol Howard

"The highlight of our zoo trip was a peacock showing off its plumage. My four year old son was particularly taken with it. That evening he couldn't wait to tell his father: 'Dad, Guess what! I saw a Christmas tre come out of a chicken!' "

God love you

Mary

A full Full day today.

Since I have had to add dressing the wounds on Dick's legs to the morning routine, it is even more crowded than before. BUT I got out of her to head for Bible Study at exactly 9AM which was necessary because I had to stop at Walgreen's for a prescription for Mother.

There were nine of us there. Only two of our regular's missing. They are both experiencing health problems. Please say a prayer for Helen and Ione if you get a chance. They would really appreciate it. We finished Mark, chapter 5 and started chapter 6 today. We covered two events. First, Jesus going home to His own town and finding all of His neighbors saying, who does he think he is. He is just the carpenter. The second section we read was the first sending of missionaries. Jesus sent His disciples out to preach.

Mom's was next. I took her some of the food that I had cooked over the weekend. I also took along the folders that I have with genealogical information on the Uelmens, the Bowsers and the Cliffords. Aunt Kathleen was wanting the information on the Uelmens and I had extra copies. As I told Mom, my big push now is to find out where Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Deeley came from and where exactly Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Clifford came from in Ireland. Mary Pat Kelly said that she will help me. She said that if she found the right Michael Kelly, I ought to be able to find a David Deeley and a Jeramiah Clifford. One would think. Anyway she is sending me a web site that I can do an inquiry on. Then they will tell me what they will charge to find it for me. I am encouraged. I did call my cousin Doug to ask for some information he has or at least says he has. I will forward that along with what I know for sure. What I know for sure is what I got from Grandpa Deeley's biography. Short but quite full of information.

Anyway, she and I solved a lot of problems, as we always do.

We were talking about how people can surprise you and that one should not judge another. She mentioned a story that she had told me before that is really sweet. When Mom and Dad had plumbing put in the house, they had to put in a septic tank and system as there was no sewer on that street which was outside of the city of Sheboygan Falls. At. that time, Route 2 was all the address you needed to get a letter to us.

Anyway, Dad hired a buy to dig the pit for the septic tank. He was a rough and ready guy who did odd jobs and hard work like this for a living. As part of his wage, Mom fed him lunch every day. My brother Tim was just a little baby then. One day at lunch, this man asked Mother if it would be all right if he held Tim. So Mom handed her baby over to this man who gently held that little baby while he ate his lunch.

That reminded me of a friend of mine, Crazy Karl Kendall. Karl was a carpenter and just a guy's guy. But when I brought Bart home from the hospital and I was exhausted, Karl was willing to take that little guy and change his diaper for me if he was around. I understand that Karl is very ill too so a prayer for him, my friend, would also be appreciated.

I got home in time to fix lunch and get to the Cream City Writers. There were just five writers and Don's wife at the meeting today. Next month we will have our Christmas gathering. We decided to meet at Antoinette's, write something for the holiday and exchange a gift that costs no less than $5 an no more than $10. I said that I would make the reservations at Antoinette's.

I stopped at Kate's on my way home and left her the Share order for next month. She said she will pick up the order on Saturday as I will be out deer hunting and be unable to do so. She said she will bring it over here and put things in the downstairs freezer for me. And , I asked her to walk Miss Chelsea for me as it will be about 9:30AM or so and Chelsea will be ready. What would one do without friends. Her Riley cat is looking absolutely wonderful. He was hit by a car and almost lost his leg this past spring and summer but you would not guess it now. He is absolutely gorgeous and healthy as a horse.

Then I went to Plymouth Furniture and Bedding to look for a new mattress and spring set. Our air bed is not holding air and we have replaced parts once already and I had to sew the mattress together anyway. I ordered a nice Sealy with memory foam. It felt good when I lay down on it. I couldn't get Dick to go over to try SO I got to have the final say. I presented the options to him and he told me to get the one that felt best to me, so I went back and ordered it. Since we ordered before tomorrow and it was over a certain amount we got free delivery and the old one hauled off AND the store paid our sales tax. So I figure we did pretty good. We will have it delivered the morning after Thanksgiving.

Richard sent some more pictures. I was especially pleased to see a couple of pictures of Dick when he was a baby and a little boy. Wow. There were a couple of pictures of his parents that he did not recall seeing too. It touched him.

I have been home the rest of the day, what is left of it and am very tired. So I am going to finish my cup of Happy Tummy Tea and go to bed.

God love you

Mary