What a day. I went to see Dr. Casey for another adjustment on my arm and shoulder. They have been aching for some time and I aggrevated it while out hunting rabbit last Sunday. Guns get pretty heavy after about three hours. He did a LOT of adjusting. I will keep putting cold on it and see if it eases up.

Dick has a cold. His throat has been sore and he started dripping today. These are the same symptoms that I had so we can hope that he heals as quickly as I did.

He did get the tree all down today. I cleaned a couple of cupboards. Because he was sick, we decided late this afternoon not to go to the Symphony, so I hurried up and went to Mass tonight so that I could join the choir. I knew that, at least, two altos had to work and would not be there. We sounded pretty good after all. I was also able to give the Symphony tickets to our friends Gary and Judy Henderson, who used to have season tickets, but did not buy them this year. They did not have plans so were glad of the opportunity.

I took Mom a piece of quiche and she gave us some peach pie. A good trade. The barter system still works. Tomorrow we will have Dick's Chili for Super Bowl Sunday. I think I will make French Pastry for dessert. Very easy dessert but very elegant looking.

French Pastry

Chocolate Instant Pudding
Graham Crackers
Whipped Cream

Make the pudding and whip the cream.

Place four graham crackers halves on a tray. Spread a tablespoon or so of pudding on each half cracker. Place another half cracker on top of the pudding. Repeat for four (I think) layers finishing with a cracker. Spread whipped cream over each stack sealing the stack. Let sit for several hours. Then the crackers are soft enough to cut. Cut in half and serve. Look pretty and tastes great. Makes 8 servings.


Here is a sample of a type of poetry that I learned about at the last writer's club meeting called a Cin Quain.

Puppy
Chubby Happy
Yipping Jumping Licking
Goofy little ball of slopper
Cuddly


Fun to play with.

Love

Mary

ee

Dick made chili today. We will be feasting with a proper meal on Super Bowl Sunday. I fixed an impossible spinach quiche for supper today and it was really good. I had some fresh spinach and a nice mixture of cheeses.

Today, I went to Plymouth to have lunch with the Wells Retirees. I had a grilled cheese. The Dairy Queen in Plymouth has what they call Sheboygan County Fair Grilled Cheese and they are GOOD. I ran into Peg and Stan Payne there today. They are Irish friends. I usually lunch with them on St. Patrick's Day at the Stafford after the Irishman's Walk. Peg said she MAY not walk, but that they are planning on being at the Stafford for lunch and the music.

Chelsea and I had a lovely walk today. It rained off and on today but was dry when we went out. I stopped at Blessed Trinity on the way home for the opening prayers of the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. I did not stay for the whole rosary, because, as I told Deacon Bill Jens, I say my rosary when Chelsea and I go for our walk in the morning. She is quite a holy dog you know.


Mary

Got my hair cut today. Also had choir. Aside from that we stayed home. Chelsea and I had a nice walk this morning. When she had me taking her outside the fourth time this morning, I decided it was time to walk her. She really gets restless when she doesn't get those walks. It is best for me to do it too. My legs stay more limber.

I stopped and visited with Mother before choir practice. We got into talking about news items. She can't stand Bush and was, of course, not impressed by his speech. But one thing that we talked about was this business of the rights of illegal immigrants. I feel that illegal immigrants don't have rights in the sense of getting licenses, buying property or getting an education. Illegal should mean something. That is why we have visas and work permits and, for those who wish and qualify, citizenship. It is a no brainer. Illegal means not belonging here. PERIOD.

Have a good day.

Later


Mary

A cloudy gloomy day today. Dick and I did our grocery shopping today rather than tomorrow, I am not exactly sure why. Then we went over to Discovery World to pay for the day trips for the next year. We are not sure about a long trip at this point as most of them require lots of walking and Dick really does not want that.

I sewed ears on the kitten that I am appliqueing for a quilt. If the kitten is half as cute as the cocker spaniel, the quilt should be adorable. I will have to find a nice home for it.

When Dick and I went to lunch at The Other Place, Mother recalled that at the end of World War II she remembered her brothers coming home from the war and the big party at what was then Fitz's. She could envision her brother, my uncle Noel, dancing around the bar singing "Kiss me once and kiss me twice and kiss me once again." as he kissed every girl in the place. Uncle Noel was a handsome guy. Tall and good looking with black curly hair. I could get a picture of that night from her description and loved the smile on her face.

Mary

My cold is no worse. I took a night time decongestant last night and a day time decongestant this morning. I am also taking vitamin C and gargeling with salt water and actually, I am doing very well.

Four members of the Writer's Club, Jane Kocmoud, Barb Harwood, Rosemary Eigenberger and myself all went to the Milwaukee Art Museum to look at the works of art in their permanent collection to write poems about in their annual The Art of Poetry/ The Poetry of Art Contest. I entered last year. I did not win but it was fun.

This year I have narrowed the art pieces down to five that I saw and liked. They are quite diverse. One is by a Haitian Artist Laurent Casiman called the Crowded Market. The second is also by a Haitian Artist Hector Hyppolite called St. Francis and the Christ Child. The third is by George Inness called Sunset in Georgia. The forth is by Gerhard Richter and is called Breath. The last is by Francisco De Zurbaran called St. Francis of Assisi in His Tomb. You can view the de Zurbaran, under Early European Art and the Richter, under Contemporary art on the Milwaukee art Museum page at mam.org. I have to limit it to three, so we will see which inspire me now that I have time to think about it.

We had the nicest lunch in the Cafe at the Museum. I had a cup of chicken pot pie soup and a half of a club sandwich.

Tomorrow will be a lot less exciting.

Love

Mary

I have a cold. I am fighting it as best as I can because I had bible study and finishing getting the pointsettias off the altar this morning and tomorrow will go to the Milwaukee Art Museum on a field trip with the Writers Club. We are leaving at about 9:00AM and should be back by 4:00 so that I can pick up Market day.

We are going to MAM to pick out the pictures that we want to write poems about for their annual contest. Last year I picked picures of the works of art off of the computer. Should be much better to see them in person then be able to write the poems.

Jeff was telling stories about Dad yesterday. One was really funny. At one point, the DNR said that people could no longer go into the woods and harvest their own Christmas trees. Makes sense actually, but Dad felt that they were taking his rights away. He kept saying that that was public land and belonged to him and so therefore he was going to get his tree. So. He told Jeff that he had to come with him. So, they tromped into the woods out near the Bowser homstead until he found a tree he liked. He make Jeff cut it down and they cut a piece off the top as big as he wanted the Christmas tree to be. Then they started out of the woods. Dad, hobbling along on his cane, would go to the first ridge and look around and then wave Jeff, dragging the tree along to catch up. Then they went on to the next one. They made it and did not get caught, but Jeff was torn between obeying Dad and terror at getting caught. That seemed to satisfy him as he never did it again. He was a stubborn old man all right.

Mary

Rainy warm day. I went hunting as I mentioned that I would. We all met at Leroy's house at about 9:00AM. Jeff was on time. He actually beat Dennis and Don Behr, which was REALLY a shock. We got out to the woods at about 9:30AM and Copper, Dennis's dog, picked up a scent immediately. The rain, not too heavy, kept up until about 10:30 then it stopped and did not start again until we were out. Despite Vic's protests which started at 10:00AM,(Vic is a friend of Dennis and Don and always figures that the sooner we get to the bar the better off we are.) we stayed out until noon and ended up harvesting three rabbits. Don Behr got one and Jason Karls got the other two. Copper ran them for three hours and kept us all on our toes.

We then went to the Wierl Wind at about noon for the annual sausage tasting. The hunters bring samples of their venison sausage and we along with any customers who show up at the bar, even including Copper the dog, taste all the "entries" and rate them as to what is liked the best. It is a blind test. Jeff and I sliced all the samples onto paper plates,labeled with the name of the buther shop or creator on the bottom of the plate. Then Don Behr mixed up the plates and labeled them from A to G in this case as we had 7 different kinds. After all the votes were in about three hours later, the concensus was that the sausage made by Roehrborn's was the best this year. It even beat out the ringer - the Johnsonville Garlic Summer Sausage.

I got home at about 4:00PM. I am really tired and was not hunbry enough to eat supper, but I at some of Jim's Tirimisu (which is excellent by the way, though he is not happy with his sponge cake) and an orange.

Soon I will got to bed as the first two days of this week are REALLY busy.

Take care of YOU this week.

Love

Mary

Today was a holiday. Dick and I went on a Discover trip to the Fireside and saw those Fabulous Fifties. We LOVED it. It was a bit of a history, memory, music trip back to the 50's and the birth of Rock and Roll with tributes to Jazz and Pop. The band was exceptional. Nine members, a keyboard, a bass, a trombone, a trumpet, drums, two guitars, sax and flute. They were really great and played everything from Elvis to Brubeck with Louis Armstrong and the Everly Brothers in between. Dick is going to tell you that I ended up on stage again. Two of the lovely young ladies were asking for volunteers for their game show segment and everybody was turning them down so I thought - why not. Cindy, another gal on the Discovery tour, and I got to play "basketball." She put a small basketball net on her head like a crown and I got to throw ping pong balls. We had 45 seconds and I made the basket (with Cindy's help) on the third throw. We each got a $10. gift certificate from the Fireside which I will use when we go to Evita later this year. Such a deal.

Tomorrow, I am going rabbit hunting with Jeff, Randy, and Kenny and our friends LeRoy and Dennis (who has a rabbit dog named Copper.) It is supposed to be rainy but fairly warm. I hope it doesn't get too wet.

Have a nice Sunday

Mary

Jim helped me, so here is the picture.

From Left to Right.

Aunt Jo, Mother, Me, Aunt Lenore and Aunt Gee.

Have a nice weekend.

Mary

It is almost 11:00PM and I just got home from working at Rhine. We had shooters until almost 10:00PM. With the storm last weekend there were hardly ANY league shooters on Friday so everybody was there and trying to catch up. Boy did we ever go through the beer and peanuts. I just REEK of cigarette smoke.

Had a nice lunch with Mother, Betsy, Betsy's Mom Dorothy and Dick at the Other Place in Falls. The Other Place was Fitz's when I was a kid. The dining room we ate in used to be a clothing store called Deeley's Men's Wear. Not a coincidence. My Uncle Jack owned it. He sold really good men's clothing. My Bret looks a lot like Uncle Jack.

I also got the kitchen cleaned.

Well, Jim got the picture I want to show you onto my computer in an e mail. I am afraid it will be tomorrow or Sunday before you get it because I have to figure out how to get it on the blog. In the meantime I will tell you one LITTLE story about Aunt Claire, my Grandpa Bowser's other sister. She is NOT on the picture.

Aunt Claire, as I said was Grandpa Bowser's sister. She married Uncle Henry Uelman, who was my GRANDMA Bowser's baby brother. They had two girls, Mary Alair and Ellen. Ellen married a Gilboy and lives in California and Mary Alair lives in the East.

Uncle Henry lived in California near his daughter Ellen for many years in a mobile home park. He was my Mother's godfather and when Mom visited we always went to see Uncle Henry. He was a dear man, at that time in his 80s and he walked 5 miles every day. He was such a pleasure to be around. He was a perfect gentlemen and treated every woman he met like a perfect lady. Such a joy.

Love


Mary

The sun shone most of the day today. The temps were only in the upper 30's but Chelsea and I had a great walk. With the sun shining on us I almost got too warm. We went for out walk shortly after Dick and I got back from grocery shopping.

I got to stay home most of the day after we got back from shopping. I cleaned the bathrooms. Then I spent the afternoon cutting and pasting the song for the Cancer benefit and just catching up on things in the computer. Tonight was choir practice, so I stopped to visit with Mother for a bit beforehand. Aunt Kathleen called while I was there. She is back at their site in North Carolina with Uncle Bob and still is enjoying remembering the surprise she gave Mother. She also had some news that was not so good. My Aunt MaryAnn, Uncle Roman's wife, had to have surgery this week. She had a very large tumor on an ovary that had grown so fast that her son, Tom, noticed a bulge in her abdomen and insisted that she see a doctor. They removed both ovaries and I believe the uterus, but they do not believe that it is malignant. That is a blessing. She is in a lot of pain, but that surgery does result in pain. Pray for a speedy recovery.

Now I want to tell you about the third Great Aunt, Jo, who is on the picture that I hope to have Jim scan for me tonight. Then I will paste it into the blog tomorrow.

These are,as I said, Grandpa Bowser's sisters. There was a forth,, Claire. I will tell you a bit about her tomorrow. She died in 1956 long before this picture was taken.

Anyway, about Aunt Jo. Josephine. She married Bob Cardwell. He was in insurance and quite successful. They never had any children. Aunt Jo was quite handy. They had a lovely house in Santa Ana. Aunt Jo love to decorate and build things too. She built at least three patios and/or decks onto the house in the MANY years that they lived there. She would build a patio, cover it , eventually enclose it and make it into another room and then she would start on another one.

This worked out well as long as they were living there. But when it came time to sell there were big problems, not only were there no permits for all these extra rooms and square footage, but much of the rooms were not up to code and they ended up tearing some of them out.

At one time, she decided to redecorate the house in an oriental style while Bob was gone and he came home to find that she had cut off the legs of all the coffee tables and painted them black. During the Mosaic craze back in the 70s, she and Bob both started doing that and almost every surface in the house was covered in mosaic. This also is OK, but the weight makes it impossible to move the things.

Aunt Jo was a traveler too. She was always very proud of the Clifford Irish roots that we have. Imagine her surprise when she went over to Ireland and found that the Cliffords had originally come over with Cromwell. Though they had assimilated and intermarried, they were part of an invading people. Dad always found that amusing and used to say that Mother was not really Irish, but "Orange."

So there are some stories about Aunt Jo. Aren't the three Aunts interesting?

Tomorrow I will tell you a bit about Aunt Claire.

Have a great Friday.

Mary

It was cold but sunny today. The temperatures are predicted to go up into the mid to upper 40s by and through the weekend with rain on Saturday and rain/snow mix on Sunday. I don't like that as I am going rabbit hunting on Sunday. Well, we will just have to see what happens.

Today, I finished the baby quilt top. Now I just need to do the label and then assemble it after I pick up the batting and backing on Feb. 4. The fabric they gave me is really pretty. Nice and bright with cute little bears on it. I had to add some fabric and found a nice bird print that blended nicely.

I also cleaned and straightened out the projects and material AGAIN.

Dick and I filtered the batch of White Zinfindal that we have fermenting and also mixed up a batch of the Luna Bianca. I have four batches of scratch wines that are coming up on being ready to filter and/or bottle. As soon as I free some gallon jugs, I need to mix up the grapes that I have frozen.

Here is another story of one of my Great Aunts. I will have Jim scan in the picture of Mother, me and the three of them and put it on this blog for you.

This is the story of Aunt Lenore. Aunt Lenore was a registered nurse. When my Tony was born, Aunt Lenore was in the hospital and as soon as he was born she saw to it that he was baptized. I was always grateful for that. He, of course, did live for three months, but someone cared enough to see that he was claimed by God at his birth.

Anyway, Aunt Lenore was a nurse. She got her education and did her training in Gary Indiana. She boarded with a family named Walters. The Walters had a little boy about 2 or thre years old. About 20 years later, Aunt Lenore married that young man. His name was Clyde.

They had two children (I don't know where they are or what they do.)and some rocky times. I know that Uncle Noel and Aunt Lois said that he ran around on her some. However, they stayed together and they loved each other. The last time I saw Aunt Lenore, she had had a stroke or something and had suffered some memory loss. Uncle Clyde took care of her. She visited quite happily with Mother and me, sometimes in the present and sometimes in the past. Occasionally, she would call for Clyde and if he was out of the room, he would rush in to reassure her. And she would smile a beautiful smile at him. They are both gone now. They used to say that Lenore raised him and then married him. Maybe she did, but it worked out for them.

Tomorrow is shopping and choir.

Take care

Mary

Chelsea was really goofy this morning. She woke me up at about 5 minutes after five. I took her out and tried to go back to bed, but she started jumping on me about 10 minutes later, so I gave up and took my shower.

I was home all day except for a trip to Dr. Casey the chiropractor, and picking up som amended tax returns. I did some writing, some quilting (I almost have the baby quilt top assembled.) and just general catching up.

I did call Mother and found out that the name of Aunt Gee's first husband was Willie Lindsay. The Lindsay family and the Bowser family were close friends. Willie was mean to Aunt Gee. Grandpa helped her get on the train and go to California. Another brother, my great uncle Matt and his wife were living out there at the time. Uncle Matt managed a grocery store. So she stayed with them for a while. Mother thinks that Willie did go out there and try to talk her into coming back, but she was not stupid. Ahead of her time, she must have known that once and abuser, always an abuser.

The Lindsays were always rather distant to the Bowsers after that as one can well imagine. Willie lived with his sister in Cascade and never married.

That is enough for tonight, I'll tell you something about Aunt Lenore tomorrow.

Mary

Guess what! I went to the Post Office and they HAD TWO CENT Stamps. This was my fourth stop. No wonder the Post Office is failing as a business. If they cannot keep supplies in their stores, how can they succeed. But I finally have them for myself, Mother and Rhine Plymough. WHEW!

A small crew, 5 of us, from the church environment committee spent a couple of hours in the loft behind the altar, sorting all the decorations into season and holy day. We are very pleased with the result and have made plans for future consolidation. We also took down more Christmas and put up a couple of Ordinary Time green banners. Next Monday, the pointsettas will be beyond keeping and we will take them away and put up some simple trees and spotlights that will keep us until Lent.

We had to get up at 5:30AM because we took the Elantra in for servicing. Now both cars are set for several thousand miles.

I know I told you about the DVD that Randy made with pictures of Mom from the time she was a teenager until NOW with all of us and with the grandchildren. I had Jim make a copy and he is going to produce two so I can send them to Bret and Bart. It was so neat to see all of us and our children at different ages. An pictures of Mom and Dad as they grew older and you can see all their love. Then, the pictures of her as a teenager. We see her stamp on her granddaughters, especially Britt and Jessica for some reason (and they don't look at all alike.) Wow. Now we have more pictures to add to the mix.

There was one picture that I submitted that I have always especially liked. It is in California in Uncle Nowl and Aunt Lois's backyard. Mother and I are standing with Grandpa Bowser's three sisters, Aunt Gee, Aunt Jo and Aunt Lenore. They were interesting ladies. Aunt Gee for example, married a man from the Town Mitchell area. I can't remember his name right now, I will ask Mother and record it in the geneology file. Anyway, one day Aunt Gee came over to Grandma and Grandpa Bowser's house and told Grandpa that her husband had become very frightening and was sleeping with a rifle next to the bed. Grandpa went over to the house with her and got her things. She moved to California - I am assuming that there were friends there and eventually remarried the Uncle that I knew, Andy Kramer. They lived to a ripe old age. When I saw her last I believe that she was 90 years old. They had one son. I don't know what happened to him. As I recall, he lived somewhere in Northern California. Aunt Gee was a lovely loving woman.

Tomorrow, I will tell you a story about Aunt Lenore.

Love
Mary

Today was spectacular. The sun was shining and it was in the mid 30s with no wind at all. Chelsea and I took a walk and I actually got a little warm with my jacket and hat and all. As we couldn't walk yesterday because of the ice, today was especially pleasant.

I didn't get to bed until midnight last night. Chelsea let me sleep until almost 6:30 though and she was very polite when she did wake me up. I rolled over and was trying to see the time when I heard a very quiet little whimper from across the room. Usually she jumps on the bed and stomps on me.

I stopped to see Mother after church. She weathered yesterday very well. She had a whole stack of cards to read from all the guests. She opened her presents at the party. George, Jeff, Randy, Dolores and myself (and our families) chipped together for the TV/DVD/CD unit. Eileen got her a Waterford Crystal glass and a bottle of wine. Nora got her a beautiful beaded sweater from Nordstroms. There were a few other small gifts too. But knowing Mother the greatest gift was to gathering.

George and Betsy came in while I was there so I got to see George again before he left for home. Betsy is staying for a week or so and we will go to lunch with our Mothers on Friday. We are all SUCH busy people that Friday is the only day we were free. I will have to cancel lunch in Plymouth but I will call someone during the week and let them know.

Jim and I went shooting today. My scores were decidedly unspectacular. I keep forgetting the elbow brace that I bought. It might help as I am favoring the elbow because of the discomfort.

We had turkey, stuffing, brussel sprouts and cole slaw for supper and I fixed Bananas in warm caramel sauce with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Nice and light and tasty.

January is going so fast. Next Friday, Dick and I will go to the Fireside to see The Fabulous Fifties. They always put on a good show and and excellent meal. I also like to bring home some of their fresh breads.

Hope your week is nice. As the Irish say , "May the wind be always at your back." I thought of that last week on my walk with Chelsea - mainly when we were FACING the wind and I understood the sense of the wind at one's back.

Mary

It has been a long wonderful day. Wonderful is a word that is much overused, I know, but that is the easiest word that comes to mind tonight as I am trying to wind down.

Quite a bit of snow had piled up by this morning, perhaps two or three inches. Chelsea was delighted, of course. I tried to take her for a walk but upon reaching the road immediatly knew that walking was NOT a good idea, as the road, though plowed was covered with ice and slippery patches. So, no walk.

I kind of lazed around the rest of the morning, though I did call to see how Bart and Barb were doing.

I left home at about 11:15 to pick up Mom's corsage from Rick's Florist. It was lovely, two white rosebuds with baby breath. It looked so fresh against the red and black jacket that she wore. We got to the Villager for her party at about 12:15. Bobbie came in just as we did and Dick and Jim shortly after. All of us children were there and a goodly number of the grandchildren and the great grandclildren. That pretty well fills up the room. The dinner was so good. Chicken and beef tips with potatoes corn and salads. Then we had Mom unwrap her presents. The guys plugged in the TV/VCR/DVD that some of us had pooled our funds for and put in the DVD that Randy and Mom had chosen pictures for and Brian (Becky's husband) had assembled with music. They made a copy of the DVD for all of us. I am going to see if I can get it copied for Bret and Bart. It is really a treasure.

Friends and relatives showed up all through the afternoon. What a pleasure to spend time with all of them. The biggest surprise was when my cousin Chris and her husband Rod came in with AUNT KATHLEEN who wasn't going to be there because she and Bob spend their winters in South Carolina. She said that she just couldn't stand not being here so decided at the last minute to come. We have great pictures of her and Mother and Uncle Pat. They are the three remaining Bowser kids.

This evening, after bringing Mother home, I came home myself, napped and then went over to Eileen's for a bit as all who could were going over to Legand Larry's on 8th and Penn to see John (Eileen and Fred's son) perform in the Martini Lounge. He and his friend do a nice act and there is no smoking in the Martini Lounge. I am still just a bit hoarse from hollering conversations because of the noise. Had a nice visit with Britt and her friend Andrew who is an artist/photographer. (Photographers are also artists - I mention both because he paints too.)

I should have neat pictures to share soon.




I decided to share an old picture - this is the sample of the Maid Mother Crane blocks that I designed a couple of years ago.

Happy Sunday.

Mary

Another busy day. It was kind of chilly and damp most of the day. Tonight it is snowing. A bit more than we expected. We even heard a snowblower going accross the street. Chelsea is quite pleased.

Went to the Dairy Queen in Plymouth to have lunch with the Wells Fargo people. The only one who is still working is Barb Wollner and she has moved to Community Bank.

On the way home I went to Younkers. to shopp with a gift card that Dick and Brenda gave me for Christmas. I had waited for a big sale and this weekend was a good one. I found a new pair of black pants, a black short jacket with red lining (that will look good with my red kilt which I intend to wear to the big birthday party tomorrow) and a pink washable "suede" shirt. Not bad. It was fun. I haven't shopped for quite a while.

I tried to get 2Cent stamps today too, but for the THIRD time in three weeks, the post office said they were on backlog from Milwaukee. This time they say that they don't know WHEN they will have them. No wonder the Post Office is failing as a business. I stopped to let Mother know and will bring her a few 39 cent stamps for just in case situations until we can find the others. Flowers are arriving for her birthday. She got an azalea from the neighbors and Mike Holehouse and family sent a lovely cut flower arrangement. I know Jennifer Holehouse and Andrea Ayers are also sending some. They are unable to come and want their presence known. Mom's house will be a beautiful greenhouse, full of beautiful flowers.

Tomorrow is her big day. Ninety - Wow.

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne Tyler








Goodnight. Mary

What a day. It was fairly warm. In the mid 30's, sunny (most of the day) and not at all windy. However, when I cam home from choir tonight at 8:30PM or so it ws very foggy. Really foggy. I drove much of the way by just following the white line.

Dr. Hodous, the podiatrist, looked at Dick's feet this morning and declared them much better. We will have them checked every two months or so to be sure that the situation doesn't arise again. He also had his blood checked and AGAIN it is perfect. He is now Sue's pride and joy because he has been in the perameters for a year now.

Then I took Dick home (he had a bit of a sore throat) and went grocery shopping. This was quite a saving week. They had a "meal plan" (you buy the meat and they give the side dishes), a lot of items marked down to $1 and coupons, plus I had earned a $25 gift card from them. I felt REALLY good about the bill.

Tonight I had to go to choir so I visited Mother for a bit too. I did get the words together for the Unity Concert. I will enclose them here for you, but don't tell anybody. They chose two of the 5 verses because of the time constraint. These two seem to reflect the mission of the Concert the best.

BEACON OF HOPE


I.

We are all but a shadow in life.
We are cast by the light of the Lord
Made tall by the strength of His love.
As we go out as Jesus commands.
May we reach out our hands to the poor
To the lonely, the sick, the afraid.
To the families and neighbors we know
And to those who are lost in despair.


CHORUS

I'm the kiss of the breeze on your cheek
I 'm the choir of avian songs
You can find me in flowering fields
And the gentle soft fingers of dawn

II.

Whe-en thunder and lightening surround
I’m beside you to calm all your fears
If the world is a frightening place
I'm the lighthouse that shines through the storm
Jesus taught you that Love is the Way
And by sharing the journey you grow
Heaven is coming safely home
With your hand in the hand of the Lord


This is sung to the tune of For Ireland, I Won't Say Her Name. This is my favorite traditional Irish Air and it is believed to have been written in the late 1700s or the early 1800s.

Have a great Friday.

Mary

It was very sunny today, but cold. When Chelsea and I walked at about 10:30AM it was only 27 degrees. There was very little wind, so we took the whole walk but my legs and face were really stiff by the time we got back.

I did end up going out once today after all. Since I had finished the mailing for the Senior Saint program, I took them to Sandy at church to get them mailed. Then I met Marcie In church and we changed the altar cloth and took down the Christmas hangings.

I also worked on the baby quilt and the quilt that I am doing by hand. Since we are going on a bus trip to the Fireside on the 28th, I wanted to have the next piece ready to do. I have two borders, the trees, the assembly and the edging. It is a very bright quilt. I think it will be really sharp when it is all done.

Tomorrow, Dick gets his blood tested and the doctor will take a look at that callous that had the blister to be sure that it is all healed. I also have choir in the evening. We will see what the "experts" think of the words to the song I have assembled. I did a bit of revision and added a verse.

Would you believe that Ice T - the rapper said "Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place."

Safe places are nice. Jim said he saw a BIG bird swoop down in front of his car the other. Perhaps that is why animals are disappearing. Wouldn't that be awful.

Ours are safe, they never roam around loose.

Later

Mary

It rained a bit and even snowed, but none of the snow stayed on the ground. It does not seem to be freezing either. Today, in the mailbox I found a notice that a family up the street has lost their big black fat cat called Harry. That is two animals in a week in the neighborhood. I don't think that Wishbone has been found either. Sure glad we keep our cats in and Chelsea leashed - Hunters Glen seems to be rather dangerous for critters these days.

I received a call last night from a woman, Mary Ann Wildbauer, who is part of organizing a unity conder to raise funds to help Cancer patients in Sheboygan County. The group is called Sheboygan County Cancer Care Fund. They help anyone, at any facility, of any background and with any financial needs. She called because Beth Hoegger (my choir director) and Jim Wilsing (my bagpiping friend) told her that I could write words for the song that we used for Celtic Faire for this concert for the ecumunical choir to sing. I talked to Beth and she said that the words I had were fine with some adjusting and additions. I am rather excited. This would be a REALLY big audience for my poetry. I did some revising and minor additions to the song and will review it with Beth, Jim and MaryAnn on Thursday.

Dick and I only went out to the Drug store to pick up a prescription and to OfficeMax to get some ink cartridges. The rest of the day I just worked on several of my projects, the Environment Committee notes, the song lyrics, the baby quilt. It was FUN.


Have a good Wednesday, It should be more of the same for me.

Charles M. Schulz said. "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

Mary

Today, I FINALLY got all the ornaments off the tree and packed away. Even the Santa's are back in their boxes to wait until next year. Now all we have in the living room is a tree with lights on it. The kitties will be able to enjoy sitting under it for a day or so longer, I imagine, as Dick will have to take the lights off an disassemble the tree.

I will here share with you my brother Matt's poem about Christmas.

CHRISTMAS IS OVER

christmas is over again
it won't be back for another year
the lights have been taken down
santa claus went back to the toy factory
so we can all fight each other
with a clear conscience once more

Matthew, as you can see from this poem, did not believe in capital letters or most punctuation for that matter. He had a very cynical view of life. I do not really share that.

Tonight, we "took down Christmas" in church also. We put away the trees and wrapped and stored the ornaments and the creche and the wreaths and garland. We will enjoy the pointsettias a bit longer and leave up the red and gold on the back altar.

To get back to Matthew's poem, one of my friends, Ione Gregoire, said that she always leaves one Christmas decoration out to remind her to keep the joy and love of Christmas in her All year round and not let it fly away at Christmas. I think I will take her example to heart. Now, what should I bring back out? Perhaps, Grandma Bowser's little Nativity scene.

Be happy.

We may have snow by the end of the week.

Mary

The choir sang at 10:30 Mass this morning. We sang Just as I AM, which is a real favorite hymn of mine. The harmony is really easy and lovely. We sang ALL six verses. After Mass, I had to head right out to Rhine because it was my Sunday to work. It was very cold but we had 11 squads and the clubhouse was full of people enjoying their beer and the playoff games.

Rebecca, 15, one of our members who is turning 15 on Tuesday, brought birthday cake. Jim got out there about 2:00 so he and I went down to shoot. I had a rather low first round, only a 38 but the next two did go up - only 45 and 48 but at least they did improve. I have purchased an elbow brace and am going to try that next week to see if it helps steady my arm.

This is a comparatively quiet week, though Thursday, Dick has two appointments at the clinic and Saturday is Mother's Birthday. Mother said that Nora and Leif and George and Betsy will be in on Friday. It will be good to see everybody again. Tomorrow, after Bible Study, I am going to Rick's Florest to pick out a corsage for Mother.

Her is a quote that if found by a Rober Brault. "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they wer the big things."

Mary

Today the sky was blue and it was not damp. Chelsea and I went for a walk this morning and though there was a rather chilly breeze it was very nice with the sun shinning down on us.

Dick and I went to Sears to get some sox for him. They have done a lot of rearranging in the store, so we looked around a bit. We went into the appliance department and were surprised at the new washing machines. They are front loading and look really weird. You can get them on a pedistal so you don't even have to bend over to load. The look very futuristic.

I finished drawing out the plans for the banner that I want to make for church for Celtic Mass. It should work. I must now start looking for fabric.

I also got the plans for the Senior program that will be presented in February. We, Senior Saints, will join the school kids at their 1:00PM Mass on Wednesday Feb 22, then I will have refreshments in the vestibule followed by a concert of the Golden Chordaliers, a Senior Chorus who sing four part harmony. One of their members is 94 years old. Wow. My friend Dorothy Ruh is a member of the chorus. I made up a flyer for the bulletin and to send to the seniors. I will put an ad in the Sheboygan Falls News too. Perhaps some people from the greater community will come.

When Bart and I came to Wisconsin from Minnesota, I did not have a job. We found an apartment in Sheboygan. Bart told me later that he was really scared at that time. Later on, when he was older, and he found out how little I was making at that time he asked me how I ever did it. He said that anytime he wanted anything I always managed to get it for him. Fortunately, he was not a demanding kid and his requests were always reasonable. I was a pretty good manager of our funds and we did OK.
He was the one who always wanted to go looking at houses on weekends and when we found our little house in Sheboygan Falls he kind of pushed me to buy it. It was perfect for the two of us and Zero and Waylon. Two little bedrooms upstairs. One bathroom, a kitchen a dining room, a living room and another small room downstairs. They were all little teeny rooms but they were fine for us. I think it made him feel more secure to be in our own place. It was not an easy time, but I did the best I could.

Tomorrow, Bobbie and I work at Rhine. We will have to shoot pistol league too. Have a nice day.

Mary

I told Dick the other day that I was hungry for a fish fry. He said that it sounded like a great idea to him, so - tonight we went to Zana's for a Lake Perch Dinner. It was very good. The only complaint is that they serve WAY too much food. We brought enough potatoes for breakfast and fish for lunch. I guess that is OK, but if they served less and charged less I would be happier.

It was damp and chilly today thought the temperatures stayed in the upper 30s.

We also went to see Narnia this afternoon. Thank you Brenda. It is a wonderful movie. I can see why it is getting all the award nominations. I understand it is full of symbols about the war. It would be really interesting to find them out. I think I will have to read the story. I don't think I ever did. At least I didn't remember the story line.

Tomorrow is pretty quiet, but we do have to go out and do a bit of clothes shopping for Dick. Sox mainly. Aside from that, I intend to write and sew. I hope Chelsea stops being such a pest. She wants to go out too much. I am beginning to think she just wants lettuce. If she doesn't "perform", I am not giving her any.

I have always had dogs and cats. We had them growing up and I had them in my
California life also. I told you a bit about my Sam cat yesterday. She was quite a girl. Once, she had climbed into the camper when I went to the store to pick something up. I opened the camper door to put my purchased in and she shot out and took off. I was only about five blocks from home so after a cursery search, figured she would find her way. However, she did not come home that night or for the next three weeks. Boy, was my neighbor, John, who adored her mad at me. He spoiled her terribly. He used to fix her fresh chopped liver for treats.

To continue, one evening I heard a noise at the kitchen screen and there was my Sam.
I rushed to open the door and she glided in. I was SO elated, I called John. Then she turned her other side to me and I almost collapsed. There was a scar, an inch wide and running almost the full length of her body. It was healed over, but was still awful. I called the Vet immediately. The first thing he asked was why was she not brought in sooner. So I told him what happened. As it turned out it was a flesh wound. A huge one for sure but a flesh wound. He gave me a salve to put on it and it healed so well that you would never have known. The only thing that we can figure is that she climbed under the hood of a car to get warm and got clipped by the fan. Then she must have crawled off to nurse her wounds until she was well enough to make her way home.

We had her for quite a while after that. I really loved that cat.

Have a special weekend.

Mary

I was on the run all day today. This morning, Dick and I went out to breakfast after we got the trash out. Then we went grocery shopping and on to Fessler's Drug Store to pick up the last pair of the compression stockings that he has to wear.

We got home just in time for me to get the groceries put away before I had to pick up Mother for her appointment with the hearing aid doctor. Both of her hearing aids needed cleaning and adjustment. One of them is failing fast so Dr. Nytis fitted her for a new one. The new one will filter out some background noises and can be directed to the front in some conversation situations so that conversations in back won't be rattling around. We HOPE to have it by next Friday so that she will be able to wear it at the big Birthday Bash. But the doctor does have the old one functioning if that doesn't happen.

When I got home, it was so beatiful and the sun was shining so Chelsea and I went for a walk. Was that ever nice. Then I cleaned bathrooms, fixed dinner and headed for choir.

I also got a welcome call from Jacquie, my ex-sister-in-law. It is always so good to hear her voice and catch up on all those people that were a part of my life for so many years. Aunt Velma, my mother in law's sister, is going to be 95 in February. We exchange Christmas Cards and I am always SO very glad to get hers. She is a lovely person. I will be sure to get a card off to her for her special day, February 4th.

This morning, I was remembering friends from years gone by. One friend that came to mind was Karl Kendall. Crazy Karl we used to call him. Karl was a carpenter. One time he fell off a roof and landed upside down with his head stuck between the fender and the front of a car. He wasn't hurt a bit. We always told him that if he had landed on his feet he would have killed himself.

One time he did some work for Dick (my ex) and me on our house. He was getting ready to go into the house and saw our cat, Samantha, a beautiful black cat with emerald green eyes, sitting on the neighbor's fence. He figured that we probably didn't want her in because we were both at work. So he kept his eyes on her as he opened the door and sidled into the kitchen. Then he turned to go into the hall and there was Sam. In the middle of the kitchen floor. She was a work of art too.

Anyway, Karl lives in Bullhead City, about a mile from Jacquie and she said he is as crazy as he ever was. So things don't change much.

Have a nice Friday.

Mary

I went to quilt guild today. Usually I try to avoid going to the day meetings - however - I want to make a quilt for the At Risk Babies at Childrens Hospital and if I hadn't gone today I would not have gotten the kit in time to get it done. I also wanted to pick up a Challenge Block for the yearly raffle. We had a speaker from The Sewing Basket talk to us about thread. I learned quite a lot. The Guild is probably not going to have a Quilt Show this year because noone came forward to chair the event. It sounded like there were a couple of people who might take the challege up for the following year. Apparently some guilds only do one every two years. Everyone can be very proud of me - I did not volunteer for ANYTHING.

We had good old Kraft Dinner for supper - I made it with ham in it. Sure tasted good. We shop tomorrow. Good thing as we are out of fruit and even more serious. There is NO MORE LETTUCE left for Chelsea. She may leave home. Of course, we can Kind of fake her out with celery or carrots, but lettuce is the creme de la creme in her mind.

It is still gloomy around here. There was even some rain but the temps went up to 40 this afternoon, so Chelsea and I did take a short walk. I saw the people who lost their dog and they still have not found poor old Wishbone. I hope someone took him in and will try to find his owners. Dogs like that keep wandering. I had a black lab named Buddy once. He got out of the yard and it was a few days later before I got a call from a school miles away. He had traveled several miles and crossed several busy streets to get there. I think she just kept wandering one way and then another and finally someone corralled her. The guy kept saying "Are you sure she is yours? You live WHERE?" But Buddy knew me and that is always a pretty good clue. Of course, Chelsea would probably run right by me. She is such a silly girl.

Have a nice Thursday.

Mary

We did have some sun today but it never got as warm as Sally Severson from Channel 12 said it would. The highest that I saw was 33 degrees. Chelsea and I went for a nice walk this afternoon anyway. On our walk, one of our neighbors and a boy stopped us and asked us to keep our eyes out for their dog, Wishbone. He is a beagle, black, brown and white with some gray around his whiskers. Apparantly he wandered off and they can't find him. They said he likes to chase rabbits. Chelsea and I saw no sign of him but will continue to look as we walk each day. Poor little dog, I am sure he is frightened by now.

Aside from my walk, I did NOT leave the yard today. It was really quite nice. Kitties followed me all over the house. Roxie was naughty this evening. I was in the den sewing. Chelsea was sleeping peacefully in front of Jim's chair and Roxie just walked up to her and started beating her up. Chelsea looked hurt, so I told her to come and sit with me for a while. Right now, Roxie is acting like little Miss Innocent, sleeping peacefully on the desk underneath the lamp.

I guess that I had better make a coconut cream pie this weekend. I made banana cream for New Year's Day and Jim said that he thought that coconut should be next. This is a quiet weekend, a good thing since the next weekend is Mom's birthday and the following weekend we are going to the Fireside to see the Fabulous 50s. I don't know why everything always has to come at once. But at least we had a couple of quiet weekends in between.

Yesterday the Cadfael Book of Days said. "There is a right place for every soul under the sun." I liked that. It is nice to think that everybody is special and has his/her own place. Bloom in yours today

Mary

Today was a very nice Monday.

Started off with the very first Bible Study of the year. As we are studying the scriptures of the upcoming Sunday, it does become quite timely. Sunday is about answering the call of Jesus. We also reviewed a few things. I realized that a couple of our members are not too familiar with the order of the books of the bible so just before we left I reviewed things a bit.

There are two books - the Old Testament and the New Testament. The New Testament is as follows: the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (in that order. When I was young, I learned this little poem which always helped me remember. "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, went to bed with their britches on." The word britches always makes things easy for a kid to remember.) After the Gospels comes the Acts of the Apostles. Next are the letters or epistles (one of our members did not know that letters and epistles were the same thing.) and last but not least is the Book of Revelation.

Anyway, sometimes we assume that people know things that we do. Not everybody has been exposed to the same things.

Today, the travel channel featured a parasail adventure. It reminded me of the time I went up on a parasail behind a jeep out on the desert. There are no words to describe the peace and beauty of such a ride. I did attempt it in a poem. Did I ever publish that on this site? If I didn't and you would like to read it let me know.

Went to Writers Club this afternoon. I read and sang the song lyrics that I wrote for Celtic Faire. They liked them and Ann Pirrung said that she figures she does not have to go to church for a while.

We did a fun little exercize of a type of poem called a Cin Quain.

Here is my little poem

Puppy
Chubby - Happy
Yipping - Jumping - Licking
Goffy little ball of slobber
Cuddly


Be Happy today

Mary

We had SUNSHINE today. While Bobbie and I were driving back from Rhine after shooting, we suddenly saw shadows. Then we saw blue sky. What a wonderful pleasure. As soon as I got home, Chelsea and I went out for a nice long walk. She didn't turn in at the driveway this time. She even took the extra little dogleg that we sometimes skip. We both felt WONDERFUL when we got back home.

The singing at Mass went very well. The kids sing well and we blended together nicely. I think the congregation liked it too.

I fixed venison steaks with baked potato, fresh green beans and tossed salad for supper tonight. I marinaded the steaks in a steak rub that I often use. They were tender and very tasty.

The teens at Blessed Trinity that are planning on going on mission this summer are selling cinnamon rolls again this year. I bought four. We shared one tonight so we could have a taste (we are still dieting, you know) Then there is one for each of us. Dick an I figure on that for breakfast on Tuesday, as we will be done with the blast off week and can have just that and fruit for breakfast and still not be overdoing.

I have decided to make two wall hangings for Church for Celtic Mass. I am beginning to draw out the first which will be adapted from a design that I have on a pin called the Hand Of God. It is full of Celtic Knots rising up to a hand in the sky with a halo surrounding the hand. I will have to do it in thirds so that it will be big enough. The companion piece, (if the first works) will be a Celtic High Cross adapted from the pictures of high crosses that I took on my trips to Ireland. I will keep you posted.

Less than two weeks to Mom's Birthday. Time is a flyin'. Haven't heard from anybody, so I guess that all I have to do is order the corsage for her. I wrote to the White House requesting a birthday card. I know she doesn't think much of Bush, but I still think that she deserves recognition from our President.

Have a nice Monday. I have Bible Study AND Writer's Club. I have decided to share the song lyrics that I wrote and we sang at Celtic Mass.

Love

Mary

Today was quiet. This morning Dick and I went out for breakfast, just for the fun of it. Chelsea and I went for a walk. She seemed to get a bit tired today so we only walked for about a half an hour. It was chilly and damp anyway.

This afternoon, I cleared the Christmas stuff off if the dining room table and put the Christmas music away. Then I took a nap. I slept until 6:30AM and was still tired by noon. I think the gloomy days are getting to me.

I also worked on the appliqued Cocker Spaniel that I am putting on a quilt. So far, it looks great. We will see how things end up.

Two more days on our blast off 1000 calorie week. Tonight we had Hunt's spaghetti sauce on spaghetti with broccoli and a salad. So we are eating tasty meals just measured and planned ones and mainly NO grazing as we go through the kitchen. That kind of behavior kind of creeps up on a person.

Tomorrow, the choir will be singing at the 10:30 Mass. We are singing with the Kindercore. One is a straight duet, the other is a version of Away in the Manger. The kids will sing the song through a capella and then we will sing the modified hymn in parts and then the kids will finish with a verse a capella again. Should be really special. I think the congregation will like it.

Jim, Bobbie and I are going shooting tomorrow. League started Friday so we have to get signed up and started.

Yesterday, at Dairy Queen, Stan and Peg Payne came in about the time we were leaving. I worked with Peg at Wells for some years. We discovered that we both have roots at St. Michael Church near Parnell. Her brother, Bernard Michaels, wrote a couple of books about the Irish Settlers there. Also, her mother went to the "Normal School" in Sheboygan Falls. At that time the "Normal School" was the teachers college. A few years later, my Mother attended that school and taught for a few years before she married my Father. At that time she stopped teaching because that was what was done in those days.

Anyway, to conclude my thought, Peg's Mother, Margaret, stayed at my grandparent's house while she was attending the school. In those days, it would have been too difficult to travel there everyday and friends helped friends out - e.g. providing room and board for friend's children when they went to school some distance away. She said that she was just reading her brother's book the other day and came upon a story of a Michaels wedding in which a Bowser was the best man. How deep these ties are.

Have a lovely Sunday. Pray for sun.

Mary

We got our call from Leslie tonight. It was good hearing her voice and we had a nice long talk. The girls were out (it is Friday night after all) but they are both doing pretty well. Sara is working and has been there a while now. Nora has a job also but is a Senior in High School AND has a boyfriend so she is probably really stretched.

I had lunch with the Plymouth People today. Since we are still doing the Richard Simmons Blast Off week, I had a chicken breast salad and fixed a chef's salad for Dick. I cleanced the kitchen floor this morning too. So it was a busy day. I have been catching up on computer emails this afternoon.

We had turkey burgers, cabbage, noodles and salad for supper. Tomorrow I am thinking of spaghetti.

One year when Bret was just a baby, probably 9 months old, I brought him to Wisconsin to introduce him to the family. I remember one day that Mother and I went shopping and left him sleeping with my brother, Jeff and my sister Dolores babysitting. While we were gone, he woke up and needed changing. Neither Jeff nor Dolores were very adept at changing a baby. So - they removed the old diaper. Then Jeff held him up in the air and Dolores arranged and pinned the new diaper on him. Mother and I were in a "roll the eyes" mode when they told us that one. Bret giggled every time he saw them after that. I think he thought it was a fun game.

Have a nice weekend.

Mary

We got our call from Leslie tonight. It was good hearing her voice and we had a nice long talk. The girls were out (it is Friday night after all) but they are both doing pretty well. Sara is working and has been there a while now. Nora has a job also but is a Senior in High

What a busy day Dick and I had today. We started off with breakfast at Zana's, then proceeded to see Sue, who checks Dick's blood. He was within the perameters again, but right on the bottom rung so she wants to see him in two weeks instead of the usual four. We left her and got a cup of coffee from the Coffeology Cafe at the Clinic. Next we proceeded to Dr. Phelan's office and Dick had the compression bandages removed. The swelling was DRAMATICALLY reduced and we feel so relieved. Dr. Phelan's office got us an immediate appointment with Dr. Coulas, the podiatrist, who removed the callous with the blister from his left foot and another blister that was bothersome from the right foot. We have to go back to see him in two weeks also to have these checked. Then we went to Fessler's Drug Store on Superior to get Dick fitted for compression stockings to help keep the swelling from reoccurring. WHEW!!!


That seems like quite enough, doesn't it? But we went home after that, had lunch, then went grocery shopping. We really HAD to because we were out of milk and a few other things that I needed.

We kind of flip flopped our meals. I fixed a hamburger, spinach and cottage cheese for lunch and then we had soup and crackers for supper.

While I was at the podiatrist's office, I found a recipe for "Killer Chile". It calls for cubed beef, beer and jalapenos. I want to try it with venison. If it is good, I will share.

"Women will only be equal to men when.....they can walk down the
street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy."

Tomorrow, I am going to Plymouth for lunch, the bank and to pay The Sewing Basket for two classes that I will be taking next month.

Tomorrow is Friday ALREADY.

Have a good one. It is starting to get cold again.

Love

Mary

I got to stay home ALL day. It was WONDERFUL.

I started appliqueing the Cocker Puppy for a quilt I am working on and cut a lot of squares for the Cathedral Window Quilt that I have decided to make.

Our blast off diet week is going well. We are eating plenty, just portions and careful planning. Tonight we shared a boneless pork chop, had a small serving of mashed potatoes, spinach and a salad. By the end of the week we will be "Off the Sweets". Actually I planned it all quite well, we finished all but one cookie and some breads before we started this.

Leslie said she was going to call tonight, but I waited until 8:15 and then called Bart and Barb because I have been a bit concerned about them. They are just fine, I am glad to say. Barb had been planning a 50th wedding anniversary party for her parents and as she has been working 12 hour days and her Mother is pretty demanding she had been afraid that something would go wrong. But nothing did go wrong. It was perfect and it is over.

Tomorrow morning is going to be way too busy as I told you yesterday. We will go to breakfast. As I told Dick, if we have our usual two eggs and toast with fruit we are right on target. That's what I like about this system.

When Mother and I were driving home on New Year's Day she was commenting on the size of houses now days. They just DON'T build the little two bedroom one bath homes they used to. Nobody would buy them. I told her that I wouldn't. Even if Dick and I were alone, I would want two bathrooms or at least one full and a powder room. I know that when we were growing up there were 11 of us in the red house with only one bathroom. We managed but we didn't have a choice and we did not know any differently. Now I do.

I should mention to her that we would not want to go back to the outdoor toilet that I can barely remember with a chamber pot for emergencies and night time either. It is just nice to have the sanitation and a "throne" for each of us.

Isn't it wonder ful to be so blessed?

Mary

January 3rd. Social Security day at the bank. When I worked in Plymouth, they always had cookies for the elderly who came in to do their banking on the third of every month when their checks arrived or appeared in their accounts as a direct deposit. Such a nice simple thing to do to make people happy. They usually got the cookies from the Pig. The Pig really DOES have great cookies.

Dick and I are using this week for a blast off, clean out the system of sweets and monitering the food week - starting today. Today was easy, I hope the rest of the week seems so.

I picked up some footware for Dick to wear around the house and hopefully to help while his feet are so swollen. We have an appointment to get his sox right after his doctor's appointment on Thursday. That will really be a big day. Shopping, blood check, Dr. Phelan and the sox check at Fessler's Drug store.

Tomorrow, I REALLY should get to stay home. I have tried since Sunday an alway end up having to do something. Hopefully, tomorrow will be the day.

It was warm and rainy again today and all the snow is gone. Supposed to be warm the rest of the week. Dick says it is the January thaw. I walked again today and find that I am building back up again. I really think that it will probably be spring before my ankle stops aching. I think I need warm.

I did some sewing downstairs and when I came up, found that Dick is watching the Orange Bowl. The game is fine but they had some group or person singing, (I guess) during the half and it was awful. Perhaps I am getting old, but I just can't see singers that rely on their actions to BE the performance and you never hear the lead singers voice, just the amplified, distorted mumbling. Anyway, I didn't like it.

Got the following from a friend today. I know that I have seen similar postings but this is a good time to share the thought.

Happy New Year, this is God.

This year, as with every year, I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember, I do not need your help.

If the devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it.

Kindly put it all in the SFJTD BOX. (Something for Jesus to Do)
It will be addressed in my time, not yours. Please be patient.

Once the matter has been placed in the box, do not hold onto it. Do not become impatient and take it back to see if you can find a solution.

Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. You must surrender the problem to Me for proper resolution.

If a situation you think you cannot handle arises, please consult Me in prayer. Together we will come up with proper resolution.

If you do not receive what you anticipate as proper response
from Me, remember--some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayer.

Because I do not sleep, there is no need for you to lose any.
Rest, my child...if you need me, I am but a prayer away.

-Author unknown



Mary

This was a very strange day in the weather department. It rained off and on and ACTUALLY thundered and there was lightning. This NEVER happens in January but there you are. Dick says this is the January thaw. We are supposed to have another week of the warm weather and at least some more rain. Bobbie and I went out to Rhine for the meeting and the parking lot is treachorous. It is so bad that Doc fell last Monday and broke his ankle. Poor guy was all alone and had to drag himself back to his truck and drive himself home.

Dick got in to see Dr. Phelan today about the swelling in his legs. Dr. Phelan had the nurse put compression bandages on both legs, gave him an antibiotic for the blister on the left sole and is going to get prescription compression stockings ordered for him. I am relieved that we are doing something to help correct the problem. Apparantly it can't be healed but can be controlled.

Got all the company dishes put away today too. So it was a busy one. We had meatballs, potatoes and cabbage for dinner again. It was so good we felt it deserved an encore.

Tomorrow I should not have to go anywhere so will spend the day in beginnng of the year stuff and racking some wine. The Concord Grape is ready for another racking and in two months it can be bottled. However, they recommend that it age for two years before being tasted.

Bye BYE

Mary

The meatballs were really good. I fixed a great cabbage dish also. I browned chopped bacon in a big frying pan. Then I added one tablespoon of butter, a chopped onion, a cup of celery, some chopped fresh green, red or yellow peppers, a small cabbage shredded and a can of mushrooms liquid and all. Steam until done then salt and pepper to taste.

I am always pleased to have Mother here on New Year's Day. Bobbie and Bill often join us so we have a nice full table and lots of great conversation.

The Packers won. Such a relief, though Jim says their timing is bad. They should have lost to maintain draft picks. I figure winning is always better than losing. As a coach in little league told Bart's team after their first game, which they lost. He said, "Did you have fun?" They all hollared "Yes!" He said, "Good and it is even MORE fun when you win."

I hope you have fun whatever you do this coming year. And I hope you win.

Mary

The last day of 2005. Wonder why we put such significance in the end of one year and the beginning of another. I still find it amazing the the turn of the century causes such a todo. I will never again experience one of them in my lifetime. I guess I am fortunate to have gone through it once. At least in 2000 there was some reason for excitement and trepidation because of the potential computer problem. Actually it was amazing that the programmers did not factor the problem in and it was amazing that most of the problems were corrected beforehand. It always takes more to fix something than to do it right in the first place.

Anyway, we had scalloped potatoes and ham, cauliflower and salad for supper. We also had S'mores made with a couple of the marshmellows that Bobbie made for Christmas Candy. Messy, (when made in the microwave) but very very good.

I spent a good hunk of the afternoon mixing and rolling meatballs for tomorrow. That is why I don't make them often. They are SO good but such a production. It will be nice to have Mother here for dinner. I do like to share the Christmas decorations. It was nice to be the host this year. Next year Bobbie gets the Christmas honor.

I promised to share a picture of the Millinium ball that is housed at the Waterford Factory in Ireland. This is one of the three pictures that I took when Bart and Barb and I were there.






Bart and Barb called last night. It was a rather odd conversation as their phone kept cutting out. They are trying a new Vonage line and said they'd call back but haven't. I will call them on Monday if I haven't heard from them again. Leslie is supposed to be calling this weekend too. I guess she told Jim when she was going to call but I haven't heard.

Chelsea and I went for a walk again today. I plan on upping the route to the full two miles on Monday, depending on weather of course. Today, we saw Sam - the white eskimo that looks like a larger Chelsea, my friend Steve, who lives up the street and that is about all. I am surprised that there are not more children out playing as this is Chirstmas break. But it is damp and cold and perhaps they all got new computer games or are off visiting families.


As the New Year rolls around, remember the poem I shared a few years ago written by the anonymous Scandanavian

May you always have light on a sunny day
When you need to be home may you find the way
May you always have courage to take a chance
And never find frogs in your underpants.

Love

Mary

Early Saturday. I sluffed off and went to bed VERY early last night. I slept all night too.

I went to have lunch with the gals in Plymouth yesterday for the first time in three weeks. There were only four of us. I haven't seen Mary Schroeder in a couple of months I bet. But Barbara, who left Wells and has started at Community was there. She is very happy with the change and looks good. Betty and Ceil were there too. I had my usual grilled cheese. They only make them at THAT Dairy Queen, a tribute to the grilled cheese at the Sheboygan County Fair.

Chelsea got her bath yesterday and is gorgeous. She, of course, was not happy with me but knows that at least I will leave her alone for a while now. I cleaned the kitchen too so it was a busy day. I kind of lazed off the rest of the afternoon.

I will send an evening New Years Eve message later.

Love

Mary

Another quiet day. Dick and I did have to go out to buy the "winning" lottery tickets for the coming week and I went to choir and visited with Mother for a bit this evening but aside from that it was quiet.

I cleaned the bathrooms and mixed up the crust for the banana cream pie that I will make for our New Year's Day Dinner. I told Mom that we will pick her up at about three as I am fixing dinner for 5:00. There is just one Mass on Sunday morning again. It will be at 9:30AM.

I wonder if Fr. Gene will be there. His father died today and the funeral is on Saturday. The choir is going to take a collection and use the funds to have Masses said. I know that his Father has been very ill and that the lastest news had been that they were going to have to amputate his second leg this week but he died before this occurred.

Only two days until 2006. On my Dec. 31 posting, I will publish on of the pictures that I took at the Waterford Factory in Waterford Ireland of the duplicate of the Millenium Ball that drops each year in Times Square. When Bart, Barb and I toured the factory we learned that every special order has a duplicate that is kept at the factory as insurance in case anything happens to the original. You will like the picture.

I was doing a bit of writing today and remembering Tara, the black lab that we had while living in Huntington Beach. She was a really beautiful animal. One day Bart called me at work because Tara was sick. She had gotten on the couch and wouldn't get off. I hurried home and she was obviously in great pain and great distress. I took her to the vet. He said that it looked like she had eaten something that was bad for her. It must have been thrown over the fence, because we were careful what our animals ate. Anyway, she died the next morning, shocking us and the vet who felt SO bad.

Bart wanted another dog right away and held a garage sale to earn the money. We went to the Humane Society and after one small disaster that I will tell you about some other time, we found Zero. Zero is legend. He was the sweetest little dog that one could ever have. I knew he was the one when one day as I was attempting to take a nap, (this was a time of great stress and I was exhausted) he climbed up into my arms and never moved until I woke up. I remember too that on weekends when we were home all day, he would turn kind of grumbly by the end of the day. He was used to napping while we were at school and work and found that keeping up with three people ALL day just plumb wore him out. Yes, he was special.

Have a nice Friday. Chelsea gets a bath in the morning. She is going to be 12 years old soon.

Love

Mary

Today Dick and I did our grocery shopping a day early. We were right, the crowds were down considerably. Of course, since Christmas was LAST week, tomorrow might not have been bad anyway but we did not want to find out.

It was a dreary day. Gray and damp. I took Chelsea for a short walk but she seemed to be limping, so we cut it short. I think that perhaps there is too much salt on the roads. That always hurts her little pads.

Jim made Spinach Casserole for his friend Dora last night. He said it was very successful. He felt it could have used more cheese but she liked it and as I told him, it is a very "forgiving" recipe. All the ingredients are good and you can't really go wrong.

I got two delayed Christmas cards this week. One from Aunt Velma Patterson, my ex mother in law's sister. Velma is the sweetest person and has to be at least 96. Her handwriting is very strong but she complains about being tired. Sounds like Mom. I was so pleased to hear from her. The other was from my friend Steve Hanson. He has moved to Idaho and sounds good also.

Here are the last two Dog's Rules for Christmas.

6. Likewise, your humans may take you visiting. Here your manners will also be important:

a. Observe all the rules in #4 for trees that may be in other people's houses. (4a is particularly important.)
b. Respect the territory of other animals that may live in the house.
c. Tolerate children.
d. Turn on your charm big time.

7. A big man with a white beard and a very loud laugh may emerge from your fireplace in teh middle of the night. Don't bite him.

So there they are. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

We had scalloped potatoes and ham for supper. That is such a wonderful meal. We have enough for Saturday too. Have a good Thursday.

Mary

It was rather warm today - all the way up to the high 30s. Sure is a welcome relief from those bitter cold days we had early in December. I went to see Dr. Casey today for my monthly back adjustment. He adjusted my foot too and said that since Chelsea and I are walking again, it would be a good idea if we walked after I got home. We did. I am now able to go every day and next week intend to be back to the full route. We are only going about 3/4 of the way now.

I started assembling a quilt top of squares that I have been putting together now and then with a bunch of odd blues that came from somewhere. I can't even remember. But I finally figured out HOW I want to do it and have decided to use a pattern for dogs and cats at the top of it. Hope it works out like my "vision" is showing it. I need to start planning the banners I want to quilt for church. I want to do "The Hand of God" from a Celtic Pin I bought at Irish Fest years ago and a companion piece of a Celtic Cross. I think I will use the pictures that Bart, Barb and I took at Clonmacnoise for the basic pattern.

The rest of the day was very quiet. Jim went up to Appleton to see his friend Dora. He is cooking a meal for her. Quite interesting. I told him how to make the famous Kunert Spinach Casserole.

Here are two more of the Dog's Rules for Christmas.

4. They may bring a large tree into the house and set it up in a prominent place and cover it with lights and dcecorations. Bizarre as this may seem to you, it is an important ritual for your humans, so there are some things you need to know:

a. Don't pee on the tree.
b. Don't drink water in the container that holds the tree.
c. Mind your tail when you are near the tree.
d. If there are packages under the tree, even ones that smell interesging or that have your name on them, don't rip them open.
e. Don't chew on the cord that runs from the funny looking hole in the wall to the tree.

5. Your humans may occasionally invite lots of strangers to come visit during this season. These parties can be lots of fun, but they also call for some discretion on your part.

a. Not all strangers appreciate kisses and leans.
b. Don't eat off the buffet table.
c. Beg for goodies subtly
d. Be pleasant, even if unknowing stangers sit on your sofa.
e. Dont drink out of glasses that are left within your reach.

I'll share the last two tomorrow. Dick and I are going grocery shopping tomorrow. We are afraid that Thursday will again be too busy. After all New Year's is another big weekend and besides all the kids are off school this week.

We had leftover cheese enchalada stacks and the last of the cheesecake for dinner tonight. So the refrigerator is almost managable now. I have decided on Swedish Meatballs and Mashed potatoes for Sunday dinner. Mother and Bobbie and Bill will also be here. Come is you want. We are having Banana Cream Pie too.

Love

Mary

Today was really nice and rather quiet. I took two naps but am still very tired. I had a difficult last night as my ankle started bothering me and I got very little sleep after 2:00AM.

Dick and Brenda were here through breakfast. I had cranberry scones and scrambled eggs with fresh onion and cream cheese. Then they left to go visit their mother in Cleveland WI. Jim joined them and said they had a nice visit. Their Mother had surgery a couple of weeks ago but is recovering nicely now and Jim said she feels pretty good.

Chelsea and I had a nice walk early this afternoon. She is so pleased and so am I to be getting out and stretching again. My ankle did get a bit sore so we did not do the WHOLE route but still got some kinks out. I also took two naps today. I am really rather tired. Hopefully tonight will be a better night than last. Chelsea is also exhausted and is trying to catch up on her sleep. We certainly are becoming aware that she is getting older. She needs more rest and does not feel that she has to stay awake the WHOLE time we have company.

Fr. Gene published A DOG'S RULES FOR CHRISTMAS in the bulletin this week. I will give you a couple a day because they are very funny.

1. Be especially patient with your humans during this time. They may appear to be more stressed-out than usual and they will appreciate long comforting dog leans.

2. They may come home with large bags of things they call gifts. Do not assume that all the gifts are yours.

3. Be tolerant if your humans put decorations on you. They seem to get some special kind of pleasure out of seeing how you look with fake antlers.


More tomorrow.

We had ham and mac and cheese again for dinner. It was still just as good as yesterday.

Have a nice Tuesday. We are rapidly sliding out of 2005.

Love

Mary

Chelsea is a very VERY tired little girl. Bobbie and Bill got here shortly after 1:00 and Dick and Brenda arrived not too much later than that. Went to Mass and sang at the 9:30. We did quite well. Frankly, our bass section has been lacking but they really came through today. I must tell them how GOOD they sounded at the next practice. We sang Ding Dong Merrily on High and Mary Did You Know.

The ham and mac and cheese were very good. I fixed a green bean dish that you might like to try. Just soften chopped onion, mushrooms ( about a cup each) and a small can of water chestnuts, drained, in olive oil and then add two cans of drained green beans and season with thyme, oregano and basil. Salt and pepper to taste. It was really good.

We always have fun exchanging presents. Did I tell you that Dick got me a new Celtic Cross and a very pretty watch that has a band of Conamara marble beads. Very pretty. He remembered that one of my watches had just died.

The coming week well be quiet. There is no bible study and very little else happening. I am glad. I would like to do some sewing and perhaps get a little writing done. There has been a long dry spell and it is time I do something creative.

An e-mail from a friend.

The Pastor had a kitten that climbed a tree in his back yard and then was afraid to come down. The Pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The Kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to the tree and attached it to his car, he could drive away and bend the tree down. He could then reach the kitten. He put the plan into effect, all the while checking in his rear view mirror. He decided he could just go a little farther and be able to reach the kitty, but as he moved the car farther the rope broke... The tree sprung and launched the kitty which instantly sailed through the air out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He looked all over the neighborhood for the kitty but on one had it so he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping."

A few days later he met a church member buying cat food, but he knew she was a cat hater so he asked, "Why are you buying cat food, when you hate cats?" She said, "You won't believe this. My daughter kept begging me for a cat so I told her she could have one if God gave it to her. Pastor, she went into the yard, kneeled down on the grass, and prayed to God for a cat. And really, Pastor, I saw it with my own eyes!
a Kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky and landed right in front of her!"

Love

Mary

What a busy day. I got a lot of prep work done for the dinner tomorrow. Chelsea and I went for a lovely walk this afternoon. It was rather foggy and a bit damp but the temperatures were pleasant enough and Chelsea was certainly a happy little puppy.

This evening, before dinner, Dick, Jim and I exchanged our presents and opened the ones we got from Bret. That is always fun. We were all very happy with our gifts. I got some beautiful jewelry from Dick again, Frank Mc Court's new book and two DVDs of classic horror and sci fi movies. Jim got both Dick and me new wireless keyboards and mouses. It will be so nice not struggling with those cords AND the kitties. Bret sent sweatshirts, a cookie jar and a set of bath and shower stuff. It will be usefull as I have been taking soaky baths to ease up the muscle aches in my legs.

We had pizza tonight. I fixed it the way I used to for the kids and I when I was in a hurry.

Defrost a loaf of frozen bread and let it rise. Then squishit out into somewhat of a round on a pizza stone (a cookie sheet or pizza pan will work as well).

Spread sauce on it (I had some leftover spaghetti sauce but tomato sauce sprinkled with oregano, garlic and any other Italian spices works as well).

Top it with mushrooms, peppers, pepperoni (or anything else you like on pizzas. I used to slice hot dogs on it for a meal for the boys and me.)

Top with grated cheeses and bake it for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Boy is it ever good and hearty.

Tomorrow the choir is singing at the 9:30AM Mass, then I will stop at Mother's and take her presents to her. Dick, Brenda, Bobbie and Bill will be here at about 1:00. We will visit and do presents and then eat at about 4:00. It should be a very nice Christmas. I hope we talk to Bret, Bart and Leslie as it is a special day. Wish they could be here for the ham, mac and cheese and Triple Chocolate Poteen Upside Down Cheesecake.



Merry Christmas Eve.


Mary

It was nice today. The freezing rain that had been predicted did not come. Thank heavens. I made the cheesecake today. I also added the yeast and additives to the Lemon Balm and Marigold wines. Then this evening, I joined the crew at church and we finished decorating for Christmas. It looks great. I will take the camera on Sunday to get pictures. After we finished a bunch of us went over to the Firehouse Pizza for something to eat and some visiting.

The package from Bret arrived today. He didn't get it off until Monday and was a bit afraid that is might be late, but here it is. Tomorrow night, Jim and Dick and I will exchange our gifts and I get to open the presents from Bret too. That is always fun. We will have to fill the stockings sometime during the day. I get to stay home ALL day again.

I am afraid that I am not very inventive tonight. Perhaps tomorrow, I can think of something more interesting to write about. In the meantime, be safe and happy.

May

Today was quite pleasant. The temperatures got ALL the way UP to 36 degrees. Chelsea and I hit the streets this afternoon again. We went just the same short walk that we did yesterday. If the weather doesn't betray us, we will go a bit further tomorrow.

Dick and I did our Christmas grocery shopping this morning. We also delivered the candy that Dick presents to the Eastern Shores Library people.

I am working on two new scratch batches of wine now that we have bottled the Currant and there are empty gallon jugs. I mixed up the Lemon Balm and also the Marigold. When I free up more gallon jugs, I will start the Wild Grape.

We had our final choir practice before Christmas tonight. We are singing at the 9:30AM Mass. We are singing Ding Dong Merrily on High and Mary Did You Know. Both lovely Christmas songs. I still remember listening to my Dad sing along with that choir on Christmas. Dad had a beautiful voice. At one time he belonged to a Barbershop Chorus. I remember there was a competition held in Sheboygan at some point in my childhood of Barbershop Choruses. I know that Dad's group didn't come in first but I KNEW that it was the best one.

I will have as much of my meal done or ready to pop in the oven before Mass on Sunday. As a matter of fact I can make the dessert tomorrow. We will have a Kunert Christmas. Too bad that Leslie, Bill and the girls can't be here. I will also miss my Bret and Bart at this time of year. If I had my druthers, time and space would not mean anything if it would bring us all together at ANY time but especially at Christmas. I miss my boys. It is so hard to accept the fact that my baby is 34 years old. I still can remember those littles face when I brought them home from the hospital.

When Bret was born, we had a black cat named Samantha with the most beautiful coat and emerald green eyes. By the time he was born, she had already given birth to two litters of kittens. Anyway, I sat down in the living room with Bret in my lap and Sam jumped up to see what I had. She kind of crept over and sniffed the top of his head. Just then, he let out a little cry. She sat bolt upright and stormed away in total disgust. Someone said she probably felt that he was OK if I really wanted him, but her babies were much cuter AND they were on their own at 6 weeks old.

Bart on the other hand came home to a big brother and no cat as I remember. When he came home, my neighbor, Joyce Nusser came over to see him. She took one look at his little face all scrinched up and red as a beet and said "He looks just like Mr. Magoo." The name stuck for a while. I still think of him as Magoo once in a whild. He was actually a beautiful baby with a flawless complection and just a slight fuzz on his perfectly shaped head.

Have a nice Friday.


Mary

Only three more days until Christmas. Bret called last night. His packages both arrived. However, he sounded so sad and I asked him what was wrong. He told me that his friends' (Earl and Janelle) daughter, Stephanie, who was only 14, was killed in an automobile accident on the way to school on Tuesday. Everyone is, of course, devastated. All I could do was tell him that I loved him, express my sympathy and tell him that I would put the family on the prayer chain at church. Which I did. Would you all pray for this cirle of people too. The funeral is Friday. I can't thin of any more sad a Christmas.

On a lighter note, I took Mother to the eye doctor today and the news is good there. She is stable and he is very pleased. We are always so grateful after the Macular Degeneration episode. She said that she sees about as well distance wise without her glasses as with. That is pretty amazing for an 89 year old woman.

I cleaned the refrigerator and freezer today. Now I will have room for Christmas stuff. We will try to eat up the odds and ends before Saturday. I did remember to take out the ham and put it in the fridge to thaw. Most things really have to be prepared on Saturday or Sunday.

Cadfael's Book of Days said today. "While you live, there is no way of escape from your part in humanity."

I remember a Christmas years ago when living in Santa Ana Heights. My neighbor and I went out to get our trees. We took our pickup. Our plan was to get trees about our height. She was a bit shorter than I, so our plan was for trees about 5 and a half to 6 feet. But when we got into the lot they look different and we were trying to look at shape and fullness and holding our hands up to our foreheads but we must have slanted our hands up. When we got home, those trees were huge and we were totally surprised. My ex and her husband had to cut some off of the bottom so they would stand up in the livingroom. But shey sure were pretty.

Have a nice Thursday. We shop in the morning.

Love

Mary

Today was a rather quiet day. The only excursion that I made outside of the yard was to get my hair cut.

I am all finished with wrapping presents. Actually, I still have Mother's. I have a couple of small things for her but I ordered Galtee Sausages and Irish Bacon and intend to give her an Irish Breakfast for her main present. I will give her the bacon,sausages and fresh soda bread or scones (I have not decided which to bake as of yet. I will do that on Saturday.)

We were watching some game show and they asked a question as to where you send children when they are naughty. It reminded me of Bret when he was in kindergarten.

He had the most wonderful teacher in Kindergarten. Her name was Miss Gamel. She had a class of 16 little boys and 4 little girls. One of the little boys went home and told his Dad that the teacher was a "big beautiful blond." Needless to say that Dad came to teacher conferences.

She did love her students and was infinately patient with them. By the end of the year they knew that if there was a "shy E" at the end of a word - the vowel said "its own name." Think about it.

Anyway. Bret ended up hysterical in the principal's office. The kids were using rather bad words. Miss Gamel said that some of them were REALLY bad and she finally said that the next person that said a bad word would be sent to the principal's office. Bret said "poopy". So she sent him to the office.

He just disintegrated. Miss Gamel felt terrible and the office told her that she shouldn't have done that. But I agreed that she should have. She would have lost all credibility with the class and Bret learned a valuable lesson. He was trying to show off and learned timing if nothing else.

So that is my story about being sent to the principal's office.

Have a great Wednesday.

Love

Mary

I am all done with the decorating except for spreading candles around. I think it looks mighty festive. Then tonight I joined a crew at church and we did much of the decorating for Christmas there. We exchanged the purple ribbons in the wreaths with red and took down the purple hangings and replaced the Jesse Tree with the Nativity Icon. Friday, we will put up the creche and trees and finish all the beautiful things.

Tomorrow, I have to get my hair cut. The next day, Mother goes to the eye doctor and Thursday, we shop. I need to be sure to have my list complete because I don't want to make another trip after that.

We had meatloaf again tonight. Tomorrow, we will have meatloaf sandwiches. One of the main purposes of meatloaf is the sandwiches. My ex husband did not like meatloaf. Isn't that the silliest thing you ever heard. However, his mother, who was a very good cook, made awful meatloaf. She bought the cheapest meat available and served it in the pan she cooked it just oozing fat. As I said she was a good cook. You could not beat her chili or her pies. I use her pie crust recipe.

We bottled the current wine - finally and now I have gallon jugs so I can start a scratch wine. Either lemon balm or marigold. I also have wild grapes to brew.

We will be busy with wine all winter.

It was 1 degree when I woke up this morning. This is January weather. Wonder if this will last ALL winter. Where is global warming.

Love

Mary

Cold. Cold. Cold. It was 4 degrees when I got up this morning at 6AM. I am kind of glad that this is happening when I can't walk anyway. It is supposed to warm up a "bit" next week and I think Chelsea and I will attempt a couple of short walks later in the day, starting Tuesday.

I went to the 8AM mass. I took the winter coat, boots, mittens, hat and snow pants that I bought for a kindergarten boy who need them. Was that ever fun. I don't have little people to buy for anymore. He wanted a Packer jacket or a blue one. I got him a Packer jacket. It is Christmas and he is only 5 or 6 and should get his wishes filles. Then I visited with Mother for a bit.

Bobbie, Jim and I went shooting this afternoon. Bobbie did great, Jim didn't bother bringing up his sheets and I was EH! Not AWFUL but nothing the be proud of either. Oh well, practice makes perfect they say.

The tree is all decorated and looks beautiful. I still have some decorating to do, none of the Nativity Scenes are up yet but feel that the hardest part is over with.

Tomorrow the crew will start getting everything ready at church. We are doing it in two sessions. First getting everything out and checking the condition and making final decisions on the end result so that on Friday night we can just take down Advent and put up Christmas. Fr. Gene says we can put the creche on the altar this year. It has been over on the side and taking up valuable space in the choir area for the past two years. I much prefer it on the altar as the kids can see it better and will be more likely to ask to come up.

We had bean soup and Irish Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches for supper. Boy was that a good idea. It was the bean soup that I made with the sugar cured ham that we brought back from Kentucky. I have one more meal of that left in the freezer. I will have to see if there are any sugar cured hams produced or imported locally.

It is time for bed. Only on week until Christmas. What a year. It is hard to realize that in two weeks it will be 2006 already. I remember that when I was very young I used to think that when it was the year 2000 I would turn 60 and it seemed so very far away. And NOW here it is 2005. Just a blink in the whole of time. Sometimes even to me.

Love

Mary