The cold spell is SOMEWHAT broken, but we had light snow ALL day long and it is very slippery out there.

I even fell, for the first time this year, coming down the drive from church. I knew I should have taken the stairs but lots of people were going down that drive. A very nice gentleman helped me up. I did not hurt myself as I landed on my padded behind and was wearing my long coat.

I cleaned the bathrooms and the kitchen floor today. That floor was probably a waste of time with all of the snow out there, but I can't just let it build up.

I spent the morning with Dick, then came home for lunch and to rest for a while. Jim and Michelle came over from Oshkosh this afternoon. They came to visit Jim's Mom with her Christmas presents. With the bad weather, the had been unable to get there before then. Then they spent some time with Dick and came here to see me. I was able to "bribe" them with the leftover candy canes for Jim. They are doing well, and happy with their kitties. They said that Boots and the new lady, Skylar are getting along fine and a delightful source of entertainment.

Roxie came out to see them but Oscar did not show up. Roxie was very cuddly when I laid down for my nap. She kept me nice and warm.

I went to Mass at 4PM. Fr. Van Beeck was not there, the priest that subbed for him was the priest who gave the homily at Fr. Van Beeck's very first Mass. He was a wonderful speaker too.

Then I stopped at the Center and had supper with Dick. I pretty much ate and ran because of the snow and all of the slippery stuff.

So that was my Saturday. Not too exciting but full. Tomorrow should be very quiet. If the roads are OK, I will spend a chunk of it with Dick. A week from tomorrow he is coming home. I have begun bringing some of his stuff home so it won't be a big deal next week. The major problem will be the green recliner, we are not sure if it will fit in the wagon. I will measure tomorrow.

The car is very easy to drive. Did I tell you that there is a place to store a collapsed umbrella in the driver side door? Another cool thing.

Love

Mary

Another Very Cold Day. But, at least it DID get above zero for a good portion of the day. Goofy Chelsea woke me up at 2AM this morning. This getting old is hard on the canine individuals too.

I went back to bed until 6AM then got up and took care of all the critters, showered, then went over to pick up breakfast for Dick and me from Mc Donalds. It was a red letter day starting with the next event.

At 8AM we went down to therapy. Tim from National Prosthesis was there with his modified prosthesis. They got to work almost immediately. He put the leg onto Dick and then he stood up and using the parallel bars walked back and forth three times, resting between each walk so that Tim could make adjustments and check the leg. There was little pain this time and no problem with abrasion or bleeding on the leg so we are really happy. The leg will remain at therapy for the next week or two and he will practice on it during therapy sessions. His next session is on Tuesday which is just perfect as he sees Dr. Moreno on Monday and he can confirm that there is no problem with the healing wounds.

After Dinner/lunch, I drove over to VW Motorville in Sheboygan and purchased a car. Isn't that exciting? Dick is really proud of me. I really did it all by myself. We are now the proud owners of a 2009 VW Passat Station Wagon. It is very nice. I am comfortable driving it. There are a LOT of really nice features. One very small thing, the car has winter and summer floor mats. The winter are rubber and have grooves to catch the water. The summer are carpet. I'll tell you other things as we go along.

When I got home, Bobbie and Bill were here trying to locate studs so Bill can install the grab bars that we need in the bathroom for Dick. We went over to Fleet Farm when he had them located but he was not happy with the bars that they had so he and Bobbie will go to Home Care Resources to see what they have. Bobbie and I found nice leather mittens lines with fuzzy glove linings that will keep our hands toasty warm in this awful cold.

I fixed a light supper and then went over to spend an hour or so with Dick. I was going to go pistol shooting as league was supposed to start tonight, BUT it is SO cold that they will not do trap and the basement range will be unbearably cold also. Toni and John had decided to wait. I called Nancy and she was SO glad that we decided to wait. She also remembers how cold it is down there.

Now I am home and the day is rapidly winding down. Roxie is curled up in the box that I am putting tax receipts in, Chelsea is at my feet and Oscar must still be under the chair.

A couple of Jeff Foxworthy's comments about Wisconsin.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through
March, you might live inWisconsin . (We have a restaurant in Plymouth, Chester's, that does that very thing.)

You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a
raging blizzard, without flinching.

You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still
winter and road construction.

Have a nice Saturday.

Love.

Mary.

Look at the time. I forgot to do this last night. I did not wake up willingly at this hour, but Chelsea bopped at me about 15 minutes ago. I am really getting worried about that. She seems to be waking up earlier and earlier. I take her out, as I have said, and go back to bed, but this is really tiring. I don't know how much unbroken sleep I will get at all when Dick comes home. This is one of my worries. Oh well, we will work it out. We are all getting older around her.

Yesterday, I DID stay home all day, that is probably why I forgot to blog.

I did SOME cleaning, made a dozen phone calls and bought a car. I will pick up the 2009 VW Passat Wagon this afternoon at about 1PM.

Jeff called, he and Kathy are back from Hawaii. The guys are going rabbit hunting Sunday. I told him that I am just not up to it this year. He said that I should join them at the Whirl Wind for the sausage tasting shortly after noon. Perhaps I will. That would be a nice break.

Nora called too, suspecting that with the cold I would be home. So it was a nice day.

Now I am going back to bed and shutting the door.

Love

Mary



So that is tha main exci

It was cold and rather snowy today, never getting above 9 degrees that I could tell. I did the grocery shopping this morning, then went over to stay with Dick and have dinner/lunch with him. As soon as I was done eating, I drove to Motorville VW in Sheboygan and picked up a Passat Station Wagon to bring back to the Center for Dick's "therapy".

We had pretty much made up our minds that if he could transfer from the wheelchair to a car seat without much trouble, we would go that route. It would save having to have a conversion done to the vehicle and be a bit easier to drive and park. It worked. I parked in a disabled area in front of the Center and Lori, the PT, and I brought Dick out to the car. I put a piece of cardboard down so he did not have to get his foot in the snow. Lori helped him position the transfer board and he scooted over and back with minimal difficulty. There was plenty of leg room all around.

So, I took the car back to Motorville and Al and I sat down to talk turkey. He had our Explorer appraised. I had already looked it up on blue book and knew what the trade in was. Anyway, he came back with an offer that I think is fair. Possibly, going to a bigger dealer in a bigger community might save us a bit. We could spend less by going to a used car, or buying a used Town and Country, and getting a conversion done.

BUT, this is a nice car, has a great maintenance package attached, we will be moving back to a brand new vehicle and the maintenance will be done in the county. So, I will call Al tomorrow and we will see how it will work out to do the deed.

I had supper with Dick too. When I got home, I heated up the lasagna that Kate had sent home for us, fixed a quick salad and hurried over so we would be pretty close to schedule.

Tomorrow, it is not supposed to go above zero. Even the schools are closing for the day. I am staying home, for sure. It will be nice to be in my cave hibernating on such a day. I am sure that Critters will be happy. Each of them has opted for special attention tonight. I love getting the cuddling.

Take care and stay warm.

Love

Mary

What a day. It started out, I thought, quite normally. Chelsea got me up way too early and I took her out and went back to bed as usual. I got up at what I thought was a little after six. I fed the critters and took my shower and ate an orange. Then I looked at the clock again and it was just coming up on 6AM. I was a whole hour early.

SO I took the rest of the tree down and then took a nap to catch up on my hour.

I went over to see Dick at 9:00AM. I left there at about 10AM so I could drop some stuff off at Kate's on my way to the other things that I had scheduled today. Kate invited me over to dinner tonight and I accepted.

My next stop was Walgreens to pick up a prescription for Mother. Then I headed over to Aurora Plymouth for my mammogram. While I was in the Clinic, I picked up a prescription from Dr. Sharon for Dick's wheelchair and dropped off some papers with the billing department to have a charge that Medicare was denying resubmitted.

After my mammogram, sure wish they could fibure out a less uncomfortable way to do that, I drove to City Hall to pay the first half of the RE Taxes and to get Chelsea's license renewed.

I had a half an hour so I stopped at The Sewing Basket and found three nice pices of fabric on sale. Finally I went to the dentist and Dr. White put the permenant filling in the tooth that had the root canal done last month.

Then I got to go home and eat. I ate lightly because I was going out for dinner and then took a nap. It was way too short because Chelsea woke me up before I was done, but it was a nap.

I fed the critters at 4PM and went over to see Dick until it was time to join Kate and Ron for dinner. Kate served a fabulous salad, full of greens and fruit and cheese and bits of ham and lasagna. Num Num

Now I am home, it is 6 below zero and I am so grateful to be warm and safe.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I will be bringing a car for Dick to test out.

Thursday, it is supposed to be below zero all day. If it proves true, Dick and I have decided that I will just stay home all day. Seems sensible.

Take care and keep warm.

Love

Mary

What a day. It turned out a little differently than I had planned. My list had to be adjusted.

I filled the gas tank on my way over to see Dick this morning in anticipation of the Arctic cold that is supposed to be coming upon us tonight and lasting until at least Friday. I took Dick an orange on my way to Bible Study.

We had a nice group this morning. With streets no longer icy and people feeling better we had seven of us.



As we were starting our prayer, my cell phone rang. It was my friend, Kate. One of her kitties, Maggie, has been sick for a while, but was throwing up blood and blood was coming from the other place too. Poor baby was not eating and had even stopped drinking. Kate and Ron had decided that she had to be put to sleep. Ron had to go to work and Kate could not go along. I changed a few things around and after dropping some food off at Mother's and checking on her, I went directly over to Kate's home. She wrapped sweet Maggie in a towel and we went over to Kettle Morraine. I think Maggie knew that something was up, but I think she sensed great care. Kate said that car rides and the vet had terrified her so much that she had not been to the vet for 7 years. She was perfectly calm in Kate's arms. I held her while Kate wrote the check and hummed and soothed her and she purred in my arms. Then when the technician took her from Kate, Maggie actually hugged her and buried her head in the technician's neck. This was comforting because the technician hugged her back and Kate could see that Maggie was not afraid and that she would be treated with love. Not a great way to spend a day but Maggie is safe now.

On the way back, we stopped here so that I could let Chelsea out and Kate could meet Roxie and Oscar. After dropping Kate off (I hope she is OK. She will have to be comforting Victoria and Riley, her other cats), I went directly to the Care Center to be there when Custom Care came to take Dick to see Dr. Moreno. As the CNAs were getting him ready, he pushed down on the foot pad of the wheelchair and it snapped like a big branch. Scared the dickens out of all four of us. We had to go to the doctor without it but gave the broken one to Scott, one of the maintenance men, to see if he could find a replacement. (By golly, when we got back, Scott had found one and by the time I arrived after supper at about 5:30PM it was all fixed.)

Both Brian and Dorothy, Dr. Moreno's nurses, were there today. Dorothy got everything unwrapped and ready for Dr. Moreno. He took the main dressings off and PROCLAIMED the smaller wound all HEALED. The larger one has reduced by a LOT. He is going to be sure that we can get him home by the time we want. He can now stand on the foot, but NO piviting. SO, barring weather, I will be bringing a car for him to try to get into on Wednesday. Weather is just NOT cooperating. It is supposed to be single digits and snowing - all week.

Brian redressed the wound for the next week and we see Dr. Moreno next Monday. I left the papers with Annette at the front desk of the Center. Dick called a few minutes ago and said that they cannot find them. Good thing I know who people are. I also had her write down the next appoinment and pick up time, so I will have to check again tomorrow.

I came home when we got back to eat and take care of the critters. I went back to the Center to massage Dick's leg and do the things that I do for him then came right home because it is already starting to snow and we decided that I should be safe and sound at home.

Chelsea seems very tired today. This morning, I noticed that when she moved from one favorite spot to another to lie down, her tail was dragging on the ground. We all know that Chelsea usually "wears" her tail like a proud flag. Poor baby. She is wearing out too. Ione, one of my Bible Study Buddies, laughed when I mentioned that Chelsea is growing old too. "Aren't we all." we agreed.


Love and have a good tomorrow.

Mary

This was a very nice Sunday.

I got all the ornaments packed away today. All that is left is the tree itself and my Santas. Dick and I figured out that I can just take the tree down, one section at a time and store it away. Then I can vacuum the living room. Held off a few days because of the mess.

I went over to spend the morning with Dick. We just spend time being "together". I read a bit and did a suduku and he watched TV and rested. He seemed a bit tired this morning.

I went back home after taking him down for his dinner. I had my lunch then laid down for a nap. I slept for over and hour and a half, so must have needed it.

I took my supper over to eat with Dick. We had them bring his tray down to the Solarium at the Center. There was noone else in there tonight so it was a pleasant change. His table in the dining room is pretty full again. That makes it kind of hard for me to eat in there with him. At least if I order one of their meals. If I bring my own, I can always sit at a corner of the table next to Dick.

Anyway it was a restful day. Good thing because the next three days are going to be a whirlwind. Somehow real deadlines are looming. How is it that no matter how one prepares, one is always faced with these things that have to be stuck in a short period of time? Must remember that all I have to do is my best, one step at a time, and things WILL be OK. Somebody has always seen to that. And I trust that He will again.

Now I am home watching the Golden Globes. With Dick, even if he is there and I am here. We know.

I read today in the new Reader's Digest that one should set a goal to say Hello to everybody that you meet. A man said that he heard about it in Japan and said NiHao to every body. He decided that people were much friendlier in Japan UNTIL he came back to the US and tried it here. He decided that this friendliness stuff if pretty much universal.

Lets ALL try it.

Roxie is spending a lot of time on my lap and/or on the desk under the lamp. Oscar is beginning to cuddle me at night and sleep on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed. I feel like our family will be complete as soon as we get Dick home. I am sure that Chelsea will resent his taking her place on the bed but she can stay for a couple of hours as he usually doesn't come in until about 11PM



Love

Mary