This was a quiet Saturday.   Chelsea woke me up at about 1:30AM to go outside.   That is no too bad anymore as I can usually get right back to sleep, but that poor little doggie coughed almost steadily the rest of the night.  I was surprised when she finally came to wake me up that she still had quite a bit of zip.   We went for our morning walk before I fed her. She has not had much trouble during the day so that is encouraging.

I was so tired with my broken sleep that I took my nap this morning.

We had ham, potatoes and veggies for lunch.   I fixed some yellow squash for myself and Dick had green beans.  Then I spent the afternoon watering plants, and freezing some squash and drying herbs until it was time to go to church.  Mass was interesting.  Fr. Van Beek's sister - Sr. Joan Marie Van Beek - who is a missionary School Sister of Notre Dame working  in Africa.   She was our speaker for Mission Sunday.

She told us a story of one of their Sisters, who runs a clinic.   A mother came from a nearby village with her young child.   She had previously lost a child who died during a seizure and this new child was also subject to seizures.  When she handed the boy to Sr. Carol, he started seizing and fell limp in her arms.   The mother started to scream and wail and took off like a shot back to her village believing that her child had died.   Sr. Carol in the meantime was treating the boy.  She cooled him with a bath and gave him medicine as it was apparently malaria involved and laid him down to nap, then couldn't find the mother.   Shortly thereafter, they heard a group of people coming down the road crying and in funeral robes with a small little casket.   The mother had run all the way back to her village and her friends and family were with her to pick up her child's body.  So. Sr. Carol  told her to calm down and wait.    Then she went to wake the little boy up.   She handed the very alive child to his mother who proclaimed a miracle.    And that Sr. Carol was a miracle worker.

Why not.

Bret called tonight.  They have been enjoying the best weather in the nation but it is supposed to get hot there next week.   He has moved to Norco and is renting a room from the mother of some friends.  The woman is in a rehab center and is glad to have someone taking care of the house for her.  He has been working lots of overtime lately.

Now I am watching the first Packer pregame.   We are well into the third quarter and the score is tied.   I don't know if I will be able to stay up for the whole thing but we will see.

Talke to you all tomorrow.

God love You

Mary 

Another hot and muggy day, though it was much cooler than yesterday.  

Jody came to do the cleaning at about 8:30AM.  I was busy today arranging to go to the Fireside in November with Bobbie and Bill to see The Child, calling the insurance company for a question and finding out how my claim for my missing jewelry is going.  I also started drying some of my herbs for the winter.

At noon, I set out on several errands.   I had to pick up some cleaning products at Walmart and I found a couple of nice cotton blouses that are what I have been looking for.   Then I drove to the Dairy Queen for lunch with my friends.  There were four of us and we had a great time.  We were just silly today.  Ceil and Betty were especially goofy.    I had a chicken wrap and brought some french fries home for Chelsea.

On the way home, I picked up corn for our dinner and stopped at the bank for a couple of things.

When I got home, I took a nap.  I have been so tired, despite the fact that I have had some pretty good nights.   Chelsea usually lets me sleep until at least 4 and then I get a couple more hours before she comes around again.   I guess it is the broken sleep.

We had that wonderful corn for our dinner.   Boy is it ever good this year.  

Til tomorrow then.

God love you

Mary

I am printing the elegy that was read at Audrey Hephern's funeral.  It was beautiful.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others. 

 

Hello.   This has been an interesting day.    Chelsea woke me up at 4AM this morning.   I then went back to bed.  Shut the bedroom door and slept until 6:30AM.

After fixing breakfast, I drove over to Mother's to help her get ready for her appointment with Dr. Lavey, the eye doctor.   She has been complaining about her vision in the good eye, the right eye, deteriorating.   He did a thorough check and discovered with a special test that there is fluid underneath the lining of the eye, which if unchecked could lead to macular in the right eye too.  It was wet macular deterioration that led to the loss of sight in her left eye.  We have scheduled an appointment with Dr. Paul Mandel on August 25 to have an injection that should dry up the fluid and prevent the loss of sight. Pray to God.

I got home at about 1PM and fixed our lunch before resting for a while.

I spent the afternoon on various chores around the house.   I got a lot done and am now ready for a good night's sleep.

Mom and I had a good visit on the trip to and from the doctor.   We were remembering my brother Matt.   He was the poet brother that died when he was only 17.   I remember that he was a sweet eager little boy.   I think I told you a while ago that he told me when he was about 5 of 6 that he could see guardian angels.  He had discovered that if you push gently on the side of your eye, you see double and he had decided that he was seeing guardian angels.  I hope he never lost that belief and that his guardian angel took him straight to heaven's gates when he left us.

God love you

Mary

Here is one of his poems.  He never used capital letters and seldom used punctuation.


IN ANSWER TO YOUR POEM

by Matt Deeley

how wonderful! you fear for my life
but you should know
     life is death   
        and death is life
and the mysteries
of the unknown empires of quietus
offer more
than life can hold in its hand

Today was even busier than Monday.

I did the grocery shopping, as usual, early.   Then at 10AM I went out to Rhine to shoot my last round of trap for league.    I shot one more just for practice.    The first one was not TOO bad but I could have forgotten the practice round as it was awful.

Nancy Roehre joined me today so we could shoot pistol too.   That was much more successful than the trap.   I got a 35 on the first one but using what I did on the first, I shot a 69 on the second.   Yippee.

When I got home, we had lunch.   Dick had raw beef sandwiches and I had a mushroom sandwich.   Then I finished the marmalade.   (I think it is still a bit soupy, darn.) I also made cauliflower soup with the cauliflower that was about to turn if I didn't use it.    I will have soup and pie and macaroni salad to take to Mother tomorrow when I take her to the eye doctor.

At a little after 5PM, I walked to Lions park for the condo picnic with my dishes, wine and macaroni salad.  They provided coffee and chicken and rolls.   It was surprisingly pleasant up there.  They must have sprayed for mosquitoes and there was a gently breeze most of the time we were there.    I enjoyed it a lot.

But it was a really exhausting day and I am glad it is over.   Tomorrow, I just have to take Mother to the eye doctor and go to Walgreens.   I can do that all on one trip so will be able to rest the afternoon and evening.



Hope you have a pleasant Thursday.  Stay well and God love you.

Mary

It was hot and muggy today.   The temperature hit about 86 here but the air was SO heavy.    Chelsea woke me up at 1:30AM and then left me a.one until 5:30AM.  The trouble was that I had a great deal of difficulty getting back to sleep after the first time, so woke up rather sleepy.

First, I want you all to know that Bart had the device that helps control his pain upgraded today.  They checked the leads to his spinal cord, changed the batteries and apparently he has a bit more control over the dose, he gives himself.   They took him in about 10AM and he was back in his room between 12:30 and 1:30.    Barb called when he went in, when he was back in the room and finally, when they got home which was a little after 6PM.   He is beat and so is Barbara.   He has to keep hands off til Thursday evening but is it in operation so he will be using it.

I spend most of the day cooking.   I have several oranges that had to be used so am making a batch of Orange Marmalade.   I did the initial boiling today and will boil it down and can it tomorrow.  I also make a blueberry pie.

 I made a stuffed hamburger, which we split, accompanied by fried mashed potatoes, broccoli and cucumbers for lunch.   

I also prepared a pasta salad to take to the Condo picnic at the park tomorrow evening.

Sunday, I had put together a square for the block of the month that the Kettle Country Quilters are doing this year and had to take it apart and start over because I had to fix the size.   It looks good now, My points are not as pointy as I would like but they are ALL alike, so it will be my "special touch".

Tomorrow I will be grocery shopping, shooting and going to the picnic.  I also want to make the marmalade and some cauliflower soup.   I have to as the cauliflower needs to be cooked.
 
 We had Pizza Soup and Blueberry pie for supper.   Num Num.

Then this evening we had a Celtic Women Conference Call about the Bridget trip we are working on for next February.   We made a lot of headway.

So that was the day.   Now I am sipping a Bailey's and coffee and then will walk Chelsea and go to bed.

Have a great tomorrow.

God love you all

Mary

This turned out to be a bit busier a day than I had planned.   Chelsea only woke me up at 4AM.  Pretty good.  She came in again shortly after 6AM when it was time for me to get up anyway.

I left a bit early for bible study because I wanted to drop a couple of things off at Kate and Ron's before I headed to Falls.   I rang the bell but when I got no answer quickly, figured they were still asleep and just left the cooler with the soup and scones and the other things  between the door and the screen.

Then I stopped at Walgreens to get a wedding card for George and Betsy's son Shawn and his wife to be.  I filled it out and enclosed a check when I got to Mother's .  Jeff and Kathy will take it with them to the wedding.  I just couldn't go this time.  There is too much here that is iffy.

Bible study was well attended.  we were only
sing Ione and Helen Maurer.   We are getting closer to the end of Mark and have ordered a study for Psalms to start as soon as we finish the gospel.

Mother and I had a nice visit.  I had to go back in the afternoon.  She was out of her blood pressure medicine and I found out that there was a miscommunication with the insurance company.   By the time they got it straightened out it was close to 3PM so I picked it up then and took it to her.  Chelsea came with me.   Mother enjoys seeing her and Chelsea enjoys the ride.

Chelsea goes immediately through the house now, right into the kitchen.   I don't know if you remember, but when we first got her, she would not enter the kitchen at Mother's.   Mother took care of her one Sunday, and had to put her food next to the fridge right inside the kitchen so Chelsea could get to it without putting foot on the linoleum.

Then, when Bart, Barb and I went to Ireland, Barb and I found a little jacket in the streets of  Cashel.   It was Barbie and Ken size.   I picked it up and told Barbara that I would take it home to Mother.   I did and we put it on a shelf in the kitchen.   The jacket is still around somewhere, but since it was placed in the kitchen, Chelsea has no fear of going in there any more and it was definitely that event that was the change.   You explain.

Have a great Tuesday.  It was HOT today 88 and humid.  I know that some of my readers would disagree with the definition of hot, but it was hot for us.

Love

God love you

Mary
.  

 I FIGURED OUT WHAT I DID WITH SATURDAY'S POST.   i PUT IT ON THE CWI SITE.
SO HERE IT IS:  BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

A comparatively quiet day. The only time I had to leave the house was to go to Mass this evening.

Chelsea seems to have reverted to a really dumb need to go out again. I can't even remember the times but know that at 5AM, I just shut them out and asked Dick to get me up at 6:30 AM as Jody was coming to clean at 8AM and I had a lot to do before then

This was an odd day, I did a lot of things but nothing I can really lay my hands on. We had leftover chicken with fresh green beans and mashed potatoes with green onions and chives.

I did take a nap this afternoon as I suddenly became very tired. Chelsea is now on pain pills and seems to be much more lethargic than usual but she is also walking a bit less painfully, so we will continue for the time being.

Church was very comforting tonight. I sat with a friend Mary whose husband has been ill this past year too and we prayed together. The gospel was the one about always being ready for the "master". That is a good thing to keep in mind. Fr. Van Beeck brought up the 9-11 disaster. 3000 and more souls all left this world in one day. How many of them were ready?

So Tomorrow I will be able to stay home all day and I intend to do some sewing and perhaps some writing. We are having Spinach, Egg Noodle casserole for our noon meal so if you are hungry show up at about 11:30AM. Dick is all excited.

Have a good day. I understand that the heat is returning.

Here is a haiku for you.

River

A river in my mind
Carries all my memories
Keeping them alive.

Mary

It seems that I did not post again last night.    Actually, I thought I had.   But somehow or other, I think the thing did not post.   Heaven knows why.   Saturday  was a quiet day.  The only time I went out  was to Mass.   I remember telling you that the readings were really good ones.   Mainly that we had better be ready when God comes to call us.  Fr. Fan Veeck mentioned that he often thinks, now, of 9-11 and the thousands of people who stormed the gates of heaven on that day.   How many of them were ready?   I bed more than we would think. 

Today was a doubly quiet day.  I did not go any where.   When I woke up to walk Chelsea it was raining.   Not very hard but steady and there was thunder and lightening off in the distance.  We even went for a short walk so that she could completer her "mission".  

I fixed the famous Kunert Spinach, Noodle and Egg casserole for our lunch.  Actually, I had told Dick that I invited anybody reading the blog to come over at about 11:30AM today and they could have lunched with us.   He always asks what I would do if everybody showed up.   I say, I would feed them.  But today I KNOW why nobody showed up.

So here we are into another week.   Please pray for my friend Kate's husband, Ron.  He had a heart attack on Thursday and was rushed to St. Luke's.   They were able to bring him home yesterday, two days before they thought, so that is a very good sign.   Kate needs prayers goo.   She is a weary lady.

The balloon is on the move again.  It dropped from the ceiling and has been kind of following me around today.   The last I saw of it was in Roxie's room.   She gets pretty confused when it starts hovering around her.

I figure it is almost gone.  Pretty good - I lasted almost three months.

God love you all

Mary