What to Do While Waiting

 Yes, once again, I am waiting — just biding my time until my surgery appointment on  Wednesday.  Am I nervous — maybe a little — do I still want to do it — oh yeah because I have decided there is no pain like gall bladder pain and I have had two children!  As for right now, I am living my life between doses of Tylenol which is all I can take for pain since I am on blood thinners, and waiting for the Tylenol to kick in.  What am I doing with my time?

I take care of Trixie.  She is a very needy Yorkie.  I mean, it is constant.  I even threatened to put her in her crate for a time out.  I got a scowl from the Hubs so I put myself in time out in my room with the door shut.  That worked well.

Burrito Trixie!

I am reading a book that I mentioned by Erle Stanley Gardner but can’t seem to concentrate on it very well.  So I have taken to watching movies.  I really prefer tv series — British ones are my favorites — but I have just about gotten through most of those with the latest being “William and Mary”.  So, movies it is.

Night before last we watched “Radio Flyer” with Tom Hanks.  It was a great little movie if you took out the abuse part but it wouldn’t have been the same without the abuse part and it wasn’t so graphic so, while it was disturbing, it didn’t really spoil the movie.  I would recommend.

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Then last night we watched “The Magic of Belle Isle” with Morgan Freeman.  I think I had watched at least part of it before but this time I actually sat down and watched the entirety, beginning to end, and it was delightful.  I definitely recommend this one.

Both of these movies were wholesome and engaging.  Now, Hubs likes things like all the James Bond movies and action adventure stuff — I, on the other hand, like human interest pieces.  But, I will say he tolerated both of these well and even chuckled at parts of the Morgan Freeman movie and my husband is not a chuckling person — he doesn’t find humor in anything! Frustrating. 

Anyway, that is what I have been up to this week — don’t know what is on tap for tonight — I guess we will see later.  

Have a great Saturday!

Not Many People Know …

 Most everybody knows that I have children and grandchildren.  What most people don’t know, however, is that I am Nona to a Grandpuppy.  Olive is a standard poodle and she loves me and I love her.  Olive requires several walks a day — not by me — and yesterday she shared a walk with her BFF— The Community Cat.  I don’t know if the cat has a name or where it lives except that it hangs out a lot on my daughters front porch and apparently CC (Community Cat) and Olive are well established friends.  Who knew?

Yesterday evening, chillin’ with Olive and CC.

A Picture to Share

 Awhile back I posted about a childhood friend who had Downs Syndrome and how special she was to me.  I always wished I had had a photo of her and, maybe at one time I might have but we had a house fire back in 1969 and most photos were destroyed so who knows. 

In any event, I was prowling around Ancestry last night and ran across this —

this was taken at a Special Olypics event in 1989.  My friend is the girl on the left with the San Antonio Spurs bag.  She would have been about 38 years old.  She passed about four years later.  However, she must have had a good time at this event because it looks like she really threw herself into the activities!

I wish I had a photo of her sweet face — maybe one will turn up someplace — but for now, meet my friend Scheryl Ann Cicero.

Good morning! New Post NOT About Health!

 It has been a hectic, off kilter few months.  Nothing has been right yet nothing horribly wrong.  Everything that has happened could have been worse.  Actually the worst thing that has happened is that all my routine activities have gone belly up.  All of them — supplies in disarray, plans not kept, patterns misplaced —- I mean, everything is a hot mess.

So, what to do?  Why you start a new book of course.  

A friend has introduced me to an Erle Stanley Gardner series, the Donald Lam Mysteries.  My my dad used to read Gardner so it isn’t foreign to me but I had never read it and thought I would give it a go.  I was reading “The Summer of 69” when I realized I had already read it so I thought I would give this one a go.

I am having a good time with this — definitely very old school — as I read it is like a 1940’s black and white movie playing in my head — I see flannel suits, fedoras and silk stockings with seams.  

I am not far into the book but I do recommend.  It is clean and humorous and takes me back to a simpler time — I can see this being a television series, possible on Thursday night!  I will let you know how it goes as it goes.

And then we have this — 

How in the world did this happen.  Last day of the 9th grade.  In five hours she will be a sophomore.  I can remember her wanting to read so badly that we got her the Bob books and set out to make her biggest dream come true— it took about a day.  I remember those first days of school, the fears the excitement — and now this.  She has had a fabulous freshman year, grades are outstanding, she has impressed teachers and classmates alike, she has been motivated the whole year and never gave up.  Makes me wish I could go back and do MY school years over again, she is an inspiration.

So, blinking back the tears I must carry on with my day and not wallow in the loss of the Beanie but rather celebrate the Caroline she is becoming.

If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another —

 Ok, so got through all the ablations just fine and now my gall bladder has started acting up.  

Now I probably have to have surgery.  

Aggghhhhhh!

Easter 2025

 After a day of stormy weather we had a lovely Easter.  It was celebrated as usual with church, socialization and lunch, the only difference this year is that I didn’t cook lunch.  A friend was telling me what she was making for lunch and I shared “I made reservations”.  I am so funny — fun ——- ny!  Big meals laden with heavy food just aren’t in our lives right now so it was all good.

Church was VERY full — all three services.  It was lovely.  And during our service one of the littles decided to quietly sing through the homily.  It was sweet — she wasn’t disturbing the message and it was just so cute.  Coffee hour ran out of food! I think the folks who plan coffee hour need to realize that our church is growing! And we need more food.  Not a criticism to the folks who do this, they are great and we are grateful for them, just an observation.

And I just wanted to share this with you — 

I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter!

Boo!

 Ok, I am done sitting still.  The procedure was over a month ago and I seem to be back to my old self.

My husband has a new device — a continuous glucose monitor — it is driving me crazy (or HE is driving me crazy) but it is a lot better than sticking his finger three times a day especially since that approach really wasn’t giving us enough information.  Plus, this device beeps if his glucose goes too low which is really good.  It seems that he has been having hypo episodes that we weren’t aware of.  Hypoglycemic episodes are scary, scary things.  So, over all, it is an improvement.

And I think my house is haunted.

Every morning I sit here in the living room alone and I hear a door open and shut — to the upstairs.  I keep thinking it is my husband but it is not.  So, today, I couldn’t find my keys.  I discovered they were gone while we were out running errands.  I took everything out of my purse (I carry a small purse) and there were no keys to be found.  I came home and searched high and low for the keys.  I do have an air tag on them but the battery had died so that was not helpful.  So, I hunted and moved stuff and retraced my steps to no avail.

I then came back to my purse, opened it up and there, on top of everything were the keys.  It was if somebody had just set them in my purse, not like they were down IN the purse.  I asked my husband where he found them and he assured me he didn’t know what I was talking about.  Judging from the confused look on his face I am sure he didn’t know what I was talking about.

SO…….where did the keys come from and how did they wind up in the purse I had emptied and sitting right on top?  

I wonder.  Also, my purse was right by the door I keep hearing opening and closing.

That’s all! Have a nice day!

Checking In

 Hi all! Just checking in.  On Wednesday I had a second cardiac ablation.  All went well and I am doing what I have been told — sit down, be still and be quiet.  So, that is what I am doing! I mind well.  

The procedure was early in the morning I was home at 2 p.m.  I would prefer they keep you overnight but it is supposed to be a minimally invasive procedure and doesn’t warrant an overnight stay.  With the lunch they brought me perhaps it is better after all.

So, I am sitting down, watching lots of youtube videos, doing some reading, just being lazy but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to be a little more active.  I don’t do still very well — especially when TOLD to!

Just thought I would let you know where I have been and what I have been doing.  Such fun.  

Be back later after I am done sitting still, being quiet and being still.

What’s Up for the New Week —

 It is Saturday and it appears we are emerging from the arctic freeze we have been experiencing.  I am sure I have mentioned here that I am not a fan of winter.  Being born and raised in the south did not prepare me for all this northern exposure.  Yes, I realize we are talking about north and south Texas but it may as well be the north and South Pole! The weather in the two regions is so different and one is clearly preferable to the other —and it isn’t here.  Enough said about that because it doesn’t seem that I can change the weather.

But, since the weather is going to perk up I am thinking so will my energy and I am looking forward to getting my routine back in order.  It seems to have taken a wrong turn somewhere — probably between my hibernating naps.

I was doing a wonderful morning routine which  was getting my day off to a great start — there is nothing like a feeling of accomplishiment in the first fifteen minutes of the day — I mean, personal care done, bed made, dressed to the shoes (thanks FlyLady) —it just sets the tone for the day.  It worked better when I was sleeping later and got up about the same time as my husband but I am getting up before the chickens and he is sleeping in so, in an effort to not make noise and awaken him, I have put my morning routine on hold.  However, I am going to tweak that so that I can get back to it.

Hubs and I had a “discussion” about laundry some months ago — I like to do laundry on the daily so it never stacks up.  Modern appliances allow us to do this since you can control the load size with water usage and all that — so I prefer to wash a load in the evening and get it done but Hubs said I was wasting water and electricity.  I disagreed but said even if I was I was getting payback in satisfaction and the calmness of not having laundry piling up.  I quit doing laundry every day.  I am starting again.

The kitchen — sigh — when I broke my arm my husband took over cleaning the kitchen.  He has now decided that it is his kitchen and his job.  I have decided he doesn’t know the meaning of clean the kitchen.  To him that means load the dishwasher with whatever has accumulated in the sink (never mind the odd glass sitting NEXT to the sink)— he apparently doesn’t believe in the concept of loading it as you go through the day.  That is stopping today.  I will unload the DW - as I had been doing before my routine went haywire—and I will load it during the day.  Then, his job has been reduced to pushing the button.  Hahahaha - don’t mean to ruin his good time but….

How are you with little routines?  The little things that you don’t think make a difference but do.  The small activities that make up a day so at the end of the day you can feel like you have done your job and earned your place in the recliner?  I read all sorts of things about decluttering and deep cleaning and such and I still believe the little things are what make the difference.

So, after a couple of errands this morning I am on to do the routine tweaking — I did it for a long time so it shouldn’t be a big deal to get back on board.  Looking so forward to seeing some sun today and some warmer temps — can’t get here quick enough.

Have a great Saturday y’all!  Up and at ‘em!  Oh, and apologies to the Hubs for sounding like I am getting after him —- I love him dearly and have since 1965 but retirement brings on a whole new understanding ..of everything! Haha!

Happy Birthday, Mama

 Today is my mother’s birthday.  She would be 102.  She departed this earth a long time ago, March 13, 1996 to be exact,   It seems like forever since I have seen her and I miss her.  She left too soon, too young, and she has missed so much.  I would like to think she is watching from afar

So, happy birthday, Mama, I hope it is a good one there with Daddy and the rest of the family.  I hope there is cake.

Finally — A Finish

 As I have mentioned before I am not a fan of  book challenges.  I much prefer to leisurely enjoy my books — reading is a relaxing endeavor for me not something to be rushed through just to fulfill a certain goal.  So, because of this change of attitude, I read significantly fewer books in 2024 than in the past and it appears that trend will continue through 2025. How do I know?  

I just finished the first book of 2025 and it is mid-February.  

I started the Little Maudley series in 2024.  It is a series (two books so far) about a small village in the UK named Little Maudley. It is written by Rachel Lucas.  The first book is titled “The Telelphone Box Library”.  Each book chronicles a portion of the lives of the residents, each with a different story and I found them to be very engaging and relatable.  

Not sure what my next read will be — I will be sorting that out this morning  as I picked up several books for free/cheap on Kindle unlimited during one of the specials.  It is amazing how what seemed interesting at the time might not seem so interesting now so I will have to see what is stacked up in my “library”.  I always sort of like to give it a day or two between ending a good book and starting a new one - gives me a chance to digest so to speak.  I will let you know and notice that I have started my 2025 list on the side bar of this blog.

As promised, here is the fourth Valentine card I made for my grandson.  Not sure how I managed to take the photo with the rest and not have it appear on my camera but that is what happened.  So, here is the fourth “masterpiece” with the miserable rub ons.  I have about a dozen pages of them left and am seriously considering just tossing them — hate to do that but not sure if the frustration is worth it.  Hmmm…anyway..

Clearly I am having device issues as this is a photo of the photo on my phone!  I am sure it is operator error but I am just hoping all my devices aren’t deciding to go kaput all at once.  I have been having trouble with all of them — my phone and my iPad — the kindle seems to still be ok (touch wood) but I will not be happy if I have to replace a phone and an iPad at the same time.  But, for today, I seem to be ok.

Let’s talk about youtube.  Over time I have come appreciate the platform and all it has to offer.  I am sure there is some unsavory material on it but since I don’t gravitate towards the unsavory, I have found youtube to be very helpfulin my hobbies — cross stitch, cardmaking and reading.  I have also found many historically interesting videos and always enjoy those.

I follow several bloggers and I find their offerings to be refreshing and informative.  

One that I watch regularly is Benita Larsson.  She has a vlog about minimalism and I love seeing her home in Stockholm, her approach to life and her peacefulness is “catching”.

Another that I watch is Cecelia Blomdahl.  Cecelia lives on Svalbard with her partner and her dog Grimm.  Svalbard is the northern most archipelago closest to the North Pole.  She is delightful, the area looks beautiful and horrible at the same time.  She chronicles her life in this barren community and it is all, oddly, normal!  Check her out sometime.  She has a book.

I also follow Natalie Bowers for card crafting.  I have spoken of her before and I find her videos to be straightforward, easy to understand and lovely to look at.  Very enjoyable expenditure of time.

And last but certainly not least is Nicolas Fairford.  Fairford is a vlogger who focuses on fine living.  His vlogs are so relaxing and lovely.  This is a young man who works hard to develop a lifestyle that he wants to live himself and he wants to share with others.  He has also developed a brand of merchandise that you can purchase if you so desire.  In his current videos he is doing a lot of traveling which interests me because I get to see places that I wouldn’t get to see otherwise.  It makes for a relaxing afternoon with a cuppa — just letting myself enjoy a Scottish country house or a beautiful hotel in Vienna.  Living the fine life vicariously while sitting here in my ordinary life in Texas.

Gotta thank youtube!

So, it is Friday.  I have some errands to run and I have to say I am not looking forward to it in the cold weather but, if we want lunch……you get the picture.

Have a wonderful day, friends, and stay warm!