We are just getting into the Packer Game of the second week of the playoffs.    This has been a very stressful day as I am currently in the first place on the Guessethon football pool and if I do well could come out in a winning position.

Pittsburgh won.  It was touch and go for a while, but they did win and I had them as my pick.   A good beginning.  Now if Green Bay wins, I should be OK as tomorrow,my picks look pretty good.   I should end up in the top 6 anyway but right now, I am NUMBER  ONE and would just as soon just stay there.

Today was a pretty quiet day.   I dis some wash.   I updated some computer problems and I fixed a really great dinner.   Pork chops, rice and broccoli.  Num Num.

I got on the phone to Jacquie and Bart and Barb and it is now very late, at least for me so I am going to cut this short.

Perhaps I will be more interesting tomorrow.

God love you

Mary

Dick had an eye appointment today and it was nothing but good news.    His eyes are healthy.   There is a very slight change in his vision but not enough to warrant a lens change.  That pesky lash was growing again, but it was very fine this time and came out easily.    Bobbie came to help us get him there and back again.  

I fixed a meatloaf for our dinner.  Then just as we were leaving for the eye doctor, I remembered to put the meat loaf in.  I had the oven preheated.   So it was all ready when the three of us came home.    A good dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy. peas and salad.  

Roxie is so happy when Bobbie comes.   Bobbie and I racked three gallons of wine today and filtered and bottled a fourth.   It must be time to be starting a new batch or two.   Wonder what we have in the freezer.   We bottled her strawberry wine.   It smells and tasted very strawberryeee.   We think it will be ready sooner than some of the other scratch wines.  A nice summer wine.

I remember that Dad loved to make wine.   You know that.  That is kind of why Dick and I started to do it.   I am glad that Bobbie is now having fun with it.

I remember one summer when Bret and Bart and I were here for a visit and we went out to the Kettles to the Parnell Tower.  Dad found a big patch of blooming wild bee balm and decided to make some wine out of that.   I told him that I though a balm would probably just make people sleepy.  But he won.   He and Mother and I had to pick it because the boys were not about to go near the bees that DO hover around bee balm.   Dad said that if this worked he was going to make a batch out or his old shoes.   I think it did make a decent wine but I never did hear of any old shoe wine.

God love you

Mary

P. S. It is snowing.

I am extremely tired tonight.   It was a busy day with medical appointment and visiting Mother. 

Started quietly enough,  I spent much of the morning just putting things back where they belong.   Then I got Dick in the bedroom to change his tubagrip and bandages before Bobbie arrived.


She got her at about 10:30 so that we could get Dick to the anti-coagulation clinic by 11AM.    That worked out just fine until we got to the clinic and there was not a wheel chair to be found.   So I rushed to the therapy entrance and found ONE wheelchair at that door.   We got him into it and up to the second floor as soon as possible.  Not great news this week.   His count was 1.4  Too thick.   As it is supposed to be between two and three.   There is a new medication for his Acid reflux that can apparently change things.    So he has his dosage adjusted and we have to go back in two weeks for a checkup.


The three of us picked up lunch from Dairy Queen and came home to eat it.   Then after a bit, Bobbie went home and I left to spend some time with Mother.    She is looking very good.  Dolores and Ken were there when I got there so we all visited with her.   She had me check on a couple of medications and things that she had questions on.   I resolved one and am not sure of the other. 

She was scheduled for a hair cut so I stayed until they came to get her for that.  

I got home at about 3PM and spent the rest of the day resting and washing clothes.   As I said I am really tired and intend to hit the bed early.

I have the Literary Pub Crawl all scheduled for Saturday night in Dublin on January 29.   What a nice way to start the trip.  It is hard to believe that I will be leaving for Ireland in two weeks from tomorrow.

So sleep tight.

and God love you

Mary

Wednesday, shopping day.   We woke up to find that our marvelous snow plow crew had been through during the night and the driveways, sidewalks and roads were all clear.

We had decided that if it was clear we were going to have a Mc Donald's breakfast so I went and got it as soon as we were up and dressed.   Tasted good too.  Do you know that they are now serving oatmeal?   I have a coupon for a free bowl.    Perhaps I will try it one of these days.

It was a busy computer day as we have finally a final cost for the Ireland trip and are now requesting final payment and trying to make sure that everybody knows what they need to know to prepare for the trip.   I have been following the weather and it seems to be warming up there.  The past week and going into the next week seem to be settling into the 50s. in Dublin and the rain is sporadic.   Yippee.   It will at least be much warmer than here.

The only other errands were the bank and the drug store.    

Tomorrow, Dick gets his blood coagulation checked and then I will go to see Mother in the afternoon.   I got a call from Dr. Larson, her eye doctor,   we really need to reschedule her eye checkup.

There was a little snow today but none of it settled on the ground.   It all seemed to melt on contact.   Now, If it does not get so cold that we get ice, we are in good shape.    We seem to be better off than the poor people in the middle of the country and east of us.

I am glad to see that God and prayer are playing such a big part in the mourning for the victims and the survivors and the families of those affected by the shooting in Arizona.   In tragedy we call on Him.   What we need to do is to remember that He is here in the peaceful and  good times also.   At those times we should offer thanks and praise.

Take care and God love you.

Mary

A whole day at home again.   I went outside three times.   Once to take out the trash, once to take mail to the mailbox and once to pick today's incoming mail up.

We had leftover beef rouladin for our lunch and some of the soup that i prepared  the other day for our supper so it was a very easy cooking day

I felt busy all day but it was  a lot of little things like hemming pants and checking on nursing care for Dick and washing clothes and such.

Tomorrow is shopping day.  We also have a slew of prescriptions renewed to pickup.

It snowed all day, very lightly but steadily.  The earth is covered in a lovely fluffy light blanket.   If they plow tonight, Dick and I have decided on a Mc Donald's breakfast.



Have a good Wednesday yourself.

Love and God love you

Mary

Happy Monday.    The morning started out very cold but did move up into the 20s toward afternoon.   There were a few flurries this morning but the sun came out for a bit too and there was no wind so it was not a bad day at all.

I went to bible study at 9:30AM.  We really are enjoying our studying of the Psalms.  They are so beautiful.   It is interesting to think of David, the warrior, the King, the poet and the musician.   I really want to go to see David by the guys who wrote and composed The Rock and The Rabbi, Witnesses and The Child this summer at the Fireside.   I can imagine what they can do with that material.

Then I drover to Meadow View to visit with Mother.  She was not in her room so I went down to the therapy department and sure enough.   There she was working very hard playing "toss the balloon back and forth" with Delores Bemis, the lady who is in the room next to her.  Delores arrived at about the same time with exactly the same injury.   Mom is pleased to have the sling off of her arm.   She has experienced some pain in her hand but that comes with reawakening the nerves and muscles in the arm.   The therapist also had her walking with the walker (and the therapist's help.)   Just a little bit but enough to see that she did well.   They really keep her quite busy there. 

When we got upstairs from the therapy, Dolores and Ken were waiting.   So we all had a nice visit.   Dolores's birthday was yesterday.   Nora called Mother yesterday and told Mother that Dallas has 2 inches of snow.

Then I went home.   We had spinach casserole for lunch and I tried to nap.   Tonight was the Rhine meeting.   I went early so that Bill, Travis and I could audit the books before the board meeting.   The meeting was quite busy with a lot of discussions because we had a couple of hot topics that needed to be resolved.    I think we did so as best we could.

Now it is again past my bedtime.   So I will sign off.   Tomorrow I will be able to stay home all day, probably.

Take care and God love you

Mary

This was a whole day at home.   I did not have to go outside for any reason at all.

I took the tree down, packed it into its box and slid it downstairs and into the furnace room.  The room looks a bit empty but, of course, bigger too.   And now if Dick gets cold, we can turn on the fireplace.   I think we could have anyway, but Dick did not feel good about it with the tree close to it.   I think it was far enough away.

We had beef rouladin with mashed potatoes, gravy and fresh cooked carrots for lunch.   Boy was that good.  I was just plain hungry for mashed potatoes and gravy.    Tonight homemade chicken soup. 

My football league extended into the playoffs so I am still following the games very closely.    I blew it on the Seahawk/Saints game but so did almost everybody else and I picked right on the next two.   Now if Green Bay comes through for me I can relax until next week.  I won two of the 17 regular season games this year and I am one of 5 winners in Survivor Football.    If I can end up in the top 6, I might just come out even or ahead.   Yippee.   Go Pack!!!!!!!!

This week is starting off moderately quiet.   Monday, of course, is busy because of bible study and the trip to Sheboygan to see Mother.   Then I have Rhine Plymouth meeting in the evening.    But the rest of the week is pretty quiet.   I need to start planning what I am taking to Ireland.  I got two pair of fleece pants that I have to shorten.    Where are all of these 6 feet women.

I got distracted with the game.   YEA  The Packers won.   So we have another chance next week.   It has been a good year.

Have a good week .

God love you

Mary