This was a very productive Friday.

I made several phone calls this morning, businessy stuff. I had received a notice from Volkswagen that I should bring the Passat in for a 10,000 mile service, which is under the warranty. However, we only have a little over 4600 miles on the car. So, I called for advise. I explained the situation to the receptionist and she, very cleverly, said. "You should just get out there and drive, girl." After we finished laughing she turned me over to the service department and he told me what I should do. In case you wonder, I am to bring it in for service in December, that is a time, rather than mileage criteria.

Then I mixed up the Marigold Wine. You have to first do a sugar/blossom/raisin mix with boiling water, then let it cool before adding the remaining ingredients. So I did that just before lunch and it was ready to finish this evening, which I did when I got back from pistol league.

Bobbie got her at about noon. We had the sausage/cabbage slow cooker dinner. It was very good. Then Bobbie and I went down to the "winery" and really got a lot done. We racked her strawberry wine - it sure smells good and is clearing up beautifully. Then we bittled her six liter batch of Barolo (I think that is the name of it) It is a nice dark red and tastes a bit like a Merlot though it is milder. There are over 30 bottles of it so it is a good thinkg it is pleasant. It has to age for 18 months per the instructions. One thing we have learned is that winemaking is not a hobby for the impatient. As the saying goes (I think it is Gallo) "No wine before its time."

Next week we will rack two of her scratch wines and they may be ready to bottle. We will see. We loaded the Barolo into Bobbie's car so that she could label it at home and then put it on her brand new wine racks that she has in their basement.

Roxie was sure glad to have Bobbie here for a while. She follows us down and participates in the wine making. It has gotten so that she expects us to go down ther and this gives her the opportunity to on the ledge of the windows that look out onto the back yard. I have no idea what kind of creatures she sees out there but she sure loves it.

After Bobbie left, I went out on a couple of errands. Mainly filling the gas tank. Tonight Nancy and I went to shoot pistol league at Rhine. I was not in good form tonight. Last week was much better. I wish I were more consistent. Every time I think I have figured it out, something gets goofy again. Oh well, it is still fun and Nancy and I ALWAYS have fun together. We have known each other since grade school, you know.

I expect to hear from Norb soon with my florescent site, perhaps that will help me focus.

Now it is almost 9PM. I figure, one more good night's sleep will really get me caught up.

Have a nice weekend. It should be very quiet, I think.

Mary


I received the following from a friend. An unusual take on "Redneck"

You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'


You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if: You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if: You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have.

You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to.

You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

I am really tired tonight. Fortunately, I will be able to go to bed at 9PM, a decent hour.

Dick had two medical appointments. Actually one was a dentist but it is in the same genre.

The house cleaner, Joan, is going to be coming at 8:30AM from now on. This works well for us as I am up no later that 6:30AM anyway. This morning it was really helpful as Dick and I had to leave to see Dr. Moreno at 9:30 and she just finished up after we left. Since this is her third time, she knows what has to be done. I can't tell you how much it means to me not to have to worry about floors. I seem to be able to keep everything else up and I am still busy all the time.

Anyway, Dr. Moreno checked out the foot and it is almost healed. I only have to change the dressing once a day now. On Monday, we will be able to start using the special shoe again and at the end of next week we should be able to start walking if it looks good.

Then we came back home and had soup for lunch before I drove him to Joseph and Joseph, the dentist, for his root canal. It took about an hour and a half. I read while I waited then when we got home Roxie and I lay down for a nap. I slept for about an hour which at least kept me going but I am really tired.

Roxie is really a funny cat. I told you she adores Dick and she keeps talking to him. We are wondering now if that is because he talks back to her. He wishes that he knew what he is saying.

Take care and enjoy your Friday.

Love

Mary

There are four things that you cannot recover in life:


(1) The Stone..........after it's thrown,
(2) The Word.............after it's said,
(3) The Occasion....after it's missed, and
(4) The Time............after it's gone..

Do you believer that I just got home again and that it is 11:00PM? I can't remember the last time that I was up two nights in a row this late.

The whole day was a whirlwind. It started off with grocery shopping, followed by a trip to the bank and a stop at the drug store. I also had to drop off my reading glasses at Advanced Eye Care because they broke yesterday. I am using some of my drug store glasses but they are not nearly as good or as nice.

I finally got home at about 10:30AM. By the time I put the groceries away and rested for just a bit it was time to prepare and eat lunch. After lunch, we finally got Dick's wound changed and his clothes changed before I had to leave for Rocky Knoll. My neighbor Jean is in the Rocky Knoll rehab recovering from hip replacement surgery. So since I was attending a meeting of the Amputee Support Group at two it made sense to go and visit Jean. She looks good and figures she will be home fairly soon. Still gaining strength.

We had a new couple join us today at the support group. No speaker so we just shared. Next month, a women from DMV is coming to speak to the group and the month after we decided to have our Christmas party.

I had to leave again, after resting a bit and feeding every living creature in this house, to pick up Mother for our dinner and going to the Sheboygan Theatre Company's production of All Shook Up, a Rock musical using Elvis' music. We enjoyed it a lot. The singing and dancing was really very good. Ralph had some super singers try out for this one and the whole cast really learned the dances and did them very well. Mom and I ate at the Villager and then met Bobbie at the theater at 7. I was able to get a disabled spot right near the door which was good. Especially good on the way out after poor Mom worked her way up and down those stairs. It gets pretty scary, but she is still game and it is still the best place for her to be able to see and hear the performance.

By the way, you know Bobbie and I went to the Taster of Home Cooking Class at the Weill Center last night. Today when I looked on the Sheboygan Press site, I checked the article on the program. They had several pictures and one of them was Bobbie and me. Pretty cool, huh?

Love

Mary

I just got home from the Taste of Home event at the Stephanie Weill Center. Boy was it every fun. It is a cooking school. They actually show the audience, (the place was sold out by the way) how to prepare 10 separate dishes. From soup and salad to dessert. I will be trying some of them. A couple would probably not appeal to Dick. A couple I will have to be sure there are people to help us eat it. Rather large servings, though I might be able to cut some in half.

These events are full of excitement and they give away tons of door prizes, including all the food that is prepared during the show. Bobbie won a cookbook and another friend, Pat Becher, won a prize also. Everybody received a "green" shopping bag from the Pig, one of the big sponsors, full of coupons and samples.

Bobbie and I had a good time and would go again if the opportunity presented itself. It was sponsored by The Sheboygan Press, Piggly Wiggly and Bitter Neuman.

The rest of the day I got to spend at home and I spent a good chunk of it cooking. I had a cabbage that had to be used so I prepared a cole slaw and a slow cooked harvest dish with sausage. We will probably have that on Friday. It smells good.

We had venison, Braciole de Manzo, for lunch over rice. That is the recipe I heard about on Everybody Loves Raymond and tried it using venison instead of round steak. I have found that if I use venison first when making a recipe, Dick usually likes it. Because he expects the flavor he gets. I don't care what anybody says, Venison is venison and beef is beef. We like both.

I always save the cabbage hearts for Dick. This evening when I put them in the fridge to crisp them up, one fell onto the floor of the fridge and Chelsea grabbed it and ate it. Kind of surprised me. She doesn't usually eat cabbage and has even been turning down lettuce. So eating a whole quarter of a cabbage heart was startling.

Have a nice Wednesday. Mine is going to be BUSY.

Love

Mary

Whew! Dick had his blood tested by Deb at the anticoagulation clinic and the test came out virtually PERFECT. His count was 2.6. Perfect is 2.5 so we can relax now. He is now back on medication and we will go back to get it checked next Monday.

It was a busy day. Bible study was at 9:30AM in Sheboygan Falls. There were 7 on us today, a bit small but a nice discussion group. It was the end of Mark chapter 3. Jesus's mother and brothers came and asked to see him and he said that the audience (we) are his brothers and sisters. We marveled at that but talked a lot about how it is our responsibility to see everybody we meet as a brother or sister of Christ, even if we find them a bit odd or not quite in our idea of "proper" or "in our class". I remembered how my Dad was so patient with everybody. He was president of the union at Gilson in Plymouth and people would come to him with their complaints and problems. Mother remembers some of these guys as being so stupid. But Dad always listened, never ridiculed, always gave them respect and tried to help. I still occasionally meet people who knew Dad then. They always say. "Hutz Deeley!!! He was my best friend."

I hope when I get to heaven Jesus says. "Mary, She is my best friend."

I got a good nap in this afternoon. Roxie joined me and seemed relieved that I have come to my senses again. There were not naps for several days and she does look forward to them.

It was windy and cold today. I don't think the temperatures topped 56 and with the wind gusts it felt much colder. I was glad that the only time I had to go anywhere was to the Clinic. The wind was so strong that I had trouble opening my car door after I got Dick loaded in. We were sure glad to get home and be able to stay here.
I believe that Fall is finally coming to Wisconsin.

Take care and have a great Tuesday.

Love

Mary

This turned out to be a very nice Sunday. This morning was very quiet. I got to sleep until 6:30AM. Wouldn't have minded a bit more but figured that the cat would claw her way into the bedroom to get me up.

Chelsea and I had a nice LONG walk today. We added the last cul de sac. So I am very proud of us. We will do that for a week or so and then go through the park too.

I spent a bit of the morning wrapping Christmas presents. That may sound silly but all of my children get an ornament for Christmas and I get them mid year. Now I have that all done. While I was wrapping them, the phone rang. It was my dear friend Barbara Sadler calling from Minnesota. Barb and I were in grade school together, in the convent together and kept our friendship all these years through thick and thin. She even came out to visit me when I lived in California before she got married. We caught up beautifully. I must remember to tell Mother about the call tomorrow.

We had leftovers for lunch so that was an easy meal. Then the Packer game started. We won. It was a great game. My fantasy football leagues look pretty good this week. I only have two wrong so far. I am down a bit in points but still have a teeny weeny chance of pulling it out this week. And I do mean teeny weeny. Anyhow, the Packers looked pretty good and we can hope they keep it up.

At the half I drove over to the Lemkuil's house to pick Marigold blossoms so I can mix up a batch of Marigold wine.

I forgot to something that happened at Mass yesterday. I went up to help distribute communion and realized that two members of our congregation were in Civil War uniforms. There was a Civil War Reenactment at Wade House this weekend and I gues a couple of the soldiers took a break from the war to pray.

Tomorrow is Monday, my day. We will be taking Dick to the Clinic to test his coagulation level again. We are hoping that it will again be in normal range and we can get him back on the meds. Two days without anything should have done something. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Take care

Mary