Time To Head For Home

With all the kids coming for dinner, I got the crockpot down to make the chicken to be used for our taco bar.  I also made a corn pudding dish while Kara made a flan.  This meal would make Bidkar happy since he is Hispanic.  He also has to eat gluten free like Morgan so care is needed in food preparation.

Everyone eventually arrived and we had a nice meal and visit and eventually we all ended up watching Halloweentown on the TV.  It was late when they all left.

When Kara's family flew to Colorado to spend a week with us this summer, they were diverted to Albuquerque because of storms.  Southwest gave them four half price vouchers that needed to be booked by the end of October and used by the end of January.  She called to ask for an extension due to her surgery. She was hoping to use them in July when they fly to Seattle for their Alaskan cruise but no dice.  They are transferable so she offered two to Bill's sister who said they couldn't use them and two to us if we wanted to come for Christmas. I checked flights out of Hobby into both Detroit and Flint and came up with a Christmas Eve flight up, and return on Wednesday.  When Ted called, Kara told him and he said if I wanted to come, we would.  What is one more trip in this crazy year of traveling?  I don't relish the traveling to and from part but love being with the kids on Christmas.  Kara eventually gave the other two to a friend who has a daughter away at college who can now fly her home for Thanksgiving and Christmas for half price.  

We went to church at 5:00 and invited Grandma Duda to come with us to dinner since she was alone in church. She readily accepted and met us there.  We went to my favorite Italian restaurant and we had a lovely dinner.  Once home we didn't even turn the TV on, just sat and talked until bedtime.

Sunday morning I packed my bags after I got myself ready.  Then I went to the grocery to get pumpkins to carve and a few things Kara needed.  Morgan carved both of them herself.

In the meantime Bill took Sam and a carload of returnable bottles to school for some project where they are raising money.  I am not sure if it was the NY trip to play Carnegie Hall or his robotics club.  Then Bill took Morgan to church to study to become an altar girl.  Once he picked her back up, we left for the airport.  I had TSA pre-check again so breezed through.  However, I had to retrace my steps back to Concourse B but I had plenty of time.  I love this pre-check thing.  Age does have its benefits at times!  

It was a smooth flight; however, the seat was hard as a rock!  My butt was numb when I stood up!  A friend was also on the plane and we chatted while waiting for our gate checked luggage.  Because we had arrived early, I was at the curb waiting for Ted when he arrived.  We first started to go to Outback for dinner but changed our minds and decided to just go to Culver's for a burger instead.  I ran into a friend there too.  It is always nice to come home.

Ted was going to Beaumont Monday so we got moving to accomplish the things that needed to be done first. He went to the bank to deposit a check and to the grocery to get grapes that I needed to take Tuesday to the Forum Friends Senior lunch.  I unpacked my bag, threw sheets in the washer, remade the bed and then got dressed.  We were heading to the polls to vote when Isabelle called to ask if she could clean at 4:00 and I told her yes.  Voting didn't take too long.  It took awhile to find a place to park though!  Then we had to go back to the bank to get cash for Isabelle so on the way Ted gassed up my car and had it washed.

Ted left and I went through the mail, balanced my checkbook, arranged to pick up Judy in the morning and stayed out of Isabelle's way.  I watched DWTS in the evening and called it a day.

And A Wedding Is On

I was up bright and early at 6:15 to wake Sam.  He gets right up and gets ready.  No arguing or coming back several times to get him out of bed.  I go downstairs, prepare breakfast, pack lunches and send him on his way. Morgan gets herself up at 7:25, comes down, eats then goes back upstairs to get ready.  They are both so easy to deal with in the morning.

I did my morning chores (emptying the dishwasher and making beds).  Then I got ready to meet Kelly, Cassie, Ally and their other grandma at the Wedding Shoppe.  Poor Cassie came in a wheelchair.  She has rheumatoid arthritis and is having a particularly bad flare up at the moment.  Ally showed the sales lady photos of dresses she liked and described in detail what she did and didn't want.  We all sat in a semi circle around the mirrored area while she tried on dress after dress.  I was surprised that she actually chose a dress today.  It was the one I liked best but I didn't say much because she needs to please herself, no one else.  It is simple, yet elegant.  The dress is just her.  Not sexy, not flashy, not overwhelming.  She is only a size zero or two so they had to use clips to bunch up the dresses in the back to make them fit her.  She had her binder with her where she is keeping all her paperwork.  The salon gave her a bag with their logo and a bottle of wine.  She was so tickled.  I have to admit I teared up.  I wondered if we would ever live long enough to see great grandchildren but the possibility certainly looms closer than I ever imagined.

Cassie's friend Cameron came by the salon to pick her up and take her swimming.  He is a friend to both her and Kyle and takes her to either his swimming pool or the indoor community center swimming pool on Tuesdays.  That is the best exercise she can do.  I think they have lunch also.

That left the four of us to have lunch together.  We talked about Ally's graduation date, a shower date and our travel plans.  The commencement ceremony is at 9 am on the last Friday in April.  Kelly said there is a different group every hour so it goes quickly and they are not planning any party, probably just breakfast out due to the early hour.  She suggested we skip that, plan the shower for when we will be up here in July or August.  Then we will take the RV home and fly back up the end of September for the wedding.  Apparently I need a peach, apricot, or salmon colored dress but I don't know if it should be short or long.  Lou paid for lunch since she said Ted and I are always taking her out when we are here.  

When I left them I went to pick up Sam from school.  He stayed late for a session with help in math and science.  On the way home he explained to me the difference between cohesion and adhesion.  So now I know!

We ate most of the leftovers for dinner.  Kathy had stopped by with a huge pan of Mac and cheese which rounded out our meal.  We watched TV, cutting away to the ballgame occasionally.  The Indians were ahead 3-0 last I looked before heading to bed.  Ted had called and said the actuator in my car was repaired so no more clacking when I start it up.  

The kids had a half day so no packing lunches in the morning.  I emptied the dishwasher and then fell back to sleep on the couch.  The fellows came to blow out the sprinkler system, something we haven't needed to do for 20 years.  The kids came home by noon and went upstairs to do their homework.  Morgan came down and I helped her make a pumpkin pie and I did a load of laundry.  It was a pretty lazy day.

Thursday Kara ventured to the grocery with me.  I pushed the cart and loaded and unloaded the bags so she didn't have to.  I made a tomato/cucumber/onion salad for dinner and had Bill pick up a rotisserie chicken on his way home.  We made buckeye candies for Friday night when we are having the other kids over.

By 7 a.m. Friday I had Sam off to school, the dishwasher empty, and a load of laundry going.  Once Morgan left a little before 8:00 I went upstairs, cleaned the bathroom the kids and I use, made the beds and got myself ready.  I wanted to go shopping at Kohl's to buy a couple's present for Ally and Bidkar for Christmas.  Leaving presents here wrapped and ready to go just makes sense.  Since he has a small apartment I don't know what he has so I went with two bath towel sets, four dish towels and dishcloths and a set of glasses.  Ally will also get her gift check and a separate check for P&G stock.  I forced all four grandchildren to invest in that stock by making a separate check each year to P&G Shareholder Services.  They couldn't do anything else with it.  Of course now with cars, college and weddings on the horizon for them all, those accounts are looking good.  I set them up with Dividend Reinvestment so they have grown beyond my yearly contribution.  I think the older ones had one split early on.  Procter & Gamble was a wonderful company to work for.

The Procter & Gamble Company (PG)

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When I came home I wrapped the gifts so now I have 7 of the 10 gifts needed all wrapped and ready, stored in Kara's guest closet.

Like Coming Home

We lived in this area of Michigan for 16 years, moving here from Cincinnati in 1981. The girls all graduated from Troy Athens High school but all went to different schools afterwards - Rochester College, Oakland University and Bowling Green of Ohio. The two older ones married young men from here while Kristin moved to Florida with us.  When we moved to Texas she stayed behind, eventually marrying a man from Winter Springs, FL.  

And even though we have been gone 20 years, I walked into our old church and was welcomed by many old friends.  When I went to the tea that afternoon, there was a huge group of women who greeted and hugged me and seemed so genuinely pleased to see me.  They all remembered we were in Texas now but no one believed we left Michigan 20 years ago.

I was so happy to honor my two friends, Betty and Jane, who were being feted for all their work in the parish.  They joined before the church was a parish, they met in the Methodist church* and worked on the committee to request becoming a parish.  Their families, peers and Father Norm all had fine words to say about them.  My biggest surprise was to learn their ages.  The lady on the left is Jane, mother of six, and is 79 and Betty on the right, mother of 9, is 89!  She is as trim, spry and beautiful as ever.  We golfed in the Chicken Open together with Ted's golf group for many years.

These are my table mates.  I knew them all but one.  The sad thing is four of the five I knew have lost their husbands.  The glad part was when the photographer asked "you two young ladies" (Diane and I) to go stand on the opposite side of the table for a group photo! 

I had a delightful time and was so glad I was here this weekend to attend.

*The Methodist church the parish met in was eventually sold to the Troy Historical Village.  In 2005 Ted's cousin, Rev. Terry Keehan, flew in from Chicago and celebrated Mass for our 40th anniversary.  I believe about 75 were in attendance.  In 2014, my middle daughter was married in this church too.  

I returned home and fixed dinner for the family but ate very little because of the tea sandwiches and desserts I ate!

On Monday 6:15 rolled around very early.  I did breakfast, lunches, pills for fall allergies, etc. and sent the kids off.  I unloaded the dishwasher and did two loads of laundry.  Kara was able to get a shower and wash her hair on her own but paid for it the rest of the day.  I took Sam to an appointment at 3:30 and came back to start dinner.

Kristin's husband, Larry, had his thyroid removed today.  It was diagnosed as cancerous back in September.  The prognosis is excellent but he too could not go to the bathroom and finally was catherized and sent home with meds in case it continued.  She said he was being a PITA as a patient. Needless to say, my mind has been all over the place this weekend.

Today I am meeting my granddaughter, my daughter and her mother-in-law at The Wedding Shoppe to look at bridal gowns.  I am unaware of any plan dates  but there must be some coming down the road sooner than I expected!  I suppose they will fill me in today.

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” —When Harry Met Sally

Off I Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder

Ted dropped me off at the airport and since I had my TSA Pre-Check boarding pass and no checked luggage, I headed right to security.  No problem there and I was at the gate with plenty of time to spare.  We had a different, bigger plane than had been displayed when I chose my seat so even though we left a half hour late, we arrived 15 minutes early.  It was a l-o-n-g haul down Concourse B to the tunnel connecting to Concourse A, then out to the ticketing area and up an escalator to meet Gus and Melissa who were picking me up.  I felt like I walked from Toledo!

We were going to dinner and I paid no attention to where we headed.  Eventually we were at 12 Oaks Mall and heading to Carraba's.  When we were taken to our table, Tony and Mary were there to greet us!  I worked with both Gus and Tony 20 years ago in Detroit.  While I see Gus frequently, this is the first time I had seen Tony.  Other good friends, Bill and Lorie, were unable to come but hopefully I will see them sometime over the next two weeks.

It was about 8:00 when they dropped me off at Kara's.  They were all glad to see the nurse, chauffeur and cook arrive.  The kids don't really need me to look after them but someone needs to be at the helm to keep the household running smoothly.  I went to bed pretty early and got to sleep with the window open, something we don't do in Texas very often.

I didn't have much to do on Wednesday.  The house had been cleaned, the laundry done and the dishwasher emptied.  I went downstairs when I woke up and found no one!  After awhile Kara returned in her bathrobe.  The school bus never came so she drove Morgan and Brynn to school.  Morgan texted later that the bus arrived 10 minutes after classes started.  We never did learn what the problem was.

Kara was on the phone all morning tying up as many loose ends as she could before her leave starts.  I just stayed out of her way.  She had a meeting downtown and eventually left about noon.  I made the kids' beds and mine and got dressed myself.  By 2:15 they started returning.  I took the kids to Red Robin for dinner and then dropped Sam off at school  for Robotics and Morgan and I went home.  Kara and Bill had gone on to Conferences for Morgan, picked up Sam and then went to the grocery.  I offered to do either thing but I think they wanted to spend some time together.  The kids and I just stayed home.  Thursday was going to be an early morning for all.

I got up at 6:00 on Thursday and the kids' things had all been put out.  I didn't need to do anything but be sure they were up and out the door on time.  Kelly came over around noon and Morgan came home because she had just half a day.  At 2:45 I had to leave and pick up Sam.  Kara's surgery went well but she was unable to go to the bathroom so she didn't get home until about 7 o'clock.  She was so terribly pale and worn out from the awful drive from downtown.  I had made dinner for everyone and it wasn't too long that everyone was heading to bed.

I was up again at 6 on Friday but this time I had to make breakfast, dispense meds, pack lunches and get them out the door in a timely fashion.  Kara was looking better and getting around a bit better.  She still needs help in and out of the chair and bed.  Bill has been doing that for her.  The kids went to their father's from school so I fixed dinner for just the three of us and we watched TV for the evening.

Saturday I slept late.  The kids were still gone so I just stayed upstairs so Bill and Kara had time alone.  When the kids came home, I made dinner again and we watched some football and other TV.  Kara sleeps a lot due to the pain pills so Bill and I just do what needs to be done without disturbing her.  She is feeling some better but is still very sore.  Getting up and down is painful.

Tomorrow I will get out to church and a tea for two ladies at church that I have known since 1981.  I am looking forward to it!

Less Than A Week to Flight Time

Wednesday I accomplished all l set out to do except for buying birthday cards for the other three neighbor ladies celebrating October birthdays and stopping by the bank to get money for Isabelle.  I was at Sam's signing for my flu shot when my phone rang.  My friend Irene was feeling poorly and wanted me to take her place at Shanghai.  She runs this group and her husband was in town so he had all the stuff that would be needed.  This group of 35-40 meets in a restaurant with dinner served in the middle of play.

I was pretty tired but she sounded so miserable I hurried home, ran a comb through my hair, put on a bit of lipstick, thanked Ted who now had to eat alone and took off.  John was there setting everything up.  The night went well, I won at my table, John bought my dinner and Ted taped Survivor for me.  Ted said he tried a new restaurant in our strip mall and said it was pretty good.  He is a keeper!

I went to the neighborhood luncheon on Thursday where Jeanette brought candy and cupcakes for us all.  I received a stack of birthday cards and a gift from Nancy, our mail lady.  She was wearing the necklace I bought her in Sedona with a turquoise blouse and it looked very nice.  Peggy who has finished cancer treatment was there for the first time in a long time.  She has developed "drop foot" from the chemo treatments and is wearing braces and using a walker.  She is one of the younger ones and it breaks my heart.  I also met our new neighbor, Dana.  Gail is still recovering from her cancer surgery. I have been asked to take dinner to them on Saturday.

Isabelle came while I was gone.  Ted went to the bank to get cash to pay her.  I used 3 birthday cards I had at home for the ladies at lunch since I didn't get to buy specific ones for each lady.  And then I came home to a clean house and an open weekend!  Time to start thinking about what to pack.

I packed my bags on Friday but didn't do much else.  Ted bought everything I needed to make dinner for Gail and Wilson on Saturday.  I made Italian tortellini soup, Caesar salad, French bread and pumpkin squares.  I made enough for us to have some on Sunday.  We took their dinner down as we left for church.  Afterwards we went to Cracker Barrel to use the gift card we won at the fund raiser.  We have one envelope filled with gift cards but get behind in using them!

Sunday turned into laundry day.  Ted may have to do some in my absence but he knows how.  He had to learn when he traveled constantly.  His travel schedule and my work/laundry schedule didn't always mesh.  I had "a husband, a house, a mortgage, 3 babies" (from "Sadie, Sadie" - Funny Girl) and a full time job.  Laundry was done daily but only one load a day first thing in the morning until Saturday.  It worked.  We went to Walmart in the afternoon for a few groceries to carry him over for awhile.  I am sure he will eat out some too.

Monday was bunco at Kathryn's.  We had six subs and six regulars.  I think that is an all time high.  Two regulars were traveling, two had medical reasons, one had out of town company and one was settling her folks in an independent living place here in Texas.  Everyone is busy.  We all enjoyed meeting the new ladies and will see them off and on over the next year.  Some may eventually join us as regular spots open up.

I leave today for Michigan.  The thought of being away from Ted for 12 days is unpleasant but it is important I be there for Kara and her family.  He has lots to do in my absence.  I hope he gets it all done!

One Week Until Back to the Airport

Thursday we waited for our company to arrive. At the last minute they called to say they were going to stay at his sister's.  I guess people were coming and going so there was a room open for them.  It was better for them to be with family as much as possible I thought.  I put the towels back in the linen closet and we ate our dinner and now we have some leftovers.

Friday we had tickets for our community theater.  We met Gerre and Barry for dinner and exchanged gifts (her birthday is the day before mine).  They bought our dinner for watching Tucker which wasn't necessary but they insisted!  The play 39 Steps was different to say the least!  I googled it the next day and wished I had done that before we saw it.  It is a very old, storied play written to be played by only four actors.  So now we understand it a bit too late.

Saturday we were mostly glued to our TV watching the weather.  We have family and friends from Boca Raton FL clear to Virginia so we had a vested interest in every step of the path of Matthew.  Everyone has reported in as being safe and so far we have only learned of minimal damage done to anyone's home.  Many others have had lots of damage and we certainly feel for them but thank God for the good news we received.

We went to church and afterwards left to play cards.  Ted won at his table and also had a Shanghai.  I missed second place by 1 point at my table!  It was very late when we arrived home.

Ted met his buddies on Sunday morning as usual to shoot skeet.  He learned Steve, a regular who went to San Antonio to the Nationals, won in his class.  He received a belt buckle like Ted's but also won a shotgun, just like mine, in celebration of Remington's 200th anniversary.   Congratulations to Steve!  

After Ted came home we left to see Tommy and Susan who are at the close-by campground  for the month of October.  They insisted we come for dinner.  We had a good visit and didn't get home until after 8:00. We had to stop to get chips, pretzels and sugar free lemonade for a funeral luncheon at church on Monday.  I couldn't find the lemonade (for diabetics attending the funeral) so I bought a gallon of distilled water and Crystal Light and made my own!  I taped the empty packet to the front of the bottle so they would know what it was.

I forgot to mention that I sent a $100 check to my nephew to spend at a fundraiser for a 5 year old boy with brain cancer.  Imagine my surprise when he said I won gift cards from Cracker Barrel, Outback, Longhorn, O'Charley's and Chik Fil A, about $70 in all.  There was a T-shirt, drink cozies and a bottle of wine too.  I never win anything!  I told him to send the Cracker Barrel, Chik Fil A and Outback cards and keep the rest of the things for himself.  I was so tickled to win!  I have prayed for this youngster for a long while now and he is able to go to regular school for kindergarten this year.  Such good news.

Ted delivered the food items to church for me on Monday morning before he left for Beaumont.  Monday afternoon I played Canasta with my ladies' group.  We had two tables and once again I came in the middle with my score.  We switch partners after each game so you just never know how you are doing.  It all gets added up at the end.  We play for $1 so no one worries about the outcome.

Tuesday I made another gallon of sugar free lemonade for a second funeral in as many days then went over to church at 10:30 to help set up.  When we finished serving about 150 people I helped clean up and took 11 tablecloths home to launder.  I need to get them back quickly because they are in constant use.  Ted had returned from Beaumont and met Dick for lunch.  They were the only two men available for their monthly luncheon.  Our ladies one is Thursday.

I am down to a few days until I fly north and have to be thinking about my luggage.  We are still wearing summer stuff and I don't think that will work up there until the end of October.

Today is my one year check up since hip surgery, get a flu shot, take the 11 clean tablecloths back to church and hit the nail salon.  Tomorrow is the neighborhood lunch and Isabelle will clean.  I need to check my calendar for the weekend.  I think it is a quiet one!

One of the nice things about being busy is it makes you focus on what's important to you and how you use your time. ~ Lorne Michaels 

 

 

Happy Birthday to Me on Tuesday!

Saturday was a quiet day.  Ted worked a shoot for a pre-school for hearing impaired children.  He has so many organization T-shirts from all these charity shoots.  I need to go through his drawer again but he isn't into getting rid of any of them!

In his absence I worked on my three planters that needed redoing, two in the courtyard and one in our bathroom.  Then I looked into my sister-in-law's tax return because she received a letter from the IRS.  I took a look, asked a few questions of her daughter-in-law who prepared them and I knew what was wrong.  I told her to file an amended return and she asked if I would do it.  So next week I will have that on my to do list.  It won't take long.

We went to church and then to Landry's Seafood restaurant to celebrate our birthdays.  We try to go between the two dates that are just one week apart.  We ran into neighbors Wilson and Gail who had just finished eating.  They came to sit and visit while we waited for our food.  Ted had shrimp and fish while I had pan grilled mahi mahi.  It was really good and Ted's came with dessert.  He chose bread pudding and I took two bites.  We went home to watch ... Football!

Ted went shooting early Sunday while I did my morning things.  Irene called and asked if she and John could stop by around 2:00.  Ted was home by then.  She brought me a birthday gift that she felt was just perfect!  And it was.  A beautiful glass shell/bowl.

It is beautiful and the colors are just right!  She has excellent taste and decorating skills so I always appreciate her input.

When they left we went out to buy a deck plant and a new umbrella.  The sun just plays havoc with the extreme sun all summer.  I made a pot of tortellini chicken soup for dinner and we ... watched football!  At least Ted did.

Monday evening Terry and Carol took us to a family owned Italian restaurant for our birthdays.  It was a perfect evening and we enjoyed the meal, time together and our gifts.

Tuesday was my birthday and I was up at 7 to be at Good Shepherd Episcopal church for the senior outing.  Now I am a senior and have been for years, but I don't "attend," I work.  I had to make a German chocolate cake to take and I took 4 bingo prizes.  My table of 9 came dressed for the Octoberfest theme. 

After bingo, The Old Geezers Trio had them up dancing in the aisles.  The other ladies and I even got in on The Twist.  Such a fun day.  

Lunch was "wurst mit senf" (sausage with mustard), hot German potato salad, coleslaw and our German chocolate cakes.  

From there I stopped at Hobby Lobby to pick up basket cellophane and then went to a meeting at the Forum office to put our 35th Anniversary gift basket together.  It took forever because there were too many opinions plus two attempts at wrapping the darn thing, first in shrink wrap and then in cellophane.  The jury is still out on the last attempt!

It was 4:45 by the time I came home and I was pooped.  After a rest we went to Chik Fil A for a quick dinner, using the gift cards that John gave Ted.  We came home so I could open my stack of cards.  I so appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness in making my day great.  I talked to all three girls in the evening.

Wednesday we picked up the RV with all the repairs finished.  Our extended warranty paid $1100 of our $1600 bill.  The hydraulic pump and labor was about 2/3s of that total.  While we had it out we took it to be inspected.  All was fine except our VIN did not match the insurance paper.  Our Mobile Suite and TX registration matched so I have no idea where the disconnect happened.  I called and with no problems had the correct VIN put in and new papers emailed to me.  We put the trailer away and it should be ready to go in December.

We received a call from our Memphis friends.  Their brother-in-law who lives in our town has died and they asked to stay with us while in town, so they will arrive on Thursday.  I don't know how long they will be with us since no arrangements had been made when I talked to them.

I received the envelope containing what my SIL received from the IRS.  The Schedule D was missing.  I prepared one including the worksheets used to prepare it, a letter of explanation, put it back in an envelope off to Louisiana.and mailed it later in the day.  She just needs to sign the letter, make copies and mail it.  I am sure another one for 2015 won't be far behind.

I have so many irons in the fire because I have to do double duty to be gone as much as we are.  Sometimes I think I should back off some but I praised God on Tuesday for my continued good health, the ability to be relevant in so many people's lives and thanked him for the means to continue to be there for others.

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.