A cold and WINDY day. Chelsea and I walked very fast this morning to keep ahead of the cold.

Dick and I had to be in Sheboygan for his blood test at the anti coagulation clinic at 8:45AM. He is within the parameters again so we are very pleased. Do you know that we do not have to see a doctor until the week after next? We are SO delighted by that.

We got the car washed and then stopped at Walgreens to pick up bandaging supplies and items for the Advent Calendar wall hanging. We have to be ready to start that on Sunday. Would you believe that? Time is just flying.

I am watching the finale of Dancing with the Stars so will keep this short. I really do like that show. In case you don't know. Marie has been eliminated and it is down to the Spice Girl, Mel B and the race car driver, Helio.

I am going to put another poem of mine in for you. I did this recently from a memory. Some of you will relate. For others it is a world that existed when I was a child.

Our Kitchen

by Mary J. Kunert

The fire in the old coal furnace
In the old farm house
Barely lasted until dawn,
Winter being what it is.
Poor Mother had to get up in the cold
And trek down to the basement
To throw more coal on the ashes.
Then she shut the doors to the kitchen
And lit the oven.
We, her munchkins, woke one by one,
Left the cozy caves of our quilt topped beds
And stumbled down the stairs
To the warm cocoon that she had prepared.
We huddled, all of us, in that place
Eating our breakfast and drinking hot chocolate
Until the newly stoked fire sent its fingers of warmth
Through the house and we could again

Venture forth.

Enjoy your Wednesday. We are shopping.

Love

Mary

Except for the market, this has been an up day, all the way.

We started out with an exhilarating walk for Chelsea and I at 6:30AM. It was only 32 degrees but again - no wind. What more can one ask for.

Our first major "event" was the trip to see Dr. Siddique. He confirmed that the artery work was exactly what he had hoped for. After some prodding we got the reaffirmation that he does need vein work to completed the repairs. He is booked through January so we are scheduled for up to eight procedures to correct that. The first is for February 15. These require only and hour and he can go home right afterwards. So we are encouraged that they will not be as hard on him. When these are done, we believe that the wounds on his legs and feet will be able to totally heal. Pray that it is so.

This afternoon, I went shopping at Hobby Lobby and a couple of other Mall stops with Kate Herman. We got the frames that I have been needing for a "surprise" for my brothers and sisters and to frame properly the Courtney print. I also got a battery for the Connemara marble watch that Dick got for me a couple of Christmases ago.

Finally I picked up Chelsea's refill of her furosimide. She is set for a while now. Poor little girl. Today I visited out front with the neighbor across the street. She lost a grandson last week and I swear that Chelsea knew that she needed some comfort. Chelsea is not exactly cuddly but she very willingly let her pet her. I think she knew she could help.

Tonight I put ONE box of ornaments on the tree. Two more to go. I also found places for two of the Nativities.

I don't think I shared this poem with you. If I did you will just have to read it again. As we are getting into the Christmas season, I remembered writing it early this year.

Tomorrow Dick gets a blood test, but the rest of the day is free.

Here is the poem. I hope you enjoy it.

Love Mary

BOY CHILD

Did He spin in circles
His arms outstretched
His face towards the sky
A smile on his lips
Calling
Mama, Mama
Look at Me?

Did He bring home a puppy
A kitten or a toad
And say in a breathless voice
A smile on His lips
Begging
Mama, Mama
Can I keep him?

Did she tuck Him in
Kiss His cheek
Inhale the sweet moist smell
Of the Boy Child's hair
Whispering
Jesus, Jesus
I love you?

Sunday is almost over. It was quite nice and quite relaxing. I took Chelsea for her walk at 6:3o and then went to the 8AM Mass.

When I got home, I warmed up the leftover egg strata for our Sunday breakfast. I will hang onto that recipe.

I spent the day making another batch of fudge, wrapping presents and going to the History Museum to pick up three items that I got on silent auction. One of them was a wreath that is now hanging on our front door for the holidays.

I talked to Nora this afternoon to find out a few things I needed to know for the wedding. I have now decided what I will wear and what I will bring for a present for Bing and Stenn. We are all so happy for Stenn. Bing is just lovely and we are eager to have her part of our family.

Tomorrow night is the finale of Dancing with the Stars. I really do enjoy that show. I can't figure out who I feel should be awarded the prize this year. The three finalists especially the Spice Girl and the Race Driver are REALLY good and Marie isn't half bad either. Will have to wait til Tuesday to find out the results.

I was reminded of how bad my ex husband was at dancing. He was just not good at all. One night at a party, his Aunt June decided that he should learn to dance and she took him into another room where she could work with him. Before she gave up he managed to trip her and they fell into a fireplace, fortunately unlit, and she ended up with a black eye. She gave up.

All my love

Mary

Bart and Barb will be picking me up at the airport in Dallas so I have an added bonus to this trip. I hope that Timothy will join us. Nora specifically mentioned that if he will, we would want him to attend either/or both, the rehearsal dinner and the wedding and reception. I hope he will.

I also talked to Barb this afternoon and relayed that information to her.

That pork we had last night was just as good tonight with potatoes and gravy.

We have been enjoying Christmas music since 4PM. First the Celtic Women Christmas, then Angel Voices, a boy's choir and now the three tenors. This time of year does spoil us.

I liked this day.

Chelsea and I started on our walk at about 6:20AM. It was cold - 27 degrees - but still so we enjoyed the walk. She acts like a young pup these nice cool crisp mornings.

Then I fixed a little breakfast for us and Dick went down for a nap with Chelsea. I worked at the desk and cleaned up the kitchen a bit and painted a tile for a trivet.

Then I decided to do a bit of Christmas shopping and take Mother the money that I had picked up for her. It was especially important because I will not be able to go for our usual Monday visit because Dick is seeing Dr. Siddique in the morning and I will not be able to go to Bible Study. We had a nice visit and I made it home in time to fix lunch. Then I rested a bit. But I could not sleep so I made my first batch of fudge.

I called Kate this afternoon. She had mentioned that she wanted to go to Hobby Lobby and I need to go too. We have pretty well determined that we will go on Monday afternoon. I need frames for several things and they are the most reasonable and usually have some sort of a sale. I hope I am planning right this time too.

Anyway, Kate and her friend Freddie, who is a neighbor of ours, were going to downtown Plymouth to tour the History Museum and the Episcopal Church for their second day of festivities. I think the turnout today was really rather poor. But there was little else going on but these two events and I many of the other stores were already closed at 4 this this started.

I had bid on three items in the silent auction at the History Museum and the bidding being so low, I have received three of them. So I need to pick them up tomorrow after 10AM. I was rather selective and am not unhappy BUT did feel that I SHOULD have been outbid.

Anyway, we three gals had a great time. The tour of the Episcopal Church was really good. It is an old faith community and this building was rebuilt after a fire. but they have hung on to the wonderful ambiance and the artifacts that make it special. I was pleased that I was asked along.

Dick and I had a plank pork roast, Spanish Rice and steamed broccoli for dinner. It was a Market Day pork and was just wonderful. I have not been disappointed with any of their meats.

I was sent the following at least twice but perhaps some of you have not seen it. I reinforces my feelings about "illegal" vs. legal immigrants and English being our official language. See what you think.


"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."


Theodore Roosevelt 1907


Love

Mary

We extended the Kunert Thanksgiving for a bit longer this morning by all sharing a breakfast. We had Egg Strata, fruit, juice, various breads and coffee. Chelsea loved it but was very tired when everyone left.

The kids all left at about 10 to go to see their mother. She is still home after her long illness and the reports are that she is doing quite well. It was so good that they all could go at once. There is such healing in numbers.

Dick and I spent a nice quiet Friday. Nothing too exciting, just general puttering around, general picking up and resting. I called Chelsea's doctor to report her condition. She is still coughing often, but I don't believe as much, and has not had a seizure in almost two weeks. We are encouraged.

Tonight, I went to downtown Plymouth for their big holiday parade. We left at about 5:15 so we could get good parking and enjoy some of the other festivities before the parade started at 7:00. They had a chili cook off as part of the event. Five stores prepared their chilies for the cook off. We managed to get to all five, The Sewing Basket, Hub City Interiors, Book Heads, The Exchange Bank and Cains Floral Wreath. We decided that Cains WAS the best. Three of the others had pasta in them and the other, though really good had a sweet undertone that I did not feel was really good for chili.

The parade was really good. There were floats and horses and dogs and even llamas. Lots of Plymouth businesses and community service agencies were represented. Jim and Michelle are planning on having the Red Cross represented next year. They are all qualified and very active in the Red Cross now. Anyway, we had a good time and I am so glad that they asked me to go with them. I would not have gone alone.

It was 17 degrees this morning when I took Miss Chelsea out. But again, there was no wind so it was not too bad. I am reminded of that saying that find so touching. "God be good to anyone, who's sleeping out tonight. Tuck them in and keep them warm and don't put out the light."

We need to do what we can to help the homeless of out world. Especially the children.

Love

Mary

I probably don't really have to do this today as a good chunk of the people who read the blog are HERE.

It was a lovely day and very long. I got up at 4:45AM in order to get to the hunting site on time. It had snowed a good portion of the night and we had our first accumulation of snow for the season. The roads were very slippery, especially at the intersections so it took much longer for me to get out there. Jeff and Shane called while I was traveling to let me know that THEY were running a bit behind too. We saw a lot of tracks out there but nary a deer. I didn't even get my squirrel visit. We came out at about 11:00am. Shane says he saw cat tracks out there. He meant CAT tracks not domestic. He never saw the cat but it's path looked like it was following a deer trail.

Anyway, I got home and fixed lunch, took a shower and put together a overnight egg casserole for breakfast tomorrow. Then I took a short nap before Bobbie and Bill came. Bobbie is using one of my stencils to quilt the border of a quilt she has almost completed.

Next over to Jim and Michelle's next door for a Delicious dinner. We all stuffed ourselves on a great turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and more. She made a pumpkin pie and a pumpkin cream cheese pie for dessert.

We all then came over here and Jim and Dick put up our Christmas tree for us. Dick was worried about getting it upstairs and put together. Now I just have to decorate.

WOW. Quite a day. So much to be thankful for today. We are all healthy. Dick is doing pretty well. We will know for sure on Monday when we see Dr. Siddique of course, but things are good today.

Barb called and we got an ecard from Leslie So life is good.

Take care and be good to yourself.

Love

Mary

Well, I slipped off to bed without posting last night. It is now 5:15AM and I am getting my brain together for this morning's deer hunting experience. It is NOT snowing and the prediction is flurries only. So we will be out there. I understand that the whole party will be there.

Yesterday was nice. We shopped in the morning. Then I did kitchen stuff, (got the stuff chopped for a breakfast casserole - to assemble today, make cranberry sauce to have on hand and prepared a batch of venison bratwurst.) I also vacuumed the office for all the good that does. We really have a cleaning puzzle there.

Talked to Bret. I had called him the night before to find out how Travis, the young man who was in the motorcycle accident, is doing. He is hanging in there. He is still critical so keep praying, but there are many signs of improvement.

Talked to Bart too. I have been calling him once a week while Barb is in Florida. He is a bit agitated but is under a bit of pressure. We had a good talk so I feel OK with him too. Paryers for him would be good too.

I promise to write this evening.

Love
Mary

The muskrat is right in the center next to the big rock.

Enjoy. They have such a lovely place by the water.

Mary

Chelsea and I had the best walk this morning. First she tried to get me up at 5:30AM. I let her piddle and then went back to bed until 6AM. We had to get up then because Dick had an appointment with Dr. Hodous at 9:15AM. So, we started out at 6 and did a nice LONG walk through Tallgrass and then around Lions Park and ended up taking the path through the woods to the condo. We only ran into one other person walking this morning. Boy did they miss out.

Dr. Hodous was pleased with the feet. He says the infection seems to be gone and the callouses are not getting worse. We are all waiting for the time when the veins can be treated and there may be some healing.

Then we stopped at BJ's Shooter Supplies to have him look at my 22. I took the grips off when cleaning it and couldn't get it working properly. He took it apart, made a few adjustments, put it back together and it is just fine now. Whew.

On the way home we stopped and got gas and then I dropped 2 dozen cookies off at the Plymouth History Museum for an event that they are holding on Friday. They had called and asked. I like being asked for something like that. I love to cook and can do it at home. If you want cookies, come on down. I made plain old TollHouse Chocolate Chip Cookies. Can't beat them.

Home again. I spent the afternoon, vacuuming the living room, watering plants, getting my grocery list and the stuff ready for Thursday's hunting trip to the Kettles.

Had a few phone calls and emails to catch up on too.

Now I am settling down. Tonight I like TV. I watch Bones and the finale of Dancing With the Stars.

Every month, the Cream City Writers adjourns with each attendee giving a word. Then we try to use as many of those words in a poem to bring back the following month. August was kind of fun. The words were: muskrat, fall, slumber, bare woods, colored woods, blaze orange and harvest moon.

Here is my poem:

The harvest moon shines brightly
On the colored woods
Carpeted with leaves that fall and blanket
The forest floor in yellow, blaze orange and red.
The old gray muskrat grumbles
As he swims up to his nest,
Preparing to wile away the long days of winter
Foraging for food
In the waters under the ice
Safe from hungry predators.

The chilly weather we are having reminded me of this. When we went to Teresa and Gary Gretzinger, Dick's niece and husband's home by a lake we saw a muskrat. At least I think it was a muskrat. I took a picture. Not too clear but I will post it.

Have a great day. Only one more day til Thanksgiving.

Love

Mary

This day was mostly mine.

Chelsea woke me up at 4:35AM. Isn't that ridiculous. Well I showed her. I took he out, let her do her thing and then shut her out of the bedroom and slept until almost 6:30AM. Then Chelsea and I had a wonderful walk. She was little Miss Adventure and decided to go on a bit different route. We walked down the railroad track to Highland and then up the hill and around the park. She was quite ambitious.

I went to bible study in Sheboygan Falls. We had a nice group and a lot to say. We decided that we need to pray for peace in this world. We talked about a lot of things but this was the last statement that we made.

Stopped at Mom's next and we had a fun visit. I helped her fill out her Senior Care application and then we just talked. Suddenly I looked at the clock and it was almost 11:30. As I had to get home and fix lunch and be at The Plymouth Writer's club by 1:00PM..

We heard from Dr. Sharon's office and there is no infection in his leg. We were a bit concerned because there was a sore on his right leg.

The Writer's club was fun. Bill Krauter, one of our newer members has self published a book and is very proud as well he should be. We all had readings today. We have set our next meeting as a Christmas party. I have to check for a place to meet . We will meet at 11:30AM for lunch and bring a $5 present to exchange. These are always fun.

I stopped at Kate Herman's to give her several things that I had been piling up for her. Some for CWI and some regarding writing. Her friend and my neighbor Freddie Noordyk was visiting so we FINALLY got to meet. She is also a friend of Joan Putz Huehns, who I graduated from high school from.

Kate is now battling a cold. After all that Ron has been through they don't need that. She is afraid that Ron may be catching it. Lets all pray that this does not happen. He is gradually regaining some strength. It will take a long time.

I forgot to tell you something that was really a bit unique about the opening day of hunting season. I got settled in my place at just daybreak. Then I started hearing shouting. The shouting was over in the direction of the road and continued for about an hour and then started again shortly after lunch for another half an hour or so. I asked the guys about it. They all heard it too, except for Jason who was on the other side of the road. Corey was closest to the road. We thought it might have been a protester of the hunt. Cory thought he was yelling "Lie down. Lie down." I am sure the deer all understood him. As I was the only on who really saw any deer, maybe they did. I don't quite understand these people. Keeping the herd down is a way of insuring that all who survive will have enough to eat. I wonder how happy they are if the deer, as they move and learn to live in the more populated areas, are eating their shrubs and bushes.

Oh well, takes all kinds.

Tomorrow we see Dr. Hodous.


Have a good day.

Mary

It was quite a nice day for Dick and Me.

I got up at 6AM and went to Mass. I ended up being a Communion Minister. I was not assigned but someone did not go up so then we volunteer.

I fixed a great breakfast this morning. I cooked up some Irish sausages and white pudding for me and bacon and pork sausages for Dick with hash browns, eggs and fresh rolls. Num Num.

I had three projects for today. 1. Clean my gun. It got wet yesterday and one has to do some quick cleaning then to prevent rusting. 2. Wrapping the package for Jacquie. Her birthday present is late, but she and I don't worry about that anymore. and 3. I had to bake cookies. I got a call from the Plymouth History Museum asking for one or two dozen cookies for an event on Friday. So I baked good old Toll House Chocolate Chip cookies. I haven't made them in years. I had forgotten just how good they are.

We had chicken breast stuffed with spinach and colcannon for supper.

This will be a full week but we only have on doctor's appointment. That is on Tuesday to see Dr. Hodous about Dick's feet. He seems to be feeling pretty good right now. We are anxious to hear what Dr. Siddique has to say a week from tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will go to Bible Study and Writer's Club.

Hope you have a good week. Will see some of you on Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to that.

Til tomorrow

Mary

Opening day of Deer Hunting today. SO I had to get up at 4:15AM in order to get out to meet the guys and get out to our spots by daybreak. It started out cold but not windy and worsened all day, until it was time for us to leave. At about 9AM it started to mist. That turned to sleet later on which turned to snow flurries. When we left at 4PM it was mighty cold but the precipitation had stopped.

It was not a very successful day overall. Jason got a nice buck on the northside right after the open. Lee and Cory each saw a "half a deer". I saw TWO. I even got two shots off at a nice buck but I missed.

P. S. Lee Carpenter became the proud daddy of a little girl named Brooke 8 months ago. This is since our last hunting trip so I felt I should mention Brooke Carpenter.

Then we went to the bowling alley in Cascade for a drink and something to eat. Jason felt so bad. He usually brings heart sandwiches made from the heart from the previous year. We did not have them this year. His freezer broke and I guess they lost a ton of meat including the heart. So I got home at about 6:30PM which is good because I am of course exhausted.

Naturally I had to attend to the needs of nature out there even if I drank very little fluids. This time I did not slip or goof up despite the cold and wet. It made me, however, remember Ella Jones. Ella and her husband Paul belonged to the Orange County Four Wheelers. Ella had the unique ability to be "caught" no matter how far or how many bushes she chose to use when she had to go to the bathroom. This past month I lost a dear friend, a member of the Four Wheelers, Orrin Nordin. I remembered him too. He used to refer to these bathroom trips at visits to the tickle bushes.

Anyway, one trip found us down in Baja California on the beach. It is a big expanse of dunes and quite nice for jeeping. We did not go there often because it was across the border but it was a fun place to jeep. So, Ella had to go to the bathroom. She asked our friend Rick's wife, I have forgotten her name, to come along to stand watch. She stood watch alright. Noone came across any dune or around any corner but as Ella was crouched, she glanced up and there was a two seater airplane flying overhead with the pilot and his passenger waving like mad.

Nice day. I am very content and tired.

Love

Mary

Sure miss my kitties.

Mary

It was a nice day. Dick and Chelsea let me sleep until 6:30AM which was a real treat. Chelsea and I had a lovely walk. It was cold. 24 Degrees but there was no wind so, as I have said before, if one is dressed for it, this makes nice walking weather.

Then I fixed breakfast and Dick and Chelsea went down for a nap. I cleaned the kitchen while they slept and got things ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, in case you didn't know, is opening day for deer hunting. I hope this is my year. I have been a faithful hunter for about 7 years now and still have not managed to harvest a single deer. I am "almost a hunter."

I did a bit of shopping this afternoon for Christmas and went to the bank. This was Dick's shower day so it was a full day for us.

I fixed chicken legs and colcannon for supper. Nice and hearty and GOOD.

Chelsea is driving me crazy. She is on those water pills and keeps coming up to me and begging. I don't know if she has to go out or if she is just begging for food so I have to keep taking her out. I am getting really tired. She has finally gone into the bedroom and will sleep for at least an hour but when she is up I sometimes take her out every 20 minutes to a half an hour. One can't take a chance. As I said, I am SO tired. Tomorrow, I will have a WHOLE day without the demands. Of course, I will be freezing.

Small price.

I have to get up at 4:30 and meet everybody at 5:30 out at the site. Wish me luck and pray that all is safe.

Love
Mary

It was a strange day. We left at 7:30AM to take Dick to Sheboygan Clinic for a blood test. Then Sue decided that since he is still on the antibiotics and the count will be all screwed up anyway, that we rescheduled for 11/27 when he has been off of the meds for a while and we can truly see what damage has been done to the count.

So we decided to go to Hardee's for breakfast. Guess what, Hardee's on Taylor in Sheboygan is closed. Nobody told us so we stopped at the ParkView Restaurant in Sheboygan Falls on our way home instead.

Chelsea was very glad to see us. I spent the day, cleaning - the bathrooms, my desk etc and we racked the dandelion wine.

Tonight I called Bret. His friend Tony's son was in a motorcycle accident on Tuesday morning and is in critical condition. Please pray for him. They would all appreciate that.

Aside from that Bret himself is doing pretty good right now.

Chelsea is doing OK. She coughs a lot and is drinking so much water that she is in and out a lot but she looks good and still enjoys her walks in the morning. Right now she is sleeping and will start in again about 8:30PM. Thank heavens she still sleeps pretty much through the night.

We are also trying to get Christmas taken care of, at least the out of state people. I like to get their packages mailed that first week in December.

I remember how we used to look forward to getting the Christmas packages when the kids were little. One of the most fun presents that we looked forward to was from my Uncle George Deeley. He was a single gentleman and was my godfather. He always sent us a cheese box. It was one of those boxes with the many many different kinds of cheeses all wrapped up individually and bits of candy and stuff and the kids just LOVED it. With that and the fact that I learned to love all kinds of cheese from my Grandma Deeley and my Mother, they are also cheese lovers.

When Bart and I moved to Minnesota, I remember how grateful we were to a gal that I worked with. I had mentioned that after school and before dinner, my boys liked to have a snack of cheese and crackers to tide them over and when we stopped at her house after work one night on our way to look at a house, she spread out cheese and crackers. We were delighted.


Take care

Love

Mary

Chelsea woke me up at 6:08AM this morning. I had had a nice long sleep and was ALMOST ready to face the day. We had a nice walk. She sat down to rest twice on the walk but then eagerly rushed on.

Dick and I went to Family Restaurant for breakfast and then grocery shopping at the Pig.

When we got home, I finished two Celtic Women sweatshirt jackets that I had started and finished getting what I could this early gathered for deer hunting on Saturday. Tomorrow I will call Jeff or Randy to find out what time to meet them out there.

Dick had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Sharon today. He kind of summarized stuff for us and was quite reassuring. He did suggest that Dick start eating yogurt or taking pills to help encourage GOOD bacteria as the antibiotics do not discriminate.

I made pumpkin bread on Sunday. I reminded me of my Bart when he was little. We went on a boat tour of lights one Christmas around Newport Harbor. I brought Cranberry Bread and Pumpkin Bread to eat on the tour. One of Bart's Dad's co workers.go the biggest kick out of Bart. He was eating a piece of the pumpkin bread and he announced that it was the best bread he had ever eaten. Then he said. "You make good bread, Mom. Your cranberry bread is OK but your pumpkin bread is really good." Bart was always this funny little mix of honesty and sensitivity. I remember a Thanksgiving that we spent with friends. Margie made her stuffing with much more sage than I do and he obviously did not like it too well but he never said a word. Then later we were snacking again and asked him if he wanted more stuffing and he said no he did not like it. Then he realized that he might have hurt Margie's feelings so he looked her full in the face, smiled and said "But you make the BEST pumpkin pie that I ever had." These happened when he was between four and six. What a guy. He still is


Love

Mary

Except for tonight's Adult Education at St. John's, we were able to stay home all day. Chelsea woke me up at 5AM. She is drinking WAY too much water with the pills that she is taking. So. I took her out to go potty and then went back to bed. We went out for our regular walk at 6AM then.

I spent the morning sewing and cleaning the den, bedroom and downstairs kitchen. After lunch I took a little nap until the phone rang. It was Jacquie. I had called her yesterday to wish her a Happy Birthday and she was returning the call. Things are about the same there. She is well.

Dick and I racked a gallon of Lemon Balm wine this afternoon. Tomorrow we will rack Currant then on Thursday we can do the dandelion. Then everything can sit for a month before we do anything with it. Wine takes a lot of patience.

The Study at St. John's was REALLY good. Fr. Van Beeck brings things down to earth and makes them so practical. Talking about Faith and Awe of God and all that is Godly, which is his theme this year, he told a story about when he was in first grade. It was an old old school. Remember those old heavy windows in those old school buildings? Well, the first grade teacher, a nun, pulled up one of those windows at the beginning of class. She got it up a few feet and it slipped and landed on her thumb. She kept her cool and told two of the boys to go and get some eight grade boys from the classroom across the hall. They ran out and in a few minutes came back alone. Where are the boys, she asked. They said they couldn't get them because they were praying. They "knew better" than to interrupt a prayer. Eventually that was resolved and the principal came to the class later in the day and explained to the munchkins that such an event would be a good reason to interrupt a prayer.

He also listed in order bible passages that showed the growing faith of the apostles. That was interesting. They didn't always have enough either. Maybe there is hope for me.

When Bret was four, I enrolled him in a cooperative preschool. We mothers worked and ran it. We took turns working, preparing crafts and bringing snacks. It was quite nice. Anyway, Bret did his first painting. We brought it home and posted it properly on the refrigerator. It was all one big colored blob. When his Dad got home he asked Bret what it was. Bret looked at him in disgust and said and I quote. "It's a painting." Apparently that is all it was or had to be.



The following is just funny, I got it from my friend Janet.

I was depressed last night so I called Lifeline.

Got a call center in the Middle East.

Told them I was suicidal.

They got all excited and asked if I could fly a plane.

Love

Mary

Imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up and found that it was 51 degrees outside. Chelsea and I were quite pleased with that circumstance even if it was a bit damp. It was NOT raining but a bit damp. She was quite the little adventuress going into the park and coming back around to her left instead of to her right. I think she was actually a bit tired as she kept flopping on her little belly to catch her breath. She did do a LOT of coughing last night and had a seizure yesterday.

Bible study this morning. We talked about the end of the world in three different ways. Paul tells people that those who do not work should not eat, referring to some laggards in his time who figured that Jesus would be along any day now so why put oneself out. We wondered how we should handle that statement. How does one know if someone is really in need our just plain lazy. We decided that this letter from Paul was directed more to the laggards themselves than to those who were doing the best they could.

Tom Keyes brought up an interesting term that I had never heard "Dry Martyr" referring to those who die for Christ just by living their lives as they should and are not tortured to death at the hands of the infidels.

Stopped at Mother's after the study. She is doing just fine. She will go to the senior meals tomorrow and is going out for lunch and canasta with her buddies on Wednesday. A pretty busy week.

On the way to Dick's appointment with Dr. Hermann, we swung by the Sheboygan Writer's Club meeting so I could drop of my saddle stapler so that John and whoever can more easily assemble the little booklets they are preparing for this year's Christmas party. The booklets will feature writings from the members.

The appointment with Dr. Hermann went very well. It is a very quick test this cystography. A bit uncomfortable as it is invasive AND Dick had to be on his back again. But it is over and Dr. Hermann says that all looks just fine.

So - we had a GREAT day. Tomorrow, we are home all day until 7:00PM when the Bible Study that Fr. Van Beeck does every year starts. It goes from 7 to 8 exactly. His topic this year is from Luke 18:8 "But when the Son of Man comes will he find any faith on the earth."

I am going to bake pumpkin bread tomorrow using the nice fresh pumpkin that I prepared on Sunday. I feel so frugal.

Will Rogers said. " If there are no dogs in heaven, than when I die, I want to go where they went." Seems quite sensible to me.

Love

Mary

Another very tired day for me. I did not do much but I am exhausted, so you will not get much tonight.

I went to the 8AM mass this morning. Then I fixed a nice BIG breakfast for Dick and me. Chelsea loves that because she gets nice eggy plates to lick.

I took the green food pumpkin from the front porch and cooked it and preserved the pumpkin. We can have four fresh pumpkin pies this year. Isn't that great. I made some pumpkin seeds to snack on too.

I talked to Barb. Bart is back in Oklahoma now. They are trying to entice Barbara to take the position in Florida. It would be a BIG promotion for her but is also a BIG change. They will have to decide.

Any way I am very tired and am heading to bed very early.

Til tomorrow.

Mary.

Yesterday was exhausting. I cleaned the kitchen in the morning and then took Chelsea to see the Dr. Connors. Thing are actually a bit better with her. The fluid is gone from around her heart. She is concerned that Chelsea is still coughing so has increased one of her meds. We determined that there will be no dental work done on her. I have concerns about putting her under being as big a risk as the possibility of perhaps developing an infection in a tooth. Dr. Connors agreed with me.

Then I had lunch with Barb and Joyce at Dairy Queen. Came home and started picking things up for that bust up at Rhine. I got the salads and rolls and went out to the club to set everything up. Then at 4, Sara Behr and I drove back to the Pig and picked up the chicken. Everything went very well except that we ran out of chicken for about 6 people. Next time much more. Live and learn. We had plenty of everything else. Bill Olsen brought his famous peach cobbler and Jean Nytes brought brownies and peanut butter cookies so everybody was really well fed.

Anyway, I got home and just was exhausted.

Today was much better. I had a quiet morning until about 9:30AM. Then I went and got gas and checked and filled the air in the tires. Next I drove out to meet Jeff and Kathy to check out and do "repairs" on our sites for deer hunting next week. Jeff helped me set up in a new place, a bit easier to get too with good views in the pines. He fixed me a lovely "armchair" with a "coffee table" beside it. We were out in the Kettles for a bit over two hours. Kathy and I were able to visit and catch up. I just wish it would be that nice next week when we have to sit out ALL day. Kathy is trying to figure out how SHE is having to go out to check sites TWICE this year when she doesn't even hunt. They are stopping back at the woods next Friday with Shane when he gets in from Florida. She is taking a four week class in applique. We figure that one of these days we can have a quilting day - just visit and quilt.

Today, Dick seemed a bit subdued. I guess everything is catching up with both of us. I am drained too. I was so glad to get a couple of nice emails from Nora. It is so comforting to hear that someone out there is thinking of us. They are, of course, getting ready for the wedding at the end of the year which will, I gather, incorporate two cultures.

After lunch, I drove over to Sheboygan Falls to take Mother her medication and some potato salad. She had told me on Thursday that she only had one of her blood pressure pills left so I didn't want to delay getting them to her. We had a great discussion about the state of the world. I was able to tell her that I quote her often. Anytime a conversation goes to the building of that wall along our southern border, I remember what she says. "Haven't we learned anything from history. Think about it. The Berlin Wall. The Great Wall of China. Hadrian's Wall." What good are they. She Is a pleasure to talk to.

We talked too, about the drought in Georgia. They are literally running out of water. Mom said they will have to learn to do things MUCH differently. Perhaps outhouses will have to be reintroduced. And people will have to share bathwater. Mother used to wash more that one load in each fill of her old wringer washer too. I remember these things. I was four of five when they got water piped in to the house that wasn't pumped from the cistern in the basement and was five or six when we got the bathroom put in the house and I remember taking baths in a big basin that Mother filled with water that she heated on the stove. Hot water heaters did not exist in that house at that time either. It is amazing what we have become to accept as normal that would have been a luxury less than 100 years ago.

Actually, I learned to get along on very little water when we went out for extended camping trips. We learned to conserve, but we knew that it was for a designated time. These poor people are really up against it.

Tomorrow, except for church, I should be able to stay home ALL day. Yippee!!!!

A haiku about the walk in the woods

The sweet smell of leaves
Crushed under foot as we walk
Fills my soul with joy.


Love

Mary