Almost Finished....

Hey, Y'all,
This morning, I woke up to flurries, again. You know, it doesn't matter how many times I have seen it snowing, it still infuses me with excitement. I don't tire of seeing the flakes falling and turning the ground white. Yes, I know it keeps me indoors, but I can deal with that. The snow melted within a couple of hours after it fell. With a husband who has dementia, it is not difficult to find things to do indoors. He has finally stopped searching for a book that has never existed, except in his mind.

I got up early this morning (as is my habit) and began collecting certificates that he has received in his lifetime for various achievements, and placed them each in plastic sheet protectors, and placed all of them in a notebook with his name on the front of it. The first one was a letter which he had received from the Tennessee Department of Education signed by the then governor, Ned McWherter. The letter was written to him upon his retirement in 1988, thanking him for his years of service to the children he had taught over the years. This was followed by the Certificate of Appreciation signed by the local superintendent of schools. Another sheet protector held a greeting card signed by his fellow teachers.

Also contained in the notebook were certificates acknowledging his service as deacon to the two churches where he was a member in his lifetime. You get the idea, I know. I took the notebook to him after he got up this morning and had his breakfast. He said, "I guess I can quit searching for the book now, can't I?". I said, "Yes, you can if you wish". The notebook of his accomplishments satisfied his wishes to be able to show his accomplishments to anyone who comes to visit us. When I mentioned it this evening to him, he said he appreciated me and his Aunt Lula doing the notebook for him. Apparently he thought it was his Aunt Lula who gave the notebook to him this morning. I told him he was welcome and that we were glad we could do it for him.

On Monday I had made mashed potatoes, and had a whole lot of them left over. I shared them with our neighbors and yesterday, I made enough potato cakes (I added flour, eggs, chopped onions to the potatoes and made them into patties and fried them in olive oil). Today, I made a couple of loaves of bread using a cup of the leftover mashed potatoes in them. Yum! It is really good, hot right out of the oven, with butter and jelly on it. I will have some toasted in the morning with my oatmeal. One loaf I took up to our neighbors while it was still hot, just out of the oven.

I have finished the hand stitching on my grandson's quilt, and will be doing the decorative stitching around the border in the morning, along with doing the laundry and seeing that Gramps gets his shower tomorrow morning. We are planning on going in to Knoxville early on Saturday, and having breakfast with Mae and Imazo, my two sisters-in-law who live there. For those of you who may not know, Mae, age 90, was married to my oldest brother, Bill, who passed away 23 years ago, and Imazo, age 82, was married to my brother, Hugh, who passed away just 13 months ago.

We usually watch a movie when we go in to spend some time with them. I take a dvd and we watch it at either Mae's or Imazo's. I will be picking up Imazo so she can get her hair done and I will leave Gramps at her house while she has it done. We will then go back and pick up him and Mae and the four of us will go have breakfast either at Shoney's or Cracker Barrel. Then we will have our movie viewing probably at Imazo's.

Tonight I watched American Idol as they let two guys and two girls go, so they now have 10 boys and 10 girls who will perform next week. It is always interesting to see them perform, and to see how they are judged by the four judges and also the public. It is also interesting to see how they receive the news when they are let go. I feel so sorry for them, and think how very difficult it must be to stand there and be criticized.

Well, it has been a long day today, and I look forward to bedtime and some rest. I do well when I get 6 hours of sleep. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Thinking of my youngest brother, John, who passed away 14 months ago. He would have been 74 today. Much love to each of you, my friends. Bye for now. More later.