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