Thursday, October 27, 2011

Soup's On and Medicaid Insurance Letters

Hey, Y'all,
Well, today dawned cooler and is turning even cooler, so I decided (after hearing the weather forecast last night) that I would have vegetable beef soup for my lunch/supper today. So about 7 a.m. I went into the kitchen and took the package of stew beef from the fridge and found the very leanest parts of it (with no white strips in it) and cut them into very tiny pieces. The other pieces I put back into the fridge to go into the garbage bag in the morning to toss out. A waste of good meat, you say? Nah, not when you are trying to watch the amount of fat going into your arteries. 

Anyhoo, I saved about half of the good beef and put it into the freezer for future soup, and the other half I put into the tiny crockpot which was already set on 'High' and added a can of unsalted diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings, a small half bag of frozen soup vegetables, a little bit of water, some Louisiana Hot sauce for "kick" and slapped the lid on the crock pot. YUM! It is simmering, even as I write. 

Yesterday was a quite busy day for me. I went to Wednesday Bible Study at Countryside, then dropped off my rider at her home, went on to Walmart to return unfitting clothing, and then to Kroger's to get groceries. I checked my cellphone, which had been on 'silent' while in Bible Study, and saw that daughter, Carol, had just called. I returned the call and she invited me to eat lunch with her, and of course, I welcomed the opportunity. We met at Mooyah's and had a small burger and fries. I ate about half of mine and left the rest. We had a good time talking while eating and then she went to run errands and I returned to Kroger's to get groceries.

I got home in time to watch a Closer rerun, and put away my groceries. I was a little worn out, so I watched tevee until around 5 p.m. and then went to my church for supper and choir practice. Finally, I arrived back home around 7:30 and decided to sew some more. I did another panel of the quilt I am making, and now just have another seven to do before beginning to put it all together. It is getting really exciting, don't you know?

Today is going to be a "stay in and sew day". It is supposed to rain a little later today and I always look forward to days like this. I don't have to worry about dressing and can just be in my gown and housecoat all day. Yeah...kind of a slob day. 

Before I went into the kitchen to prepare my breakfast, I started a panel of the quilt and will finish it after I get through here with my blog post for today. Oh, yeah, I took a bill down to the mail box this morning to mail, and got yesterday's mail from the box. It is that time of year when older citizens get all the mail trying to convince us to change our Medicare Insurance companies. Here in Texas, we also get a lot of mail trying to persuade us to change our electricity
carriers. It is not like East Tennessee where we have just one carrier available. The electric companies here have been deregulated and can charge whatever they choose according to the increase in usage. I am still getting a lot of mail from the insurance companies addressed to my deceased husband.

Speaking of my post, I reckon maybe I have finished 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. 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Happy Birthday, Whitney!

Hey, Y'all,
Today is Whitney's birthday. Whitney is my granddaughter (by marriage to my grandson, Daniel - but no less my granddaughter) and is dearly loved. Now, I can't tell you how old she is - mostly because I am not sure, but also because you just don't tell a woman's age without her permission. Whitney is a lovely person, a wonderful wife to Daniel, and a great mom to their four children. 

Today, I am going to be sewing some more and not going out anywhere outside.The day stretches before me. I hope I get a lot done today. We shall see. I went to Wally World yesterday, and bought a pair of pants. I tried them on last night. Oh, My Goodness!
I was greatly disappointed. I don't take time to try on clothing when I am shopping. It is much easier to do it at home. 


You may be asking, "What was wrong with them?" Well, I'm telling you that they only came half way up my belly. Thanks to Brittney Spears, one has real difficulty finding pants that fit around the waist. Ever since she sprang onto the stage with her below the belly button style, clothes that look decent have all but disappeared. Just try finding pants that fit comfortably. I have a couple of pair of the pants that almost reach the natural waist. They feel like they are about to slip right off my body. I always have to be pulling them up. So, thank you so very much, Brittney! I will be returning the pants I bought yesterday on tomorrow when I get back from Bible Study.


It is almost noon time and I better stop this for right now and get busy sewing. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Burnt Offering?

Hey, Y'all,
Right about now you are asking, "Burnt Offering? What does she mean by that?" After a good breakfast this morning, I didn't need any food until around 5 p.m. So, about 3:30, I dipped some skinless, boneless, chicken thighs in Italian bread crumbs mixed with  a touch of Parmesan cheese and put them into a foil lined dish and sprayed the foil with oil spray. I put them into the oven along with a sweet potato, and cooked them too long. When I removed the chicken, it looked really quite dead and black. Aha! I thought - a dish fit for a god (little g) because I certainly could not eat it. 

However, the baked sweet potato was perfect and I cooked some frozen stir fry which contained noodles, and had a wonderfully delish supper!

I went out this morning and returned some library books and checked out three more. I also cleaned my kitchen before I left to go out, so it is relatively clean. 

It looks like the Texas Rangers have a real chance to be World Series Champions in baseball this year. They have one more game to play. Both teams have won two games each. We shall see. 

I am applique stitching on Teresa's quilt and going pretty good. I really have no place that I have to go tomorrow or this evening, so I work on it while watching tevee. Last evening,  I had a really great conversation with my friend, Ina Ray, who lives in Knoxville.  We have been friends for more than 20 years and have been through a lot together. We must have chatted for an hour and a half.

Not much else to report right now. Just ordinary stuff going on. Boring, isn't it? ha. ha.

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

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Floor Cleaning Time!

Hey, Y'all,
Well, this morning I decided it was really time to do my floors and if they could talk, I am sure they would have agreed with  me. Soon after I began doing my bedroom floor, Ben and Emily stopped by to do my yardwork. I was glad to see them, as I always am to see any of my family. We talked for awhile and I showed them what I have done on Teresa's quilt. I have two rows of appliqued pieces finished and will be putting it together when I have done the other ten rows. 

They did the yard for me and then we all went over to Carol's and Daryl's (her mom and dad - my daughter and son-in-law) and had lunch. Daryl was planting some flowers to beautify their yard. He is the flower person there and does a dandy job at it. 

I came back here and finished up the floors (or did they finish me? ha). Anyhow, all I lack now is getting the dishes done (not a lot of them and they can wait), and also cleaning my bathrooms. Hopefully, I can get that done before bedtime. I also did some dusting this morning with a Swifter and had to figure out how to put that little gizmo together. Do you dust first or sweep and mop first? An age - old question about which is better to do first is what that is. 

I think my new morning medication is giving me a headache. Oh, well. No more complaining, I promise. I will just deal with it. 

I have quite a bit of dusting I can do in my computer/work/sewing room. When that will happen is anyone's guess. Ha. As you can see, I have a wonderful work ethic: get it done when I get around to it. It will wait till I am ready. It has no choice. Ha ha ha. At least I brought the duster in here, and that is a beginning. Right?

Here are some pics I made of my outdoor flowers. I think they are quite lovely, don't you?

Roses on left side of my garage
Flower bed to left of my front door
Flower bed to right of my front door (it is much prettier this week than this picture shows)
Well, folks, that is it for right now. Tomorrow is church day and I do have a lesson to prepare this evening, so no sewing this evening. I hope to chat with daughter, Teresa, in a little bit. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. More later. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Woe is Me?

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I went to my family doctor's office this morning to donate some more blood for followup testing. She was concerned about my anemia. I have been anemic all my  life as long as I have been having my blood tested. (Sixty years, that is). I think the first time I ever had blood work done was when I discovered I was expecting my oldest daughter, Carol. My body seems to have adjusted to it over the years. 

Following that, I went to have my hair cut in my boyish bob and so that won't have to be done for another eight weeks. I came back home for a few minutes and then headed out to my visit to my cardiologist. While I was there, I had a pacemaker check up, which gave good results. That was about the only good results I heard while I was there. My doctor gave me the bad news that my bad valves are worse than they were a year ago, my heart muscle is thickening, and is doing less than it was a year ago. He gave me two new medications for blood pressure and told me to begin taking a baby aspirin again. He asked me about taking an aspirin everyday and I told him I didn't think I needed to. He laughed and said, "your cardiologist is sitting here telling you that you need to take one and you are telling him,  you don't think you do?" I said, "Well, when you put it like that, I guess I could be wrong." Ha.

Anyway, I left there not feel so upbeat. Oh, well. More was said, but I won't bore you with all the details. Having three brothers who died from heart attacks and their results is not a good family history to have, huh? It reminds me of the "Hee-Haw" song that went: Gloom, despair, misery on me, Deep dark depression, excessive misery, if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all, Gloom, despair and misery on me!"  Ha, just joking folks, I am not down yet. I know that my heart is bound to give out on me one day, so that is no surprise. It is called a-g-i-n-g.


I have been stitching around quilt piece squares (applique stitches) on Teresa's quilt in the evenings while I watch television, and some during the daytime. I hope to chat online with her tomorrow some time. I will be doing some work on it this evening. It won't be long before I will begin putting it together. 


It looks like we may have some rain soon and that would be good. We have been having some cooler temperatures and that is wonderful. 


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


 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Joseph and Doctors

Hey, Y'all,
Well, back in summer of 1994, Dubby and I went on a three week trip across part of this great country of ours. We drove up through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, and a few other states. While we were in Minnesota, we went to a high school production of "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" and enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Last evening, Carol, Daryl and I had supper at a Mexican restaurant and then went with some others from Countryside Bible Church to a production of the same name at the Artisan Theater. It was a wonderful production and we had a great time, applauding and cheering the actors. If you have never seen it, please go to it when you have the opportunity. It is, of course, an Andrew Lloyd Weber creation. 

This morning, I am baking a sausage/egg casserole for our Wednesday morning snack at the Bible Study I am taking part in at Countryside. My rider, Vicki, who goes with me on Wednesday mornings, is having physical therapy on her shoulder. She had rotor cuff repair surgery a couple of weeks ago, so I will be traveling alone.

I got my blood work report back on Monday, and although it wasn't bad, it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be. Nothing serious, girls. Just aging...it happens to all of us. Eating is one of the problems, too. Ha. 

I have a really great family doctor who keeps up on all my stuff and keeps me taking the right things. 

Speaking of doctors, I have to go see my cardiologist on this Friday morning and hear the reports on the stress tests. I will also get my pace maker checked on Friday. My cardiologist is a really good one, too. 

I spent Monday and Tuesday working on Teresa's quilt and have adhered 120 squares to the twelve strips that will compose the top of the quilt. My next step is to applique stitch around each square. Following that will be to begin putting the quilt together. 

This evening will be choir practice at my church, following supper there with other members. I always enjoy sitting and eating with them. We laugh and talk about stuff that is happening or that has happened in the past. I did not go on Monday evening to eat out with some of them because I was not really in the mood for it. Sunday for lunch I ate alone at Schlotsky's and had a small chipotle chicken pizza. I don't do that very often and just felt like it. Then I went to Famous Footwear and bought a new pair of tennies. The ones I had, were a year old and have been worn almost daily for the year. Time for a change, hmmmm?

Well, folks, that is about it for today. The cool air has finally come to north east Texas and it feels good. High today is in the 60's. I get to wear my new jacket that Teresa sent me from Coldwater Creek. They are predicting maybe some frost in the morning. We did get some rain on Monday night and are hoping for some more rain soon. Of course, the weather will warm up towards the last of the week. 

One more thing that is newsworthy... I saw on network news this morning about a private animal reserve in Zanesville, Ohio where the owner who had around 50 some odd exotic animals caged was found murdered and all the cages opened. The authorities have killed about 35 of the animals, and are hunting the others. My bet would be that some wacko who was opposed to having the animals caged (and they are wild animals) killed the owner and turned the animals loose. That would be a good premise for a murder mystery, wouldn't it? 

Well, gotta get off of here and finish getting ready for leaving the house in a few minutes. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Friday, October 14, 2011

EEK...The Water Police!

Hey, Y'all,
I have some more pictures to post this morning. I did not have any additional food last evening, no hot chocolate, either. I haven't done anything of any consequence this morning except to make my apple pancakes for breakfast and enjoy them as I read from one of Patricia Cornwell's latest books, "Port Mortuary". It has been a while since I have read one of her books. I just finished reading "The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingslover. I gave it to the sweet techie that helped me with my stress test so she could read it and either keep it or pass it on to someone else. It is one of those books I bought while in Illinois. 

In Downtown Square
Playing at Kitchen table
Playing Dolls
Ellie likes playing with the green plastic bucket the toy soldiers are kept in.
End of day Family quiet time with Bible Story and prayer
Those are most of the pictures I took while there. This last was not a posed picture. It takes place every evening and I am sure helps everyone stay on an even keel during the days. 

Whitney stays quite busy every day, because along with being a pastor's wife and having those duties, she home-schools their four children. She is a wonder, (and I wonder how she does it), and I love her dearly. They are all very dear to me and I miss them. 

Well, when I took out my trash this morning (I ran out in my nightgown because I didn't want to miss having the trash out in time), I noticed a paper hanging on my front door knob. I looked at it and it apparently had been left early this morning. It was a warning from the water patrol that apparently I had watered my yard on the wrong day. (Who knew I was breaking a watering law?) Not I. Anyhow, we are in a first stage drought and can only water on certain days. I know my yard is watered at around 3 a.m. so that it does the most good. Apparently right now, there are just two particular days that a person can water their yards. I guess they have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch it being watered at 3 a.m. huh? So, it was just a warning. I came in and immediately turned the automatic sprinkling system to off. I don't know how to set the dad-gummed thing, so it will have to be reset by a grandson or my daughter. Oh, well. At least they won't come and fine me $500 a day. That would really hurt, huh?

Well, now to get some of the things done that I intended to do today. Maybe. ha. I just called my family doctor to get the results from my bloodwork I had done almost three weeks ago, and they are going to have to call me back after they check on it. I joked that maybe they were reluctant to call me because maybe I am dying and they don't want to give me the bad news. ha ha. The receptionist laughed like I expected her to. 

You know, I was thinking yesterday while I was watching some of the people at the diagnostic center (I do that a lot - think- I mean) and observing how they have difficulty getting around. Some of them have to use canes and walkers and some have the portable oxygen tanks. Some of them have swollen ankles and have to wear shoes with no back to them. Years ago, they would not still be living. Natural causes would have put them into their graves. Medicine has allowed us to live beyond what would have been the end. Has it improved our quality of life so much? We still die, many times in more suffering than it would have been long ago. Would I want to have a feeding tube in to prolong my life? No, I don't think so. Anyway, this is not the avenue my thinking took yesterday. What I was thinking about is "them" versus "me" and not really putting myself in the category of "those poor people who have a hard time getting around". Yet, I do have some difficulty because of a bad back, but it has been a part of my life almost forever. I am just not to a "walker or cane" stage yet. 

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

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Some Illinois Pictures

Hey, Y'all,
Well, here are the pictures that I took in Illinois. I had such good fun with my family there. I will try to put comments under them. 
Noah and his Smokey Bear
Austin peeking over the couch
Painting Magnets that Grammy brought
They are painting magnets, too
We went down to the town square and did some shopping

Hannah, preparing juice for breakfast. Hannah is a wonderful help to her mom.
Ellie is waiting for breakfast. She helps too.


 Well, those are some of the pictures that I took of the children while we were playing. Now some pictures of the countryside. Some of them have the grands in them.

Yeah, This proves I was really there...ha ha. They are showing me how to use the I-Pad 
                                 Beautiful Mommy Whitney
Well, More pictures tomorrow. We really did have some fun while I was there. Today, I went to the church to do some more work on inventorying the music library, and then came home to wait awhile to go finish my stress test. I do want to make a correction on that. I did not have an isotope injection, rather it was a chemical stressor. Today, I had the isotope. It allowed pictures to be taken by the same machine as yesterday, but I reckon maybe it glowed inside me for the pictures. Anyway, it is over with for this year. Next week, I get to go have my pacemaker checked to make sure my battery is still doing its job. They can also tell if there have been any extra stress episodes since I had it checked six months ago, and they can tell the hour and minute they happened. Isn't that amazing? My technician was very good with the needle in my hand, and I hardly felt it! That is the kind of techie I like to have. 
After I left the Heart and Vascular Building, I stopped at the local library to return "The Help". If you have not yet read that fine piece of fiction, you should. (Or at least, in my humble -probably not really humble- opinion you should).

I had supper a little later at the Colonel's place (KFC) that is, and it was delicious. When I went in, I took almost six dollars in to pay for it. When the lady behind the counter told me how much it was, I lacked about thirteen cents. I told her that I needed to go back out and get the remainder, she said, "That's okay, just forget it".  I guess I must look kind of poor or something. Anyway, I said, "Thank You". I never like to deprive anyone of the feeling of doing good to others. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to help someone, isn't it?

That was just my second meal of the day, because I had a good breakfast this morning, and I will probably have a cup of hot chocolate before bed tonight. I did enjoy the meal  tremendously, though.

I need to do catchup stuff tomorrow, like go through the house and make sure I have all the bills in one place so I can pay them, and make the bed up with clean linens, and sweep the house, and maybe even really straighten it all up. I did get my suitcase unpacked yesterday. Yay! Good for me!

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

 





Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Chemical Stress Test, Anyone?

Hey, Y'all,
Well, here I am back in my own little messy workroom. Today has been a busy one for me - jumped right back into daily life as I know it. I got back here to Bedford around 7:30 last evening from Illinois. It was great fun being there with my family and I wished it could have lasted longer, but one doesn't want to wear out one's welcome...

This morning, I was up with the birds (don't ask me which ones, they have not identified themselves) around 6:20 a.m. and soon was eating a scrambled egg with toast and jelly. Then I took my morning medications and drank lots of water. At about 8:45 I left here to pick up my rider, Vicki, and we proceeded to the Bible Study at Countryside Bible Church (Carol and Daryl's church). At around noon, I dropped Vicki back at her home and returned home myself. 

At around 12:45, I left home and drove to the Heart and Vascular Center which is not far from here and checked in for my chemical stress test. If you have never had one of those, here is what takes place: You can not eat or drink anything after 8 a.m. (Hint: eat breakfast around 7 a.m. and drink lots of water before 8 a.m.)

First they let you sit for a while, so you can think about what is to come, and let your blood pressure elevate. Then you go back to a room where they find a vein to insert a needle (not an easy thing to do on me, but they did a good job - it has to be done in the back of my hand because of my deep veins - I would never succeed in becoming a junkie). Then they attach a bunch of electrodes to your upper body, and then inject an isotope into your vein, and tell you to swing your legs back and forth to make the stuff circulate good. Oh, yeah, they keep a check on your blood pressure the whole time. Now - as for the internal effects of the isotope - you get a quick headache - feel dizzy- and just generally have a weird feeling. After about four minutes, the effects diminish and you feel better. They give you some caffeine to drink, which helps you feel better. They remove the wires and all but three of the little pads they are attached to.

After you do the weird feeling thing, they send you out to wait awhile and then you can have a snack while you wait. I took some tylenol with me today so that I could take care of the headache after the injection. In about 20 minutes or so, you get to go into another room, and they remove the needle in your vein. You lie down on your back on a narrow table and put your hands above your head; they place a wedge under your knees for comfort. You are then moved into an open machine kind of like one of those that a lot of people hate to be in that are claustrophobic. You lie very still and the machine moves slowly around you and takes pictures of your heart. That takes twenty minutes.


Following that, I went back out for a few minutes and then went into another room for an echo cardiogram. This is done with a sonogram machine and the technician holds this sonogram dohickey under neath the breast and you can hear your heart going swish swish swish (blood going through your heart) and then moves it to the diaphragm and does the same thing. It is quite interesting, you know. All the technicians are wonderfully nice and do a great job! Thank you all!


Well,that is what took place from 1:15 to around 3 p.m. today. This afternoon in about forty five minutes I will be going to my church for supper and choir practice. I should be home by 7:45 this evening. That is my Wednesday for this week. Tomorrow, I get to go back to the Heart and Lung center and finish my stress test. Another injection and more pictures will take place at that time.


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

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Hey,Y'all,
Well here I am waiting for time to leave for the airport to return home to Texas. It has been wonderful visit and I am sorry to have the visit to be over. There has been time to spend with all my great grands individually and together. I hope that they will remember me fondly when they think of me. Also, Daniel and Whitney and I have had time to converse together.

Right now I am sitting in Daniel's office as he works and Whitney is with the children in a church related activity. Later, we will be heading to the airport for me to catch my flight. Hopefully, I will be able to (if it flies low enough)Ha ha.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a fast food place called Michael's for lunch. YUM! I had a pizza burger. It was pizza bread topped with meat, sauce, mushrooms, onions, minced green peppers, and melted cheese. I was able to eat only half of it and took the remainder home, and had it for supper. After we had lunch, we went back to the downtown square and went to a quilt store, where I found some notions that my grandson so sweetly purchased for me. :)

They have a very active life with four children and being in the ministry. On Sunday evening they had a small group of people who came for a get together where they had a discussion time.
More on this later. It is almost time for me to close this out.

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

Sunday, October 9, 2011

In Illinois

Hey, Y'all,
Well, here I am in Central Illinois visiting my grandson and his family and having a grand time and trying to do my blog on his laptop. Wow! i had a really good flight here, and my arms didn't get too tired (flying here) because it was only an hour and a half flight. ha.

I thought I had really planned well for my visit, but when I got ready to take my medications on Friday evening, I discovered one type of blood pressure pills that I had missed packing, and realized that the bottle of eye drops I thought I had packed was actually the empty one. Both medications were really important for me to have. So then the problem we faced on Saturday morning was how to get those two medications. The eye drops were important because they are for glaucoma treatment. They keep the inner pressure reduced in my eyeballs. So - what to do?

That thought occupied my mind in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Fortunately, since Daniel is pastor of a fairly large church, he knows several physicians, and called upon them to see if they could perhaps provide a solution to my problem. One of them called in a one month prescription for the eye drops (which was due to be refilled) and the other called in a prescription for one week's worth of the blood pressure medication. I had prescription numbers for both of them with me. Whew! Problem solved. That convinces me more than ever that it is wonderful to know somebody that knows somebody. More than that, I know that God provides answers for us and takes care of us, even when we are not aware. I do know that a lot of prayin' was going up and He does answer prayers!

We have been having a lot of fun since I have been here, too. The whole family came to the airport to pick me up, and I was so very happy to see them! When we got back to the house, Whitney had a great supper ready to put on the table for all of us.

We had supper and then sat around watching a little television and catching up on news. I got some really great snuggles from my great grandchildren. I will have pictures to post when I get back to Texas. So I won't tell too many of the stories while I am here.

I brought some craft things with me, so the four grands and i spent a good part of late Saturday morning (after Daniel and I picked up prescriptions) doing some painting and coloring. Pictures to be posted next week.

Yesterday afternoon, we took a drive to see the Illinois River and the trees whose leaves are changing colors. It was beautiful and reminded me so very much of driving in the Smokies. Then we stopped in the Washington Town square, and visited a few of the small shops located there. It reminds me very much of the small town of Jonesborough, Tennessee which (by the way) is hosting the International Storytelling Festival this weekend, which I had the priviledge of attending for so many years.

This morning, we were happy to attend church this morning and worship the Lord. Daniel was priviledged to baptize two young people and also preached the sermon. I enjoyed both.

Lunch today was delicious, and this afternoon we are watching a movie and relaxing together. it is really neat to see kids snuggled up to parents and having a good time together. 

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. I am going to enjoy the rest of the day with my Daniel, Whitney and the four children, Hannah, Austin, Noah and Ellie!  Yea!

Bye for now. More later.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Preparations

Hey, Y'all,
Well, it is mid week again, and I have been somewhat busy getting ready to visit my grandson and family in Illinois. On Friday, I will arm my alarm system and leave for my visit. My next door neighbor, Cooter Jones, (an old fellow from Alabama who knows how to shoot the eye out of a fly at sixty paces), will also be on alert watching my place, so I have no worries about my home while I am away.

I have my suitcase just about packed and I have been cleaning out my fridge, and getting my kitchen put in order. I have also got the quilt pieces arranged for placing on the quilt strips. Yesterday was laundry day, and it is all put away. I even pressed a few pieces with the iron (almost agin my housekeepin' practices). Didn't want to embarrass my family in Illinois with wrinkled clothes. Ha.

While I was in Walmart this morning doing a little last minute shopping, I was talking to a checkout lady and we were talking about being happy versus not being, regardless of our situations, and it is refreshing to talk to other Christians about the way we meet life. 

I still don't have the results of my bloodwork back from the doctor's office. This morning, I drove to the doctor's office, presuming mistakenly that the report would be back since the blood was drawn ten days ago. Well, duh! It wasn't back and I was informed that they would call me when they had it back. Oh, well, so much for rash assumptions. Ha.

Tonight is supper at the church and then choir practice. Tomorrow I am planning on doing a little more music inventory. I will be reminding Karen to bring her laptop tomorrow to church so that I can actually enter the info into the spread sheet. 

Last evening, I enjoyed going out to supper with Carol. We ate at Cheddar's and I had the braised roast beef with mashed potatoes and carrots. OH my goodness, it was so yummy, and I couldn't really do it justice but I did my best but left at least half of it. I knew if I brought it home, I would probably not eat it, but toss it out. 

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

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Doin's this Past Week, and Happy Birrthday wishes!

Hey, Y'all,
This has been a rather quiet week, but then most of them are. On Monday, I went to see my family doctor for a check-up, and we had a good time chatting. You know, I always enjoy talking to people. She said something that I found to be quite amusing. She is of Chinese descent, but I do not know if she is American born or emigrated from China. She has somewhat of an accent, and we were talking about my being from Tennessee. She said, "You don't have much of an accent." I replied, very seriously, "I have been to college for four years,". Then she said, "Oh, I see, college refined the accent pretty much out, didn't it?"

She must have thought that people from Tennessee talk like hillbillies. I should have done the hillbilly speech for her, and she would have enjoyed hearing it. A teacher who taught with me back in Tennessee was so back country speaking it was embarrassing to see her as a teacher. I think she really spread it on, on purpose. Just to let those teachers who read my blog, it was not one of you all. Her first name was Brenda. 

I did get my pantry cleaned out this week, too. I made a list of the items in it, and discarded the out of date canned goods. I put their contents down the garborator, and put the cans into the trash. I have a pile of stuff on the kitchen counters that needs to go into the trash as well. In the morning, I will tackle that little job. I just recently learned how to do an Excel spread sheet, so I think I will do a spread sheet on the items in the pantry. Ha. 

I worked some more on the music inventory at church this past Thursday, and it is getting much closer to being completed. Wednesday night at the beginning of Choir practice, Karen, the music director started making an announcement to the choir about my work. She said, "I don't want to embarrass her, but I want to brag on Ruby...." I stood up and lifted my arms and twisted around as if to say, "It won't embarrass me!" Ha ha. Of course everyone laughed and clapped, then I sat down. Ha

I had lunch today with some of the regulars who eat lunch together on Sunday after church, and met a couple of people I had not met before. The lady, whose name is Patsy, and her friend, Carlos, who is her assistant, entertained the group with stories about how she learned to run at the age of fifty. Of course, I have known how to run for a long time, just not 5 K and 10 K running like she did. Ha. She, of course, was talking about distance running. I do well to walk where I need to. I could not believe it when someone told me she is 80 years of age. She doesn't look a day over 65. I really enjoyed getting to know Patsy and Carlos. I look forward to more times with them. 


I am hoping to finally get going on Teresa's quilt in the morning. I also have to check on the air in my tires. The little light came on in my dashboard this morning that tells me there is a loss of air in one of them. It is probably the spare tire in the trunk. It is all connected up electronically. I think I will go to Wal-mart in the morning and let them check it. I will have a sausage egg biscuit in the Mickey D's and do a little shopping while I wait. Hmmm. Sounds like a plan to me.


Grandson Matthew came over yesterday and mowed the yard and replaced some sprinkler heads in the yard for me. I also spent some time having fun talking to Teresa via Skype. She is doing well and they are quite busy during the weeks. 


The weather is cooling off now, and that is wonderful! I have three good friends who have birthdays this week. Today is my friend, Judy Rogers', birthday, and Tuesday is her husband, Gene's, birthday. Tomorrow is Tanya Johnson Low's, birthday. It would also have been my Sweetie Pie, Dub's birthday. He would have been 85 years old.  Happy Birthday, Judy, Gene, and Tanya! I love you all!


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