Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A Manic Monday

Hey, Y'all,
Yesterday was still a hurtsville day, with the pain in my sawdust not really abated so much. I was able to get up and get ready for my eye appointment. Mark came to take me to Morristown for that. We got there about 10:20 for my 10:30 appointment. Earlier in the morning (at home) I had attempted to make the appointment for the ultrasound to be done at the local hospital.

The doctor who saw me at the emergency room had written a prescription for the ultrasound to be done. It had a number at the bottom of the prescription that I was to call for an appointment. Unfortunately, because the lady who answered the phone did not have the prescription in hand (her hand), she could not make the appointment. It seems that since all the St. Mary's and Baptist facilities are now connected, all the booking for out-patient services have to be booked centrally. Well, duh! She said, "If you could just fax the prescription order to me, then I can make the appointment for you."

Well, now, I didn't feel like sitting there and arguing with her. I told her I just didn't have my fax machine hooked up right now (actually, I don't have one), but the lady didn't need to know that. I told her that I would call the local hospital and see what they could do.

I then called the local hospital and explained the problem. It apparently is a new procedure that they are just getting used to. I talked to the lady who is head of registration at our local hospital and she said she would get back to me. She did get back to me after I was at the eye doctor's office. She apologized to me for all the trouble I had in getting the appointment, and told me that the doctor had written a new prescription and faxed it to the central booking. I called them while still there waiting to see the eye doctor and they booked the appointment for me.

While at home before leaving for the eye appointment, I called the doctor who was to see me for the examination prior to surgery (possible surgery that is) and was "worked in" for an appointment on Friday of this week. I really appreciated being given the appointment that quickly.

While at my eye doctor's appointment yesterday, I only saw him for about 3 minutes, when he put a drop in my eye to moisten it, then he took a pair of tweezers and lifted the contact lens from my eye. Voila~ that was it. He took out his little pocket recorder and made recorded notes. He shook my hand and sent me to the check out counter, where they gave me an appointment card for three weeks hence. For that 3 minute appointment, I had waited more than two hours. Shazam!

Friends here at home have been wonderful in taking care of Gramps and me. They have been providing food and comfort, and prayers as well. I thank you for the prayers coming our way from you all who are my readers.

I was able to eat small meals yesterday, and was able to sleep last night without any pain medication. I only took one hydrocodone yesterday around 3 p.m., and am thankful for that.

This morning, I was up at 8:30 a.m. and expect to maybe be feeling better by this afternoon. I still feel a little sleepy and may even go back to bed awhile. My apologies to those who called my phone last afternoon and evening and got no answer. I just didn't feel like moving. In preparation for my ultrasound tomorrow, I am supposed to drink 32-40 ounces of fluid within an hour and a half before the appointment and not void. I guess I won't be taking my lasix pill tomorrow. ha.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Love to all of you. Thanks again for the prayers...there can never be too many. Bye for now.

Monday, March 30, 2009

What a Weekend!

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, it was a weekend to remember (or maybe forget, even). I woke up on Saturday morning with a real pain in my sawdust (translation- hurting in my belly area). I thought at first that I might be having a heart attack. Since I have never had one, but just heard about the kind of pain produced, I called Mark (who happened to be at his new house in Sevierville, and he called Judy). Judy called me and had me take 3 nitroquick tablets, 5 minutes apart. By the time I had taken the 3rd one, she was well on her way to my house.

I told Gramps that I was going out for awhile, and he just snuggled deeper under his covers and went back to sleep. Judy took me to the emergency room at the local hospital. They immediately slapped on the contacts for an ekg, and put oxygen on my face, and proceeded to try to get an iv into my vein. Thirteen sticks later (and a couple of hours , they still had not succeeded. They did x-rays and a ct scan, and did bloodwork, got a urine sample, and all the other tests that they could. They also gave me a "cocktail" to soothe my nausea and to calm my stomach.

No food was given until they determined that I was not having a heart attack. (this was most of the day. I finally had some soda crackers about 6:30. They finally diagnosed the fact (after the ct scan) that my only remaining ovary had a group of cysts attached to it. The doctor attending me wrote a prescription for an ultrasound to be done at our local hospital, and also a precrip for oxycodone, and for an anti nausea medication.

Allie showed up about 4:30 to replace Judy, who had to leave for an appointment of her own, and then about 7 p.m. she and Mark brought me home and picked up my prescriptions.

After arriving at home, I went to bed. Mark and Gene had been out here to the house and had brought food to Gramps and had entertained him by just talking to him.

At the time, I told Gramps what we had been doing all day. He had thought Judy and I were shopping. He took it very well, and I am not sure he realizes how serious the situation is. I would like for him to continue on not really understanding the whole thing.

Yesterday was spent in bed, doping up and sleeping. Last night, after taking a shower to prepare for today, I slept pretty well, even considering I had spent the whole day sleeping.

I spent about 2 and 1/2 hours this morning waiting to see my eye doctor and saw him long enough for him to look at my eye, and remove the clear lens he placed on it last Monday. One of the nurses told me that they book about 60 patients a day for him to see on follow-ups.

More tomorrow on how I did managing to make appointments for the ultrasound and the doctor's appointment. My eyes are about to shut and I need to go crawl into bed. Love to all of you , my readers. Bye for now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the day.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

I Met A Man Who...

Hey, Y'all,
Yesterday when I took Imazo to see her family doctor, I met a man who was quite an interesting character. I wss sitting in the waiting room, and a seat was left between me and a lady who looked quite worried. (Natural expression in a doctor's office to have).
Then a man came up and began talking to her (her husband, I figured out) and asked if I would hit him if he sat down beside me. I said, "Oh, no more than three times, I guess," and laughed.

He sat down and almost immediately began his story. He told me he had just gotten out of Vanderbilt hospital where they had been checking him over. He then proceeded to tell me why. He had brain surgery in October where they had removed part of his brain. (Of course, I wondered which part, but he didn't say). He told me that when he was born, the doctor delivered him with forceps and they were the wrong kind and had gone into one of his temples when he was delivered.

When he was about four years old, he began having seizures and they thought he was epileptic. He told me that people made fun of him, especially at school. He also said he began working at age sixteen, bagging groceries at the Cas Walker store, and worked for the grocery store for a long time. (Anyone who lived in Knoxville knows who Cas Walker was, and that he became wealthy and even entered the fileld of politics, and became mayor of Knoxville in his later years. )

The man (I didn't get his name) continued to tell me that he was born in 1950 and that he worked before retiring in a school cafeteria, cleaning, and shelving canned foods and staples for the cooks. He also told me about the fact that he had (before the surgery) static electricity that moved from one side of hs head to the other that was causing the seizures. He told me he hadn't had any seizures since the surgery last year. There were many other things he said while we talked. (He did most of the talking, and I just listened. ) Isn't it wonderful what we can hear, if only we give others a chance to talk?

They were there at the doctor's office to get some kind of help on Tenn Care. They were being taken off the Tenn Care program. The nurse told them what they would need to do in order to meet the requirements.

I consider that Gramps and I are surely blessed after hearing problems that other couples have.

We are planning on going into Knoxville tomorrow morning and spend some time with Imazo and Mae, and Imazo's sisters who are planning on coming into Knoxville for a while. Tomorrow is our weekly 'Movie Friday' and we plan to have a really good time. My left eye seems to be doing okay. The contact lens is bothersome, and I can hardly wait for the doc to remove it. I am using a magnifying glass to read my books.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the evening. Love to all of you, dear readers and more tomorrow. Bye for now.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Scammed! (Not ME)

Hey, Y'all,
I called my sister-in-law, Mae, yesterday afternoon and was told by her that she had been scammed and that she couldn't talk at the moment because her son, Fred, and a neighbor were there at her house. No word at the time as to how it had happened. Talk about stirring up one's curiosity and then saying "I can't talk now"...I was curious for sure.

I waited as long as I could before calling back (about 2 hours) and when I did, she told me this story:
A man knocked on the back door, and told her that he was going to open a new business on Broadway, and was trying to drum up some customers. He had a large piece of a roll of linoleum to show her a sample of his stock. He also told her that he was a Christian and belonged to a local Baptist Church (even gave her the name of a church).

She opened the door for him and he brought in the linoleum unrolled, and unbeknownst to her, his accomplice came in behind the linoleum and went into her bedroom. She stood there talking to the man for some time, and near the end of the time, she saw the head of this other guy as he was coming into the kitchen from her hedroom. She still did not know he had been in her bedroom. The guy she had been talking to said, Oh, this is my employee that I am training to help put down the linoleum. He also told her that he was having cards printed up and would leave one in her door next week so that she could come down and look at all their products.

They had been driving a blue van but it had no markings on the side that she could tell. Well, she locked the door and went on back into her living room, watched some television, and then decided to go to bed. She always takes decorator pillows off her bed and lays them on the dresser. She did that task and then went to bed. When she got up the next morning (yesterday), she was putting the decorator pillows back on the bed and noticed that the lid on her jewelry chest was slightly up and knew she had not left it that way. Then she noticed her silverware chest that she keeps on a desk near the jewelry armoire was gone. She began investigating and discovered jewelry was missing.

She called the police and they sent detectives out to investigate. They could not find any full fingerprints, only partials, because the man had been careful to only touch knobs on the drawers. She was heartsick because many of the things taken were given to her by her deceased husband (my brother, Bill) and by her children. We feel she is blessed that she did not discover what they were doing when they were there, because the possibility is great that they would have hit her over the head or knocked her down, or injured her in some way.

Today, Gramps and I went into Knoxville and I left him with Mae at her house and went on to pick up Imazo and take her to her family doctor's office for her checkup. He told her that she seems to be right on target for recovery from her surgery, and advised her to stop taking a baby aspirin, because once we hit eighty years of age, we don't need to take the aspirin any more, because by that age the blood is thin enough. I aaid,, "Good, that means I only have 4 more years to take a baby aspirin. " ha.
He also told her that it will take a little while longer for her to really feel like eating normally again. He also told her that it really bothers him that they couldn't save Hugh.

After we got througb at the doctor's office, we went by and picked up Mae and Gramps and went to eat at the Cracker Barrel. (of course).

My left eye is bothering me a little where the doctor scraped it on Monday, and where the contact lens is in place over the scraped area. I am putting the eye drop in four times a day that he prescribed. It is composed of a steroid and an antibiotic. My eye is not red and does not look irritated. My vision is blurry in that eye, and in order to read, right now, I am using a magnifying glass to avoid strain. I must read - it is a necessity.

I also took Imazo to get her annual mammogram done after we had eaten our lunch. Then I dropped her off at her house, and went by Mae's to visit with her for awhile and to pick up Gramps (I had dropped them off at Mae's after lunch so that they could relax instead of sitting in the car and waiting for us to be through at the women's health center).

So, we are back home now, and I plan to sew on Will's quilt tomorrow, beginning early in the morning. I am now ready to actually begin the quilting. Yeah, I know, I should have already started that part, but I am a procrastinator.

That is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Bye for now. Love to all of you, my dear readers.

Monday, March 23, 2009

A New First!

Hey, Y'all,
Well, You know that we have many firsts in a lifetime, and I have had a lot of them. First day of school, first crush on a boy (happened in first grade-a whole 'nother story there), first kiss (second grade), first dog encounter, first story that I ever wrote, first lie, first time to perform in front of people, first child, first time in a hospital, ....well , you get the idea.

Today, I had another first. I went to the eye surgeon who did my zapping of my right eye a couple of weeks ago with a laser. He was to do a checkup on it. He had four charming young people who were apparently studying to become eye doctors. They each had a turn looking at my eyes through the little gizmo that they use that has a light on it. He told me that I had epitheliel cells kind of clumped together on my left lens that was implanted eight years ago, and that he could easily scrape them off, and it would clear up my vision in that eye. He also said that the right eye which he had zapped a couple of weeks ago was doing fine.

He said, "I can do it for you right now, if you like". Well, I didn't see any reason why he couldn't so I said, "go ahead". He put a little spring like thing under my eyelids to hold them open so that if I blinked, it wouldn't close. He numbed my eye, and then proceeded to use a little tool to scrape away the bumpy lumps of cells. Then he removed the spring, and put in a contact lens to cover the area that he had scaped. So, I am now wearing one contact lens....a new first for me.

I was joking around with him and told him how I like puns so he told me one.
The eye doctor's nurse told the doctor, you have an invisible man in the office who wants you to look at his eye. The doctor said, "Sorry, I can't see him". ha ha.

While waiting to see the doctor, one is called from the front waiting area, taken to a little room where the eyesight is checked using the eye chart, then taken to another waiting area to wait to be called to actually see the doctor. Of course, there are always a bunch of people in both areas. I find it interesting to talk to those that want to talk. Those people waiting this morning had come from many different directions. Some were from Greeneville, some from Virginia, some from Johnson City, and from many different vocations.

One lady was talking about belonging to a senior citizens group of Greeneville, TN, and she does ballroom dancing. line dancing, and other kinds of dancing in those groups. I know she must have been close to my age (she wasn't telling), and she has had corneal transplants. Another gentleman had a corneal transplant last Thursday, and he is a construction worker, and is about to go nuts because he can't really see well yet out of that eye. I gave him a paperback book that I had with me, so he would have something to do with his time at home.

There was another lady who went to college at the age of 46 and is teaching now in an alternative school. She and her 26 year old son graduated together from college, and he is also in teaching. So many interesting people that I saw while there. And then there was a young woman who was attached to her cell phone and was playing computer games on it. She probably will never know the joys of reading.

I left there with an appointment for next Monday to have the dr. check my left eye, and a prescription of eyedrops, and a contact lens on my left eye. That's about it for today. I need to stop and work on readying my home for my Monday night guests. I always look forward to having them come. Tonight's menu: 15-bean soup, fresh kale greens, boiled white potatoes, meat loaf, and cornbread muffins. Yum.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the day. Love to all of you, my readers. Bye for now.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Happy Birthday, Norma Jean!











Hey, Y'all,


Monday, the 23rd is the 70th birthday of my niece, Norma Jean. She is the daughter of my oldest brother, Bill, and his (now) widow, Mae. She is also the first grandchild of my parents. She was born when I was only five years old, and so I have known her all her life. People say she looks a lot like me, and if that is true, then it is very complimentary to me, because she is a beautiful lady, both inside and out.

I will be posting some pictures of her with my family at the top of this entry. Norma and her husband had one child, Cynthia, who is the spitting image of Norma, and a grandchild, Courtney, who is the spitting image of both Norma and Cynthia. (Wonder where that expression -spitting image- came from?)
I regret to say that I have no pictures to post of Cynthia and Courtney. Norma has a brother, Fred, who is a very important member, too, of our family, along with his family. Fred is younger than Norma, and has two children and lots of grandchildren.

Norma and Fred have been a close part of our family growing up, and being only 5 years younger than I, Norma and I kind of grew up together. Happy Birthday, Norma Jean, we love you.

Imazo is continuing to feel better, I think, and was able to go to the beauty shop yesterday. Her grandson, Tom, took her and then took them both to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast afterwards and then Tom spent some time visiting with her at home. Isn't it wonderful how good grandchildren can make us feel? We appreciate them so very much. I have no grandchildren that live close to me, but I do kind of get to grandmother my neighbor's children. I have really missed having grandchildren to live nearby.

I will be taking Imazo to the her family doctor on Wednesday for a checkup. She says she has got to be feeling better by then. Kind of like a person feels they have to clean the house before the housekeeper comes to clean it. She may fear the doctor will give her more medicine to take if she is not feeling up to snuff by then. She really hates taking medicine and makes no bones about it.

Tomorrow, I will be going to the eye surgeon who zapped my right eye with a laser about two weeks ago. He will be checking it to see how his handiwork succeeded.

I have been clipping threads on the quilt today in preparation for pressing the seams open. I should soon be actually quilting it together. Yippee! I always get excited when it gets to that part of the quilt. I will be putting the "quilting foot" on the machine and then = off I go! I expect that I will be finished with it in about a month. (I am not a very fast worker, because I take a lot of pains with my work).

This afternoon, I knew I really needed to go to the grocery store (Wal-mart) and so, I did....then came back and made sandwiches for Gramps and myself from some chicken breast that I had cooked and frozen a couple of weeks ago. Fresh bread, a cheese slice, chopped chicken, and Miracle Whip, made a really great sandwich.

Yesterday for supper, I used some of the chicken to make a salad. I chopped some green onions, added some raisins, some chopped pecans, some mayo, and mixed it all together with the chopped chicken, and put it on top of some romaine lettuce hearts, put some grape tomatoes around the edge of the salad bowl, then sliced a boiled egg and placed that on top and we had a wonderful salad for supper.

Pictures above: (1) Fred, Norma, and John (My brother)
(2) Back row: My brother Hugh, Our sister, Margaret, our brother, Bill ,(Fred and Norma's Dad)
Front row: Our brother John, Norma, and Me.
(3) Mae and Norma
(4) John, Norma, and Me. The only persons from these pictures still living are Mae, Norma, Fred and Me.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Our Initial Movie Friday


Hey, Y'all,

Up early this morning, after having had a pretty good night's sleep. Last night, I realized that I was sleeping on a pillow that was losing its shape (really bad). I have been having pain in my shoulder and upper arm from sleeping on them, so I went to the closet and got out a reserve pillow. When I laid my head on it, it kind of held it up from the bed enough to where I wasn't flat on the bed with my head. That kind of gave my shoulder and upper arm more room. So, it wasn't long after I went to bed that I got really comfortable, and then......my leg got a cramp in the whole lower part where I had been sewing late into the night with my feet propped on an under the bed storage box.

Woiuldn't you just know it! Well, I kind of rubbed my lower leg a while (I didn't want to get up and put bio-freeze on my leg and then have to scrub my hands to get the menthol smell off of them) and finally went to sleep.

Last night I stayed up to watch President Obama on Jay Leno's late show, and was not surprised to see him joking with Jay just like any other guest would do. (No comment on my thoughts about the appearance).

This morning we were up by 8:30 and had our normal cereal breakfast. Gramps got into the bathtub this morning and got a wonderful shower and got dressed for our trip into Knoxville that took place around 1 p.m. (Of course, I got my wonderful shower as well). ha.

We got to Imazo's house about 1:40 and waited for Mae to call us that she had finished with her beauty shop appointment, and so we went to pick her up at her house and went to one of our favorite eating establishments in Knoxville, Louis' Original Restaurant. I had my ususal: spaghetti and meat sauce, but of course did not eat it all. Imazo is still not up to eating a lot and took a lot of her chicken strips home with her. She said her stomach is just not tuned up yet for spaghetti. She is still kind of off her feed (old southern expression meaning she jest ain't hungry yet).

Well, after we got back to Imazo's, I had the movie on a DVD and was going to use her player, but doggone it, she didn't know how to operate it, and I couldn't figure it out, so we went to Mae's house, and she had the directions written out (thanks to her granddaughter) and we were able to watch "Nanny McPhee". We leaned back in our chairs and just had a wonderful time laughing about all the antics in the movie. I am hoping to continue the movie viewing and make a regular Friday afternoon event of it. I believe Imazo really enjoyed it, as well as Mae.

While at Imazo's I got a picture of her and the tulips that her David and Andrea (her son and daughter-in-law) who live in Arizona sent to her and that she received yesterday afternoon. She was really tickled to get them. As you can see, they are beautiful.
Imazo gave Mae and me some poppy seeds to grow some beautiful flowers this summer. I am still hoping to make a flower bed at the side of the carport. I will need help with that, though. I am hoping my neighbor can help me with bringing the wood and dirt from Walmart. I have yet to ask him and probably will get it done next Saturday.
Well, this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the evening. More tomorrow I guess. Love to all of you and I hope you have a good night's rest. Bye for now.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

A Quiet Day Sewing

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I was up about 7:30 this morning and decided to tackle a little job that Mark and Allie asked of me. They are having work done in the home they bought to live in that is located in Sevierville. One of the things that they did was to wash some denim covered cushions that go on chairs on the screened in back porch. After they dried them, the cushions inside the denim were all bunched up, so they ripped the end seams of the denim covers so they could straighten out the cushions. Mark asked me if I would restitch the covers after refilling them with the cushions. That is what I tackled today.

I began the task before breakfast but had to continue it after breakfast and finished it just before two o'clock when I stopped for lunch. Much of the stitching was done by hand, and just a bit was on the sewing machine.

After lunch, I spent the rest of my time working on the quilt for my grandson, Will. (B.J.) Gramps spent most of the day in bed, and finally arose at 5 p.m. I made some supper for us and we ate supper and enjoyed some time together.

I talked to Imazo a couple of times today. She is slowly feeling a little better, but not as much as we would like her to. She was excited about getting to go to Jeff's home for supper tonight. Peggy had been home today from work and had made a roast. I was so happy for her sounding so glad. She was also excited about getting a bouquet of fresh cut tulips by way of FTD. I will be taking a pic of it tomorrow when we go in to see her and Mae and post it in my blog tomorrow evening. She was looking for the card with it when I talked to her.

Well, I am looking forward to bed tonight, hoping to get a good night's rest. Since Gramps has spent so much time in bed today, goodness knows if he will be up during the night eating cereal thinking it is breakfast time. ha.

That is about it for today. More tomorrow. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Good Night, All. Bye for now.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A Busy Day

Hey, Y'all,
Up at 6 a.m. this morning, shower, breakfast, folded clothes, set up coffee maker for Gramps, and then on to Knoxville at a little before 8 a.m. When I got to Imazo's, she was having her breakfast, and while we were talking, her grandson, Tom, stopped by to visit with her. It was really nice to see him again. He was getting ready to soon go on the road again working at his job of selling jewelry in conjuction with raising money for hospitals.

At about 8:50, we left for the hospital where Imazo's surgeon has an office, and we had the car parked by the valet service and went on in. After a few minutes wait, Imazo went in to see the doctor and had the staples removed from the incisions and we were out of there within just a few minutes. We had no more than gotten back when Imazo received a call and we had to go take care of some business for her.

We decided to go on and pick up Mae and go have an early lunch. Naturally, the best choice was the Cracker Barrel. As we waited for our food we talked about growing up in the country and killing chickens. (Imazo and I had ordered the chicken pot pie and got to joking about how they must have had to kill the chickens before they could make it. haha. Mae said she didn't like to wring the chickens' necks, but would talk softly to the chicken and get it to lay its head down, then she would chop it off. I told Imazo, "oooh, we better be careful, if she starts calming us and smoothing and patting our shoulders, we may be in danger." Imazo said, "yeah, chop chop". ha ha.

After we finished there, we dropped Mae off at her home, and I took Imazo home and came on back to New Market so I could check on Gramps after leaving him alone for a few hours. I also had my doctor's visit to make in the afternoon.

Gramps was just fine (he had gone back to bed after having eaten his breakfast) and I got him up and fed him some lunch (not literally, but fixed it so he could eat it). Then I was free to go see my family doctor.

I now have an appointment in April to see a surgeon about having a hernia repair done. I also have a couple of names of chiropractors that I can check with for treatment of my back. Chiropractors are the only people that have ever been able to help me with my back except for a couple of cortisone shots.

After I got home from my doctor's office, Gramps and I decided to go out and have supper (so I wouldn't have to cook. I told him he could have his choice of restaurants. Would you like to make a guess on his choice? He had the Old Timer's Breakfast, and I had the chicken salad sandwich.

We are planning on going into Knoxville on Friday and taking a movie with us and have a movie afternoon with Mae and Imazo. The movie has already been rented. It is one that Gramps and I saw one afternoon on ABC Family network. It is called, "Nanny McPhee" and has Emma Thompson in one of the starring roles. It is hilarious. I think it would be good for Mae and Imazo to see it. Maybe we can institute a "movie Friday" with them.

Well, this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. More later. Much love to all of you. Bye for now.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Signs of Spring


Hey, Y'all,


Out in my front yard, things are growing...and I can smell Spring in the air! My round flower bed has wildflowers from last year coming up and also the day lilies that I planted there in the spring of '08 are coming up. A row of daffodils are up in the front yard not too far from the road. Irises are coming up in several places as well. I haven't really checked out the hummingbird vine or the roses, but that will come later this week.

Last evening our neighbors came for the Monday evening meal, and afterwards we played a game created by their youngest, Gabriel, who is eight years old (well on his way to nine). His game was well thought out, and very creative. We had really good fun during our meal, talking and discussing things of interest to us all. Our meal consisted of huge salads with hearts of romaine lettuce, dried cranberries, pecan pieces, mandarin orange slices, feta cheese, grape tomatoes, and baked chicken strips.

The chicken strips had been dipped in beaten egg, then rolled in cornflake crumbs that had been mixed with dried rosemary, grated parmesan, dried basil, paprika, garlic powder, then placed in a baking pan lined with foil, and had some olive oil and a 1/4 stick of melted butter. I then cooked them for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Yum!
For bread, we had mini croissants that had been warmed in the oven just after it had been turned off. Dessert later was butter pecan ice cream and fresh strawberries.

Because we didn't have time to play dominos, we decided that they could come back today and play a while this afternoon. That is what they did, and we had a really good time this afternoon.

Imazo called me this morning and we talked for awhile. She sounded much better and told me she had been doing laundry this morning (which shows real progress on her part) and I was so glad. I told her I had been doing laundry this morning, too. I'll bet she has hers folded, but mine isn't yet. I have been sewing today, and will probably fold clothes tonight (after while). Yes, I am a procrastinator, but first things always come first. Clothes can always wait (they aren't going anywhere that I know of).

Speaking of clothes, Gramps came out of the bedroom yesterday afternoon, and told me that someone had put all his dirty clothes into a different hamper. He has been using a folding net hamper, and his clothes had been put into a hamper that has been underneath the net hamper. Of course, he was the one who had changed the clothes from the net hamper into the plastic one, and just didn't remember doing it. I didn't see him do it, of course. So I just said something like, "Wow, what about that? Who do you suppose it was?" He said, "I don't know, I just came in and there they were."
So I said, "Hmmm. I don't know either."

Tomorrow, I will be going in to Knoxville to take Imazo to get her staples out of her incisions at the surgeon's office and probably we will pick up Mae and all go out and grab a bite to eat. Then I will have to head back to New Market, check on Gramps and then go for my check up with our family doctor. I have lots of things to complain about to her. She will probably go "whew" when I am finished. ha ha.

In the spirit of Spring, I did a new arrangement of flowers for my kitchen table, and the picture of it is at the top of today's posting.
Well, this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for tonight. I hope each of you has a peaceful night and a good day tomorrow. Love to you all. Bye for now.

Monday, March 16, 2009

A Visit With Imazo

Hey, Y'all,
I was able to go and visit with Ms. Imazo this morning, and was glad to find her feeling a little better and sounding a little better than when I talked with her on the phone yesterday. She was up and finishing her breakfast when I arrived at her home.

This morning, I was up at 7:30, took my shower (I know Imazo must have appreciated that, Ha), and Gramps and I had breakfast around 8:3o. I flew around and collected the trash so I could carry it off to the dumpster on my way to Knoxville.

Imazo and I took a run to the bank and the drugstore, and took care of things there that needed to be done. I went in with her in both places just in case she was unsteady on her feet. We joked about if she should start to keel over, I could catch her, and people would be saying, "Look at those two little old drunk ladies, weaving around", and she said "Yeah, people would be saying, 'looky there, they landed on the floor'". Ha, we just had a good laugh or two.

We went back to her house and sat at the dining room table (where many conversations have taken place over the many years), and she told me about the years she spent working at the Standard Knitting Mill and how she had begun working there at the age of 16 and worked there for 45 years, then worked at Proffitt's for seven years and then retired from there. It was extremely interesting to hear about her work.

Her associate pastor from her church came to visit while I was there, and we talked about many things, including the fact that he knows where I live in New Market. He is a really interesting person to talk to, as well.

Jeff's wife, Peggy is still not feeling well. It seems that is a bad old bug that has her in its clutches. Get well soon, Peggy!

At lunchtime, I fixed us a can of soup and we had sandwiches and crackers with the soup. It was very pleasant and she was going to take a nap after I left. I got home to find that Gramps had fixed himself some peanut butter and jelly on bread and had a cup of coffee.

We are having a big salad tonight with chicken strips as the meat in the salad, and in the salad we will also have mushrooms, mandarin orange sections, nuts, dried cranberries, feta cheese, grape tomatoes, and anything else I can think of to put in it. We have raspberry vinagrette dressing or ranch dressing. The greens are hearts of romaine lettuce. For dessert we have butter pecan ice cream. Of course, it is the evening when our neighbors come for dinner and games. What fun!

Well, I need to go get busy in the kitchen for a while. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to all of you. Bye for now.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Imazo Home - Bonnie's Birthday




Hey, Y'all,

Imazo came home yesterday morning, even though she was not feeling quite "up to snuff", but after the nurse walked her around awhile, they determined that she was doing too well to be transferred to the transition unit for therapy.

Family spent a few hours after she got home, trying to call her, but the portable phone she had next to her as she lay on the couch was not charged enough for her to receive calls on it. Of course, not being aware of this, she got several hours of rest. Mae did go by her house around 1:30 and saw that she was doing pretty well.

Last evening, she called to let me know that she was doing okay, after she had gotten my message on the answering machine. Today, she was scheduled to go have her hair fixed, and grandson, Tom, was going to take her. I hope she did well at the beauty shop! OOPS...I heard later from Mae that Imazo was not able to go and was still feeling bad. Jeff went to her house to make some soup to feed her. According to Mae, Imazo was still feeling light-headed.

Also, last evening we celebrated Gramps' sister, Bonnie's, birthday with salad, pizza, and dessert. We also played dominos until about 10:30 p.m. It was really great fun! Her neice, Donna, and Donna's husband, L.D., brought Bonnie to our home last night to celebrate. The dessert was chocolate eclair dessert. Most of us had seconds, and then today for lunch, Gramps and I each had a piece of pizza and some dessert.

Pictures above are of us playing dominos and of Bonnie in her "birthday shirt".

More later. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Love to all of you, my readers. Bye for now.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Update again




Hey, Y'all,


Well, I didn't go into Knoxville today, but I have talked with Imazo. She is not feeling too well today, and is not arguing with her doctor about going home yet. She told him that she didn't feel like going home today when he came in to see her this morning. She is rather short of breath, and still having occasional chilling. It is my opinion that perhaps she has been running a low grade fever. Imazo told me this afternoon that she has been feeling kind of sick at her stomach and light-headed.
A therapist came in to see her this morning and took her for a walk down to the nurses' station and the doctor has told her that she would be transferred soon to the transitional unit for therapy so she can get back on her feet.

I did go out this morning to do a little shopping and have been back for a few hours. I will be making pizza sauce tonight to use tomorrow evening making supper for Gramps' sister, Bonnie, his neice, Donna and her husband, L.D. Today is Bonnie's 80th birthday. (Happy Bitthday, Bonnie Jean).

Gramps was up wandering around last night and tells me that he got lost in the house and went outside for a few minutes. I am not sure if this is true or not, but I certainly hope it is not. We have no lights on at night outdoors, and I am pretty sure that he is just confused. I have 3 night lights through out the house, and it makes it pretty light inside. We only have four rooms in the house, plus the bathroom. I guess I am going to have to put some kind of locks on the doors to keep him from going out. We already have two locks on each door. Maybe one of those locks that you slide the lock into the slot would be good to use. The only door that has really concerned me is the door to the basement.

I have posted a picture of each side of the quilt that I am making for my grandson, Will (B.J.), and of course, it has not been put together yet. I like to lay out the pieces in the floor before I start assembling a quilt. I have yet to do the applique stitches around each flower, but at least I know how I want to put the quilt together. I will post a finished picture of each side when it is finally finished.

Well, I have rested awhile so I need to get up and get busy. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Hope each of you has a good night's rest and a great day tomorrow. Bye for now.Love to you all.


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Busy Mid-week Day

Hey, Y'all,
Today started off as a busy one. We had run out of milk, so I left here at 8 a.m. and went to the grocery store, also filled up the car with gas, and hurried back home. Upon arriving home and carrying in the groceries, putting them away, I got out a couple of cereal bowls, cut up two bananas, poured milk into them both, and then fixed the coffee maker to be ready to drip for coffee preparation.

After I got Gramps up, we had breakfast, and I had intended to immediately leave for Knoxville to take Mae to get some stuff she needed, and to visit with Imazo in the hospital. Just as I was finishing up my breakfast, Mark called and asked could they come over for a few minutes. Of course, we are always happy to see them. So I said, "sure, come on over".

They came over and brought me an apple corer (I had been searching for one), and we chatted awhile and I showed them my quilt squares. After they left, I headed into Knoxville, and picked up Mae at her home, we did some errand running, and then went to eat at a place called Gunther's which is mainly a fish restaurant. It was really good food We left the restaurant and went to visit with Imazo for a while.

When we got to Imazo's room at the hospital, we thought she had makeup on her face. However, no makeup, so when we left, we mentioned our observation to the nursing desk. Hopefully, if she does have a fever, they caught it. She told us she had been chilly and had put on a sweater and gotten back in bed. She showed us her tummy where they had taken the gall bladder out. I teased her about it, and said, "Doggone it! I left my camera at home. A description will just have to do." ha ha.

I took Ms. Mae home then, and then proceeded on home. It is now about 5 p.m. and my eyes are about to shut. Hope what I have written makes sense. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Love to all of you. Bye for now.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Still Improving

Hey, Y'all,
I just got back from Knoxville, where I saw Imazo, after having had my right eye lasered to break up the secondary membrane that was growing and covering the lens that had been replaced during cataract surgery in 2001. Hopefully, my vision will improve soon.

Any time I drive to West Knoxville, it is always an adventure. Today was no exception. I was to go out 1-40 and exit onto I-140 (Pellisippi Parkway) then exit from I-140 onto Kingston Pike. Well, I just politely passed the (confusing) exit and as soon as I did, I just kept going and exited onto the next exit, turned left and went on to finally make a left onto Kingston Pike. So, I made it okay, and probably a lot easier than if I had taken the Pellisippi exit.

I had no problem then and made it into the proper building and checked in, and of course had paperwork to fill out. The actual appointment took no more than a few minutes and then I was out of there.

When I left there, I went on to the hospital and visited with Imazo. She was looking much better than when I last saw her. She told me both her doctors told her today that she would probably be going home tomorrow. I brushed her hair for her, and told her she was safe because I didn't bring my camera today to take her picture. ha.

Imazo had had a lot of company this morning. Her neice, Wanda, came to visit her this morning. She had also had several others to visit. Her heart monitor has been taken off, but she is still using oxygen, and the IV has been taken off. She was also able to get up to clean up this morning. She is not eating a lot, but she is eating what she feels like eating, and of course, still has some soreness.

I arrived back home to find that Gramps had been up and eaten, then went back to bed. I plan on working on Will's quilt some more this afternoon. I am ready to put the flowers on the quilt blocks and will do so today. It is exciting to be ready to actually put it together and see it grow.

Well, that is about it for today. Thank you for all the prayers on Imazo's behalf. I know that many have been going up for her. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Bye, Y'all.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Update on the Update

Hey, Y'all,

Imazo has had her gall bladder surgery and is in her room recovering. She did very well, and is happy to have it over with. The surgeon was able to do the operation laporiscopically, so that was a good thing. She very likely will be able to return home tomorrow. I hope to be able to visit with her after my eye appointment tomorrow.



Jeff and Peggy were able to be with her this afternoon and evening. In fact, I just finished talking to Peggy and Imazo. Imazo sounded really good, and Peggy said she was looking a lot better.



My neighbors just left a few minutes ago, and we had a really great time (as usual), and look forward to next week. We played dominos and had a fun time laughing.



I will soon be able to really start putting together the quilt I am working on. I got all the wonder-under ironed on to the flowers for the squares this afternoon. My dishes are washing in the dishwasher and I only have a few pots to handwash.



Well, that is about it for today. I am thinking bed will sound good after while. No sleepy time today; I didn't even feel like a nap today. I like it when I don't get sleepy during the day. This is Blabbin' Grammy sgning off for now. Bye, Y'all.

Upgrade on Ms. Imazo

Hey, Y'all,
I heard from Imazo's daughter-in-law last evening that she was taken to the hospital when Jeff came over to check on her. He immediately saw that she needed to go. She told him she wasn't going, and he said, "You can either go by ambulance or in my car, take your pick." So I assume that she went by car.

When they got her over there, they determined that she was dehydrated, and after a while in the emergency room, checked her in for a stay in the hospital. She protested saying that she had out of town company coming on the morrow (today, now). The doctor said, "Well, they can either come over here to see you, or wait till later in the day." That was before they did the tests that they have conducted.
Imazo was hooked up to an IV to get her hydrated, and she had finished her breakfast. (She had not eaten a lot of it, by the way).

This morning, they did an x-ray or ct scan and discovered she has a bunch of gall stones in her gall bladder. That was what had caused all the pain in her midsection on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

This morning, I headed out to Knoxville to check on how she is doing. When the nurse came in, I asked what kind of procedure they do with someone of Imazo's age. I asked if they dissolve the stones or remove the gall bladder. She said, "Oh, they remove the gall bladder and remove it laporiscopically through the belly button."
Hmmmm. It makes me hurt to think of how sore the belly button could get from that.

I helped her fill out her menu for meals tomorrow and we sat there (rather I sat there, and she lay there in her bed) and we chatted for awhile. Then it was time for me to leave and get back home to Gramps.

Upon arriving home, I put some fresh green beans on to cook, also a pork tenderloin to cook in the crock pot. This was in preparation for our supper tonight. I am also going to cook some sweet potatoes, and some corn bread muffins. I am hoping to get some more work done on my quilt this afternoon. Last night, I cut out the wonder-under for the last 20 flowers and am hoping to get it pressed onto them this afternoon. I also have clean laundry to fold. Will I get it all done? Maybe so, maybe not. It doesn't really matter, does it?

Well, this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to you all. Bye for now.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

She's Feeling Crummy

Hey, Y'all,
We had a wonderful church service this morning, beginning with four people being baptized. We had plans to pick up Imazo and Mae to go out for lunch. When we arrived at Imazo's, we had to wait several minutes for her to answer the door. She opened the door, and I immediately knew that she had not been to church this morning. (The clue was that she was still in her gown and wrapper).

As I entered the house, she headed for the couch and almost fell. She sat back on the couch and was breathing hard. I thought, "oh, my Lord, she is having a stroke or something", so I immediately called 911. After they told me they would dispatch an emergency vehicle, and I hung up, she headed for the bathroom. She was just leaving the bathroom when they came. They took her blood pressure and checked her oxygen level, and she checked out okay. She told them she did not want to go to the hospital emergency, so they sent the ambulance on and then they left (the fire engine emergency vehicle).

She told me that she had been sick and throwing up during the night, and that she was feeling better. I got her some sprite which was all she wanted. Dub decided he would stay there with her while Mae and I went to have lunch. So I left and picked up Mae and we went to Applebee's and had lunch.

I dropped Mae off at her house and went back to Imazo's and brought Dub's lunch to him. Unfortunately, by the time I got back to Imazo's, he had already eaten a bunch of girl scout cookies, and was not really hungry, so the wonderful hamburger and french fries I brought to him went wanting. I guess we will have it for supper after while.

Imazo was lying on the couch when I got back from lunch, and I brought her a damp washcloth and some crackers. She lay there and we chatted awhile about her family growing up, and about her aunts and uncles, her sisters and brother. She is looking forward to seeing some of her family from Ohio over the next little time. Imazo was feeling much better by the time we left around four o'clock.

We are at home now, and I am beginning to tackle the laundry that needs to be done. I am glad that Imazo is feeling better, but will be checking on her soon.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Love to all of you, my readers. Bye for now.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

New Driveway


Hey, Y'all,

The pavers came back today and put the sealer on our driveway, and it looks really good. It was expensive, but he said it will last for at least five years, and I guess that will pretty much be our lifetime or enough to where it won't make a great deal of difference to us. ha.

Not much else going on here today...Gramps got up about noon time, and has had breakfast, and is in the living room watching something (it sounds like football from in here). I have my television on and have the game show network playing, with Meredith Viera hosting Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

I may go into Morristown this afternoon to pick up some more Wonder-Under to take the next steps on my grandson's quilt. If you want to see some beautiful quilts, go to the interesting blog of Babs-Techquilter that is listed to the left of my postings. She is such a professional quilter, she makes mine look like a five-year old's efforts. She is absolutely amazing, and I really admire her work.

I am posting picture of our new driveway. When I took the picture, the guys saw me aiming my camera and hollered "hot dogs" "hamburgers" and "french fries". Ha.

Tomorrow is the beginning of daylight savings time, so be sure and turn your clocks ahead one hour tonight. No one wants to be late for church tomorrow, or to be late for work on Monday.

We are planning on going in to Knoxville tomorrow to take Mae and Imazo to lunch after church. Mae is having a lot of trouble with her shoulder, and has trouble driving her car and putting it into park. She is also having quite a bit of trouble with shortness of breath. She is afraid that her shoulder is "frozen". I certainly hope that is not the case.
I go on Tuesday to the eye surgeon to get my right eye 'zapped' with a laser to break up the secondary membrane that has developed since I had cataract surgery eight years ago. Will let you know more on that later.
That is about it for today. Love to you all. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the day. Bye for now.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Have Dominos, Will Travel


Hey, Y'all,

We went to Knoxville today and had a really fun time with Mae and Imazo. What kind of fun can four seniors have? Well, we ate salad, pizza, chocolate brownies, drank coffee, and played a couple of rounds of "chicken foot dominos".


I had prepared the pizza and had it ready to bake when we left home for Knoxville, took some salad fixin's, and Imazo had just taken the brownies out of the oven when we arrived at her house. The house was filled with the aroma of fresh-baked brownies...yum! Nothing beats the aroma of chocolate!


After I dropped Gramps and all the stuff I brought with me at Imazo's, I went to pick up Mae at her home, and we hurried back. We were soon seated with our salads in front of us, and it was really good (we were really hungry by then). Imazo had put the pizza in the oven while Mae and I were coming back to her house, and so it was soon ready to eat when our salads were gone. Imazo had made tea, and coffee, and we were really thankful to the Lord for such blessings.


After we cleared off the table, we took out the dominos, and I proceeded to teach them how to play the game, since they had no previous instruction in the game of dominos. It was a tremendous lot of fun, and I literally played the four hands until they understood the play rules, but they caught on pretty easily, and we had real fun, chiding each other, and Imazo won both hands in the game. We had our brownies and coffee then and just sat and talked for quite a while. It was great fun and we plan to do it again some time. I think I will buy a set of jumbo dominos because of Mae's and Dub's difficulties seeing the dots on the dominos that I have.


Tonight I am just going to watch a little television and then go to bed. It has been a long week for me (kind of) and I have been up late a lot of nights. Tomorrow, the pavers are coming to seal the new driveway- hopefully it will not be too expensive, but it does need to be done to finish up the job properly.


Picture of the gamers is at the top. Didn't we look like we were having fun?


This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the day. More tomorrow. Love to all of you. Bye for now.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

A Matter of Respect

Hey, Y'all,
I know it has been a couple of days since I have posted, but I have been kind of busy. Yesterday morning, I went into Jefferson City to have blood work done in preparation for a visit to my family doctor in a couple of weeks. A very nice young man took my blood for the tests, and took my blog address in anticipation of reading my blog. Unfortunately, I didn't get his name, but he was very gentle with me in getting my blood, and got the blood with the first stick.

After the doctor's office, I dropped off some prescriptions to be filled and then went on to Burger King and had a croissant and coffee, then proceeded on to buy a few groceries. I then headed on home, and on my way, as I drew near the local funeral home that was on the other side of the highway, I saw a funeral procession starting out coming my way.

We have a custom in the south of stopping and pulling over to the side of the road when a funeral procession is headed our way. It is a matter of respect for the death of a person, and respect for their families and friends in their sorrow. As I pulled over to the shoulder of the road, I could almost feel their sorrow, and my eyes filled with water and rolled down my cheeks. This is the first time I have felt such an emotional pull for someone I didn't even know. It must be because of the loss of the last three of my siblings during the past fourteen months. All the cars on my side of the road did just as I did, and pulled over to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. It is just a matter of respect, and I am glad that we do so.

This morning I was up early and had breakfast, then began working on the quilt I am doing for my grandson, Will (also known as B.J.). I have worked on various parts of it all day long, off and on. I have been putting wonder-under on the flowers that I will be appliqueing onto the squares. I've used all the wonder-under that I had, and still have another 20 to do. I have also been cutting the squares to the precise size that I need them to be (a really tough job).

Gramps finally decided to get up around 5 p.m. after spending most of the day in bed. I let him stay as long as he wanted, but finally got him up and fixed a breakfast for our supper and his only meal today. He is in the living room reading his Bible now, and I am in here trying to catch up on my blog, and am simmering pizza sauce in the kitchen for our pizza tomorrow that we are taking to Knoxville to spend some time with Imazo and Mae. I am also watching American Idol (actually listening more than watching). The dishes are being washed in the dishwasher. So a lot is going on right now.

I guess I may vacuum out my car either tomorrow or Saturday, (probably Saturday), and also need to sweep out the carport and clean the winter clutter out of it.

I talked to Imazo yesterday and she told me her sister, Lois, who is in Ohio, is not in the nursing home any more, but is in an assisted living facility. She is not using her wheel chair much, but is using her walker to get around as much as possible. The therapist who is working with Lois has really helped her a lot, and is a dedicated therapist. We are so glad that he is working with her so well, and that she is better.

To Clara in TN....Thanks for the recipe for your apple dumplings in the comments of Tuesday's blog! I will try that one, and it really looks delicious! I always love to try new recipes. It is a lot simpler than mine. I printed it off so I will have it to take into the kitchen instead of having to run back in and check it on the computer.

Well, I want to do some more square cutting this evening, so that is it for now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Love to you all. Bye for now.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

An Evening's Pleasure With Friends

Hey, Y'all,
Today began at about 7:30 a.m. with cleaning the kitchen floor. As I stated earlier, early morning or late night is the best time to clean. Gramps is never (well, hardly ever) up at either time, so it is better then. While the major portion of the kitchen dried, I was able to do some quilting work, and then I finished up the floor later.

Then I took the time to make some raisin bread toast and hot tea. Hmmm, it was really good, and I sat there enjoying my breakfast and read some more of my murder mystery. After breakfast, I spent some time getting the ingredients together for the chicken pot pie. I sat down in the multipurpose room to rest, checking my e-mails. I then did some more sewing and watching The Price is Right. I absolutely love that show. It is so much fun watching the contestants jump around when they win, and also I love their enthusiasm. Isn't it fun to see people win stuff?

I took time a little later for cleaning the kitchen, and dishes and then cleaning the bathroom and mopping the bathroom floor. Laundry took a large part of the day as well. I made some apple dumplings for our dessert tonight, and baked them and the chicken pot pie at the same time, putting them into the oven at 5 p.m.

Our friends, Gene and Judy, Marion and Marjorie arrived at 6 p.m. and Judy brought some delicious waldorf salad to go along with the chicken pot pie and the devilled eggs that I had prepared. We ate very well this evening, and after supper Marjorie helped me load the dishwasher (thank you, Mark and Allie, for installing the dishwasher, and thanks you, Marjorie, for helping with the dishes tonight) and then we got out the dominoes and played a few hands of that. We were pleased that Gramps decided to play with us. It didn't matter that I had to help him with his choices of what to play. Believe it or not, Marjorie didn't feel obliged to shield her dominoes from me. Actually, I was so busy helping Gramps there was no time to act like I was going to check hers out. ha ha.

Marjorie heads back to Germany on Friday. We have certainly enjoyed getting to know her better and have had some good times with her. Well, I have to get to bed soon, because I have to be up and out to get my bloodwork done in the morning. I have promised Gramps that he doesn't have to go anywhere until Friday. He is quite pleased about that.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for tonight. More tomorrow evening. Love to you all. Bye for now.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Happy Birthday, Sweet Allie







Hey, Y'all,
Tomorrow (March 3rd) is our Allie's birthday...not saying which one...but we celebrated this evening with supper at Puleo's in Strawberry Plains. Judy picked up Gramps and me a little before six p.m. and proceeded on to pick up Gene and then we met Mark and Allie at Puleo's.

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog know that we consider Allie our third daughter and Mark as a son. They are very dear to us and are very considerate always of our needs. Judy and Gene are also very dear to us and we consider them very important to us. Both couples are friends that we feel blessed to have.
We had a really fun time, and had a marvelous waiter named Will. Gramps and I had a house salad and then shared a small pizza that had chicken, spinach, and cheese on a thin crust.

Gramps is having a very difficult time getting in and out of cars and also getting to a standing position after sitting for awhile. He seems to be getting more feeble as the days go by, but he says he had a really wonderful and fun time this evening. He had three people helping him get up from the table this evening, but it didn't seem to embarrass him as it would have done several months ago. It was very touching to my heart.
Pictures above: (1) Mark and Allie, (2) Gene and Judy, (3) Gramps and I
In the morning, I am getting up early to do the housecleaning that needs to be done. I didn't get it done earlier this week. Sweeping the kitchen and mopping the floor are two things that I can do easier early in the morning. I have been sewing quite a bit today, trying to get the piecing done for Will's quilt. I plan to launder the flowers tomorrow or Wednesday in preparation for sewing onto the blocks of cloth.

We are having Gene and Judy, Marion and Marjorie (Judy's sister, and Marion's daughter) who lives in Germany, over to share supper with us tomorrow evening. Marjorie will be headed back to her home on Friday afternoon. We will be playing dominoes for awhile after supper. I'll bet Marjorie will be hiding her tiles from my supposedly wandering eyes, too. ha ha. I am making Chicken Pot Pie and Apple Dumplings for our supper.

Time with family and friends is something that never grows old, isn't it? I would not exchange any of those times for anything in the world. I value them all as priceless.

Mark and Allie tell us that they plan to be in their new home in about six weeks' time. I hope to be able to help them somehow in their move. I know I can't do a lot, but I hope to maybe help them with their yard sale when they have it.
On Wednesday morning, I have to go have blood work done in preparation for my yearly checkup at my family doctor's office. Oh, boy! I always dread having blood work done, because they have to take the blood samples from the back of my hand. (small veins, hard to hit in my arm..this has been true for more than 50 years.)
Well, that is about it for this evening. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Love to all of you. Hope your night is good and that tomorrow is even better. Bye for now.