Well, my knee seems to be healed and the snow has stopped and our part of the world was plowed out by 10AM this morning. So life is back to normal. I waited until then to go grocery shopping. I also picked up some stamps and mailed a package, stopped at Walgreens for Dick's prescriptions and picked up the copies of my new books.
Nothing like having chores pile up while one is healing.

By the way, I got an email last night telling me that one of my poems was accepted for the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Calender for next year. It is called Cocoon. I cannot publish it here until the calender comes out the I am just thrilled.

Tonight I left at about 5 to join Bobbie and Bill at Nino's for dinner and then to Horace Mann School for the Sheboygan Theatre Company's production of Twelve Angry Men. I had seen the movie many many years ago so had some idea of the story. It is the first play I saw at Ralph Maffongelli retired from the director job. It was very well done. 13 actors on stage on one set for the entire play. They each had to play their part the whole time whether they were talking or not. And they did well.

So. A good dinner, good company and a good play. Wonderful way to spend and evening.

After the play, I went with Bobbie and Bill to their home and picked up our Chelsea. She was sound asleep when we walked into their house. Bobbie sent some Valentine cookies home for us too. Those raspberry filled hearts are SO good. She also sent some soap home for me.

Now I have a tired little dog and a tired Mom ready to go to bed. She sure is a cute little dog. I probably will be tired of running her in and out of the house by the end of tomorrow but I don't know what I would do without her. I am sure glad that she likes being with Bobbie and Bill. It makes it easier when I can't take care of her.

Til tomorrow then. Be safe and take care of yourself.


God love you

Mary

Another quiet day. Made even more quiet by the steady snow that kept falling all day. I have no idea how may inches and don't care as long as they plow it out by morning. The front porch has been shoveled once but I know that it will need it again. I hope I don't end up having to do it.

I did keep myself busy all day but at a very leisurely pace. Without Chelsea here, I only had to go outside twice. Once to take out the trash and once to get the mail.

I will pick Chelsea up after the play tomorrow night. I am not sure if she will thank me or not. She does like going to "camp". Bobbie and Bill are so good to her. It is a relief to know that if I am unable to take care of her, there is a place that she feels secure and loved.

I made some BLT soup for our supper tonight. That is such a good soup and so easy to fix.


I finished the book I told you about yesterday. One of the doctors in the story smoked a pipe and it reminded me of my Grandpa Deeley who also smoked a pipe. He liked corn cob pipes and I remember that they had to watch him a bit because he was known to present a corn cob to his grandsons when HE figured they were old enough to appreciate them.

He loved his pipes and was could bet a fire brewing in the bowl of them so strong that he would burn out the bowl.

I can still see him sitting in his yard in the summer time with his pipe in his right hand enjoying the sun and the day. When I think of leprechaun's I think of him. They must look like him.

All my love

Mary

Another day resting the leg. The knee is no longer sore to the touch. The back of my leg still hurts when I walk but that is subsiding too. I am ready for Chelsea, but Dick wouldn't let me get her today and tomorrow there is supposed to be a blizzard so I guess it will be Wednesday. Actually another morning or two of sleeping in sounds kind of good. Dick fed Roxie this morning so I did not have to worry about her either. Of course, she spent this afternoon telling me that she was really hungry and trying to convince me that she was wasting away.

A quiet day as I mainly rested the leg. I wore the knee brace most of the day but finally took it off as it is itching quite a lot. I did do a load of wash.

I read a lot having started a really good book that my friend, Joan Kramer, lent me called An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor. I also finished a couple of projects and have three others ready to finish tomorrow when things will also be quiet.

So there is nothing else to report. Oh, I did get a call from Sun Graphics telling me that my new book is ready to pick up. I told them I would be there as soon as I felt well enough and the weather is good enough. I am kind of excited. Now I have two books printed.

Hope you will be warm and safe in your homes tomorrow. We will.

God love you

Mary

I stayed home all day because of my knee. I iced it and rested it and kept the brace on as much as I could. I have taken it off twice for an extended period because it begins to chafe. I don't need rashes or sores to contend with. We have quite enough with Dick's sores, Thank you very much.

It is much better today. The back of the leg is quite sore and I can feel soreness under the kneecap if I press on it but I can walk with a minimum of discomfort. I am really glad that Bobbie and Bill were able to take Chelsea for a couple of days. Walking in and out with her with her needs would not have given my leg much rest.

The house is sure empty with out that little ball of fur around.

I talked to several of the out-of-towners this weekend. Leslie reported that all was well on her blog. I emailed her to see if the Super Bowl frenzy is extended up to Bossier City.

As I was supposed to be chair bound with my leg up, I spent a good chunk of the day reading and I am all caught up on my various projects until somebody responds to something that needs action from me. How cool is that.

I will be staying home tomorrow to be sure that my knee is OK. I is definately better but I know that there is a problem.

We had pizza tonight for our supper in honor of Super Bowl. Withough Chelse here, I can actually go to bed any time I want to.

Have A good Week..

God Love You

Mary

Not the greatest day. It started out OK. Chelsea woke me up at 2:30AM the first time. Keep this in mind as the blog progresses. As we wound around the corner, I slipped on some ice and fell on my duff. I seemed to fall pretty well and only had discomfort in my arm as I caught myself. I thought I did pretty well.

I told Dick what happened (he was up at that time) and went back to bed, sleeping until 6:30AM. A good sleep for me as It was in bed by 9:30PM the night before.

Everything was OK, it seemed. I did all my morning things. Read for an hour or so, bathed Dick and completed a couple of computer projects. Then we had our lunch. I warmed up the tuna casserole with fresh carrots and salad.

A nap seemed in order so at 12:30, I laid down with Roxie, of course, and slept for about an hour. When I woke up, my left knee was hurting. I figured that I had slept wrong, so I staggered downstairs to do some quilting cutting and tried to work it out.

The only good thing I can see about this is that I can see how long I could actually sleep in the morning if I don't have to get up for Chelsea.

God love you all and I am asking for prayers for me. Let me heal quickly so that I can take care of everybody.

Love


Mary


It did not work out but kept getting worse. I got all dressed for church but decided that I, perhaps should go to the Urgent Care at the Plymouth Aurora. I have a problem. There is fluid on the knee. The Xrays are not showing anything and as a matter of fact the doctor said that my knees look pretty healthy. I have to keep my leg up, ice it and if it is not better by Wednesday, see Dr. Murthy for an MRI. I don't think I want any more surgery. A lot of good that did the last time. Actually, at least I can walk the pain off on that.

SO I am confined for a few days. We called Bobbie and Bill and they have kindly come and picked up our girl until I can take her out again. What would we do without them?

I have canceled my Bible Study and my Cream City Writers meetings. Better get this healed as if Mama is out of commission we are in deep doo doo.

Please pray for us. I am scared but at least I am reasonably sure that I don't have a blood clot. ( I always think of worst case scenarios.)

I am SO tired tonight. Not just sleepy but tired in the soul. This too shall pass.

I slept a little late this morning, which did not make Roxie too happy. She does like her schedule. I mentioned to Bobbie yesterday that Roxie is a perfect Miss Piggy. She is totally convinced of her beauty and her attitude is Moi, Moi, Moi. She is also a bit tubby like Miss Piggy. Then a revelation came to me the if she is Miss Piggy, then Dick is her Kermit. She does adore him above all.

This was an at home day except for going to shoot pistol at Rhine tonight with Nancy. I picked her up this week. We do have fun. It is a nice break in the week and we do enjoy our shooting. This week I was a little better. The first one was not good at all but the next two I was able to correct a bit. Nancy had a difficult third target. So we struggle but keep working at it.

The rest of the day, I spent working on several projects that are in the works. I am ready to call to get our taxes done now and I called Mary Pat Kelly to confirm her speaking date.

We are finishing up leftovers before I start cooking again. We have tuna casserole and quiche left. As my brother in law George used to say after a good meal. "I wonder what the rich people are eating tonight."

Enjoy your weekend and go into the new week with hope and purpose.

God love you

Mary
'

Well, I went to meat mania at the Piggly Wiggly this morning. Once a year the Pig has a meat sale so I decided to fill the freezer compartments of our refrigerators. These sales are kind of hard for me because there are SUCH good deals and with there being only two of us, I don't like to get too much and it is hard to stop buying. But one has to be practical as it does have a shelf life, or freezer life, whatever you call it. I got some ground chuck, a whole pork tenderloin and a beef tenderloin. The nice thing is that they will cut it up any way you want it.

I got up at 6AM fed the dogs and went right over to the sale, so I was home by 7:30AM or so. Then Joan came to clean the house and I did some wash and sorted and packed the meat.

At 11:00AM we went to the Sheboygan Clinic to have Dr. Moreno look at the wound on Dick's right leg and check the swelling. Whew! It is, of course, not good, but Dr. Moreno said that we came in at a good time and gave us some new medicine for the wound and new instructions. If it is not healed by a week from tomorrow, we are to call and come to see him the following Monday. He indicated that he thinks that when the wound heals, the swelling will go down.

We stopped at Mother's on the way home so I could drop off her prescriptions and some money. I had cashed a check for her. I also took her a piece of the lime cheesecake that I made for our dinner with Bobbie and Bill this evening. Jeff and Kathy were just arriving when we got to Mother's. They brought her lunch from Mc Donalds and were there to visit and do things for her. They are leaving for Hawaii to see Matt and his family.

We picked up our lunch at Dairy Queen. Then I took a nap. Boy did I sleep. Roxie really likes that.

Bobbie and Bill came over late this afternoon. Bobbie and I racked one wine, filtered two others and then bottled one of the wines we filtered and two others. A very successful day. Now comes the waiting. No wine before its time. We worked on strawberry, grapevine, grape rosemary, her Sheboygan Spice and peach.

My neighbor, Jan, who I asked you to pray for is home from the hospital. I took them some chicken soup this afternoon.

I fixed an Impossible Quiche with a tossed salad and the lime cheesecake for our supper. I like to cook and it is even nicer when we have company.

Tomorrow should be somewhat quieter . I hope so. I do have a lot of people to talk to and loose ends to tie up on a couple of projects.

I think I will cook the first of the pork loin that I bought for our dinner.

Take Care

Mary

This morning was grocery shopping day. I did not have too much to get because tomorrow is the Plymouth Piggly Wiggly Annual Meat Sale. The store is all lined with big meat refrigerators. The cashiers and stock people are getting nervous. I promised them that I would be back for the meat mania in the morning. I have reserved room in the refrigerator/freezer downstairs so that I can get a pork tenderloin, a beef tenderloin and hamburger. They open at 6AM and I intend to get there by 6:30 or 7AM. I figure it will be busy then but worse later.

I also had several other errands to run so it was almost 10AM when I finally got home.

We made an appointment with Dr. Morino for tomorrow. The wound on Dick's leg is not healing and the leg is swelling up. We have been trying to get it healed since last week sometime and the swelling is the final blow.

My friend Bob Fleming came over this afternoon to bring back a book that he had borrowed. Had not seen him for a while. We had a nice visit over a cup of tea. I reminded him that I would like him to do a St. Bridget painting or greeting card.

Roxie was pleased to greet him. He has a kitty, named Shadow, and realizes how wonderful kitties are.

Did a couple of loads of wash today too. And made a dessert for tomorrow night. Bobbie and Bill are coming over for dinner. Bobbie WAS going to come over for lunch but with the doctor appointment that won't work. She and I are going to "do" wine. Things have been put on hold with her broken wrist and with the holidays and all.

I called my friend Maureen in Chicago too so that we could talk about the Ireland trip which we are planning for next year. Face to Face is much better than trying to communicate bit by bit on email.

Tomorrow is going to be busy, what with the meat sale and the doctor appointment. So I had better wind down and get to bed soon.

God love you

Mary

This recipe sounds like fun. I have not tried it myself. If you do and it works, let me know

3-MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
>
> 1 Coffee Mug
> 4 tablespoons flour (that's plain flour, not self-rising)
> 4 tablespoons sugar
> 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
> 1 egg
> 3 tablespoons milk
> 3 tablespoons oil
> 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
> Small splash of vanilla
>
> Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well .
> Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
> Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
> Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.
> Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
> The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
> Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
>
> “And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
> Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at
> any time of the day or night!”
>
>

Chelsea woke me up at about 2:30AM this morning to a light snow that was covering up all the gray scum and dirt that has covered the drifts that have not melted since that first snow in December. It was not windy and she got her business done quickly, so I was able to get right back to bed.

I got up about 6:30AM and took care of all the morning chores as quickly as I could as Dick had an appointment at the Aurora Clinic in Plymouth to have his anti coagulation level checked. It was a little high, like .2 % so we don't have to come back for three weeks and Patti made just a small adjustment on his med.

I did a lot of computer correspondence today and am pretty well caught up, for the week, I hope. Dick and I cleaned out his closet and I now have a box to drop off at St. Vinnies tomorrow. We are trying to pare down. We still have more than anybody needs but at least made a little dent.

So that was the day. Pretty ordinary and now I am more than ready to go to bed.

Take care and be happy

Mary

This was my post for the 26th of January. I accidentally put it in the wrong blog. It is new to me having two and I will have to be REALLY careful.

Mary



What a day. I spent the morning trying to get things picked up and organized around here. It was trash day so Chelsea and I took the bags out as we were taking her on her morning walk. I twas cold today, but not windy and at least the streets were dry so my feet did not get wet and icky.

I have a box ready to take over to St. Vinnies. I have emptied the things out of my closet that I don't want. I am still trying to decide what to do with the 10 or so raggedy towels that I need to get out of the house. We have not disposed of a towel since we were married and now have all these towels that are ragged on the edges so out they are going. I don't know if St. Vinnies will want them or if there is someone who just plain needs rags.

I left at noon to meet Beth Dippel at Ella's in Sheboygan Falls. I ordered a tuna on marble rye. Good sandwich. We had a lot to discuss as Sheboygan County Historical Research and Celtic Women make a good mix. We are going to cosponsor Mary Pat Kelly to come and speak in the county in June. You want to read a good book. Read Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly. The SCHRC is doing an ethnic cook book and would like our members to submit recipes and the stories that go with them. In return, we will receive three books or so to sell for our profit.

After our lunch I went over to the Research Center to get a lesson on how to use Ancestry.com. I have it and keep running into stumbling blocks. Katie, Beth's daughter, went over a few things with me. Now I can get in there and follow thread and if I hit a snag, give her a call and I'll bet she can walk me through it.

Now it is time to close down shop. I am tired and it is close to bedtime.

Tomorrow is busy too. Shopping in the morning, the amputee support group in the afternoon and Dick and I are going out on a date for dinner in the evening.

I love it..


God love you

Mary

I am excited. I DID get my chapbook sent off to the WFOP contest this morning. It had to be postmarked no later than February 1. Sun Graphics called to tell me early today to let me know that it was ready. I had told them I only needed the one and the rest they could take their time on. It looks great. The paper we used is perfect and their printers do such a nice sharp job. This one is somewhat smaller and I believe I will sell it for $4. Now I have two books available. Fragments and Seeking. Dick helped me edit and pick out the name.

We had Bible study this morning. There were five of us there. We read the part of Mark 9 where Jesus, Peter, James and John came down from the mountain after the Transfiguration where Jesus had Moses and Elijah with him and really wowed the Apostles. We got into a discussion of Elijah. He is the guy that was whisked up to heaven in a fiery chariot and is supposed to come back when the end is near. But there are also some who say he was John the Baptist. I don't think so as that would support reincarnation which makes no sense at all to me. I think I will read more about Elijah and see what his prophesies were and all.

I went over to Mom's next and we had a good visit. I was able to tell her that Holly and Jessie tied with 12. She knew that Jessie won the beer tasting contest but did not know the scores. We had a great visit as usual. She is looking good and looking forward to better weather and returning to church and her Senior Meals.

Home again, Dick and I had venison roast and stuffing for our dinner. Tonight we had the Brunswick Stew with crackers and cheese. I still won't have to cook tomorrow as we have the turkey cordon bleu left for tomorrow's dinner.

My niece Vikki called this morning. She was trying to place someone who was in our jeep club. I did not remember the name but it was so good hearing her voice. She is a dear girl. Her son Scott is a motorcycle racer and a champion in Brazil.

Tonight was the Rhine Pymouth meeting. It went just fine. We have a lot going right now with the winter leagues and planning for a fundraiser in May, a Badger Shoot later this month and offering training for our members to be Hunters Ed instructors. Good stuff.

Now I am home and Chelsea has had me take her out three times in less than a hour. I think she really wants something else but I don't know what it is.

Well, soon I will go to bed and welcome sleep.

Til tomorrow

Mary

The day is winding down and I am sitting here at my computer with a kitty on my lap who is actually snoring.

It was a nice day. Chelsea didn't wake me up until about 5AM and I went back to sleep and slept until almost 7AM. I wouldn't have minded a little longer but figured that Roxie would figure out how to open the door and would come in and get me pretty soon.

I went to Mass at 9:e0AM. I just had a piece of bread for breakfast rather early. When I got back from church I fixed a nice Sunday morning brunch for Dick and me. We had hash browns, sausage and scrambled eggs with green onion. Sure was good.

Mass was very nice. The classic choir sang this morning. Kate is still very ill. Pray for her. I did visit with a couple of people I know after Mass. Father asked for an extra communion minister so I was able to do that. I always like to give the sacrament. I feel it is such an honor.

After our lunch, I took a nap. Boy am I ever looking forward to naps lately. I must be a bit run down.

I really did not do much else. Caught up on emails, make a few phone calls and just relaxed.

I called Bart and Barb. They are in a real weather mess. The ice storm knocked over power poles all over their area and they have been without power since Friday. They may not have power for a few more days. Pray for power in Lawton. This is a real serious situation. They have a small generator and are able to keep a space heater going and some emergency stuff but this is not good.

So tomorrow starts another busy day. I will be picking up my book to mail for the chapbook contest, going to bible study and then to see Mother. She called this evening and asked me to pick up a bulletin for her.

Guess that is all of the day. Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest and this pretty much qualified.

God love you

Mary

What a day. It is almost 9:15PM and I am going to bed as soon as I finish this entry.

I got up at my usual 6AM. Along with the usual morning chores, I put together the
Venison and Guinness roast for the Wild Game Dinner. I knew that the longer it cooked, the more tender it would be and I was right. I put it into the car in the pot and kept it warm until we were ready to eat, then took it out of the Guinness and Leek liquid and it just fell onto the platter. Good stuff. I was able to bring a little home, but not much.

I was again in charge of serving the beers for the beer tasting contest. Stenn and Bing came again this year and Bing helped me. With Michelle gone, we would have been short helpers, but Bobbie and Bill came too and Bobbie helped so we did fine. Especially since Kurt's boys, Brandon and Evan acted as bus boys and runner. What a contest. We had 21 beers and 21 contestants. We had a tie for first and you will not believe it but we had a tie at 12 right. 9 right was the previous high. So you can imagine how surprised everyone was. The two who got 12, were Holly and Jessica. So they had to have a taste off and Jessica came out the winner.

Eileen brought several really fun items that she had accumulated over the years for prizes. That was a nice added game. Bing and I numbered 26 pieces of paper for the 26 adults at the party. Then we numbered the gifts from 1 to 10, put all the pieces of paper into a bucket and had each adult pick a number. It was fun. I got four nice individual cocktail shakers. They are such pretty colors. What a nice thing to do.

Our food was again just wonderful. We had a pheasant casserole, barbecued goose, Brunswick Stew, Turkey cordon bleu, amongst other things. Such good food and so much of it. We always have such a good time at this meal and gathering. It is the one time of the year we all are together. Everyone who is in town anyway. Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving get divided up amongst other sides of families. But the Wild Game Dinner is just ours. This is the 33rd year. Quite a record for any gathering.

Hope your day was as nice. Now I am so tired that I will say goodnight.

God love you

Mary

It turned out to be a busy day again. This morning, I took care of a lot of CWI planning which I will firm up over the weekend. I got a call from Sun Graphics that the proof for my new book was ready. Dick was napping, so I drove over there and checked it over there were three corrections which I noted. Mary Kate said they would make the corrections and have at least one copy ready for me on Mondy morning so I can get it sent off to the chapbook contest. I think it looks good.

On the way home, I picked up food for Chelsea at the vets, went to the bank and filled up the gas tank.

I got home and racked the marigold wine. I need to ask Bobbie which of her wines need to be racked. I can do one a day unless they have too much sediment.

Dick and I had our leftover Sweet Basil food for lunch. Still really good. We usually get at least two sometimes three meals out of that outing.

I picked up Mother shortly before 1PM to take her to see Dr. Lavey at the Eye Clinic. She had noticed a change in her vision a couple of months ago but with all the other health issues, we had to wait until she was well enough to go. The tests show that the dry macular degeneration is advancing, very slowly, but it is advancing. At this point there is really nothing else that can be done. There is no cure. The Vite Eyes that she takes every day does help slow the advancement of the disease but it will keep advancing. She felt a mixed feeling of relief and disappointment. Relief because the doctor said that she does not have to worry about straining or over using the eyes, disappointment because there is no cure. Fortunately it is a slow degeneration.

I got home in time to feed everybody and change before Nancy Roehre picked me up to go to Rhine to shoot pistol and then on to the Plymouth Art Museum to attend the opening of the new exhibits. They do have really nice openings. Music all evening, wine, nice hors D'oeurves and the chance to meet the artists. This is an exhibit of photography, ceramics and ceramics and ironwork. The photographer is from Cedarburg, Marcia L. Getto. She is so inventive eg. pictures of drops of dew on a flower. The potter and blacksmith are a married couple, Sylvia and Mark Mondloch from Random Lake. Nancy was a great source of information tonight as she is a docent at the museum and had special showing with the artists earlier this week. She was able to give me insight as to the techniques and backgrounds of some of the individual pieces. I ran into several friends and renewed some contacts at this exhibit. Lots of fun.

Bob Weber was there. He is a friend from Blessed Trinity in Sheboygan Falls and a friend of Nancy. Bob has purchased several small pieces from Sylvia and Mark Mondlach at their place in Random Lake. Many of them are simple pieces and quiet inexpensive, unlike the unique art pieces displayed here. Nancy and I have agreed to go there some day on a field trip and just purchase a few.

Hope your day ended up at UP as mine.

God love you

Mary

Home all day today. That was OK, except it is a bit discouraging in that Sun Graphics was supposed to call me to come in and check the proof on my new book. I HAVE to send a copy postmarked Feb 1, to a chapbook contest and I have not even seen the proof yet. I don't care about the major part of the order, I just need one copy.

Joan came to clean the house this morning. She said that Bonnie's Housekeeping could use my old raggedy towels, so I put them in bags and then forgot to give them to her. Oh well, they will be just as raggedy next week.

We had roast pork and stuffing for our lunch and soup and roast beef sandwich for our supper. Tomorrow we will eat our leftovers from Sweet Basil and the next day is the wild game dinner so I have some easy days again. I do have to fix the venison roast in Guiness for the dinner. I'll start it very early on Saturday morning.

Tomorrow, I will be taking Mother to the eye doctor. She has noticed a change in her vision again and they have told her to come in whenever that happens. Tomorrow night I will go shoot pistol with Nancy and then she and I are going to the Plymouth Art Center for the opening of their new exhibit. We will only stay about an hour. Long enough to see the exhibit, have a snack and chat with a few people.

So that is it for today. It is cold, 4 degrees, and is supposed to drop down even lower tonight. Now, if I could just get Chelsea to use the bathroom. Just think, January is almost over already. Monday will be the first of February and Tuesday will be Groundhog's Day. Wickipedia says : According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.

In Punxutwaney, PA they have a big celebration and bring a groundhog out of his lair to predict the end of winter. They call him Punxutwaney Phil. For many years a man with the last name of Deeley was the keeper of the groundhog. We often wondered if he was a relative.



God love you all

Mary

This was a busier than usual Wednesday that ended with Dick and I going to Sweet Basil on a date. We like it there. It is easy to get to, to get into and the meal is always good. We love the bread and dipping oil too. The service is always perfect and they kind of know us now. Actually, I watched the waitress that we usually have grow up.

I went grocery shopping this morning. Next week, the Pig is having their annual meat sale. I am waiting for the ad and will go over there to stock up on some things, as least as much as I have room for. On the way home, I drove to city hall and paid the first half of the taxes and Chelsea's dog license. So, we have a new piece of jewelry to put on her collar.

This afternoon, the Amputee Support Group had a speaker from DMV come to talk to us. She was very informative and has offered to provide help for several problems that some of the members have. We had a nice group this time. A couple of new people. Two of them I knew, Joe Ziegler, a cousin of mine, and Virginia, a clerk at Walgreens. (Everybody knows me at Walgreens - I am in there at least three times a week.) We had a lively meeting for sure. Lots of questions. I found out that as long as Dick's license is good, he could just drive if he felt able without any new testing. Odd but true. He can, upon expiration exchange it for an ID card, I believe with no cost.

Now, Chelsea is really confused. She keeps asking for something (I think for me to cook our dinner). All I can do is take her outside again. Since we got back from the restaurant, which was an hour and a half ago, she has been out three times. No wonder I am tired all the time.

I have to remember to get the venison roast out to thaw first thing in the morning. I will be making venison and Guinness for the Wild Game dinner. I picked up a bunch of leeks at the store today. I had everything else on hand. Tomorrow, should be a mostly at home day. Good thing.

For your amusement too. I think this is my very favorite pun. A dyslexic man walked into a bra.



Later and as Red Skelton would say "God Bless."

Mary

Monday was a day on the run as usual. Bible Study was nice. There were 6 of us there. We are studying Mark. This was the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus for Peter, James and John. In our discussions I learned a couple of things. We all know that Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire and is supposed to return before the end of time. I did not know that although Moses' death is recorded, he was also taken up to heaven according to Jewish tradition.

Went from there to Mother's house. She was feeling pretty good. She said that yesterday she felt a bit weaker but that is to be expected. We took care of some bills and I will be taking her to see the eye doctor on Friday.

Home again, we had Spanish rice and chicken with corn and a salad for our lunch. Then I took a nap. Boy did I sleep.

This afternoon, I put my Santas away. I know that Santa is not really plural but I have several. That means that Christmas is really over for the year.

I did another lesson for the online class on herbs that I am taking. It is not a difficult class and I am learning something in each of the lessons. I am glad I signed up for it because it is fun and something I can do from home.

Tomorrow I am going to try to rack some of the wines that are due for racking. I am finally caught up with a lot of things around the house. I am also going to meet with Beth Dippel from the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center about of couple of projects dear to our hearts.

Have a good Tuesday yourself.

God Love you

Mary

An I did get to stay home all day.

Chelsea was quite nice too. We only went out about a half a dozen times,which was doubly nice because there was a gentle rain most of the day. The ice is almost gone from above the house entry and the snow banks that the plows made are a good five feet lower than yesterday. One more day of this would probably clear things up.

I did some wash and sent several emails to the CWI for the newsletter and did an assignment for the online Herb class that I am taking. It was altogether a very relaxing day.

We had leftover spinach egg casserole for lunch and I had made Waldorf Salad which we had on a bed of lettuce for our supper.

So it was a very easy day.

We found the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding on TV this evening. For some reason or other, it made me think of a friend of ours form back in California. There was a Greek family who owned a restaurant. Their name was Apostle and they were good friends of my friends the Kirbys. They started to come to the desert on Jeep runs with us. This was when Bret was about 9 to 12, somewhere in there. He used to have permission to take the jeep when were were all in camp and drive it. He would go about 100 yards outside of our campsite, which was in a circle, much like wagon trains of old. He would drive that jeep around the camp if for hours if we didn't go on a run or eat.

One day, I heard this plaintive yell. "Mary, Mary, come here." It was George Apostle. He was sitting in our jeep in the passenger seat and Bret was in the drivers seat looking very grim. George asked me to please tell Bret that it was all right if he rode along with him around the camp. Bret had told him that he was not supposed to talk to strangers.

That reminded me of another friend, Orrin Nordin. When we sat around the campfires at night, we always told stories and often shared songs. Orrin always had to sing a song that he learned as a child called Dicky Dicky Doo. I wonder if my boys still remember it. It was a song about naming the parts of the body starting with the top of the head which was called Rug Mopper which gives you an idea of the song.

God love you

Mary

I kind of like the weekends. This was a relatively quiet Saturday. I spent the day cleaning closets and jewelry boxes. I still have the hanging clothes and tops to go through, but figure that I can finish that tomorrow and then drop everything off at St. Vinnies on Monday on my way to Bible Study.

Poor Chelsea got so dirty on her underneath from the grime on the melting snow and on the roadway that I had to give her a bath this morning. She is exhausted still and I am not sure that I am forgiven. I wish we would get the good rain that they promise and it would wash away all that grime.

I went to mass at 4pm as usual. I took the St. Bridget Crosses to show to Fr. Van Beeck and let him choose his. He was delighted. He was not familiar with the St. Bridget Cross though he said he finds Bridget interesting. I told him the legend that says that Bridget was the midwife when Jesus was born. He liked that.

We had bean soup for supper.

Then we got two welcome calls. Michelle called to check in. We had not heard in a few weeks. They have been very busy and she just decided that it was time to catch us up. Everything is going well and they are glad of the warmer weather that they have down there. They are coming for a visit over Easter unless something changes between now and then. Yea! (Pray that some tests that Michelle had come back good. She wants the postcard, not the call.)

Then Bart called. Our poor tired Barb was already sleeping so Bart and I had a nice long talk. They are planning on coming up in June or thereabouts for his high school reunion. I am so excited. As Bret is coming in August, I will get to see all my boys in one year. Richard is the only one in state now and we at least get to see them oftener.

Life is good.

God love you

Mary

It was quite a day. I spent the morning cooking and baking. I made the spinach noodle casserole for our noon meal and used the extra eggs for some egg salad. Then there were two bananas that were way to ripe, so I had to bake a cake with them. I made a banana, blueberry, pecan cake and it is really good. Jim would be SO delighted. I think he used to deliberately let bananas get overripe so I'd bake cakes and cupcakes with them.

Roxie and I had the nicest nap this afternoon. I woke up with her curled up on my feet. At least she was in such a position that I did not have to move her to get up.

We had soup and egg salad sandwiches for supper. I just had a little bit because of Donna's surprise birthday party at which I knew that I would snack and have cake.

Nancy Roehre and I went to Rhine to shoot the pistol league. I took my list of the steps that I should go through to shoot that our friend, Jerry Coenen, and did quite will. I got all thirty shots on the three targets. And all but one were scoring.
I am really delighted. I will bring the list with me every week and be very careful about following the steps. Perhaps I will even get good.

Then tonight I drove to Odessey Lanes in Sheboygan Falls for Donna's surprise party. What a nice party. Too loud and too much smoke, but most of the family and lots of friends were there and it is always so good to be with people one loves and likes. Donna was truly surprised and reminded everybody that it is actually a week and a half befoe she is REALLY 50. I took my high school picture with me because I knew Jessica would be there. I had not really looked at it too closely for several years and when I did a couple of months ago, I realized that Jessie looks a lot like me. She liked that and I do too.

So here I am home again and Roxie has finally stopped complaining at me. She does not like it when I am gone. Chelsea is sleeping. She did not wake up when I came in. I suppose I will have to rouse her soon as I want to go to bed.

Got an Email from Leslie with pictures of Nora's wedding. I think I mentioned that she was getting married today. This is so that she and her husband will be shipped out together. Nice pictures. Nora is lovely and they look like a happy couple. I pray for a good life for them and that they treasure each other.

So. Another full day and it was full of happy things. Hope that yours was too.

God love you all

Mary

Hello rather nice Thursday. I am very exhausted tonight but what is new.

Joan came to do the vacuuming etc at 8AM this morning. I finishes several projects this morning. I watered and trimmed the indoor and garage plants, I finished a couple of computer projects and remembered how to and accomplished downloading the new book to a disc so I could take it to Sun Graphics for printing.

We had pot roast for our dinner. It still tastes good and we have enough meat left for a couple of good roast beef sandwiches. I made up a container for Mother too.

After lunch, I went to Mother's with the pot roast. On the way, I stopped at Sun Graphics with the disc of the new book. They will have the proof ready next week and the whole order done by February 1. Then I will able to send a real copy to WFOP for the chapbook contest. The final postmark date is February 1. Nothing like being down to the wire.

I stopped at the Pig in Sheboygan Falls for some milk and Velveeta. I had forg0tten milk on Wednesday and having decided to make the Kunert spinach, egg and cheese noodle casserole, I was low on Velveeta. No way to substitute in that one.

I picked up a pretty springy floral arrangement at Rick's House of Flowers and went to Mom's for a birthday visit. 94 years, quite a life. She looks much better and said that she is also feeling better. Dolores and Ken were also there so we had a really nice visit.She got so many cards, presents and well wishes that I know she feels treasured. Ken, Dolores and I left when the RN from Visiting Nurses came to do her checkup. She, Kathy Mayer, called me this evening and said that she also said that Mother is doing much better.

Got home at about 3PM and just puttered around. We ate a chicken sandwich and green salad for our supper.

I called Bret tonight. He has been on vacation out at his place at the river all week and today a tornado passed through the area. They had wind damage in the park to canopies and small outbuildings so the few people who were out there went around and did damage control. Nothing serious, thank God, but Bret said it was the worst storm he had ever experienced.

I sure am enjoying reading Leslie's blog these days. She doesn't post every day but when she does, we feel closer to her. From the news on her blog, Nora is getting married tomorrow. Wow, that is quick. But I guess if she and her intended are married, they will be deployed together. So, it makes sense. We haven't heard from Nora about it but I am sure that will happen. Sara's wedding is in May.

So that is the day. Tomorrow is Friday already. Where DO the weeks go.

Take care and God love you

Mary

Wednesday mornings are always busy because I do the grocery shopping. This morning was doubly busy because I had the grocery shopping, and then drove out to Rhine because Jerry Coenen, a friend, had offered to help Nancy Roehre and me sight in our pistols and then give us some advice on our shooting.

So. I left for the store at 8AM. I finished all the shopping and putting the groceries away by 9:15 which gave me about 20 minutes to take the dog out and rest for about 10 minutes.

I left for Rhine at about 9:40AM. Jerry was there and Nancy arrived within a few minutes. Jerry was very patient. As he has been instructing his wife, also a Nancy, I guess he is getting used to working with us gals.

I feel that I learned a lot. I have been shooting for years but have never really had instructions except for the class that I took at Horace Mann several years ago which was more concerned with safety than everything. I learned a couple of simple safety tips from Jerry too.

First, Jerry shot both of our pistols from the bench and unfortunately, we had to conclude that any problems were us. I learned, that I do drop the gun when shooting but for the first time, someone told me a simple way to possibly correct it. I now have a step by step way to approach the line, sight in and shoot. I will be working hard on that. I typed up the steps and will read them before each target that I shoot until I get it right. I think they will help me center if nothing else. The last target was not too bad.

I was home the rest of the day. I had picked up a rotisserie chicken from the Pig and we had that plus cauliflower, salad and fried rice four our lunch. Then I took a much needed rest. Roxie was very pleased with that. She looks forward to our naps each afternoon and I am sure she is disappointed when I am not around or decide to skip it.

Tomorrow is Mother's 94th birthday. I am going down in the afternoon with some flowers and for a little visit. She did seem a bit stronger on Monday. I hope that is continuing.

God love you all

Mary

 

This is a picture of the three Celtic Crosses that I made with my own hands. Mother has one to hang over her door, Fr. Van Beeck will get one and I have a special place for the third.

God love you today and always.

mary

Today I got a LOT done. I sent an e mail to all of my Sheboygan CWI members. I made all the calls and took care of all the "hanging chads" that I had to do to take care of Mother's questions. I got my new chap book of poetry ready to mail to WFOP for the chapbook contest.

I finished preparing our dinner. We had the best pot roast that we have had in ages. I put it in the crock pot at about 1:30AM, when Cheslea got me up to to out. And ungodly hour but it was good for the dinner. I made a cherry tomato/olive salad to go with it.

This afternoon, I took a nap and got a hair cut. So. It was a full day but not physically.

I am closing down for the night but intend to send a picture of the St. Bridget Crosses that I made on Sunday.

Take care and remember to pray for Barbara and Bart as today was the funeral for her father, Dan Burdine.

God love you

Mary

A normal busy Monday. I went to Bible Study at 9:30AM. We had six of us and had a lively discussion on our reading from Mark on the fact that the apostles just didn't always seem to get what Jesus was trying to tell them but we can see, from their point of view, that it was hard. We have all the facts and it is still hard to think of giving up one's life to save it.

Then I went to Mother's. The physical therapist was there, so I glanced at the bills she was concerned with and listened to her therapy. Then Mom and I cleared up a couple of financial things. I took some chicken,noodle casserole and a couple of scones to her. She seems a bit better. Not quite as weak and fragile as she was a week ago.

This afternoon, I went to the Cream City Writers meeting. There were six of us there also. I showed them the book that I am submitting to the WFOP Chapbook contest. Several of the others had things to read and we discussed writing in general. A totally satisfying meeting as far as I am concerned.

Then, when I got home, I took a nap. But I am still tired tonight. I prepared things to pop into the slow cooker for a pot roast for tomorrow's lunch. Chelsea ALWAYS wakes me up by 5AM. And I will dump things in and turn the heat according to when she actually does get me up. A pot roast really does sound good. We have had nothing but chicken for about a week now and I want beef.

Tomorrow will be comparatively quiet. I only have one outing to get my hair cut. So I should be able to get somewhat caught up on paperwork.

Take care and enjoy this Indian Summer.

God love you

Mary



A Holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

The Lord led the holy man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.
In the middle of the room was a large round table..
In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew,
which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.
They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.
But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell. They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one.

There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water.
The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said, 'I don't understand.

'It is simple,' said the Lord. 'It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. The greedy think only of themselves.'

When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you.

What a nice day this was. I spent the morning fixing our noon meal and taking things downstairs for the CWI meeting this afternoon.

We had chicken legs, baked potato, cauliflower and salad for our lunch.

Then I took a short nap so I would be somewhat rested for the meeting. There were only four members besides me here today. It IS winter and some were out of town. Then two people who were coming couldn't for various reasons.

We had a wonderful time. I had done a bit of research on St. Bridget and it was fun ti relay this to the gals. St. Bridget and Brigit the goddess of old Ireland are very intermingled in the stories about them. For example, legend tells us that Brigit, the goddess, was in Bethlehem for Jesus birth and acted as midwife.

Legend also tells us that St. Mel, when he swore St. Bridget in as the abbess of her order accidentally ordained her a bishop. As this could not be rescinded, she is the only known female bishop in the Catholic Church.

We then fixed some tea and snacked on cheese and crackers and scones while we determined how to make St. Bridget Crosses from the directions I had found on the computer. I harvested tall grasses from the front of the house and had Fr. Van Beeck bless them. (They are supposed to be blessed before the crosses are woven.)
I had them soaking in water which is supposed to make them more pliable. I guess it did. We had three different directions and all opted for the same one. Joan Kramer and I started with the third set, which seemed to have the most clear directions. We got through it. They are kind of primitive, but look pretty good. Then everybody tried to do one. So we all had at least one to keep. I made three. The first sample, the one we all did together and then one just using the grasses and not the harder reeds. Pat Becher tried that and it WAS much easier. We are pretty proud of ourselves and are sorry there weren't more there to try it. I do have the directions.

I will take one to Mother tomorrow and one to Fr. Van Beeck on Saturday.

I am drying the rest of the reeds and will take them to Jeff's on the 30th when I go to the Wild Game dinner. As they are blessed it will be best to have them burned and Jeff will do that for me.

So now it it time for bed and I feel very content.

Remember to be praying for Barbara and Bart in the loss of her dad, Don. It is hard to lose a loved one but good to know that her is not hurting anymore. Bless his journey to God.

Mary

It was a good day. I finished the book of poems for the WFWA Chapbook contest. Dick just has to do a final edit, I will show it to the Cream City Writers and then see if it needs some trimming. It has turned out quite well, I think.

The rest of the day, I was just busy with, as Dick says, things that I do and I am, of course, tired. I made some blueberry scones this evening after church.

During the day I cut the grasses that I harvested to 10 to 12 inch lengths so that we can make St Bridget crosses out of them tomorrow during the CWI meeting. It looks like there will be 6 of us. I have gathered together several sources of legend and facts about St. Bridget which I will present first. I took the grasses in a nice big plastic bag and had Fr. Van Beeck bless them as the directions said that one should have the grasses blessed before weaving the crosses. I will have to take one to Fr. Van Beeck next weekend. Tomorrow I will soak them in water which should make them easier to work with. Our meeting is from 2 to 4PM. I will serve tea and scones and Joan Brigham said that she would bring something too. The first meeting of the year. Hope this year goes well.

We do have a big event that we will cosponsor with the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center. Mary Pat Kelly, who wrote Galway Bay, will come the first week in June to give a talk. This could be a really big event if we advertise. The book is FANTASTIC. If any of you want to read it, I have a copy.

I think I have managed to get rid of most of the ice at the front door, but still weill open the garage door and let the ladies come in through the garage. It is just plain safer.

Roxie is spending an awful lot of time in my lap lately. Just plain needy.

Love

Mary

While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform. 'Are you a cop?' she asked, 'Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'

Chelsea was very weird last night. She started pacing in the bedroom at about 11:30PM but she never put her paws up on the bed to tell me that she wanted to go out, then she went out into the living room again. Then - she did not come to get me until around 5AM. The one thing consistent about her is her inconsistency.

I came back with her from her longer morning walk and Barbara had called while we were out. Dick had answered, of course. Barbara's father, Don died early this morning. Thank you all for the prayers. He is no longer in pain. Please continue to pray for the family. Don was a wonderful man and will be missed by his family and friends.

I had lunch at the Dairy Queen with my bank friends. I fixed Dick a chili dog for his lunch and I had a burger and onion rings at the Dairy Queen. Then I went to Mother's to bring her some meds and make a couple of calls for her. I only have one thing that I forgot to do and will take care of that on Monday. She looked a bit better today but is still very tired. I took her some of the chicken soup too. Donna came while I was there, she had done some grocery shopping for Mom. She is feeling much better.

Got a Factbook message and an email from Bobbie. Her cast is off of her wrist. Yea. She is still stiff and feeling a bit stiff but glad to be free of it. She is going to start skating again but will wear wrist guards when she does.

Nancy and I went shooting pistol league tonight. We each shot three targets. My first two were total manure but the last one was much better. We are numbering the first five this time and then will be put into categories where we will be competing against those who are about our league. I guess if I am going to have an awful day it is better during these first five targets but I sill wish I could get more consistent.

That was the day. I will be fixing myself a nice cup of decaf tea pretty soon and will get to bed by 9 with any luck at all.

Have yourself a nice weekend. I will be hosting a St Bridget gathering on Sunday afternoon. I am looking forward to that and attempting to make a Bridget cross.

God Love You

Mary

Well, today was an at home day but boy was I busy. I got up at 6 on the dot because I needed to finish the tree. I figured that if I got it all down and stowed in its box, Joan, our cleaning lady, would help me carry it downstairs. And she did. So now Dick doesn't have to worry about me trying to get it down to the furnace room alone.

I had several phone calls to make today to doctors and health care workers and veterinarians. And I DID have to go out this afternoon to pick up prescriptions for Mother, Dick and Chelsea. Aside from taking Chelsea for about 8 walks today that was the only time I left the house. It is no wonder that I am tired at the end of the day.

I remembered yesterday that Sunday will be the CWI meeting and we are doing a study of St. Bridget and attempting to make St. Bridget Crosses. I looks like there will be about 7 or 8 of us here so it will be manageable. I cut a bunch of grasses and also have some twisted paper that is suggested in some of the directions so we can all try and see how we do. There are simple directions on the net and I have pulled together information on Bridget both legand and fact to relay to the group. This seemed like a good program as we are planning a trip to Ireland at this time next year to celebrate St. Bridget Day. Did you know that Ireland has three patron saints? They are St. Patrick, St. Columba (Columcille) and St. Bridget.

Tomorrow evening, Nancy and I will start shooting our pistol league at Rhine. She is going to pick me up at about 4:45PM so Dick and I will eat dinner when I get home.

Take care and have a good Friday.

God love you

Mary

A fairly successful day. Dick and I went to the new Roadside Inn on Hwy 57 for breakfast on Bret this morning. The people who ran the Plymouth Family Restaurant opened this one. As I said the smoke drove us out of the old one but they have no smoking anywhere in this establishment so we could just enjoy the food. We both got omelets and brought home enough for lunch tomorrow.

Then I did the grocery shopping and picked up a prescription at Walgreens.

I finished the soup this morning and then took a nap after lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent taking the rest of the ornaments off of the tree and getting them packed away. All that is left is to take one box downstairs and then get the tree stowed in its box and dragged down to the furnace room. I am kind of planning on doing that early tomorrow so that Joan can get the livingroom all vacuumed up. There are little gold stars and bits of tree scattered all over.

Roxie has found the activity of stripping the tree fascinating. She loved all the boxes and activity with just her and me involved. I think she thought that I was playing with her. It made her very hungry. She got very demanding for her dinner starting at 3:30 which was way too early. I finally broke down and fed her at about 4:15 because she wore me down.

Chelsea is becoming a very picky little eater these days. I have to go through all kinds of tricks to get her to eat. I have just about got her eating only the special diet but still she is not eating with much enthusiasm. The confusing part for me is that she is so picky and even special treats are not special to her anymore. She seldom will eat lettuce and the commercial treats that she used to love she sill only eat sometimes. This growing old is sure hard, even for critters.


God love you

Mary

Well it was a very quiet day, but I did end up having to leave the neighborhood once anyway. Dick had something scratching in his eye. It reminded him of a similar situation a couple of years ago when an eyelash was sticking into the eye. He was right. An eyelash was sticking in again. Dr. Cheryl pulled it out and gave him some drops for the irritation. She said it is a condition called tricosis, and if it becomes chronic, we will pursue lazering the offending lash out of there. But we will just have to see what happens.

I started a pot of chicken soup with one of the stewing chickens that Bobbie gave us. I got the stock all ready so tomorrow I can add the veggies and spices and chicken and we can have it for supper tomorrow night.

I also started packing the Christmas tree ornaments away. Tomorrow I will tackle that again. Those things plus phone calls and working on some computer work for CWI and my book kept me really busy all day.

Tomorrow, Dick and I are going out for breakfast. We have not done that for over a year. We are going to the Wilderness which is now the Plymouth Family Restaurant, though I don't know which name it is going under. They always had good breakfasts and I understand are now non smoking. We stopped going there because of the smoke. We are going on Bret's "dollar". He didn't know what to get for Dick so sent money for a breakfast on him. What a guy. He has such an imagination.

So the day is done and so am I.

Til tomorrow. Keep yourself well.

Love

Mary

The day started off rather quietly. The most activity I had was taking Chelsea in and out of the hours. She was a constant nag again today while I was home. I am so glad that she is finally sleeping and will probably sleep until I wake her up just before I go to bed.

I went to bible study this morning. There were only four of us today. Several had medical appointments and two are in Texas for the winter. But we don't let that stop us. We are in the middle of the Gospel of Mark and enjoying the commentary.
We have an awful lot of people to pray for these days, even in our ranks.

Then I stopped at Mothers. She was sitting with freshly washed and trimmed hair for Denise to come back from the store and finish her permanent. Denise was so embarrassed. She forgot her curlers so had to go and get some. Oh well, she can use them at her shop. Mike Gustafson, Mary Margaret's husband was just leaving when I got there. Mary Margaret had sent some fresh soup for Mother's lunch. I brought food too. I put my soup in the freezer and left the meat loaf and kale out for her supper. It was good seeing Denise and catching up with her and her family. I cannot believe that Samantha is graduating from high school this spring and going to college in the fall. Like Dick said. She is only "this" high.
And her Jack is 11 already.

Denise is another of Mom's special people who do things for her. This saves Mom from going to get her hair taken care of and she was feeling not right as the perm was all gone. She is still very weak and going to the beauty parlor would be not very wise.

When I got home I knew that I had the whole afternoon and all of tomorrow at home. Wednesday, Dick and I are going out for breakfast on Wednesday and then I will go grocery shopping. So it is turning out to be a rather quiet week. As I said, no doctor appointments at all. I hardly no how to act.

Have a nice evening.

Mary



"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined,

but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to

maintain a status of independence from any who might

attempt to abuse them, which would include their

own government." -- George Washington

cid:1.2658647179@web81407.mail.mud.yahoo.com



1. "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not" Thomas Jefferson
2. Those who trade liberty for security have neither. ~John Adams
3. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
4. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
5. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
6. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
7. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
8. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
9. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
10. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
11. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
12. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved.
13. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
14. What part of 'shall not be infringed' do you NOT understand?
15. Guns have only two enemies; rust and politicians.




16. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.

17. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

A wonderful quiet day at home. I really took it easy. The only real work I did was making dinner and three loads of wash. We had meatloaf. I decided to surprise Dick with that. He loves meatloaf and it goes well with potato salad.

Feeding Chelsea is becoming quite a puzzle. She is being switched over to G D formula Science Diet which will be better for her kidney. So I have to mix half and half for a couple more days to get her used to the new food. Now she is being very picky in he eating anyway and this morning she did not eat her breakfast. I don't know if it was because she was off her food, she did not like the mixture or she did not like the Aluminum Hydroxide that I mixed in to it. It seemed like a better idea than trying to spoon it down her throat. I think we could get away with that maybe once.

Tonight we mixed it with ice cream and she lapped it all up, so that is what I will try tomorrow. Dr. Pat hopes that this might settle her tummy and also the aluminum hydroxide is good for one of the kidney failings. So we will see.

Then tonight we watched the Packers. What a game. They lost, but what a game. The score was 45/48. Unfortunately the Cardinals got the 48 with a touchdown in overtime. Except for our rotten first quarter we would have whipped them. It was the highest ever scoring game in the playoffs EVER.

My week is quiet, so far and I am going to do my best to keep it that way. It willg ive me a chance to put Christmas away and do it in a leisurely fashion. Hope you have a good week too. Would you believe that we do not have even one medical appointment.

God love you.

Mary

Except for going to mass this evening, I did get to stay home all day. Good thing. I was really tired. I had trouble getting to sleep last night. Probably those caffeinated diet cokes that I drank at Rhine. But it was almost midnight when I finally drifted off. I rested for a while this morning and managed to get through the rest of the day.

I did some CWI computer work today. AND I put the Nativities away also. So I have a start. This week will be quieter and with any luck at all, Christmas will be put away by next Friday. How sad.

We had a great noon meal. I broiled a T Bone steak and we had it with fresh potato salad and beets. We have found that one steak divided is more than enough for the two of us.

I called Barbara today as I have been worried about her and her father. Her father is very ill and failing and she is wearing herself out trying to take care of him, work and take care of her own home. Pray for her and for Don.

Mass was at 4PM. I was able to be a wine minister as they were one short. I still find it the greatest thrill to be able to be a minister of communion. I never get over the wonder of it.

Aunt Kathleen called this morning. She had talked to Mother and just wanted an update. I was able to tell her that she is indeed very weak but that we now have people in every morning to help her get up,dressed and ready for her day.

I called Mother after I finished talking to Kathleen and she seems very pleased with the helpers that are coming each morning. So that is over half the battle. Of course, who would not enjoy helping my Mother. There is nobody more sweet or grateful for what you do for her.

Have a restful Sunday. I get to stay home ALL day tomorrow and am SO excited.

God love you

Mary


An oldie gut goodie. Rules for pets

Dear Dogs and Cats,
The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food.
Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack.
Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine or feline attendance is not mandatory.
The proper order is kiss me, THEN go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!

I did get to stay home most of the day. We were all plowed and shoveled when I woke up this morning. I put a little deicer to help keep some of the ice from forming. But it is SO cold that I don't know how much good it will do.

I cleaned today. The bathrooms and I did some spot rug cleaning in front of Dick's desk. I also made some of the Olive Garden Toscana soup that we like so well. We had leftover spaghetti for our noon meal.

I also did a bunch of computer work for CWI.

Then this evening I had to work at Rhine. It is the beginning of Winter League. Nancy and I were going to shoot, but Nancy couldn't come after all, so we will start next week. We had nine teams sign up for trap, which isn't too bad for the first week, especially with the weather. There were about 10 pistol shooters so we should have a nice pistol league too.

Pat Becher and her husband Bob, Janet Bieschke and her husband Richard and, of course, Jerry Coenen and his wife Nancy started pistol this week. I say, Of course, because Jerry is also a member of Rhine.

It was pretty slow at the end. The guys took down the traps by 8:30PM and then Matt, our team leader, told me to go home. I thanked him, I always worry some about Dick. I DID bring my boots and a stocking cap in case they needed me outside but was glad that I got assigned to the bar.

Have a nice weekend.

Bod love you

Mary

What a day. It snowed all day and the roads were really bad. From the time we woke up. I had to take Chelsea to the Vet at 8AM, which was not TOO bad but we had to drive very carefully and alert every moment.

Chelsea's kidneys are failing. We knew that but there is a definite indication of that in the blood tests. We are going to try to change her diet to a science diet that may help and give her a phosphate that may slow the damage down a bit. But it is progressive. Her teeth are bad, because of her heart, we cannot do any dental work because that involves putting her under anesthetic which could kill her as fast as the disease. So we try to make things easier for her. She is almost 16 and we know her time is limited. Poor baby.

We had soup for lunch and then I drove, carefully and very nerviously to Mother's to meet with her and Dolores with two of the home care companies to fill in the mornings when the Visiting Nurses won't be coming. We chose Companion Care because they said that they would be able to help Mom with her colostomy bag if it became necessary. They will get training from the VNA. Otherwise it would have been a very difficult decision. Anyway, Mom will have someone there in the mornings to help her through her breakfast and her bathing starting tomorrow. We are so relieved. I am so glad that Dolores was able to be there with me to help sort through the information we received. As they say four ears are better than two.

Of course, Mom had the final say. She is still able to make her own decisions but I know she is glad that we are there to advise her.

It was a rather unsettling trip home, but I just kept my speed down and followed about four cars that were feeling as uncomfortable as I was. The plows had been out so we were only facing rather slipper streets and just had to keep moving at a nice steady pace. Obviously I got home save and sound.

HOWEVER, the plows were out in Tallgrass and they left me with a insurmountable pile of snow that I managed to get stuck in. I was doing some shoveling when one of they guys who clear our snow was me and came and very gallantly helped me get the driveway cleared, my car unstuck and saw me into the garage. They are SO very nice. I told him that maybe I would be staying home until spring. Dick said he would like to keep me home til spring too. Fat chance of course. But unfortunately, we had to get Mother set up with her health care. There was no way we could leave her until next week to have someone in there every morning to see that she is safe. She is so weak. But that wonderful spirit is still there.

So. It is time for me to wind down again. Our Leslie has started a blog. So now I check almost every day to see if either she or Jim have posted. Even every so often is such a joy and they both do such fun blogs. Leslie worries that she will be boring but she isn't. I sometimes feel that way too but noone complains so I keep pouring my days out to everybody.

It is supposed to snow through tomorrow morning and I don't have anywhere to go until tomorrow night. I am supposed to go out to Rhine to work for the start if our Winter League. By then things should be clear. But to have a whole day that I can stay home, is just like heaven.

Hope your day is heaven too.

God love you

Mary

Well another day is winding down.

I got up at 6 and got all the morning things done before 8AM so I could get the grocery shopping done and everything put away by mid morning. That went well. I filled the gas tank while I was out so am set for another week or two.

At 11AM Dick and I drover over to the clinic for our HlNl shots. Dick is not very relieved. He worries about stuff like that. I personally figure that we are in the low risk group and not exposed to much on the outside. But he is probably, because of his diabetes somewhat at risk,

The cutest thing happened while we were waiting. A mother with two little boys, one just toddling, came down the hall. The toddler immediately became fascinated with Dick's wheelchair and walked up behind him and started touching the wheels and back of the chair. His mother, on crutches, called to him to come, but he got down and crawled under the chair like a puppy. Dick and I thought it was quite funny. He crawled out from under Dick's legs, so Dick finally got to see him then. She got him down the hall with her and he tried once more to escape, but his brother tackled him and took him back.

This afternoon, I picked Mother up at 3:00PM and took her to the Sheboygan Clinic to get the heart monitor off of her. Boy was she relieved. It was not heavy but was not at all comfortable. She should receive the results from Dr. Hancock's office by Monday. We are almost hoping they will find something, at least something correctable. She is still very weak but hanging in there. Tomorrow, the nurse will be there to check her and on Friday the morning visits will begin. That will be a relief for us all.

So. that was the day. Enough, wouldn't you say? I am going to fix a cup of tea and then start winding down for the night.

I can't believe the week is half over already and as it is officially Epiphany, Christmas is really over too. I have not even begun putting any of my decorations away.

Have a good last two days of the week.

God love you

Mary

My Tuesdays are supposed to be quiet. I usually tell people that if they want me to do something Tuesdays are always free.

Not today.

This morning, I had a doctor appointment at 8:45AM. We had hoped to get our H1N1 vaccine but they were out of the vaccine. So, I had my appointment and we went to get Dick's coagulation checked and went home. His count was right on. On the high side but still within the parameters. So we don't have to go back for a whole month.

However, this afternoon, I noticed that the phone was blinking to indicate that we had a message. The vaccine came in while we were still in the building but we left quickly after two short appointments and they missed us, so we are going back tomorrow for the shots.

When we got home, I took a nap. I was really tired after the morning activities and still had a full day ahead of me. It got up at 11 and fixed some spaghetti for our dinner. And I cleaned the kitchen counters and the sinks. I have NO idea how they get so dirty. I haven't even been doing much cooking but there was crud all over everything and I scrubbed everything on Sunday.

Chelsea's vet, Dr. Conners called this afternoon. We are going to check Chelsea's blood again to see how much she has failed. There are still a couple of things she may be able to suggest to make her more comfortable. The coughing is getting worse again and we can't increase those meds. But we will see. She still is like a puppy when we go for our walks. I frankly hope that one day we will wake up and just find her gone. I don't want her to suffer and I hate to have to make the decision to put her down. That is so hard.

I went to Mother's at 1:30 or so to meet with the nurse, Kathy, from VNA. Dolores was there too so we were both able to help Mom with her decisions an her understanding. They, the VNA, will be able to come in three days a week to help her get up and bathe and dress. The nurse will come two days to check her vitals and she is going to have a PT and OT evaluation done. Dolores and I are going to talk to two of the local care agencies for someone to come to be with Mother the other four days when she is getting up in the morning. That is her vulnerable time and we are working to get her covered. She should not be afraid.

Home again. What a relief. I intend to be in bed and asleep by 9:30PM as I am really tired. I have to get organized and get some phone calls and emails done by the weekend.

From Jeff Foxworthy - About Wisconsinites

If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with
> someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in
> Wisconsin .
>
> If you have ever refused to buy something because
> it's 'too pricey,' you might live in Wisconsin .
>



God love you

Mary

Today was busy, making up for my quiet yesterday. Actually, I forgot to tell you that yesterday, though I got to stay home, did have its problem. Dolores called in the afternoon to tell me that Mother had fainted again in the morning. Dolores went out and stayed with her until after lunch. She is OK, though very weak and she did get a little bump on her head.

Dolores went out this morning at 7AM to help her get up and be with her during that seemingly vulnerable time. She stayed until Jeff and Kathy got there. They took her to the doctor this morning. I stopped with a prescription on my way to bible study and got to see her. She looked so weak.

Jeff and Kathy took her to the doctor and he ordered a 48 hour heart monitor which was put on her this afternoon. He also agreed that the VNA should come out and do an evaluation. So Dolores and I will be at Mother's tomorrow at 1:30PM to help her work with them.

Today, I went to Bible Study. Then came home and fixed lunch. Dick and I had to be at Wisconsin Prosthesis at 1:30PM to have his shoe repaired and to have the prosthesis checked. A leather or cover had pealed loose from the metal band. Tim was able to fix it right away and we were home by 2PM.

Then tonight I had to go to Rhine Plymouth for our first meeting of the New Year. It went quite well, I think. I do have to work this Friday as I am now on team A.

Dick was happy today. Some of the presents that he had ordered for me for Christmas had not come and finally arrived today. It was fun. Christmas is just going on and on. I received a present from Jacquie last week and now these. Tomorrow, I am going to wear the new cross that he got me. It is a beautiful silver cross with a real shamrock in the center.

Chelsea is getting weirder and weirder. I never know what treats to give her anymore and she acts very suspicious of dishes that I put on the floor. As an old lady, she has to go outside OFTEN. But she is sleeping up to 8 hours at night, (or 4 on a bad night.) Her tail is not up often but when we walk she springs along like she is a puppy. She even did a bit of the Pepe Le Pew in the snow after the last dusting. Poor little girl. She is just plain wearing out.

Take care

God love you

Mary

This will be a very short blog as this was a very quiet day.

We did not have to go anywhere. For the first time in over a week I got to stay home.

I spent the morning putting together the chapbook for the WFOP contest. I got it all in the order I wanted and printed it out for Dick to edit for me.

I watched an old Jane Eyre movie and cut out some more pieces for the current quilt top that I am putting together.

We had leftovers for lunch and a hot dog for dinner so I had an easy day. Still I am exhausted and ready for bed.

I with you a healthy and happy week and will perhaps be more newsy tomorrow. Leslie has started a blog so two of my children will be more on line for news. Yippee.

God love you all.

Mary

I found out something very exciting today. Our printer can print two sided copies. Boy am I ever delighted as I am putting together a chapbook of poems for a contest at WFOP, Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. It is quite exciting now that I can do it all here. Then If I decide to print more copies, I will take a disc to Sun Graphics and have them print and assemble it.

So I spent some of the day working on my writing.

I did a bit of shopping and picked up some pills for Chelsea this morning. It was terribly cold today. It was 0 degrees when I woke up. It did get up to the low teens and the sun was shining, along with the moon which is always odd. So this afternoon, it WAS bearable but I still was not really thrilled with running in and out with Chelsea. Old ladies just have to go potty too often.

I went to Mass at 4PM. It was a nice mass, an early celebration fo the Feast of the Three Kings as the church has moved it from the 12th day to the second Sunday after Christmas. This feast was the original reason for the 12 Days of Christmas. It is special to us because it is the first time Jesus was revealed to the Gentiles in the persons of the Three Kings.

We had good old Hamburger Helper for dinner this noon and then that great bean soup that I made earlier this week for supper. Then I froze some of it and put a container in the fridge for eating during the week. I managed to pop the lid of the container that went into the fridge. It ran down the back and I ended up having to clean the whole bottom half of the refrigerator. Never have been very graceful.

Tomorrow, I should be able to stay home all day. There is a prescription at Walgreens for Mother, but I can pick that up on my way to Sheboygan Falls on Monday. HOME. All day. What a joy.

God love you

Mary

The last day of 2009. WOW!

I was home all day except for going to Mass this evening. I spent the day doing various chores around the house. The front driveway needed to be shoveled. If there is less than an inch, the association does not take care of it. I did not want ice to be forming under it in the next few days. Actually it is supposed to get down to 2 degrees or less tonight. I am glad that I will be home most of tomorrow too.

Tomorrow, I will be taking supper to Mother at about 5PM. I called her today to confirm this. She sounds so weak. I will sit with her tomorrow when I bring her meal to be sure that she eats. She admits that her appetite is rather poor but says she does eat three times a day and is going to try to have a snack mid afternoons to help keep her strength up.

We had leftovers from Sweet Basil for our lunch and bean soup for supper. Boy is that bean soup ever good. If you want to share just come over for a meal in the next few days.

So Mass was nice and also short. I saw several friends and was able to wish them a Happy New Year.

A good portion of my morning was spent researching home care for Mother. Hopefully we can get someone in to help her in the mornings in the next week or so. The holidays will slow things up a bit but we will get it done and at least during the holidays she has a lot of people checking on her.

Love and God Love you

Mary

The second last day of 2009. I was, as usual, quite busy. Got up at 6AM and did all the usual morning stuff plus helped Dick get washed up and changed. Then I went to the Pig and did the grocery shopping.

When I got home, I put a pot of bean soup on to cook all day. It is done now, except for stripping the meat off the bone, and tastes wonderful.

I took a nap this morning because I was going to the Amputee Support Group meeting at Rocky Knoll at 2PM. We had sandwiches and jello salad for our lunch. I had a mushroom and cheese and Dick had a grilled cheese.

The Amputee Support meeting was fun. We played card bingo. That is an easy game. You have two decks of cards and deal one out. Then the dealer called the cards on the other one until there is a winner with the hand you are dealt. We had lots of little prizes so played three whole rounds to use up the prizes. It was fun and we shared and talked a lot.

For some reason we got to talking about kids and I remembered an incident from Bart's toddler days. He was probably about three or four and wandered over to the neighbor's house because he saw her coming out and going towards her car. He asked her where she was going and she teasing him said. "I'm going to hell, want to come along?" That was the wrong thing to say. Bart immediately turned towards home yelling all the way "Mom, Mom, can I go to hell with Beverly." Poor Beverly chased him all the way trying catch him. We laughed our heads off and had to do a lot of explaining to Bart. He still didn't know why he couldn't go to hell with Beverly. He didn't know what hell was.

We got a wonderful Christmas present today from Leslie and Bill. Framed portraits of Bill and Leslie and also of Nora and Sara and a picture of the girls with their fiances. They are wonderful and we are so pleased.

So. Have a safe and fun New Years Eve.

God love you

Mary

Another busy day. I spent the early part of the morning, walking Chelsea about 4 times and cleaning underneath the sink.

I had to be at Mother's at 11:30AM to meet with an insurance man with her so I stopped at the bank and the vet's on the way. Mom and I got a lot done and she gave me another assignment. So tomorrow I will be making some calls to gather information for her. She would like someone there in the mornings when she wakes up and is getting ready for the day as she feels weakest then. I applaud her as it is hard for her to admit that and to give up a part of her privacy but she is an intelligent woman and wants to be in her home as long as possible.

I got home shortly after one PM and just puttered around and tried to take a nap. The nap did not work too well, but I did get a lot of little things done.

Now I am watching at least part of the Kennedy Center Awards and then I will go to bed.

A friend sent me an email that amused me. I will add a couple of the quotes that were in it for you.


Mary

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not
pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - 'No good in a
bed, but fine against a wall.'
Eleanor Roosevelt


<><>
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its
way through Congress.
- Will Rogers =2 0

There were only four of us at bible study this morning. Tom and Kathy are on their way to Texas, one of the Helens is still recovering from surgery and Peggy is in Florida. Joe did not make it. And of course our Fran's funeral was this evening.

We had a nice study but veered off of the subject to talk about Fran and what she means to us. We all agreed that she certainly went the way we all would like to. She just collapsed and was gone to God. Much better than lingering in pain as many do.

Then I went over to Mom's and we had a nice visit. I told her that my friend, Beth, knows the woman who bought our old house. It is a woman with two children an she is fixing it up. That made Mom feel good as we lived there for over 50 years. It was amusing because the new owner was told by someone that she bought the Deeley house and that it had always been red with white trim. It is gray now but she went outside and found that there is red paint under the gray. She was also told about our "bombing" by the army when there was a base at Haven.

The planes went out over the Lake one winter evening and one of the planes ejected at least three of its pieces of live ammunition on the City of Sheboygan Falls.

Our family was all gathered in the lower level of the house shortly after supper, except for my brother Tim, who had gone upstairs. My boyfriend at the time, Jumbo Martin, was there for the evening too. Suddenly we heard the loudest crash from the upstairs and thought that Tim had knocked something really big over. But when we went upstairs, there was Tim, looking into the left back bedroom and there was dust and debris flying all over the place and a hole in the ceiling that came right through a beam.

There were also two or three gouges in the floor. After searching, we found under the bed what looked like a very large bullet. So we called the police. They came and took a report and the bullet with them.. Dad and the police were all handling it very casually. Later, we found out that it was a live piece of ammo.

Later, we also found out that a home in another part of town was also hit, right next to a baby crib and a small fire started. Another shell was found in the street. Miraculously no one was hurt.

The Army did an investigation. I don't know the final results but they paid for the repairs on the house and gave Dad a model of the plane and a unloaded shell for a souvenir. It was altogether an exciting time. Dad fixed the roof and ceiling himself and had money leftover for something, I am not sure what. And one day a special delegation of officers came to the house to personally apologize to Mother for the incident.


And that is the story of the time our own Army bombed us.

Tonight I went to Blessed Trinity to join the choir at Fran's funeral. She looked lovely. And we sang as best we could as she was in the choir forever and loved the joyful music. It was a beautiful service and I am glad I could go.


God love you

Mary

We got to stay home all day today. It was cold but not bitter cold. Chelsea and I were able to have a couple of short walks and she was happy except for one when the sale on the road made the pads of her feet hurt.

Then, I really upset her because I decided to give her a bath bot the wash off the pads of her feet and to clean her bottom which was quite dirty. Now she is the prettiest girl in the whole neighborhood. As we all know, she really prefers to be dirty.

The Packers won handily today and have clinched a place in the playoffs. We really enjoyed that one. My fantasy football score is looking OK. I won't win the week but am at least not out of the running like last week.

I cleaned off my desk today. We have to rearrange things to accommodate the new big screen monitors that we got for Christmas. If these are the only problems we will have the rest of the year, we are blessed. And is it ever nice to be using those big screens.

I scraped the snow off the front driveway this morning too. We are supposed to get more flurries and I am hoping to avoid ice patches. And I did three loads of wash including our sheets so I got a lot done. But I did not feel rushed and spent a lot of time just goofing off and I even took a nap.

Tomorrow will be a bit busier. I will have bible study in the morning and then go over to Mother's. Then in the evening I will go back to Falls to sing in the choir for Fran's funeral.

So we are heading downhill to the end of 2009. The news shows are morning shows ate already doing their recaps of the year. Almost every day, one gets another perspective. I remember when I was a little girl, I always thought, when it got to the year 2000 I would be 60 years old and now I am almost 10 years beyond that. Sixty seemed very old at that point. Doesn't seem so old now.

God love you

Mary