How Much Can One Old Lady Do in a Day?

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I got a pretty good night's sleep without leg cramps last night, but woke up around 3:30 and couldn't go back to sleep even though I tried for an hour. Finally, at 4:30, I rolled out of bed and decided to accomplish a few things today. By 8:00 a.m., I had washed two loads of clothes and folded them, along with preparing my breakfast and eating it.

By 10:45 a.m. I had swept all the house, and did another load of laundry and put it away, and now, the bath rugs are in the washer and my bedsheets are in the dryer. I also had some dried apricots soaking from last night and cooked those while breakfast was being prepared. After breakfast, I drained them and mashed them, then added spices and sugar to them. They are in the fridge right now, and in the morning, I plan on making them into little baked pies, using crescent roll dough to place them in making them triangular in shape. Yum! They will be served as dessert for tomorrow evening when Carol and Daryl come over for supper.

I still have the kitchen and the bathrooms to mop and hopefully can get that done before bedtime tonight. I am one of those poor unfortunates that is a Farmville player, and I can take breaks from work and harvest my crops and all the other stuff there is to do around the farm like slopping the hogs and feeding the chickens. Ha. It gives my back a rest from laboring here in the house. I also have other people's blogs to read, and sometimes leave a comment on.

I still have Mae's great great granddaughter's quilt to launder and get ready to send to her. I reckon I can get that done tomorrow. Life does get busy, doesn't it? Praise the Lord, I am so glad to have things to do and the strength to do them.

Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Middle of the Week

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, it is the midweek time and there are lots of household chores to do, and I may get around to them after while, but in the meantime, I wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about each of you, my friends. This morning, I was up around 5:30 so I could get my shower and get ready for the day. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, due to leg cramps waking me up a few times. I had just been asleep about an hour when the first one hit, and after wrestling with it for a few minutes, I got up and put some mineral ice on it. (That is some of the stuff that is mostly menthol and somehow relieves the pain). It was not too long before I was awakened again with cramps in the other foot and leg. This time, I simply got up and walked around for awhile, sat down and rubbed the ankle and leg, and then went back to bed.

This does not occur every night, just maybe one night a week, and is very annoying and sleep debilitating. I know this sounds like I am whining...maybe I am a little, but not much. I was, however, feeling much better when I got up at 5:30. After showering and getting dressed, I went over to Carol's house and gave her a ride to work, where she picked up her county car and went about her business of checking as a health inspector of businesses in the area. This afternoon I will be going back over to pick her up and take her home for the evening. Her car is being serviced, so she is without wheels right now. It is wonderful to be able to help her out with stuff.

After I got home from taking her to work, I had a small bowl of cereal so I could take my 15 morning pills, and a few minutes later I drove over to Julia and Andrew's home so that I could ride with Julia and the two little girls to Bible Study at our church. We had a really good study time this morning and I think there is something like 80 ladies that are taking part in it. We are divided into several groups that meet in various places in the annex building. It is a wonderful opportunity to study the Bible with other women and get to know them better. Our study is in the Book of James and the main themes are Trials and How we can Persevere and triumph over them with God's help.

After Bible Study, Julia and the girls and I went back to Julia's and had a delicious lunch of spaghetti, croissants (made by Andrew), and grapes. It is so enjoyable to get to know Julia and the children better. They are delightful! After lunch, I left and they were ready for naps. Who knows, I may take one after while. Ha.

Yesterday, I completed work on the baby quilt for Mae's great-great granddaughter to be born in November. I still have some threads to clip and I must launder it, then it will be ready to send to Mae.

Well, that is about it for right now. More later. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now.

Kleenex, Anyone?

Hey, Y'all,
Seems like I am always needing a tissue for one thing or another lately. You know, either sneezing and wiping a runny nose or crying and wiping a runny nose. Ha. However, instead of buying a bunch of Kleenex, I just carry a roll of nice soft toilet tissue around with me for my sneezing, and usually just use the corner of my gown or shirt to wipe my eyes with and sniff a little to take care of the runny nose then.

Last evening at just about bedtime, I began sneezing in earnest -( no, there is no one named Earnest here, so guys drop the punning - ha) and it continued on for at least an hour or so before I went to bed just before one a.m. I really tried to sleep and succeeded for about 2 hours, then had to get up so I played Farmville til I thought I could go to sleep (about 5 a.m.) I tossed a bit and then turned on the tevee to low and went to sleep. I managed a couple of hours and finally got up at 7:30.

Thank God I haven't done a lot of sneezing since I got up. I fixed my breakfast and came in to my computer room and watched some tevee while I caught up on my farming and read Teresa's posting of her blog this morning where she commented on my early morning playing. Ha.

I am going to try to get some sleep in this afternoon. It was in the 50's here this morning. That is a real abrupt change in temperature. Yesterday morning I was up and showered and ready to go to church in good time. Odds were against my going though. I went out and turned on the car, backed down the driveway and looked at the dashboard instruments. I saw the warning light on telling me I had a low pressure in one of my tires. OH GREAT!!

Well, I called Carol to tell her I wouldn't make it, and why. She advised me to call Andrew and Julia to see if they had already left. I did so, and they were already at the church. Now, the distance to the church is not really a short one, so I knew no one would come and get me, so I went back into the house and took off my church duds, and got into my comfortable shorts and shirt, and settled down to fix my breakfast and enjoy the solitude.

I almost got the baby quilt finished for Mae's great great granddaughter, and will finish it today. I have the binding pinned on around the edge and intend to get that done today sometime. Carol and Daryl came over about 3 p.m. and Daryl put checked all the tires and put air in some of them. It turns out that the spare tire needed air in it, and that was what was causing the warning light to be on. It seems that there is a computer chip that causes the light to come on when the air is low in the spare. That is because, I guess, if you have a flat and need the spare it will be inflated enough to use. I know one thing for sure - if I ever have a flat it will be someone else who will have to change the tire, and most probably would be the AAA because I don't do tires. Ha ha.

Carol and Daryl also brought Dub's wheelchair and walker that had been stored in their garage, and that was hard for me to see them again, and of course, I cried. (That was when I needed the kleenex, but just used the corner of my shirt. ha) Daryl very kindly put them into the little closet that is in my garage so I wouldn't have to look at them every time I come out into the garage. It seems I just cry at times and can't control it. Have you ever tried to swallow food when you are crying? It just can't be done.

Well, that is about it for today. Much love to each of you, my friends. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. More later. Bye for now.

Oreos and Milk

Hey, Y'all,
Today has been one of those days that has passed quietly, with a good breakfast to begin the day. There was rain last night which continued this morning, making it a good morning to read a pleasant romance. You know, the ones that you know are going to turn out with the guy getting the gal, living in a small town where everyone else knows everyone's business and are pulling for the couple to get together. The ones that make you wipe the eyes and then go, ahhhh.

About 11 a.m. I came into the sewing/computer/workroom and began sewing again on the baby quilt for Mae's great great granddaughter, Alli, scheduled for entering this old world in November. I know Mae is hoping for the birth to occur on her (Mae's) birthday. That would really be neat, eh? I hope it happens that way.

My days are not what one would call exciting but I am happy with them. I had a really crazy dream last night. In that dream, Dubby and I went to a program at University of Tennessee and I had left my purse there. I had to go back after it the next morning, and had trouble getting back into the building, being sure that the purse would be empty if I did succeed in finding it. Once I was back in the building, I couldn't find the room, but I finally did and there was my purse, just where I had left it, with nothing missing. Now the really strange thing, is that the first part of the dream was before I woke up around 5 a.m. It was after I went back to sleep that I found the purse. What do you think of that? Do you ever begin a dream, then wake up and go back to sleep and finish it? I have done that many times. I don't know what it means, but it sure is interesting, isn't it?

Well, today has been spent reading, watching tevee and sewing. I have spoken to both my sisters-in-law in Knoxville, and they seem to be doing well. Imazo's son, David, and wife, Andrea, are in Knoxville visiting from Arizona, and I know how happy she is to have them come to see her and the family that still lives there. It is always great to see family, isn't it? I finished up my day with a glass of milk and a few oreo cookies. Yum!

Speaking of family, we gathered at Carol and Daryl's last night, with Matt and Amy, Ben and Emily, Julia and her and Andrew's two little girls and me had supper there and spent a fun evening together. It was topped off with a call from the oldest son, Daniel, calling from Illinois. We played a card game that Daryl had gotten for his birthday, called "Killer Bunnies". It is a very complicated game and I guess I could learn it after playing it a dozen times or so, but dominoes or Apples to Apples is more my style. Ha.

Well, that is about it for today. Teresa had her second chemo infusion yesterday, and seems to be doing okay. She wore her doo-rag to the infusion and said she got some compliments on how well it looked. She is quite self conscious about it, naturally, but I know she will be able to do what she has to do. Please continue to pray for her strength. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. You can find a link to her blog "Pickin' up the Pieces" under my "Other Interesting Blogs" to the right of this posting. Any encouragement that you can give her will be appreciated. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now.

Not Much Doing...

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, not a lot going on these days, so I haven't posted in a few days. Saturday, I did a little cleaning, and laundry. Sunday, there was church and afterwards, I went over to Carol and Daryl's and had lunch with them, after which we played a few rounds of dominoes.

Monday, I was mostly flippin' around here in my gown and not doing very much. My grandson, Andrew, did come over and mow the yard for me, so I really appreciated that. He made short work of it, and was soon gone. I had a quiet supper and watched some tevee, and then went to bed.

Tuesday, I cut pieces for the baby quilt that I am making for Mae's great-great granddaughter who is to be born in November, and today I went to Bible Study and then had lunch with Carol at Mooyah's. Later, I went to shop for shoes and found a pair that suited me. While there, I met and talked to a lady who is a nurse. She was shopping for a pair of shoes to wear to a memorial service of a neighbor of hers. She was telling me how her neighbor's ex-wife had still been good friends with the neighbor, and always brought his supper to him. Well, she had gone in to check on him, and saw he was on the couch looking like he was asleep, but he was making strange noises. So she came over and got the nurse to check for a pulse.

Well, yeah, there was no pulse, so apparently the noises were from the gases coming from the body after death. Anyway, it was an interesting story.

I also chatted with one of the bank tellers when I stopped there before lunch. We were talking about the costs of burials. Her parents are from Costa Rica, and we were talking also about the tremendous amount of paperwork involved in settling estates. The way the subject came up was because I was cashing a refund check made out to Dubby (my husband) and how the utilities and such were in his name, but I was the one who wrote the checks. We talked about how different people deal with the death of loved ones, and how her grandma passed away eight years ago. Anyway, it was an interesting conversation.

Well, that is about it for today. My daughter, Teresa, has been losing her hair in big clumps and is almost bald already. She told me while ago that Tom was getting ready to shave her head and they were going to do that right after we stopped our online chat. God bless her! I am so sorry she is having to go through all this. Please continue to keep them both in your prayers. I know she will appreciate it.

I am planning on sewing on the baby quilt tomorrow, so this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. It is time for me to do a little bit of work around here. Maybe find some small something to have for supper, maybe some cereal. There will be grocery shopping to do in the morning, since it has been over a week since I went. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now.

An Evening in The South Pacific

Hey, Y'all,1
I spent an evening of being entertained last night, and it was really fun! I went with a group of seniors to eat out at a local barbeque restaurant around 6 p.m. (and ohhhh, do they serve delicious hot rolls with the meal!) We had a really enjoyable time eating together. There were also several younger people sprinkled among us, and they were delightful to talk to, as well. Most are church members at the church I am attending here in Texas and we are slowly becoming acquainted. I am fortunate in having a ready made church family in that Carol and Daryl have been members there for quite a few years.

I took some pictures (of course), and although they didn't all turn out perfect, I am publishing a few here that did pretty well. The theater is called the Artisan, and is a theater in the round, which, of course, means that the actors are in the center and are surrounded by the audience. There are only four rows on two opposite sides, and and fewer than that on the other two sides, so that the theater only holds less than 150 (I believe). The performance was stellar, and I say that with no reservations (well, actually our seats were reserved, ha)! The actor's performances were well worth the three hours we spent there, the play actually taking only 2 hours of actual performance time.

I was picked up by the lady who organized the trip and there were 35 people in our group. About half of those had supper with us at the restaurant, and we all met at the theater. When I did a little research online about the Artisan, I realized that it is very well known in theater circles, and is quite well-funded. It is located in Hurst, Texas, so if you wish to know more about it, just enter Artisan Theater in your browser and you will readily find it.

I was returned to my domicile last evening at 11 p.m. and stayed up for a while, unwinding from my exciting evening. After hitting the old hay about midnight, I was awakened by a blam, blam, blam. I dragged out of bed to see what it was, but I really knew before I got in there. It was the shampoo and body wash holder that I had bought a couple of weeks ago, and suction-cupped to the shower wall. The holder had bounced off the bath chair I had in the bathtub, and the shampoo, body wash, and hair conditioner were all lying in the tub. Yes, I have bought a tension rod holder to put in the corner of my tub, but have not put it up yet. It goes up today. I picked it all up and went back to bed.

I was hoping it would rain last night, but it didn't, so I guess I will have to sprinkle some water with the water hose over the yard to keep the grass green. Back in Tennessee, I didn't worry if the grass died in the summer time, but out here, my home is part of a neighborhood something, and I have to keep the grass looking good. Out here, it really is grass, and back home it was just weeds that we kept cut every other week. Go figure! If it were up to me, it could just live or die on its own.

Pictures are (top two) we are at restaurant, and I took these from opposite ends of the table. The other three are at the theatre. I apologize for the poor picture quality of the last one. Sometimes my camera is a little contrary. We on the front row were just a few feet from the actors. If they had tripped, they would have been in our laps or on our feet. In fact, a couple of people who were coming to see the performance fell right in front of us, because the stage had packed, rounded up sand on it to give the appearance of the South Pacific beach in the play. They were not hurt, however, and it is a good thing it was sand they fell upon, and not concrete.

Well, folks that is about it for today from me. Breakfast is calling to me, like Bali Hai was calling to the sailors last night. Ha. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, and I will be talkin' at you again soon. Bye for now.

Back On Track

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, I am recovered from yesterday's happenings. I was up this morning about 7:30 (missed the trash man) after having woke up about 4 a.m. and being on the computer for about 20 minutes. I had a leg cramp at that time and had to be out of bed to work out the cramp, then went back to bed and didn't wake up until 7:30. I turned on my cell phone and saw a message from Carol asking if I wanted to meet her for breakfast so I threw on yesterday's clothes and met her at Mickey D's. It has been a full week for her as well, so it was good to see her for a few minutes.

After she left, I stayed on and finished my breakfast (those who know me well, know that I am a slow eater and because I brought a paperback with me, I read that as I slowly ate the remainder of my breakfast.

When I left Mickey D's I came on home and noticed the array of papers that I had strewn looking for my social security card yesterday afternoon. You would not believe the mess that i made going through boxes and looking. Flipping through bunches of papers....arghhhhhhhhhh! Anyway, that will have to be picked up and put away some time today. I do have projects that I need to get busy with, you know.

This evening, I am going with the senior citizen's group at church to see a stage production of "South Pacific" and eating supper before we go to the show. It seems like it will be great fun! I know that I have been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks now. I also have a baby quilt to make for my sister-in-law, Mae's, great-great granddaughter to be born in November. I promised Mae I would make it for her to give to Tiffany for her baby. It has been in the back of my mind for some time now, and it is time to put the pedal to the metal, so to speak.

I just got word that one of the kitty cats that belonged to my good friend, Ina, passed on during the night last night, and I know she is mourning the loss of Lucy. Please remember Ina in your prayers, because the cat was like a member of her family. She had had Lucy for nine years or more and Lucy was probably about 17 years old. I know she is going to miss Lucy terribly.

Well, this ain't gettin' my putting stuff away done, so I had better stop and get on with straightening out the mess I made yesterday. It really bothers me that I couldn't just put my hands on that darned old card. I could have saved one of the trips we had to make. Poor Julia, I don't think she knew what a job she was taking on with running me around yesterday when we first lit out of here. She is definitely a trooper! Thank you, again, sweet Julia!

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. More later. Much love to each of you, my friends. Bye for now.

How Many Hoops Can you Jump Through?

Hey, Y'all,
Right now I have a pounding headache, but I want to do this posting while it is still etched on my fevered brain. This morning at 9 a.m., granddaughter, Julia, came over with her two darling children to take Grammy Ruby to acquire her Texas drivers' license Grammy thought she had everything she needed for the transfer of her TN license to her new Texas one. HA! After a 26 minute drive we arrived at the DL place, only to find that they needed my birth certificate, so back we came (this time using the freeways), and I found my birth certificate, and headed back over with Julia and the two babies.

We were passed on back to the waiting line only to discover that my Social security ID card was invalid, because it was my Medicare card and I had written on the ID number because it was beginning to fade from a lot of use. If I had not written over the number to clarify it, they could have accepted it. Sooooooooooooo, back to the house to see if I could find my original social security card, also they gave me an application to take to the social security office in Arlington to get a new card.

Back to the house we went, and of course, I couldn't find it, so we had to trek over to Arlington to apply for a new card. Argghhhhhhhhhhhh, by this time I was foaming at the mouth, gritting my dentures, and wishing I could have found the card. So, back to the TN dept of Safety after I filled out the necessary paperwork and took it with me. I finally got my temporary drivers license and we headed back home. Thank God! We finished the whole thing up at about 2 p.m. (Five hours!) Horrors!

Now, I am going to lie down with a wet washcloth on my forehead and see if I can get rid of my headache. We went from hot car to cold buildings, back out to hot cars, back into cold buildings. Etc. Julia, You are a dream=- and a jewel! Thank you so very much. I love you!

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. More later. Bye for now.

A Quiet Monday

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, today was a very quiet one, and I just kind of lounged around in my gown tail, and caught up on some bills and paper work. I did some laundry, also, and of course was on the computer some.

Carol and Daryl were back at work today after taking last week off for the wedding. Amy began a new job today, and I'm hoping it was a good day for her. I checked up on where I will have to go to get my driver's license for Texas, and realized there is no way I want to drive way out there. So I called my granddaughter, Julia, and asked if she would take me, and she very kindly agreed to do so. Such a darling girl she is!

Tomorrow, I may make a trip out to Bed, Bath and Beyond to see if I can find a holder for shampoo and body wash to put in the corner of my bathtub. They make them that are on a tension rod that fits into the corner of the tub and runs from tub to ceiling. I also want to go to Lowe's and get a hummingbird feeder for the back yard. There are also some pictures that I need to put up in the rest of the rooms here. I think I need some motivation, ha!

My daughter, Teresa, has begun a blog telling of her experiences dealing with her cancer. If you wish, check it out with the link that runs beside this posting under "Other Interesting Blogs". It is called "Pickin' Up the Pieces". She could use some encouragement from those of you who have had some experiences with cancer, and just encouragement in general. Thanks for your prayers on her behalf, as well.

Well, it is about bedtime, so I need to stop this and get on my way to sleepyland. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for tonight. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now.

A New Grandson

Hi, Y'all,
Today I gained a new grandson, via a wedding. Yes, our Emily was married today to a wonderful young man named Benjamin (called Ben). I have a lot of pictures from the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, and the wedding ceremony today. It has been a busy busy two days, and I really feel the effects of all that time. I had to wear my glad rags a lot of that time, and that included the heels that I wore. I much prefer my tennies. Ha.

Anytime that you have a wedding about 35 minutes away (through a lot of traffic), it is a little wearing on these old bodies like mine. Ha ha. Today was also the second birthday of our little adorable Alyssa, which we had celebrated on Tuesday. Fortunately, since she is only two, she is not really aware of which day is her birthday yet.

Today, I am posting a lot of pictures, and there won't be a lot of identifications, but you will be able to pick out the bride and groom and the wedding pictures are quite identifiable.

Well, actually, as I look at the pictures I have chosen to display, I reckon I can do most of the idents for you all.

Top Pic: Grandparents with bride and groom today.
2nd one: Bride and groom with nieces and nephews who served as flower girls and ring bearers.
3rd down: Father of the bride chatting with oldest grandson, Austin
4th down: Austin, Noah, Ellie and Alyssa (two years old today)
5th down: Baby Brooke who was just lying back and taking it easy with no duties for today.
6th down: Emily with her dad
7th down: Todd and Marlene (parents of Ben) along with Ben and Emily
8th down: Carol, Emily, and Daryl
9th down: Beautiful bridesmaids
10th down: The whole cotton-pickin' bunch (no names here)
11th down: Wonderful ladies serving the reception yummies (ice cream sundaes and cookies, along with punch)
12th down: Emily and Ben leaving the church
13th down: The decorated wedding car, of course, taking off

Well, folks that is only a portion of the pictures I made yesterday and today. It is getting late and it's been a long two days. I am tired and there is church to attend tomorrow. If I don't want to have to prop my eyelids open with toothpicks tomorrow, I gotta get to bed. Please continue to pray for my daughter, Teresa's well being. She was really missed today since she could not be here for all the wonderful time we had together, celebrating the union of Ben and Emily.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you. More later. Bye for now.

Speakin' of Rain...

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, speakin' of rain, did it ever and isn't it going to do some more! Yesterday it rained a whole lot, and today it rained a whole lot more. This morning was the first meeting of the Bible Study Group at church. We are studying the book of James in the New Testament, and one of the main themes of the book is how we know our faith is genuine, and it speaks of how we are tested and tried, and proven true in our faith. Well, this morning was a good beginning, because I sincerely considered calling Julia and asking if she was sure she wanted to drive through that rain.

Now folks, I am not talking a little rain - no, I am talking RAIN! By the time I left at nearly 9 a.m., the streets were full of water and in several places, I drove partly in the left lane and partly in the right lane, because of the water covering half of the right lane. As you may (or may not) know, I drive a little Yaris, which is a lot different from having a big SUV or a heavy car. I have never driven to Julia and Andrew's home by myself, so I got out the Magellan GPS that Teresa and Tom gave to me, and used it to navigate my way there. Even so, I passed their house once and had to come back around to find it.

Julia was already in her SUV and waiting for me with the lights on, and visibility was so poor, I was afraid I was going to have to call her and tell her I was lost. Anyway, I parked my car in her driveway, and when I walked down to get into her car, I stepped in about six inches deep of water and wound up with wet feet for the next 4 hours (by the time I got back home). I didn't have time to put up my umbrella, so I had a wet head as well, but having short hair, it didn't take long for it to dry. I had on a waterproof jacket, so the rest of me was okay.

The Bible study was really good, and they had a lot of good breakfast refreshments but I already had eaten a good breakfast at home, so I just had a half cup of coffee. Julia had pulled into the covered area to let me and the kids out of her vehicle and then she parked the car while I stayed inside the building with them. Then we had to take little five month old Brooke to the nursery, and then 2 year old Alyssa had to be taken to the educational building (in a different building and out through the rain). I did not go with them to the educational building, but I know that Julia got even wetter taking Alyssa to her class. I had to go to the fellowship hall where we had our study classes, and that required going out in the rain and down the steps into that building. Whew! What an exercise in trying to stay dry that was! Thank goodness for bumbershoots!

It rained almost without stopping for the next three or four hours. There were only a few lulls in it. When Julia and I left the church, it was still pouring, but abated as we headed back to her home. It had almost stopped when we got there. We went inside and Julia put lunch on the table. It was delicious! Last night, Andrew had made some barbequed chicken, and she heated it and we had barbeque sandwiches and chips, along with some fresh grapes. I enjoyed spending the time with them and then I headed home, using the Magellan to help me find my way here.

While I was watching tevee tonight about 6:30, I saw where they were having thunderstorms in Dallas (very near here) and saying there was a tornado in the area east of here. Then they had a tornado touch down in downtown Dallas which did some damage. More rain is due tonight and tomorrow. What a deluge we have had.

So, yeah, we have had some rain. It only bothers me if I have to get out and drive in it if it is heavy, but I can deal. Yeah. Well, this is about it for today. This is Blabbin'
Grammy signing off for now. More later. Much love to each of you, my friends. Bye for now.

Family Fun

Hey, Y'all,
Well, our family had a get=together this evening, and we had a really great time. We are gathering here this week for a special time - a wedding in the family. Carol and Daryl's youngest is getting married on Saturday and so all the kids and grandkids came in for the event. Everyone gathered here at my new home for a celebration of birthdays. Daryl had a birthday on Saturday, Daniel (their oldest) had a birthday on Sept. 1st, and little Alyssa (Andrew and Julia's oldest daughter) is having a second birthday anniversary on Emily and Ben's wedding day.

We had eighteen people here in my little house for supper of pizza, salad, birthday cake, and Italian ices. Carol made the pizza here, and baked it here. What a great time it was and with all kinds of running of happy children around the house and making all kinds of happy noise. I couldn't have asked for an evening with more fun than we had. In my dining room, which is bigger than I thought it was, we had set up my dining room table with 8 seats around it, my folding table from my work room with 6 seats around it, and Carol's folding table with 4 folding chairs around it, and there was actually room for everyone to sit comfortably.

Gifts were opened after supper and then dessert was served. Matt and Amy brought the homemade cake (from scratch even) and Julia brought the Italian Ices and tea. After dessert, we went out into the garage where I had placed on two folding tables some of the things that their grandpa Dub had collected over his lifetime so that they could choose mementos. We had a good time reminiscing some of the things he did and said, and when they left later, the left with things that would help them know a little more about the man who had loved them so much and whom they adored and respected.

I also gave Emily a bowl that had belonged to her great grandmother, my mom. It had been in my family for at least fifty years, and my mother did not have a lot of material possessions. I was pleased to be able to pass it on to Emily.

When they left, the house seemed quite empty, but I am at peace, knowing they took the items I worked so diligently to unpack and lay out for them.

Tomorrow, I will be beginning a Bible Study with some of the women at the church. It is a study of the book of James, and I expect I will learn quite a bit more than I already know about it. I will be driving to Julia's and riding over to the church with her and the two girls.

The pictures I am putting on here are some that I took this evening. I won't be identifying them because most of you readers know them from past pictures. Besides the people are kind of all mixed up together which makes identification long-winded explanations. Just know that we all had a great time together and it was a little past nine p.m. when they left. I wanted to get this all down while it is still fresh in my mind.

So that's it for tonight. Oh, yeah, I have a really sore toe on my left foot, the one next to my big toe. When I was moving my dining table, it moved over the floor faster than I realized it would, and the leg of the table hit my toe, and I am afraid it is going to be a "blue toe" by in the morning. It already looks a little bruised, but I reckon that is just a part of life. Ha.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. BTW, I got a really nice hair cut to day from a young man in the beauty shop. Now I can look nice for the wedding. More later. Much love to each of you, my friends. It is after 11 p.m. and time for me to take my night time meds and get to bed. Bye for now.

What We Leave Behind

Hey, Y'all,
What we leave behind in the way of worldly goods when we pass on tells a whole lot about us. My Dubby was a collector. A lot of what he collected wouldn't mean very much to some of us, but it tells a lot about what kind of fellow he was. Dubby was a lover of peace and quiet, and he was introspective (he thought a lot). I once saw him crying when we were at an environmental workshop. He became embarrassed about it, and I felt empathy with him. Dub was born with Amblyopia (lazy eye) in his left eye, and was quite self-conscious about it. It was quite obvious when looking at him straight on. The class we were taking was doing a "tree-hugging" exercise and were supposed to tell then what we were thinking about while hugging the tree.

The tree he had his arms wrapped around had a lot of twisted limbs and dead bark on it. He began to share his feelings about how a lot of young people (he was a teacher) have handicaps that they have difficulty overcoming, and he became quite emotional. He was always empathetic to the children in advertisements that had deformed (cleft) palates, and other deformities or handicaps. He was a champion of the helpless.

Dubby was fascinated by anything in the miniature, probably because he was such a large person, and quite often felt like he was oversized. His arms were long and his elbows stuck out so that he felt clumsy. The fact that he had no vision in his left eye closed off vision to his left, so he was continually looking around to make sure that he was not stepping on anyone.

Looking through is collection of clippings, I found one that is from an old News-Sentinel newspaper and it is a column written by George W. Crane, Ph. D., M.D. and I would like to copy it here for your reading pleasure, and to indicate how he (Dub) thought about some things. He must have felt it was worth keeping for over thirty years (I figure that long from the yellowing and creases in the paper.)
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Tonic for Tense Folk Case H-472 (Dr. Crane was a psychologist)
W. Irving Granville is the able executive whom Dr. Norman Vincent Peale asked to put "Guideposts" on a firm circulation basis.
Mr. Granville was a New York City banker at the time, but decided he could advance God's work more ably by helping zoom the circulation of that wonderful little moral magazine.
Our five children often would comment approvingly about the inspirational articles in Guideposts, which appeals to Catholics, Jews, and Protestants alike.
Mr. Granville is also one of the able members of the board of our new Scientific Marriage Foundation and attended the recent annual meeting.

During the luncheon that day something was said about men who kill themselves by sticking too closely to their exacting jobs. "They feel they are indispensable," was the comment. So Mr. Grenville told us he had an anonymous little poem he had carried for years in his wallet.

During the dessert course at our board luncheon, we called on him to read it. Many of you tense, harrassed folks can profit by it, so I'll reprint it here today.

Sometime, when you're feeling important,
Sometime when your ego's in bloom,
Sometime when you take it for granted
You're the best qualified in the room:
Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction,
And see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that's remaining
Is a measure of how you'll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you'll find in a minute
That it looks quite the same as before.

The moral in this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can.
Be proud of yourself - but remember,
There is no indispensable man!

My mother was also at this same board meeting and immediately asked Dr. Granville for a copy of the poem.
By the time that you teen-agers enter high school, start the smart habit of keeping a scrapbook. Or at least clip all interesting stories and poems for future use. Stick them in a large manila envelope. They will prove priceless in your public speaking assignments at school and church meetings.

Good mothers since the start of printing have also clipped these inspirational bits of prose and poetry to include in their weekly letters to their sons and daughters at college or in military service. My mother did that when I was away at school and thousands of you cultured mothers still do likewise today.

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Well, that is it for today. Just a little item from among his souvenirs that speaks of him as a person. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends. Bye for now. More later.

A Busy Saturday

Hey, Y'all, When I got up this morning, I was playing facebook's Farmville, and realized that I needed to hurry and have breakfast because there were things to get done today. I had laid out a bunch of Dub's collections on a couple of tables in the garage and one in my workroom, and was checking them over when I noticed that I didn't have the pocketknife that he had carried for most of the time that I was married to him. I thought, "Oh, no! Have I lost it?" You should have seen me looking for it, through boxes large and small." Well, no, actually you shouldn't have because I was still in my gown flapping around from one room to another. It wouldn't have been a pretty sight to see. Ha.

Well, I finally looked in the last place where he kept it, and there it was. He kept it stored in the base of a ceramic duck that I made for him in the late 1970's. I had just wrapped it up to pack it for the move, and then when I unwrapped it, I set it like it was with all the contents up on a mantel shelf in the living room. I had to cry with relief when I found it, because I was so sure that it was gone.

Today is the birthday of Carol's husband, Daryl, and also is my son-in-law. We will be celebrating his birthday, their son's birthday (Daniel), and their granddaughter's birthday (Alyssa). What a wonderful birthday gift I am sure that Daryl considered Daniel to be! Happy birthday, Daryl! We will be celebrating all those birthday's on Tuesday here at my new home. I look forward to having a house full of family. There will be 18 plus me. Wow! How terrific will that be! Carol will be making pizza and we'll have salads and cake and ice cream!

We went to a wedding reception this noon and afternoon at the church for Julia's sister, Laurel, and her new husband, Dan. They had been married a couple of weeks ago in California, and came back here for a short time so that they could be celebrated by the many friends they have here, since Laurel grew up here. It was a lovely sit down luncheon and they had a video of the wedding ceremony and reception out there. It was a lot of fun, and I guess there must have been around 80 people in attendance.

I still have pictures to hang, and other stuff to do this afternoon, so I had better get with it. An update on daughter, Teresa, includes information that she did well on the surgery and is doing okay with the chemo, although she had an allergic reaction to the chemo drugs and had to have a shot of Benedryl to alleviate the itching. Bless her heart. Please continue in your prayers on her behalf. She and all the family appreciate your prayerful supplications.

That's about it for today. Supper and work calling out my name. Ha. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends. Bye for now. More later.

Anybody Seen an Ark Floating Around?

Hey, Y'all,
It started raining (storming, pelting, driving rain) yesterday afternoon. When I saw the rivulets running down the street, it reminded me that I am no longer on a hillside in east Tennessee, but in a town that is flat and where, when you are driving along, you will quite often come to a sign that says, "Do not continue to drive here if there is water covering the road" or some such saying. Well, I was not actually out driving, but looking down my driveway to the street contemplating going out to pick up my mail from the mailbox. Needless to say, I decided to just wait until this morning.

I thought of the rain that used to carry the gravel down my driveway in New Market, before I had the driveway paved. But it still carried the gravel down the neighbor's driveway and made gullies on either side of their driveway. Yesterday was one of those "not do a lot" days, where I remained in my nightgown all day long, and didn't stir out of the house. As I reported on yesterday's blog posting, my grandson, Andrew came over and hooked up the water dispenser to the fridge that I had gotten at a bargain from a lady who was selling her home, and Carol's family went to a lot of trouble storing it and then getting it over here into my house.

Andrew cautioned me to watch for a leak in case the connections were not tight. Well, about a half hour later, I went into the bathroom to put a fresh towel on the rack and noticed some water in the floor near the commode. I thought at first that it could be water that had splashed out from the tub. But, no, it continued to seep out from under the sink cabinet as soon as I mopped it up. "Hmmmm," I thought, "that is strange. Wonder where it is coming from?"

"Oh, no!" I ran into the kitchen and saw immediately that there was water all over the floor and it had run into the dining room a bit. I called Andrew and he came back over immediately. By the time he got here, I had already put down three bath towels to soak up the water. He checked the connections and they were all dry. It turned out that the water was running in a small steady stream from the front dispenser, and down the front of the fridge. All at once I realized why the fridge had been such a "bargain". I had him disconnect it all again, and told him just to forget it. I have lived 77 years without one of those gadgets, and I reckon I can go on without it. I don't really use ice to amount to anything, anyway. I really prefer my water without ice in it, because it tastes better and more natural to me, and it is better in your innards without being cold, too.

Last evening, I was on my computer when all at once, I lost my internet connection. Gasp! OH NO! Well, I tried all sorts of things to get it reconnected, and thought then that I would just go in the living room and have a grilled cheese sandwich and watch some television and try it again later. I worked on some pictures to get ready to hang, and finally, at 9:30 or so, I thought I would try it again. No soap, so I did the internet explorer repair of computer thingie. That didn't work either. I was champing at the bit to get back to my Farmville game to reap the crops, so I thought that I would try my laptop since it is wireless. I hooked it up, and it said I was connected, so I said, 'ah ha' and was really bummed when it wouldn't load the explorer page.

It told me what to do if the internet was not working, about disconnecting the power to the modem and waiting a bit, then reconnecting. Shazam! I remembered the same thing happening back in TN. So I did that, and Voila! It connected with the internet once again on my desktop computer. The storm must have momentarily taken out the internet service, which had to be corrected the way that I did it.

Well, about midnight, I crawled into bed, and was so glad to listen to the rain outside, knowing I was inside cozy and comfortable. Thank you, Lord, for providing for me! I am so grateful.

Well, that is about it for now. I am going to hang a few pictures after while, do some laundry, read some blogs, pray for Teresa (which I have already been doing) as she has the surgery this morning to implant the chemo port in her body, and hope she is able to be resting comfortably this afternoon and tonight. She begins the first of many chemo infusions tomorrow. Please continue to remember her and Tom and son and daughter-in-law, (BJ and Christine) as she goes through this time to come. Thank you. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now.

More Settling in

Hey, Y'all,
If any of you thought I would be lonely out here, think again. Of course, I miss my family and friends back in Tennessee. I would have to be the most shallow of persons not to miss them. If any of you thought I would be unhappy out here, think again. It ain't happenin'. I do get to talk to people out in Tennessee just as I got to talk to people out here before my move. I just moved my immediate sphere of being.

Monday at noon, Carol came and had lunch with me, and it was lovely. She stopped and picked up Chinese for our lunch, of which we both only ate half of our lunches, and she left hers with me in the fridge so she could pick it up before going home from work. (Which she did, of course). I had the second half of mine last night for supper. I can't eat too much salt in one day, and neither can she.

Yesterday, I saw on Facebook that Amy, Matt's wife, was at loose ends and wanted to go to lunch with someone, so I sent her a message that I would be happy to go out to lunch with her, so we went to LePeep's here in Bedford, and we had a delightful time together and came back here to visit for awhile.

In the afternoon, grandson, Andrew, came over and did some chores for me that I didn't have the ability to do for myself, and when he left he had installed a hand= held shower attachment in my bathroom, discovered what he would need to connect the icemaker and water dispenser to my fridge, replaced the panel to the attic that the tevee serviceman left open (out in the garage), and removed a shelf support from my closet that someone had tried unsuccessfully to remove (a stubborn nail that would not be pulled from the wall) and had a piece of freshly made apple pie that I had made on Monday evening. Yum!

He came back this morning after dove hunting, and finished the job on the fridge connection and he also leveled my kitchen range for me. How wonderful to have grandsons that are so talented. I am sure this is because they have worked with their dad, while growing up and doing projects around the house and also their own homes. They are also taking turns mowing my yard, along with their dad and Ben, Emily's fiance and soon to be groom.

Speaking of grandsons, the other day was BJ's birthday, and today is Daniel's birthday, Carol and Daryl's oldest son. BJ was 25, and Daniel is 33. Happy birthday, guys!

BJ's mom, Teresa, is having a port implanted in her chest today to have chemotherapy for the next five months, followed by radiation. Please continue to pray with us as we share our concerns for her, Tom, and BJ, and our faith in what God is doing in her life. We know that He is in charge of all things. Thank you all so very much.

I am in the process of deciding what pictures go where, and when I get them put up, my house will basically be finished with arranging. I am not planning on going anywhere today, so I will be just hangin' around here. Still got things to go through to get ready for the family to choose mementos that belonged to Dub, after I set aside things I intend to send to those back home, and in a few other places.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends, and I look forward to reading some more of the blogs that I have been trying to follow. Thanks to Yvonne of Welcome to My World of Poetry, listed in my blogs of interest, for the award at the top of my blog. She is a constant encourager, and does all her blogs in poetic form. More later. Bye for now.