It is still the 5th of December although all but the last hour and a half of it has already been spent. It is 10:30 pm and I’m doing what I often do, just sitting here listening to music on You Tube for an hour plus before I go to bed. I have a “favorites” list created that I often listen to that are Gaithersburg Homecoming Videos, but I also bring up The Collingsworth Family or The Baltimore Tabernacle Choir. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across The Dallas First Baptist Choir and Orchestra. They have an amazing choir and orchestra. They perform like they were the standard “Praise and Worship” group starting the service except there are probably 150 members to the choir and maybe 65 members to the orchestra. My friend Art tells me that First Baptist Dallas was the largest Baptist church in Texas. I don’t know if that is still true but the sanctuary is large and filled. And I sometimes listen to the Pastor’s messages. He’s does excellent sermons. Of course, they probably have ten pastors; mega-churches generally do. Anyway, if you like to listen to Gospel music and choir music, I would highly recommend any of these groups to you. I find listening to my music before I head off to bed serves as my evening devotional and relaxes me. 

Had a busy day today. I had to take Kate for an appointment this morning and we got home around noon. Yesterday afternoon I picked up some donuts from the Windmill Bakery so when we got home from her appointment we had  some coffee and donuts. Then I gathered the laundry together so I could do it yet today. Then we decided that the weather was nice enough that we would go decorate the family graves. Kate had bought the stuff earlier in the fall so we went out and decorated her folks, her grandparents, my brother-in-laws graves at one cemetery and went out to our church and decorated my parents graves. That done, we came home and I did the laundry. 

Kate is doing some better and getting around a little better. The Tramadol is really helping to manage the pain and she is getting some sleep. She still needs the walker to get around. I hope when she has the MRI they can determine the cause for all of that and we can get a fix. It may just become something that she will have to adjust to and learn to live with. I would hate that for her. 

That’s it for tonight. I pray you will have a blessed weekend. Walk with Christ my friends. Peace. 

 Thursday evening on another cold, cold day. If you are sitting where is warm outside —- I’m sending you raspberries!!! It would be hard to find a warm spot anywhere in the country this week. I have the evening weather news on right now and the forecaster is predicting some “warmer weather” but I would break out the swim suits just yet. I know it is the 4th of December and it is supposed to be cold but dang, let’s give it a rest okay????

Today was “an outing day” for Ms. Kate. We both had dental appointments and then she had to go to the clinic for bloodwork for two different doctors. So while we were out being wild, we went to Wendy’s drive through for lunch. We old people are just a riot aren’t we. 

Kate’s dental appointments went very well and she was really glad to be able to keep it. She had missed her last one because of illness so she was determined to make this one. She said the dental chair certainly wasn’t comfortable for her but Ashlyn, her hygienist was very patient with her and allowed her to sit up and move around when she needed to. Ashlyn has been my technician in the past and she is very good. 

My visit, on the other hand did not go as well. The hygienist had to do “the pointer test”. That’s where they take this little gauge thing and poke along your gums to determine the condition of your gums and jaw bones. Unfortunately mine have deteriorated over the years and I have to go in for a series of “deep cleanings. They will numb me up to do the process. They divide the mouth into four areas and will do one area at a time. It gives me something to look forward to in February. LOL 

Are you doing anything to celebrate Advent? It’s appropriate to remind ourselves that Christmas is far more than tinsel and presents and trees. We’re celebrating the coming of God to earth and walking among us. Please take time to reach out and offer your gratitude to our Lord and God. 

That’s it for Thursday. Have a blessed evening. Peace. 

 Happy Wednesday from the winter wonderland. The snow has not and will not be melting probably for several more days. Today is our “warm day” for the next week to maybe two weeks according to the weather forecaster, and the high today might reach 35 degrees. But, no grousing aloud here. Some parts of the country have as much as a foot or more of snow or ice mix dumped on them. Other parts are having flooding. And we often forget that we aren’t the only country in the world that has some horrible weather. Last week there were hurricanes in the Philippines, volcano eruptions in some places and earthquakes in some other countries. So, I will raise my hands in praise to our Lord that we have noting more than some bitterly cold and a little inconvenient snow. 

I don’t know if I told you that we picked up some different pain medicine for Ms. Kate or not. The combination that she was using wasn’t doing anything much to help her. So yesterday they started on Tramadol. This morning she said she felt a tiny bit better. We both have dental appointments tomorrow at noon. I’m hoping she can handle it. I don’t know how comfortable she is going to be in the dental chair leaning back. She doesn’t do very well laying down in the bed. She will start out in the bed and with in  sometimes only a half an hour she has to get up and move back to her recliner or maybe the couch. She grabs short naps during the day. I really feel sorry for her but there is nothing I can do make her feel better. Kari, our cleaning help is here today and of course offers to do anything to help. We love having her.  

I got my turkey noodle soup made yesterday and it was pretty good even if I have to say it my self. If time I make make soup I remember the first time I made chicken noodle soup. It was horrible. In fact, I’m not even sure I added noodles, I might have just made chicken soup. We were stationed in the Philippines at the time so this would have been maybe 1980, 45 years ago. I knew nothing about cooking but decided I was going to make the soup for the girls. I think the only thing I made it from was left over chicken and water, maybe salty and pepper. I knew nothing about using broth or anything like that. 

I have to get my self out of Kari’s way so I guess I will sign off. Have a wonderful blessed day. May God bring you peace. 

 My Facebook “One year ago” photo is an exact copy of what it would be today if I took a picture outside. Last night we got maybe an inch of snow and obviously one year ago last night we got an inch of snow. Thankfully we didn’t the stuff like they did just 75 mile up the road. Our streets are clear and the snow is mainly just on the grass surfaces. I can handle that kind of snow. But, it is cold, 27 right now. Luckily there is no real wind blowing. 

We have nothing on our calendar today which is good because Kate is still down in her back and hardly getting around. She still can’t find a comfortable way to sit or lay and is getting very little sleep. She has an MRI coming upon the 21st but that doesn’t help her pain right now. She sent a message in to her NP explaining her situation. Hopefully they can do something to help her. She’s taking her Tylenol every eight hours on the dot and has a muscle relaxant that she takes at night but nothing seems to help her. We have dental appointments on Thursday for teeth cleaning but I seriously doubt she will make it because she won’t be able to sit in the chair for that long. We’ll see. 

I cleared a spot in the garage last night so I can bring “Bambi” in for the winter. Unfortunately I didn’t it brought in before the snow. But maybe I can do that tomorrow if the snow melts off of it. There are so many things that I did not get done that I should have but I have been tied up taking care of Ms. Kate which is more important. But I do want to bring that mower in. When the kids come down for Christmas I need Jim to put the snow blade on the big John Deere. Maybe if he gets it put on, we won’t have snow that needs to be cleared. LOL That’s my sneaky plan anyway. 

I may make some turkey noodle soup today. That sounds good to me. I want to use the turkey up and I’m tired of turkey sandwiches . I think I told you that Minh, my neighbor Dan’s wife had brought us a bunch of ham th day before Thanksgiving. I sent a bunch of that home with Julie but I have enough of a few more ham sandwiches. But, sometimes I get tired of sandwiches. When I was stationed at Erhac Turkey we had some marvelous cooks for the unit.They made really good hot meals three times a day for the guys and we had a baker that was superior. I was the Detachment Commander and one day a few of my Airmen came to me and asked; “Sir, could we just have sandwiches once in a while”?  So I asked my civilian site manager if he could arrange that. He did and the guys were thrilled to just have bologna or other cold cut sandwiches a couple of times a month. 

That’s it for today. Stay warm and or stay safe if you just go outside. Peace. 

 December 1st, and oh boy does it feel like it; we might reach thirty two degrees today. Later this evening we are supposed to get snow, maybe as much as two inches which by some standards really isn’t that much. Much of the country got as much as 12 inches yesterday. I’m glad I don’t live in those places. We get just enough snow here to be both beautiful and aggravating. 

How was your expending holiday weekend? I pray you weren’t one of the thousands caught up in delayed flights or an of the hundreds of highway pile ups. North of us they had a 46 car accident. I haven’t heard how many people got hurt or seriously injured. But there were pile ups across the nation in the northern tiers. I just got a news flash that there is a dangerous ice storm coming in some part of the country. Snow is bad enough, I really don’t want to del with ice. 

Julie and Jim both made it home just fine. Julies stayed until about 3:00pm on Saturday. I’m so glad they decided to move to Indiana some years ago. They are only an hour and a half from us. I think I reported that her son Josh and his family just moved from New Hampshire to Raleigh North Carolina and live only forty five minutes from middle daughter Lisa and her families. So Josh’s family was able to spend Thanksgiving with his Aunt Lisa for the first time ever. Lisa said they had a wonderful time and a really good visit. The two families are all getting to know one another all over again. Up until now, the family only got to see Josh’s family once every two of four years. I hate having my kids spread all over the country. That is why Ms. Kate and I started having family reunions. We wanted the cousins to get to know one another. I don’t think that folks who live with all of their family surrounding them often really appreciate that blessing. My kids grew up as a military family and away from any of their cousins so none of them are close. I grew up here in Evansville and my closest relatives were apt least 120 miles away and in those days traveling that distance was just not done very much. Unfortunately the grandkids are now all adults with jobs and work schedules of their own so trying to put together our reunions is getting harder and harder. Our next one is planned for middle of June 2026 in Sevierville, TN. I have a 12 bedroom place that I have rented for a week. I will be shocked if everybody can make it. Ms. Kate and I are getting up the in years and the odds of many more of these reunions happening is getting smaller. I was just thinking this morning that one of the “things” about being 81 years old is that you realize that every time you see someone, it odds of seeing them again begins to decrease exponentially. Of course, that could be the same for everyone. That’s why we really need to appreciate our times together. 

Well! Now that I have bummed you out, I guess I will sign off and fix myself a ham sandwich for lunch and see if my lady would like one too. Have a blessed day. Peace 

 Black Friday!!!! I’m sure glad that I don’t get tangled up in all of that. I can’t imagine the amount of pulsing and shoving and waiting in line, trying to find a place to park and walking forever. But I know a lot of people that are really into that for their Christmas shopping. But without trying to offend anyone, I don’t know a single man that voluntarily gets involved. None of the men I know that have had to go never have a smile on their face when they talk about it. Actually, I don’t understand why they still declare it a Black Friday sale anymore because the sales have been available already from two weeks, and most of the people that I’m close with get their shopping done on Amazon. I don’t remember the last time Kate and I went shopping in a brick and mortar department store. 

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you over-eat? Of course you did; everybody does. As planned, I did 95% of the prep and cooking and cleanup. I just emptied the second load of dishes this morning out of the dishwasher. Man, I so remember the days before dishwashers. The refrigerators are full of leftovers and I have a pumpkin pie sitting beside my IPad here at the table that I am nibbling on. 

Julie came over on Wednesday evening so she could help me on Thursday morning. I appreciated it although I already had most everything already prepped. The extra “get this and get that” help was definitely appreciated. We had the “typical” Thanksgiving meal that all of America had: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole, brussel sprouts, green bean casserole, gravy, rolls, carrots, deviled eggs, and pumpkin pie. It came out well, but I made a lot of trips to the family room with questions of “how do I” from Ms. Kate. She is still barely getting around with her walker so I decided that I would cook with a lot of supervision. We make a good team. Jules was a big help and Jim was a big help afterwards finding containers and room in the refrigerators to put the stuff. Team work makes delicious dream work. 

The temperature is having a hard time getting above 30 degrees today. Kate had hoped to go decorate the graves today for Christmas but it is too darn cold. I’m hoping that it will get just a bit warmer next week and we can get them dressed up for Christmas. 

That’s it for today. I hope your weekend is blessed. Peace. 

 It is 10:30 pm so I guess this will be a Tuesday/ Wednesday note or two. 

It has been a rather busy day for me and tomorrow will be even busier I think. We did our usual morning routine of sitting around, reading the latest Facebook gossip, and playing a couple of computer games. I have one game that I play and Kate has two or three that she likes. Then we both like to “color our daily pictures” on a site called “Happy Color”. It is actually good mental exercise trying to solve the picture. I recommend it to all senior folks. 

Next I got a call from Walgreens that Kate had a prescription that needed to be picked up. Since I needed to go to Ruler’s any way to get milk and bread, I got ready and went and picked up my groceries and her prescriptions. Ruler’s and Walgreen are across the street from one another. Then I went to Ritzies, in the same shopping complex, and picked us up some lunch. 

I came home and we had our lunch and then it was time to eat started on things that I need to prep for our Thanksgiving meal. It was a whole lot of stuff but doing it ahead of time will really help. I cut up a loaf and a half of bread for the dressing. I’m still debating whether to go to Meijer’s tomorrow and pick up some oysters to make some oyster dressing. I love the stuff but no by else is a fan. Kate would eat a small helping but neither Jim or Julie would touch it. But, I maybe will pick up a small batch of fresh oysters while we are out tomorrow. Kate has a hair appointment and assuming she is mobile enough to get in and out of the car and into the beauty shop, we’ll take her to her appointment, then to our doctor’s office lab for her to ge her blood drawn, and then —- maybe to get some oysters. 

Anyway —- I got the bread all cut up, I got the carrots peeled and sliced up for the meal, and I got the celery cut up really small to go in the dressing. Tomorrow will be the day to get dishes out to cook in and to serve in, and I will make two pumpkin pies. I’m glad that the weather is turning really cold because I have no room in the refrigerator for the pies after I bake them, and Kate says they need to be refrigerated because they are a custard pie. With the cold weather, I can just set them out in the sunroom which will be a bout 40 degrees or less. Or, I can take them out and set them in the grill on the patio. I know they will stay cold there. I’m not sure there will still be two pies left by Thursday morning, in fact I can almost guarantee it. 

I got my winter order of food for my aviary friend today. It gets more expensive all the time. I spent $175.00 for this order and it wasn’t all that big. But, this order will get me through December and maybe half of January. Picking up five gallon pecans from my sister-in-laws yard will help a lot. 

That’s it my friends. I hope and pray you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day. Peace be with you.