It was damp and chilly all day. There was some rain but not enough to be really beneficial or even bad to walk in.

Chelsea and I had a really nice walk though I did shorten it because my knee started bothering me. Every day I am able to walk a bit further before it starts hurting so I think the Celebrex is working.

I just cleaned and stuff today. We also got Dick's bath accomplished.

Then at about 4:30PM I left for Howards Grove and Dolores and Ken's 40th Wedding Anniversary celebration. The boys, Kurt and Todd and their wives did a wonderful job of planning the celebration, putting together a DVD and keeping it a surprise. Dolores and Ken had no clue. It is always a delight when with all the people that end up knowing about a surprise like this can keep it a secret.

It was at the Wagon Wheel and Ken and Dolores thought that they were just meeting their boys for dinner. We had a great meal, as the Wagon Wheel always puts on. Chicken, tips and gravy, with all the good side dishes and cake and ice cream for dessert.

I took Mom home at about 9PM after food some visiting and pictures. She was exhausted and I needed to get home too. What a lovey evening.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend too.

Love

Mary

It was a busy day. And a nice day. The weather was perfect. Chelsea and I went for our walk at about 7AM after I had taken care of feeding kitties, showering and cleaning litter box. I got further today before my knee started hurting so I think that perhaps the Celebrex is working. I had a couple of times today when I twisted it so there is SOME inflammation, the doctor says that the xrays just show arthritis.
Guess I should take it easy for a day or two. That is hard.

I cleaned the kitchen today. So the general cleaning is up to date. I do have to get to the garage soon. I figure I will do 1/2 each day that I work at it. Maybe I can get the first half tomorrow morning.

I had lunch with the Wells Fargo ladies today. It was a good day. Almost everybody had good news. Mary Shroeder was there to tell us that she got promoted to the trust department at Community Bank. All other reports were good. People are doing well at jobs and coming home and attending great seminars. After lunch, I went to Kmart and bought a present for Ken and Dolores for their 40th Wedding Anniversary which we will all be celebrating tomorrow night at the Wagon Wheel. I am looking forward to that.

After I got home, I made a fruit salad and some scones and our dinner. WE had Chicken, red beans and rice, cauliflower and fruit salad. And raspberry bread pudding for dessert.

Now it is time to be settling down and getting ready for bed. I did not get my nap today so I am sure that I will sleep very well tonight.

Chelsea had a very bad seizure tonight. Her appetite is kind of down too. We will be watching her very closely and if this continues, we will have the vet look at her.

Tomorrow will be quiet until evening so I can just putter along, except for Dick's bath. That is still somewhat of a production because of the getting in and out of the tub but we are getting better every week.

Have a good weekend yourself.

Here is a picture of the roadways at this time of spring.

Lavender and white
Blooms of wild phlox punctuate
Green wooded byways.


Enjoy

Mary

I slept until almost 7AM (barring of course, Chelsea's early morning walk). We had a lot to do before 10 when we had to leave for Aurora Plymouth. Dick had to to to the anti-coagulation clinic today AGAIN because he has been off the norm that we are aiming for. For a month, he has been off. First the count was very high. Then low for two weeks but Hallelujah. Today his count was 2.4. Which is perfect. It is supposed to be between 2 and 3.

We came home for lunch and then had to get to Sheboygan to see Dr. Moreno to have him write off the shoes. He is very pleased, declared Dick's feet healed and has prescribed therapy for the next month at which point he will reevaluate. He has stressed that we have to be vigilant to any signs of wounds or changes on his feet.

SO, on the way home, we stopped at Plymouth Care to schedule the therapy. Leah got us all set up for next week. With any luck at all we will have Jaren on Thursday. Jaren started Dick on Therapy before it got to a point that he couldn't stand because of the knee problems. He was working on balance and building strength. It will be good to see him again.

We were able to stay home the rest of the day. I got the vacuuming done. Whew. I hate when I get behind. With the cats back with us it does not bode well to leave the vacuuming to for a week.

I read that David Carradine died. He was "grasshopper" in Kung Fu. He is part of a fond memory. The boys liked watching Kung Fu when it was in its prime. Bart was about four and apparently suggestible. We went to church one Sunday and I was talking to one of the young associate pastors. Suddenly Bart yelled "Kung Fu" and kicked him in the shin. The priest was very nice about it but Bart was excommunicated on the spot.



So. Have a good evening and I will check in again tomorrow night.

Love

Mary

This was supposed to be a quieter week, but the excitement of Dick's new shoe and the extra appointments has kind of turned that around.

I started this day off as all the others. Chelsea had a bad appetite day. I have decided not to worry about it. She is perky enough and all other functions seem fine. She IS eating something and I guess we just have to respect her feelings. (Right now, it is almost midnight and she wants me to go to bed. She has this THING about settling down when I do and gets quite bossy about it.)

Anyway I started on my shopping marathon at about 8. I finally got rid of the old battery backup for the computer. I took it over to the City Yard and asked someone what I was supposed to do with it and he took care of it. What a guy.

Then on to the Pig for our grocery shopping. I also had to go to Walgreens to pick up some prescriptions for Mom and go to the bank to make a deposit for her and to pick up some money for us.

Shortly after I got home and put the groceries away, Bobbie came and we did the next steps on the wines that we have brewing downstairs. The rhubarb was not quite at the Specific Gravity we wanted but one of the recipes said to just rack it without testing so we put it into the secondary fermenters (the glass jugs). So we did and were rewarded with seeing that the yeast is indeed working its little heart out in the brew.

This afternoon we had two repairmen here. The water softener had started just running a couple of days ago so I called for repair and the clothes dryer had blown its heating element. WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO HAPPEN AT ONCE!!! Anyway both repair people were able to come quickly and do the job with little fuss. I am grateful. Oscar, however, is not happy. He stayed put for Bobbie and enjoyed his time with her but disappeared when the Culligan Man came and stayed hidden until dinner time. The second doorbell did him in.

This evening Mother, Kate and I went to see 1776 after a lovely dinner at the Villager. It was one of the longest productions I have been to but worth every minute. The cast was mostly men, except for Abigal Adams and Martha Jefferson, and covers the great debates that led to our Declaration of Independence. The talent was special. We loved it.

My only concern was that it was after 11 when I got home. It was OK but if Chelsea had asked to go out , Dick would have been in trouble. She was fine, she no longer expects him to be able to help her so apparently she stirred once but found that I wasn't home so she went back to bed. Such a trusting little pup. She knew that I would be back.

When I got to Kate's I went to comfort her poor sweet kitty, Riley, who has a severely injured front leg. He was quite accepting of my sympathy. He may still lose the leg, or it may be useless when he heals but they are trying. Kate's other cat, Victoria, is being quite the guardian, she sits with him most of the day and the other day when he managed to get upstairs and Kate couldn't find him, Victoria took her up to him.


So that was the day. We are actually into tomorrow. (AND they say tomorrow never comes.)

Enjoy today!!!

Mary

Pete Seeger was quoting Carl Sandburg who said something like this. "My son, perhaps someday there will be a war and no one will come." I received a letter from Tom Petri, our U. S. Representative who swore that he is on my side as far as our responsibility to support and to take care of them when they return as long as it takes them to be re assimilated into civilian life. We send them over there, our future and they defend us and do whatever we ask them to do. We OWE them. If they cannot return to their previous lives because of injuries, we need to care for them. Forever.

This was a very busy day. Chelsea was a real pest. Very demanding. But she is sleeping now and I am SO glad. Sometimes I just get tired taking her in and out of this house.

Dick had an appointment at Wisconsin Prosthesis this morning to get the new cup for his prosthesis. We had a bonus when we got there. His shoe was there too. So - We spent an hour and a half with Tim learning how to put the new cup on. This is different. The sleeve is put onto the stump and then inserted into the cup which locks in place. It is not easy to get it on as it has to be positioned correctly so that when he stands it is straight. Also there cannot be any air bubbles. Wow. Do we have our work set out for us. Especially Dick. He has to be able to do this himself because he gets up during the night and has to put it on without help.

The new shoe fits very nicely. Dick said it feels good. We have an appointment to see Dr. Moreno on Thursday. He will check it out and then we can start therapy and get him up on his feet walking again. Tim, the prosthesist, says that he believes that Dick can be walking with just a cane and not need the wheel chair except for special long occasions. Yippee.

We stopped and picked up a bacon cheeseburger and fries for our lunch from the Dairy Queen. That tasted good.

Then Dick took Chelsea into the bedroom for a nap. She loves that quiet time with him. So I took care of some calls. I called Dr. Murthy's office about my knee hurting and he had me come in for xrays. Modern technology is wonderful. Dr. Murthy had the xrays immediately but of course he has to find time to look at them. It will probably be tomorrow when I hear from him. He did give me some Celebrex which I hope will help the discomfort. It is just that I used to be able to walk off the pain and now it gets worse the longer I walk.

We had soup and sandwich for supper and now I am just about done for the night.

There was a rather interesting situation occurring in the Town of Plymouth. A local restaurant petitioned the town to allow them to change their restaurant to a "Gentlemen's Club" with topless waitresses serving from 4PM to 2PM every day. It was a shock to everybody and the citizens of the area came through in droves. There were six letters to the editor published in the Review against the "Club". All of them articulate and stating their reasons for their disapproval from several perspectives. I was one of the letter writer's. Here is my letter.

I am a resident of the city of Plymouth. It has come to my attention that the Wilderness Restaurant on Hwy 57 at the gateway to the city has applied for a permit to expand the restaurant into a cabaret (topless bar).

I sincerely hope that the Town Board of Plymouth, where the restaurant is located, will stand up and deny this permit. This is not the image that I believe very many of the residents of the Plymouth area wish to convey to the wold.

We are a small town, proud of our roots, our children and our family values. Let's unite to keep it that way.

Thank you.

That was my letter. I only put the name of the restaurant in this blog because the owner of the restaurant, hearing of the concerted opposition, withdrew his application before the meeting. I think that he should be lauded for seeing the mistake and as soon as Dick is able we will again frequent the restaurant for meals as we did before. They are a pleasant place to eat and it would have been a shame to lose another place to eat breakfast that has a smokeless area.

Take care and pray for my friend Gail's daughter Karen who is preparing for serious surgery later this month.

Love

Mary

Chelsea woke me up at 4:30AM this morning. Unbelievable. I did not reawaken until almost 7AM. That is a record. I cannot remember the last time that I slept that late.

As I had to be at Bible Study at 9:30 this did throw me a bit behind. But it all came together. We had a pretty full table at Bible Study. I think that I mentioned that we have been studying the previous Sunday's readings for three years now and have gone through the entire cycle. We have decided to now take a hiatus from that type of study and pick a specific study. The group has settled on the Gospel of Mark and we will chose which series of study we want to use next week and ask Lynn at the church office to order the books for us.

Then I went to Mom's. She wanted to go to the cemetery to look at the boxes by the graves. They really do look lovely and are healthy and colorful. We noticed that there is nothing at my cousin Michael's grave though, and Mother wants something to go out there. I will try to do something to help with that. It is always good to go out there and say Hi to everybody. It is a beautiful cemetery. They used to say Mass out there on Memorial Day. There is a nice altar out there. The statues on the altar have been changed since my day. I remember going down there sometimes as a kit and playing on that altar.

I picked up a couple of plants at Evans today. I found Rosemary, Purple Basil, some petunias and some vines. That is ALL that I am going to do. I got them all planted, I vacuumed the car and switched the floor mats in the car with the summer mats. The winter mats are washed and put away until next winter.

Tonight was the Rhine Plymouth meeting. It was full of business. The club voted not to rejoin the Sheboygan County Conservation Association. I think this is a mistake but the majority do not find it beneficial. Aside from that it was pretty tame but we got a lot done.

The weather was very pleasant but it has chilled down quite a bit this evening. I almost headed out without a jacket but fortunately put it on before I left. I even needed it in the clubhouse.

Tomorrow, Dick gets the new cup for his prosthesis, so we will be gone for a good chunk of the morning. I hope they have some news on the shoe. He needs to get on his feet and walking again.

I do get to stay home all afternoon tomorrow.

I have to get to bed now. It is getting late and we are, as you see, having a busy day tomorrow. I am hoping on talking Dick into eating out somewhere at noon. Wish me luck. It would be good for him.

Love

Mary

 

Just a really good picture of our Big Oscar. Isn't he a handsome guy.

Mary

Such a nice day. Chelsea DID get me up too early, 2:40AM, but it was at least better than it was yesterday. We did not walk too far this morning, because my knee was hurting and I had to take her out twice before we really got to walking anyway.

When she got me up at 2:40AM, I put a roast in the slow cooker for our dinner. It turned out pretty good. The recipe said to cook for at least 12 hours. You just rub the roast with dry onion soup, lay it on a bed of sliced onion and any other veggies you want and let her go on low until you are ready to eat. It is not dry and the juice makes a dark brown gravy.

I also made a coconut meringue pie for dessert. Since Bobbie and Bill came over this afternoon, I could go all out for our evening meal. Bobbie and I were moving to the next step on her Rhubarb wine and she brought more rhubarb and some elderberries to start another batch. The "winery" looks pretty good right now with three batches of wine going all to onest.

I went over to St. John's at 1PM for Mass and a celebration for Fr. Van Beek's 40th Anniversary as a priest. I had not intended on going to two masses in one weekend, I was a Eucharistic Minister last night and really figured that would be enough. But someone from the church called and asked if I was coming and guilted me into it. It was a just fine, a lovely mass with a choir that sang beautiful special music for the occasion and allowed us to join in on many truly lovely songs also. I wrote a haiku for Fr. Van Beek and put it in a card of congratulations that I gave him. He really doesn't know who I am but has been a good parish priest and I love his sermons and the way he brings prayer to us.

I thing I called the Haiku "Congratulations on 40 Years of Priesthood" but I am not sure. Anyway here it is.

A wink of His eye
This time you labored for Him
And yet eternity.

I visited with several people I know. Kate was there. She and Ron ended up unable to go to their daughter's wedding after all. Ron got weak and the trip became not a good idea. We could not talk too long. She will call when she can. Her kitty, Riley, has a broken leg and got out of his cast and she had to take him to Port Washington to the veterinarian after she left the reception. This is on top of Ron. Pray for Ron. He has not had a bad spell like this in several months and it is not a good thing.

Tomorrow is a new week and a new month all rolled into the one day. It is hard to believe that it is the beginning of June already.

Take care. This will be a busy week.

Love

Mary

You must be sick of hearing about Chelsea, but she is the start of every day and last night she woke me up at the ungodly hour of 1AM. I figured it was an anomaly so I left the door open. Big mistake. She was back within the hour. So I took her out again and then did shut her out. I was able to go back to sleep and got up at 6AM.

The usual morning routine. We had a truly nice walk. It was warm and a bit breezy. We ran into a couple of the neighbors and they raved over how pretty she looks with her new haircut. Rick also said that he thinks it makes her look younger.

At nine I drove over to the Plymouth Armory to pick up my SHARE. It was raining then. It had pretty much stopped by the time I got there. I picked up Kate's SHARE also as she and Ron are in South Dakota at their daughter, Dawnlee's wedding. I managed to get it all in freezer/refrigerator spots as needed so it will be fresh and safe when Kate gets home.

Home again, I did some food prep. A fruit salad. a lettuce salad, a pie crust. After lunch, I took a nice nap. It helped but I am still very tired.

I went to Mass at 4PM. It is Pentecost Sunday already. The church was all decorated in red to symbolize the Spirit. Fr. Van Beeck spoke about the importance of this feast day. The Spirit was not hyped too much years ago and we even referred to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost. Remember the silly before dinner blessing? Father, Son and Holy Ghost. He who eats the fastest gets the most.

But this is the day that commemorates the Holy Spirit coming to the Apostles and they came out of their hiding places and converted, they say, 5000 to Christianity in that one day. Wow. Now that is SPIRIT.

Anyway, as I was leaving I saw Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob also leaving church. They came here because they are going to the cottage that they own at Elkhart Lake and wanted to go to an earlier Mass and get HOME to rest for the weekend. We had a nice visit.

I also ran into my cousin Harold Ziegler and was able to tell him that I saw the article about him in the Plymouth Review. He has been in barbershop for 50 years and won an award this year. There is still a small chorus in Plymouth and he belongs to a bigger one in Milwaukee. They will be singing at the Weill Center on June 14th, I will have to see if I can possibly go.

This evening has been very quiet Dick has already gone to bed. I will stay up til shortly after nine so that I can take the girl out and then hit the bed myself.

Tomorrow I am going to the church at 1PM to wish Fr. Van Beeck a happy 40th year of ordination. Somebody from the church called and asked if I was coming, so I thought I would. Actually, I am not sure if Father knows who I am though we have been introduced several times.

So that is all for tonight. I hope your Sunday is special.

Mary

That goofy dog of ours woke me up at 2:40AM to go outside. I was able to get back to sleep and got a good rest until a bit after 6AM. At that point, I woke up and could hear dog tags rattling in the hall and an occasional meow so figured I had better get up and take care of the "royals."

After feeding the animals and my shower, Chelsea and I went for an absolutely lovely walk. My only complaint is that my right knee is so sore. I am determined to "walk it off" and hope that adding chondroitin and daily Tylenol will help with that.

I spent the morning cleaning the kitchen. I got the cupboards all wiped off with Murphy's soap. I am trying to hit a room a week with that. My spring cleaning is a couple of months off but it is getting there.

I had lunch at the Dairy Queen today. It was good to spend the time with the gals again. The past year has been so spotty. Everyone is doing pretty well and they are fun ladies.

Home again, I took a short nap before getting things ready for Dick's supper and catching up on phone calls and emails.

Nancy picked me up at 5PM so we could go to Rhine for the bust up of the pistol league. Toni Nevicosi was helping John with the bust up dinner so we three ladies and John all ate together and the ladies had a great visit. A bit later Lil and Ken Pipping joined us. It was an nice gathering. Nancy had to be home by 7 so I came home with her knowing that Dick would be very glad to have me home again. And he was. So were critters, though Chelsea seems very tired and is not all that interested after she greeted me. She did not finish her dinner tonight either.

Tomorrow is fairly quiet. I have to pick up SHARE in the morning and go to Mass at 4PM but the rest of the day is mine, mine, mine. I often wonder how anyone would ever find the time to be bored.

There is an interesting scenario occurring in the Town of Plymouth. There is a restaurant called the Wilderness on Highway 57 between Highway E/PP and Eastern Avenue. The owner of the restaurant has applied for an addendum to his license that will allow him to change his establishment to a "Gentleman's Club", a Cabaret which would employ topless waitresses from 4PM to 2AM each day. I am astonished and have written to the Plymouth Review to protest and hope that this is not approved. I am a resident of the City of Plymouth and do not have a vote for the town representatives but I can voice my opinion and did. We don't need that kind of place operating at our gate.

Guess that is all the news.

Have a nice weekend.

Love

Mary

Chelsea's appetite was not too good today. I had to coax her into eating breakfast. She got me up at 3:30AM. Then when I got up at 6, she was not hungry but was very anxious to get out to go to the bathroom. So. I accommodated her.

Dick and I had a great breakfast. Scrambled eggs with chives and cheese, sausage and toast. Then I vacuumed the upstairs rooms and did some other cleaning. Dick and Chelsea had a nice nap.

Bobbie got here at about noon. We were winemakers today. After a lunch of pork burritos and a new cherry tomato salad that turned out REALLY good, she and I went down to the "winery". Bobbie brought chopped up frozen rhubarb which we got into the straining bag and covered with sugar to cure for three days before moving on to the next step.

Roxie became very insistent at the foot of the stairs, so we just let her come and join us. Of course, she still was a real pain wanting us to pet her or to, at least, lift her up on to the benches, which we were not about to do, not with the new fermenting musts that we had started.

We also started the last kit that Dick and I had purchased, White Zinfandel. Bobbie is taking over the family "wine business" slowly. She will make a couple of batches here - as many as she wants as far as we are concerned - and figure out where to put the equipment and supplies at her house. This is fun. She and Bill will be back on Sunday, probably, for the next step and then to mix up another batch.

We had pizza for dinner tonight and now are all settled for the evening. I am going to close this off quite quickly so I can do some reading before I go to bed. I am in the middle of two books. The past several months I just have not been reading at all. Too distracted, I guess. So I am trying to schedule reading time every day.

Emily Dickinson said. " I never spoke to God nor visited in Heaven...yet certain am I of the spot."

Have a lovely healing sleep.

Mary

I hope you have already seen the pictures of our girl, Chelsea. Isn't that the cutest little girl that you have ever seen? She was a very good girl for Gina. I left her there at 8:30 and did a little shopping for about an hour. I got back just when she was about finished. Chelsea was glad to see me and Gina said that she was a pretty good girl. She likes out Chelsea and is very patient with her. She is amazed that Chelsea is 15 years old.

Chelsea and I stopped at Mother's on the way home. I had some things to take to Mother and I know that she likes to see Chelsea. After her bath and haircut,Chelsea looks so good too. We had a short visit and then I came home.

We got home between 10:30 and 11:00 And I left immediately for grocery shopping as Dick was sleeping and Chelsea needed to rest. I got home shortly before noon and heated up some Swiss Steak and mashed potatoes for our dinner.

At 2PM I had to be at Rocky Knoll for the Amputee Support Group meeting. We were supposed to have a speaker from the DMV but she canceled at the last minute so we just had a talk session. We had a new amputee, a young man who had just recently had an arm amputated. He will be all right but pleas pray for him as he is being fed a lot of meds that seem kind of unnecessary and perhaps redundant. I am glad that he is coming. As I said, Pray for him.

The rest of the day has been just catching up.

It rained most of the day and since I was driving around, the car got very clean.

Now it is evening and getting close to bed time. I am looking at a very content kittie ( Roxie) turned upside down on my desk and being sweet.

So. I will close tonight with a saying from a book that I bought called Chasing Normal by Dinah Chadoir Federer. She spoke to our Amputee Support Group last month and write this book to help the "Newly Disabled and for Those Who Love Them."

If you want to read it I will share, or let you know where to find it.

Here are two quotes from the book.

"Those who want to sing will find a song." Anonymous

"I believe that we, the disabled, need to stop chasing normal, celebrate who we are and who we are becoming and help each other as we go." Dinah Chadoir Federer.

Love

Mary

 

 

Here is our Girl. Chelsea with her summer do. Don't you just love the special flair to her tail this year?

Mary

It was a rather funny day. Not too busy, thank heaven. I got up shortly after 6. It was raining, not hard but wet enough that we took a very short walk this morning. I was able to work on getting the trash ready during the day, as because of the holiday, they are picking up tomorrow. Lots of people got scared and put theirs out today, but I hung in there and waited.

Dick got his coagulation checked this morning. It had improved some but not nearly enough so we have to go back next week to see how the NEW adjustment works.

The rest of the day was a home day. I did some cleaning and washing.

This evening I went out on the street to meet the Ad Hoc Tallgrass Committee with the developer and the paver so the paver could tell us what he is going to do and how this will help with the drainage problems which is the second part of the Ad Hoc Committee's concerns. It was very useful. We will probably have Tallgrass paved by the middle of June.

That was the day. Pretty uneventful. I can't say that that upsets me at all.

Tomorrow will be busy. Chelsea gets her summer do and I have an Amputee Support Group meeting to attend. Plus shopping.


A poem for our Chelsea

My furry friend ages
Much faster than I do
Yet she romps in joy.


Later

Mary

I got to stay home for the whole day. It was wonderful.

Chelsea DID wake me up at about 3:30, but this morning I was able to get back to sleep and did not wake up again until 6:30AM so I got a very good sleep. I am going to bed on time tonight too and hopefully that will catch me up.

Chelsea has had a rather difficult evening, she has been coughing a lot. All I can do is reassure her.

We did have a nice day. Dick was hungry for corned beef hash and eggs (Bobbie mentioned them the other day when she was over.) So we had that for our breakfast. Then I fried out. I cooked those Meisfeld brats with apple and saurkraut. Boy are they good. We also had potato salad and beans. And I made a Jello Poke Cake for dessert. I used a yellow cake mix and raspberry jello for the cake.

I love the blog. I mentioned that Mother was going downstairs to water plants during the winter and wanted a home for them and Bobbie emailed that she would be glad to take them. They will spend this last summer on Mom's porch and then go home to Bobbie. There are several, some of them badly in need of separating, but Bobbie will know what to do with them. I am so grateful and Mom was happy that someone wants them.

Mom and I were remembering how Dad got some of the remaining living cactus. He brought some back from California when we, the Johnstons, took him out to the desert. I remember that he had his suitcase stuffed with rocks and cactus. I could not lift it. Then he tried and looked at me in total surprise and said."What did you put in there?"

He also swiped some of them from public buildings. If he saw an interesting cactus in a lobby, he would sneak over and break off a piece and put it in his pocket. It is a wonder he did not have thorns in his butt but I think his guardian angel protected him.

Have a lovely rest of the week.

Mary

I got to bed so late last night. Then Chelsea got me up at 4:30AM, despite my taking her out just before I crawled in. The trouble is that I was unable to get back to sleep so finally at 6AM, I just got up and have been up ever since.

I spent the morning kind of just getting things organized and feeding all the creatures that live in our world.

I went to the 10:45AM Mass. It was a nice mass, commemorating the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven. I still wonder how those poor Apostles must have felt when He told them to wait in Jerusalem for Word from his Father and then disappearing up into the sky. Had a bit of a visit with my friend Janet Bieschke and found out that her husband Richard also was born on May 21st.

We had chili for lunch as I wanted to get over to Mother's with the tomato plants from Jeff and Kathy. It was a busy afternoon. Leif and Nora were there as we had decided to plant the tomatoes together. They ended up doing so much more. Got Mom's trash all sorted and ready for the curb, fertilized the lawn and planted all of her geraniums in the front for color. I hope they didn't get too worn out, I had to leave a bit before four o'clock because I ahd to pick up a prescription for Dick and they close at 5 on Sundays. Besides I was tired.

Shortly after I arrived, Dolores and Ken came and then cousin Chris and her husband Ron Kasmarazak came too so I will bet you that Mother is also exhausted. This has been a very busy week for her and she does wear out. I found out that she went down into the basement to water plants yesterday. She is not supposed to do that - it is flat out dangerous and I am so very worried about her.

Dick and I had pork chops, broccoli and mashed potatoes for supper. Now we are watching the National Memorial Day Concert. It is always so special and touches my heart in so many way. We must remember to be there for all of our servicemen and women who are coming home from war in so many degrees of hurt and need and even those who seem not injured by their experience for an experience it has been and their sacrifice must be appreciated. They fought to keep us free and we must do whatever is needed to care for them and keep them safe once they are home again. We cannot forget them. They are ours, our children. We cannot neglect our children.

God Bless Them and those who care for them.

Tomorrow we get to stay home ALL day. I am so happy and so tired. I must remember to put the flag out tomorrow.

Love
Mary

Such a lovely day. I got up at 6AM and was quite busy this morning with animals, meals and helping Dick with his bath. By lunch time, I had everything that I had to do finished so I took a nap.

Tonight, I left at about 4PM to go to the wedding reception in Green Bay at Lambeau Field. I drove to Jeff and Kathy's home in Hilbert and then Kathy drove her car the rest of the way. We had tons of fun using the GPS that Bart and Barb gave me for Christmas to get there.

This being Memorial Day weekend, of course, Jeff and Randy were at Indy for the big 500. Would you believe that they have been going to that race for 39 years already?
When they first started, they camped - no matter what the weather. There were stories of ice chests floating away. Now they stay in motels.

The wedding reception was special. John's wife, Jenifer, is charming. They had a totally Irish theme down to to music they walked into the meal on and danced too. Lambeau is really a classy place to have a reception. The room is spacious, nicely decorated and easy to get to. The meal was very good also.

Saw a lot of relatives. Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob, Chris and Ron and Andrea and Brian and Peggy. Nora and Leif and Eileen and Fred. And Uncle Pat and Aunt Joan the parents of my cousin John the groom. John and I are the bookend grandchildren of John and Matie Bowser and there are 40 years separating us in age. He has grown to be a fine young man. I still remember that little red headed munchkin.

John designed his new bride's engagement ring. He found a lovely Irish knot, took to to a jeweler and had the ring designed with the know on either side of the diamond. It is exquisite.

Anyway, I am home safe and sound and Chelsea sees no reason why I am staying up so late, so I believe that I will close this down and go to bed. Tomorrow will be quieter but busy since I will be taking the tomato plants that Kathy sent for us down to Mom's and Nora, Leif and I will plant them for Mom. I will have to get mine planted too.

So. Good Night, Sleep Tight.

Love

Mary

Today was my doctor's appointment. I really like Dr. Murthy. He really asks a lot of questions and seems to have good answers.

I have to remember to listen and follow orders. He is suggesting that I take Tylonol Arthritis twice a day to see if it helps the pain in my side, shoulder and legs. Since I told Mother that she has to keep this up to stay ahead of the pain, I had better be sure to do the same myself. He suggested that perhaps I add Chondroitin to my MSM/Glucosamine. So. I picked some of that up along with a renewal of the only prescription that I have Nexium for my stomach and reflux. I have to remember to keep taking that too. I have a tendency to stop once I don't have symptoms any more.

Anyway, that is enough about my issues.

I got my desk cleaned off again today and made a fruit salad but overall, I am just plain tired and hope that tomorrow I have a little more oomph. Perhaps if I can get to bed earlier this evening.

I better get more alert tomorrow as I am going to that wedding reception in the evening for John Bowser. I told you that the reception is at the Legends Club at Lambeau Field, didn't I? I am kind of excited about that. Nora and Leif, Eileen and Fred and Kathy and I will be representing the Deeley's. Mother has decided that it is just a bit too much. She is tired. I know that all the excitement of Nora and Leif being here is tiring. Nora and I talked about that. She and Leif are quietly trying to do things for her while they are here. Also Nora and Eileen revamped her closets and set them up for easy access. She has such cute things and looks so elegant in her clothes.

Guess that is all for now. I will check in after the reception to let you know about the Legends Club.

Love

Mary

Well, I can no longer claim to be 68 years old. I am 69, one year closer to the big 70. Funny, I don't feel any different.

It was a busy day, I received cards and calls and flowers from lots of people and got to spend some time with members of the Deeley family also. That was not a happy occasion as it was at Keith Carpenter's funeral. A very touching funeral, well attended. But then SO many people knew Keith from all his years at Dale's and even into the new ownership and him being such a nice guy. After Mass, there was a military ceremony, requested because he is a Vietnam Veteran. That is always so beautiful and hurting to witness. The formal presentation of arms followed by the 21 gun salute and then TAPS on the single bugle. Shirley will have the flag to pass down in the family. And a lovely family they are.

I had spent the morning cleaning and trying to catch up on reports for various groups and other computer chores. I only have three current projects. Cleaning keeps happening. I remember that Nora and I used to go and help Aunt Helen clean her house on weekends. Not together. I think Nora started after I stopped. But Helen would tell the story, that when Nora and she would finish the cleaning, Nora would go around the house and pretend to seal the various rooms in a cover to keep them clean.

Tonight we had a special meeting, mandatory they called it. It was quite a bru-ha-ha. You have the trap shooters vs. the Sheboygan County Conservation Association. It is the same in every club. There are the workers, those who do the minimum and the slackers. Unfortunately, a member who was so valuable in the maintenance of the traps and all, got angry and walked out for the second time. He is gone now. I had pointed out that he, like others before him, had made the volunteering to time consuming a part of his life, and once one resents the volunteering it is no longer a good thing. I suggested that he come back to us as he is a wonderful asset to any organization, but then one of our members from "the other side" started rattling on and got him mad again. So we have a lot that will have to be resolved at the next meeting.

So now I am home and ready to wind down. Aren't the flowers loverly?

Love you all

From the old 69 year old woman who lives in Plymouth Wisconsin.

Mary

 

Aren't they beautiful? Dick and Brenda sent them for my birthday. I love flowers and am so grateful for the thoughts and the flowers.

Mary