Just Cogitatin'

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, I know it has been awhile since I last posted, but here I am again. Saturday afternoon, Carol and Daryl came over and mowed the yard for me. Before they got here, one of my next door neighbors was outside working in his yard and we chatted awhile and I told him I would like to have my hedges taken out that are in front of my house. He (Tim) said, "Would you like me to take them out for you?" I said, "sure". He wanted to know if I would like them out then and that he would go ahead and do it for me. So when I said go ahead, he got his truck and backed up into the yard, and he and his wife, Tina, hooked the really strong webbed rope around the base of the shrub, and pulled one of them out, and then they did another and then another till all of those on one side of the front door had been removed. I plan to plant flowers where the hedges were. Now I can really see out the living room windows. Carol and Daryl got here before they were finished with the four hedges that they took out. Carol and Daryl fastened the shrubs into bundles, so that the trash collectors would pick them up on Tuesday. Now that only leaves about three on the other side of the front door. 


Sunday began cool and rainy and the cool has continued on through today. Yesterday, Kristy was not able to come with her boys to visit and have lunch with me, but her husband, Lucas came and brought the three oldest boys and we had homemade chicken pot pie, followed by fruit with whipped topping. After lunch we played chicken foot dominoes, which I taught them how to play. We had a really great time together. 


Today was Bible study day, and it was good as always. I came home and had lunch and then headed out to the doctor's office for my appointment to get reestablished with a doctor that I had been seeing when she was only coming once a week to the Senior Health Center. The health center closed this month, and so I began seeing her in her regular office today.
My blood pressure was 112/68 and that is great! They did bloodwork today too, and the lab tech was really good! She was able to hit the vein with the first stick of the needle, in the vein in the back of my hand. I had to hug her and thank her. She related to me that when she was fifteen and had to have her tonsils out, the technician was so good she didn't even feel the needle stick and decided then and there that she wanted to do that when she grew up, and help people. Isn't that neat?


Now as to the cogitatin' I been doin' - I'm thinking about the A to Z Challenge coming up day after tomorrow for the month of April, and getting excited about it. I'm hoping we will be getting a great response from a lot of bloggers. I know I really enjoyed the challenge of it last year. 


I have a ticket to go to see Phantom of the Opera on Saturday, and I'm excited about that too. Life is good, isn't it?  Daryl has taken Carol out on a date tonight to see "Rigoletto" the opera in Dallas at the theater. I am sitting here, this evening listening to the singers on American Idol. I really enjoy that show. 


I  went to the Texas Roadhouse for supper tonight, and had some steak, salad, and a baked sweet potato. Yum! I am hoping I can sleep tonight. Cool nights really make for some great sleep, you know. It is supposed to be in the 80's by Saturday. I reckon I may hit Walmart in the morning for a little while. 


That's about it for tonight. I have been doing quite a bit of communicating with Teresa on Skype, and it is wonderful to be able so see her and talk with her. It does my heart good to see her doing so well. I feel like I have both my girls close to me now. 


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

Birthday Party

Hey, Y'all,
Well, on Thursday evening, we went to the home of my grandson, Andrew, his wife, Julia, and their two little girls. The older of the two is age 2 and 1/2, and the younger is just turning one. What a really great time we all had there together! Andrew had smoked a brisket, and they had made a large bowl of mashed potatoes, and had hamburger buns to go with the brisket, along with a bowl of barbeque sauce to go on the brisket. Andrew loves to cook and does it quite often. Julia is a lovely hostess and we always have a good time when we go to visit with them. The girls are just too adorable for words. 

There must have been at least 25 people there (including the children - and it seemed there were children everywhere) and it was just so much fun! As you will see from the pictures, the baby had plenty of help opening her presents!

I took a lot of pictures, but unfortunately, some of them were unfocused (don't ask me why, I don't know), so my apologies to those whose pictures I didn't get in today. I hope you enjoy the ones I did think were acceptable to put in. 

Well, that is about it for today from Blabbin' Grammy. I was up early this morning, but am going back for a couple of hours and hope I can catch a few more zzzzzzz's. Carol and Daryl are coming over this morning some time to mow the yard. It is beginning to look like no one lives here. Ha. All the neighbors have mowed their yards and a fellow stopped by here yesterday and gave me his business card for doing yard work. 

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Early Morning Excitement

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I am watching (and have been for a couple of hours) a daring rescue of a driver of a semi-truck which was hanging over a bridge wall, about hundreds of feet from the ground on an interstate 20/35 (near the juncture) going south from Fort Worth. A specially trained rescue team from Ft. Worth fire department was working on the rescue and had to use a crane to lower one of the firemen into the cab. A part of the trailer also has a car trapped between the trailer and the wall of the bridge. All that is keeping the trailer on the bridge is about four of its wheels. They have rescued the driver of the semi, and he was able to walk away. He had been fastened into his trailer with his seat belt. Can you imagine being in a truck cab that is dangling over the edge of a bridge?

The people in the Honda car are still conscious, but it is going to be some time yet before they will be rescued. The firefighters are trying to stabilize the truck before they can complete the rescue. It is amazing to watch and I am so glad that I am here in my own little room and not out there in all that mess. No doubt this will make the national news. I see also that there is another wreck near Denton which is not far from Dallas. If I need excitement here, all I have to do is turn on the news in the morning (when people are going to work) or in the afternoon when they are heading home.  That is enough excitement for me. 


Well, that is all the news that is news this morning. More later. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for right now. Bye for now.
Addendum:  They have now rescued the people from the car (7:30 a.m. add on)

Not Nuthin' In Pertickler

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, I know the title of today's post is not grammatically correct, but it don't matter nohow. Ha.  I'm just feeling like being a little colloquial  today. I reckon today has been pretty good so far. I went to my Bible Study group today at church and enjoyed that. They always have snack food that one of the groups bring for everyone to eat in lieu of breakfast at home.  What I'm actually saying is that there is not a lot to talk about today, but I'm doing my best to say it charmingly. Ha.

After I took the lady (Vicky) who rides home with me to her house and dropped her off, I went to the half-price book store to look for a gift for my youngest great grandchild who turns one year old this week. I found a really neat gift for her, and then left to go head back home. I decided to stop at LePeep's and have lunch. I had a chicken salad on top of greens with all kinds of stuff on the greens. They had topped the greens with half a boiled egg, red and green pepper slices, some red onions. About two bites into the salad, my nose began to itch...yep, they must have used MSG in the salad when they mixed up the chicken salad. 

After I finished my lunch, I went next door to Kroger's to get a birthday card and I saw some little stuffed toys (rabbits) and got one for the one year old, and decided to get one for her older sister who is just two and a half, too. It is really hard for little ones to understand not getting a gift, too. My goodness, i love those little girls!

Well, I came on home and sat down at my 'puter to play my farming game, and it just wasn't cooperation with me, so eventually, I gave up and went into the living room to watch "The Closer" which I had recorded while I was out. I came back in to play some more on my computer and then it was time for supper. I baked some fish and cooked a potato to go with it, and now I am back in here to compose my posting. I am also watching American Idol (another of my favorite shows). Tonight they are singing Motown songs and really rocking. 

Oh, yes, I wanted to tell you all that this month, a new book comes out, written by my oldest grandson, Daniel J. Bennett, and it is called "A Passion for the Fatherless" published by Kregel Publications and is available in ebook form as well as hardback cover. He has also just recently passed his oral examination on his thesis for his doctorate. As you can probably tell, I am so pleased that he is doing so well. I am proud of all my grandchildren, too. 

Tomorrow evening we are celebrating the first birthday of my grandson, Andrew's and wife,Julia's, little one year old daughter at their home along with their two and a half year old daughter. We will have a great time I am sure. Pictures will be forthcoming. 

Well, that is about it for today for me. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you. Please continue to remember Teresa and Ina Ray in your prayers and I thank you. Teresa is continuing with her radiation and Ina Ray begins her chemo tomorrow. Bye for now. More later. 

A Bit of Whimsey

Hey, Y'all,
Today has been a busy one for me...sometimes I don't sleep too well, so I was up at 2 a.m. back to bed at 3 a.m, then back up at 5 a.m. I was at my computer at a little past 5 and then got ready and dressed for church by 8 a.m. and was on my way by 8:15.

I wore one of my outfits that I had bought at the thrift store last week. It looked really good and I had quite a few compliments on it (always makes a body feel good to know they look nice, doesn't it?). After church I went to the Cotton Patch Cafe (had no trouble finding it this Sunday) and had some really tasty catfish and fries and brought half of it home as leftovers.

Since I was wearing heels with my outfit, I decided to do a little shoe shopping, since mine are at least six years old (maybe even older). I went to Famous Shoe Store and found a really pretty and comfortable pair. While I was there, I sat down to try on shoes and they have these fairly large sitting hassocks that several people can sit on at the same time. So the lady that was sitting there was quite friendly and we struck up a pretty good conversation, and we must have talked for nearly an hour till the sales clerk came over and asked if we needed any help and we told her no, that we were just talking. Ha. The lady's name was Andrea and I told her the name of my blog in case she wanted to read it. She moved here from another place about a year ago, and traveled by train to get here. Andrea told me how much she enjoyed that train trip. We had a lovely time and who knows, maybe I will see her again somewhere.

A few weeks ago, I was in The Container Store and found some bathtub nonskid cutouts of whales and octupi...(octopuses?) anyway, I decided it was time to put them in the floor of my bathtub and did so yesterday. I love the whimsical and laughed as I placed them there. Now, I am going to smile every time I set my feet into the tub to shower. Picture above...Hope it makes you grin, too.

Yesterday, Carol called and invited me to supper (vegetable beef soup which was very good) and told me that Ben and Emily had stopped over there before going to a wedding and that I could come over and see them if I wanted to..Well, yes...I wanted to of course. So, I did and enjoyed visiting with them for awhile. Had supper then and came back here.

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

Another Busy Morning

Hey, Y'all,
This morning I was able to begin doing laundry again, because my dryer was fixed. The electrician, Willie, had to put in another cord on my dryer, had to install another outlet and mount it, and also had to replace the breaker in the breaker box so that if the dryer lost power, both the breakers would flip off. He worked for about three hours because he had to make two trips to the Home Depot or Lowe's to get the parts. I was so glad to get that all fixed and he was very reasonable with the charges for his work.

So, this morning, I did three loads of laundry and I have yet to dry one of them, so that I can make my bed before bedtime. After I put the third load in to wash, I left and went to the cardiologist's to pick up the new prescription, then went to Lowe's to pick up some new garden hoses, along with some other things, and then on to eat some late lunch at Freddy's Steakburger place. I am going to make some vegetable beef soup for my supper and there will be plenty left for tomorrow. Some cornbread is going to be baked to go with the soup. YUM!

When I went to the checkout counter at Lowe's to check out my purchases, I remarked that the checker looked like he needed something to do (joking), and he said, very seriously, "I have plenty to do". I told him that I was only joking and that I liked to joke and have fun, but apparently, he did not see the humor in my comments. He never cracked a smile. Oh, well. His loss, I guess.

TO ELAINE in Florida: Hi Elaine, you are doing a great job in leaving comments. It takes them a couple of minutes to appear after they have been made, so please keep leaving them. I always enjoy reading comments from my readers/friends.

The weather here is warming up quite a bit, and I know it will be pretty hot soon. Up to 80's this week and the wind is really gusty today.

I will be going to the Artisan theater again soon to see the production of "Phantom of the Opera" and I am looking forward to seeing it.

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

Eureka!

Hey, Y'all,
This has been a busy day for me....busier than I thought it was going to be..left the house this morning around ten a.m. to go to the Senior Care Center where I used to go to see the doctor. I needed to fill out paperwork to get my records transferred to the doctor's office where I will be going in the future. You see, it is a little complicated (isn't everything in life a little complicated?)...a group of internists had had a contract with the senior care center so that seniors could come to one place and receive medical treatment. The contract ran out last winter, and they were hoping to get connected with another group of doctors at the senior care center but the deal fell through. I had originally opted to stay with the senior center and get established with a new doctor who would be coming there. So now, I will be going to the doctor's office that I got established with at the senior care center. Her office is just down the street from the senior care center. The senior care center is closing down at the end of March.

Now the next part of this complicated story is that I got word from the mail order service that fills my prescriptions, that two of my prescriptions will no longer be paid for by my insurance company, because they are brand names and I must get new written prescriptions for the generic forms of these. Hence, I had to make an appointment with the doctor to write one of them. The other prescription is written by my cardiologist, and after going to the senior care center to fill out the paperwork to get my records transferred to my internist doctor's office. I decided to go ahead and see if I could get the new prescription for the cardiology doctor at his office, so I left the senior care center and went to the cardiologist's office. I found out there that I will have to go back tomorrow afternoon to pick it up.

Upon leaving the cardiologist's, I proceeded towards home and happened to look over to my right where I saw a new building which had the word "Library" over the door. I had been hearing about Bedford building a new public library. Wow! I just pulled in to the parking lot, parked and exited my car. I walked in to a place that just simply made me so happy just looking around. As you may know, I have had an ongoing love affair with books ever since I was old enough to read. It is safe to say that for 70 years I have loved to read. I immediately applied for and received my own library card, and checked out a couple of paperback books. Ah yes, and for the checking out experience....I went to the information desk and asked if I checked out my books there, the lady said, the next desk down is where you check out.

I went down to the next desk, and saw that the checkout was completely automated. I had to ask another patron how to use the checkout machine. Zoweee! Modern technology has really come a long way since the old write your name on the card in the back of the book and get a date stamped on the date due slip action. Well, I left there and headed out and went in the direction away from home and had to find my way back to where I needed to be. I'll try not to do that again. Ha!

Now, another problem has been in my arena, and that is the problem of my clothes dryer. It stopped working last week, and I decided to call a repairman,(named Paul) who came this afternoon and looked at it, and determined that the problem was the outlet where the cord is plugged in. Paul called a friend of his< (Willie), who is an electrician who came a few minutes ago. Willie removed the cord out of the plug, and he just showed me where the cord is fried. I am blessed that it didn't catch on fire. Willie is replacing the cord, and repairing the outlet, where one of the wires was loose and the whole plug had been hanging out of the outlet. It is being fixed by Willie, and he is also replacing the dryer breaker so that when it trips, the whole dryer breaker will trip at the same time.

Well, that is about it for today. Oh yeah, here is a really dandy way to fix a sweet potato. Simply peel and slice it into 1/2 inch thick slices, single layer them on aluminum foil in a pan. Spray the foil with oil spray, layer the potato slices on it, then spray the potato slices with a little more oil spray, sprinkle extra spicy Mrs. Dash on them and bake at 425 for about 25 minutes and then enjoy. Yum! I had some of them for lunch today along with a couple of pieces of fish that I baked in the same pan at the same time (Mrs. Gorton's fish fillets). Made for a really good lunch!

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Oh yes, I have been enjoying using my Skype to talk to Teresa and also to mine and Dubby's niece, Donna and her aunt (Dubby's sister) Bonnie. What fun!

That is about it for today. Bye for now. More later.

Crafting at Jan's

Hey, Y'all,
Yesterday, Carol and I traveled to Jan's and met with Jan, her two daughters Amy and Lindsey, and Emily. We had a marvelous time laughing and talking, decorating paper mache boxes. Jan had already assembled supplies for us to use: scrapbooking paper, scissors, mod podge, felt, and the applicators for using the mod podge. Jan had also prepared a Texas Sheet Cake, which is a thin sheet cake (very deliciously moist, chocolate and covered with chocolate frosting) for our dessert. YUM!

Above are pictures of our results, for your enjoyment. We decided that we will do the crafting again soon. We also got to see Jan's darling grandchildren, along with her husband, Patrick, and son-in-law, Scott (Lindsey's husband). Patrick was preparing supper when we left, and promised to cook for us one of these days. Sounds good to me! I had not had any lunch before we went to Jan's, so I was pleased to eat Pizza for supper with Carol and Daryl.

How do you feel about Daylight Savings Time? I love it, absolutely!!! For one thing, it stays daylight longer in the evenings and affords me the ability to drive home later in the evenings if I am out somewhere. It is nice not to have to hurry home fearing for darkness to come before I can arrive there. As for the waking up when it is still dark (as happens in daylight savings time) it is always dark when I wake up anyway. I am an early riser by nature, so that doesn't bother me. Hooray for Daylight Savings Time!!!

Watching "My Fair Lady" with Rex Harrison right now, and enjoying it tremendously. It has been a long time since I have seen it.

I went to the "Cotton Patch Restaurant" for lunch today after church. I knew about where it was, but when I drove past where I thought it was, I couldn't see the sign on the building (on an access road) and so, had to drive around again close to the place where I thought it was. Before I got to the access road (which only goes in one direction, you understand) I turned in at the Tom Thumb grocery near the access road, and asked a lady who was putting groceries in her car where the restaurant was, she told me I was really close to it, and pointed me into its direction, and it was in the same parking area as the grocery. So, I found it and had a really good lunch of very tender chicken tenders, green beans, and fried okra. I had enough tenders and okra left over to bring home with me and have tomorrow for lunch.

I have been delighted to be talking to my daughter, Teresa, on Skype this weekend. It is wonderful to be able to see her again, almost like reaching out to touch her. Her hair is beginning to grow in again, and she has been back at work for going on three weeks, and is taking radiation therapy. I feel so blessed to be able to speak to her "in person" and see how well she is doing.

Please continue to remember her in your prayers, as she continues her treatment, also, pray for my friend, Ina Ray, who has recently had surgery to remove her breasts in preparation for chemotherapy for cancer. Her marriage is on hold for awhile, I think, while she is undergoing therapy. She has a long road to recovery ahead of her.

Well, that is about it for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Tickin' Along

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, there's not a lot going on around here, but I am sure I saw some dogwoods blooming as I was on my way to Ladies' Bible Study yesterday...if they weren't dogwoods, they must have been in the same family or genera...but they were beautiful and reminded me of spring in East Tennessee.

I thought the other morning that I could say I am sleeping better at night, but last night would have made me out a liar, because it wasn't a good one. I am trying leaving off my tevee when I go to bed and I do go to sleep right away, but when three and a half or four hours have passed, so has my sleep. I get up and compute for a while and then back to bed and sleep a couple of more hours.

Sunday afternoon, I went to the home of one of Carol's neighbors. She and Carol were doing a bridal shower for the lovely young lady who is marrying the son of another of Carol's neighbors. It is a very good neighborhood and a lot of really long lasting friendships have developed among them. It was a really sweet shower and we all had a wonderful time. It was a Pampered Chef party and we could order from a wish list of the bride. The items she had listed were very reasonably priced.

Monday and Tuesday, I stayed in and just kind of did my own thing, not worrying about any thing. Of course, I did make some pizza sauce to use on a pizza I made yesterday for my friend, Kristy, and her four boys, who came to spend some time with me. Also on Tuesday evening, I prepared an egg/sausage casserole which I took yesterday morning to our Wednesday Bible Study in the book of James. It has been a wonderful study and it will soon be over.

Next week is Spring break for all the schools in the area, and a lot of people are heading out in different directions with the kids for a spring vacation.

I am making a pizza today for the lady that I take with me to Bible Study on Wednesday mornings. She had surgery on her right hand two weeks ago, and of course, being right handed, it is difficult for her to do food preparation of any kind. So I am taking supper to her and her husband today.

Now, I need to go have some left over egg/sausage casserole from yesterday. There were a few spoonfuls left, so of course, I can't throw out good food, and that is what I am having for breakfast (it is nearing 10 a.m. so I guess you could call it brunch. ha.).

I am looking forward to going to Jan's home (Amy's mom - Amy is my granddaughter as in married to my grandson, Matt). We are going to do craft type stuff..what fun! I am a very crafty type person. ha.

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

Spring Must be Coming!

Hey, Y'all,
I know that Spring must be on its way. Daylight is coming earlier in the morning, the nights are not as cold, and the daylight is lasting longer in the evenings...and the birds are singing their little hearts out earlier in the mornings. Makes a body feel good, doesn't it?

Monday evening, Carol took me out for a wonderful steak dinner and we had a really great time chowing down on those steaks and baked sweet potatoes.

On Tuesday, I cleaned the floors, and the bathrooms, mostly because they needed it, but also because I was preparing for company that came yesterday. One of the ladies in my Sunday School class came over with her four boys and we had a wonderful time. I had made vegetable beef soup, cornbread, a Bundt cake, and had some fresh strawberries in the fridge, which we shared after the soup and cornbread. Then Kristy and I cleaned the dishes (she mostly, bless her heart).

After lunch, the older boys went outside to play and momma Kristy and I sat in the living room with baby Jeremiah, who is only 9 months old. A little later, the three older boys came in from outside and sat in the floor lining up dominoes and making them fall. What fun! Before I knew it, the time had passed quickly by, and they had to go home. I look forward to having them come back for lunch again soon, hopefully next week.

Today I have done mostly nothing. Ha. I have enjoyed playing my farmville game, and also watching some television. This is one of those lounging days, where the gown and the housecoat stays on all day. No need to get dressed if I am not going out anywhere. I have been looking at the shelves in my workroom thinking about how I want to organize the items on them.

Oh yeah, I am making plans to fly to Knoxville to visit friends and family in May around the time of my 78th birthday. I already have purchased my ticket, and am looking forward to seeing everyone that I can while there.

Next month, I will be taking part in the blogging "A to Z challenge", with Arlee Bird and a couple of other bloggers who will be overseeing the whole organization of the challenge. I am already thinking about what some of my subjects will be. I look forward to it.

Today is Allie Bennett's birthday. She is a really great friend to have and I am her "Mama Ruby". :) Happy Birthday, dear girl! I love you.

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