Where have I been? Where am I now?

Here is my mom holding Angelo on Thursday afternoon

It has been several days since I last posted, due mostly to the fact that I was traveling to WI and not feeling very well. Today, the morn of CHRISTmas Eve, I find myself awake and have already showered, although it is not yet 6:00 a.m. CST. Kerry arrived at Mom’s last evening while most of us were at the MLHS CHRISTmas concert at the Capital Civic Center. She chooses to sleep in the family room on the love seat rather than on the trundle in the guest room because of her unusual sleep patterns, but this a.m. it is mine which are unusual. Of course, having this ‘junk’ has changed everything so the word ‘usual’ does not apply any longer.

My travels were uneventful on Sunday and once ensconced in Mom’s family room, I was glad I made the trip. The entire next day, however, was a total loss, as my arms and legs were aching so badly, as if I walked from Jacksonville to Manitowoc, carrying my luggage.

Most of the day Monday I lounged on the love seat, leaving home late afternoon with Lynn and Mom, venturing to Festival Foods after Mom’s doctor appointment. A nice manager-man helped me find the hair color aisle, after I explained it was an emergency---we had a good chuckle with that one. He knew where the men’s products were and told me which color he liked for himself! The shopping did me in and I was exhausted at the store. Mom could have shopped for another hour, loves that grocery store!

Lynn knew where the cart was in the kitchen of the apartment complex which was handy for off-loading our store purchases once home again. All our groceries were hauled up in one fell swoop. She is the best, that’s all there is to it!

Since I have been off my feed with this malady, nothing really tasted good or even looked good, but at Festival, I bought a container of sloppy joes for our dinner that night. It was good! Lynn bought fresh rolls to serve them on and it made for our good, light fare. It took me until Wednesday to have a perch sandwich, which proves I was not feeling well!

Mom and I went out a couple times, picking up scrips at Wal*Mart plus a few more presents not yet gotten. Copps got me the delicious sugar cookies I love so well, but sadly, I did see my friend, Susie, who was celebrating her birthday that day. Would have loved to surprise her! Tuesday Mom and I went to church and helped Linda put the newsletter together, just the three of us, and had nice chats with the pastors. Later we went for lunch, Lynn joining us after work, at the Charcoal Grille. Love their onion straws!

Yesterday I got to see Angelo and hold him for awhile. The whole family came up to Mom’s after the boys were done with school. They had picked up pizzas at Papa Murphy’s for our lunch, and even Alayna came over, sharing the baby feeding and holding task with me. She is a natural with him! Lisa’s boys are so adorable (spoken like a true, unbiased auntie!). Noah and the 3 kids went home when we ladies went to the concert, having come in two cars. Lisa could shop then afterward with no prying eyes with her. The photos taken yesterday will have to be posted another time since I have no way to transfer them to this computer. Nuts!

One amusing comment was made yesterday which made us think of Pete and Tarren---Alayna noted how hairy little Angelo is, and Lisa said he is hairy like Gabe was when he was born. The good news is that Gabe has since shed his sideburns! 8 years old and finally without sideburns! But his two-month old baby brother sports them instead!

Well, I am up and typing

Having slept almost all night, getting up once for the midnight run due to that water drinking, I am up at 6:30. When I cough, it is a good, hard productive cough but right now, it is quiet. Of course, when I take the medicine, the cough loosens up and we are in business. Yesterday I felt so awful, more weary and lethargic than anything, and just decided to change my travel plans to Tuesday, allowing me the extra time here to rest and get over this. Before making the change, I called Lynn to let her know my thoughts. This change in my arrival would free her to attend the boy's CHRISTmas program at their school tonight instead of driving to the airport to fetch me.

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After I hung up with Lynn, I called Travelocity, knowing there would be a transfer fee and possibly have to pay the difference between the two tickets. Earlier I had found a decent fare with about the same arrival time in MKE to make it easy for Lynn, and it seemed to be less money than what I paid in the first place. "Seemed" being the key word here. A nice Pakistani boy named Alan was helping me and said the cost would be $175, which is tolerable for allowing me an extra two days in my bed. But, as he tried to secure the reservation, he could not proceed because the fare had change in price. The total change would now cost almost double of what he told me. Even though I was sick, I said, "No, thank you" and hung up. Then I called Lynn back and told her I had not changed my plans but would schedule a ride home on the airport shuttle, after assuring her it was fine, just fine for me to do that. At first mom was sad, according to reports, but then returned to glad, hearing that my plans would remain intact.

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Some of my Facebook and real life friends offered advice about 'the junk' including taking Emergencee, drinking juice, chicken broth, water, and Judy R. said to get up and sit in the chair instead of lying in bed for the rest. I took the advice, and forced myself to get up, dressed, and went to CVS for a few things. I found Dayquil in tablet form to use on the plane, the Emergencee which is a powder, and Linda recommended lozenges with Vitamin C included, so bought those. Plus some fruit juice and diet orange soda with extra C added as Judy said caffeine does not help either. Really?

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Once I was up and dressed, I did feel better and stayed up for nearly 4 hours, having to remake my bed after washing the sheets to freshen the bed. It will be nice for me when I get home, and really needing refreshing after my rotting in here for four days! I folded some of the laundry and put it away, and even weighed my luggage, putting the suitcase on the bathroom scale. It seems I have some margin for error of 10 pounds, or would that be 5 pounds, since it appeared to weigh about 40, with 50 being the magic number. Hopefully my luggage contains what I need to take along and that I won't have forgotten anything too important, thinking I have the presents and such all packed in. There is room in my carry-on if I must transfer items to it but hate to tote anything heavy in the terminal. I like to travel light, on foot. Ha, too late for that!!

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Earlier in the day, my neighbor, Jeff, came by to be orientated on the kitchen and such, showing him where the cookware, utensils, dishes, silverware, etc. are located, as they are using my home for the holidays. Courtney and James are staying in my guest room, which Justin prepped for them, and I showed Jeff where everything is, in case they cannot figure it out. When he was here, I was yet in my nightie and caftan, looking awful. He had not read the e-mail I sent regarding my being ill, etc. I am going to leave the Clorox wipes out for their convenience and will certainly not be upset if they wipe everything down before using it!

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A day ago I mentioned the CHRISTmas bags and such. Yesterday I got an e-mail from Janet asking me where the bags were and who was in charge of them. I replied that I yet had them but was doing the hand-off today, and I also replied that I had no idea who was 'in charge' of getting the bags reloaded. She had picked up extra candy and such to be put in the bags and told me she left it on the table in the kitchen with a note. Guess that means she is not in charge, and I am not in charge, and it seems, no one is in charge of them. Carol, who actually stopped by and got the bags from me later on, will get some folks to take care of it at church today. They were going out anyway so stopped and transferred them from my car to theirs, with me using my 'beeper' to let them in and out of my car from upstairs. Nice, check that off the list. All that leaves is Timmy's little tree....

Enough already

This junk I have, as diagnosed by the doctor yesterday, is wearing on me. I am incredibly tired and wish to do little but sleep. Thankfully little was required of me this past week as far as projects or the like. The majority of my shopping for Justin is done with Jessica picking up one last thing for me yesterday when she was out. Nice! Last night he called me to see how I was feeling and we mutually decided to delay our CHRISTmas present exchange until after I return in January, which works for me. Not sure I would have been able to do the wrapping and such to make things ready. This also means he will not stay the night here tonight but will come for me in the morning, load my suitcase and take me to church.

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Right now, that whole idea is daunting to me....traveling, that is. A few moments ago I looked at airfares leaving on later dates and they are decent enough if I decide to change my plans. Otherwise, once I get to WI, I will simply sleep the days away and not be any fun at all for my family and friends. What to do? What to do? I just wish I knew what to do to help me feel stronger again. Last night Justin quizzed me about fruit juice and such, and I told him that I had some V8 Fusion and some old apple juice in the fridge. At his urging I drank the rest of the Fusion and will have some apple juice in a bit. I have been drinking water as much as possible when I am awake to keep things flowing, and have been successful with the flowing part...if you know what I mean!

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Now you know I'm sick----I am watching a wonky Christmas movie on TV as I write this. Not normally a viewer of such fare, there is just simply nothing else to watch from my sick bed, at least, not until 6:00 pm tonight when the "House" marathon begins. Facebook is alive with reports of others suffering with this same malady or similar, including Anne H. from Victory. Oh, I hate leaving Rachel in the lurch for tomorrow, not being able to sing in the Advent Song Service. At least, I am guessing not, but that is just less than 24 away. I could feel better in a snap, right? I had one and a half slices of toast with peanut butter on it for breakfast, thinking that would build me up...just couldn't finish the last bit of it. The most I have eaten was a McDonald's hamburger purchased on the way home after the doctor's appointment. It went down nicely and easily which might be the way to go, but I sure don't want to go anywhere.

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My original plan was to take the Christmas bags over to church for the ladies to assemble on Sunday. I have reconsidered that and will take it with me to Victory and do a hand-off there to Carol or someone else who will be part of the decorating etal. I wonder who is in charge of the chili supper, I have not heard a word about it since I wrote it in the newsletter. Tomorrow is a full day between the churches, the Advent Song Service at Victory, a congregational/voter's meeting at GS, and then the decorating/caroling/chili supper. Man, I hope someone is taking care of things....We have no Fellowship Elder so things happen by guess and by gosh sometimes. I do hope the folks who are at Victory from GS will make sure they get back over there for the meeting as important matters are being discussed and voted upon.

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I will ask Justin to take Timmy's little evergreen tree to the cemetery for me and that way, I won't have to go outside at all today. I hate not getting over there myself (gulp!) but in this situation, it will have to do. I am ready to lie down again...now, where's that heat pad?

Still feeling poorly...

....but am just delighted that my upstairs neighbor, Jessica, just called, asking if I needed anything from the stores as she was going off shopping this late afternoon. She was going to either Target or Wal*Mart and knows my time is short before I have to leave for WI. Jessica offered to get me anything I needed, stocking-stuffers, whatever, because she knows I have been housebound. Isn't that nice? She also told me she is going to BabiesRUs tomorrow and will stop by Bed, Bath, and Beyond while she is over there to get what I wanted from that store for Justin. NICE!!! All my strength has been sapped, cannot even imagine at this moment pulling my suitcase out. Later I am making myself a cup of hot tea and adding the lemon, agava sweetener and some rum to it, my own version of a hot toddy. Jessica made me one back in October when I was sick and I sure slept well. She asked me if I had a lemon and I told her that I have a Real Lemon squeeze thingy, that I use in my water. That just won't do so she is going to bring a slice of a fresh lemon. Am I spoiled or what??

*

Our water was off much of the day, well, several hours today, as Gus was having his valve changed out. He was quite apprehensive yesterday when he came by to let me know, and I wonder how he did with that whole situation. Earlier, my doorbell rang and there stood Butch! He asked if he could come in to shut off the valve in my bathroom, the one that was replaced, so that no water would flow down into the Gus's pipes. Sure! I looked and felt like heck, so told Butch he should just let himself back in when he was ready to turn it back on. It was off much longer than the two hours expected, and he told me that the plumber had a problem with the existing valve...oh, no! The plumber had the brainstorm of doing an 'override' of the existing valve, putting a brand new one above the old one which they could not get to operate. Yikes! Butch wished me a merry CHRISTmas and I told him that I would like to give him a hug but would not because of my cold. I know Gus will sleep better knowing that is taken care of, at least one of them is taken care of....

*

As I was lying here, rotting in my bed for hours on end, I decided that perhaps I should see the doctor just to make sure I do not have strep throat or something other than a cold. It would make for a wretched trip to WI, and certainly many fellow travelers would give me hateful looks for hacking and coughing in their vicinity. Today is a day the doctors keep later hours but still I have to wait until tomorrow to see Betsy. She is going to be so sick (ha, ha, ha!) of seeing me, twice this month already. I only go to the doctor when I absolutely have to, for prescription refills or athlete's foot, and now this back-to-back visit. Ugh! I hope I feel better tomorrow so I do not have to go, and the nice lady told me it would be okay to cancel if I did feel better. She probably thinks I am crackers for wanting to come today and then expecting to be better in the morning!

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My strength is so sapped that I cannot even muster the energy to address my CHRISTmas cards and therefore I will take the unfinished ones with me to WI. Hopefully everyone will give me a pass if their card is late or is missed...please? I only hope that I remember to pack everything I wish to take along with me. My head feels like it is separated from my body, if you know what I mean, sort of fuzzy and woozy, and all I wish to do is sleep. Some of my spirit is renewed though by Jessica's wonderful offer to do my shopping for me....can you believe it? She even offered to get me a stromboli from Aron's but I respectfully declined, since I have no appetite. A can of chicken dumpling soup in my cabinet will serve as my dinner, if I 'can' muster the strength to open it and heat it up!

'Kathrine, I have a sick girlie here...'

My grandma Sickles would call my mom to report when one of us kids showed up at her door, feeling poorly or what have you. Grandma lived around the corner from church/school, easily a hop, skip, or jump to her house. She would get the sick girlie situated on her daybed, slipping our dresses off and have us lie down in our petticoat. Today I am a sick girlie, starting late afternoon yesterday. This bed has been my home since about 7:00 pm last night, not always fast asleep but dozing and coughing. When I finally went to bed, I was burning up, so had thrown the covers over and hung my leg out, even popped the bedroom door open to let the room air out. At some point, perhaps 4:00 am or so, I woke up and was shaking wildly. No way could I get warm, even though I had my heat pad, three blankets over my comforter, and heater on. Finally I got up and took a steamy hot shower until I nearly exhausted my supply. Then I put on my slippers and climbed back under the covers, now warmed up. That was so awful a feeling, almost like I was outside in the cold!

Justin was coming over here today to clean and do a few things for me so I asked him to bring me some Dayquil, which he did. But, he had to leave again going to help his father survey a lot, being picked up here by his father. He is coming back to take care of the chores after doing the surveying. Justin also brought me a cherry pie, knowing it is my favorite, reporting he could not find any dark chocolate covered cherries. No problem because I happened to find some at Wal*Mart yesterday when I was shopping. Sadly, because I am not feeling well, my appetite is gone although I am hungry. I had one molasses cookie, made for me by Sherri, which has tided me over.

This morning I also had the privilege of having Gus come upstairs to ask me to send out an e-mail regarding the plan to shut off the water tomorrow while his valves are being replaced, or are being examined to be replaced. He was obviously upset about it, nervous, and I fully understand his sentiment. Gus said he has a licensed and insured plumber coming to do the work but not the same guy who did my water heater. He looked so sad---I would have loved to give him a hug, but not when I am sick.

Tonight at church we are having The Compline Service, a meditative service but I am afraid I will be staying in. Not a good idea to venture out and get everyone else sick. I am wondering if I got this bug from Shane on Sunday because he reported to me that he was coming down with a bug and was worried about his voice, etc. Yikes! I hope I can sing on Sunday and feel well enough to travel!

Lynn has troubles at her apartment, recently sold and now owner occupied, but he is no help when it comes to snow removal. Monday she fell down the stairs in front of the building because they were so full of snow, she could not see them. She was unhurt, but mad as a wet hen! Jill had to come with Mom's car to pick up Lynn, go back to Mom's and Jill's apartment building, drop off Jill and then Lynn went on her way to work. Two days in a row, because the snow was not handled yet. Not sure if it was removed yesterday or not, but Mom got phone numbers over the radio of guys who would come and blow the snow. I think Lynn needs to get out of that apartment, this happens to her every single year, almost, and she has been there over 30 years! Just my opinion.....I just cannot bear the thought of Lynn falling down, I don't know why it bothers me so much!

Linda and Tommy were without electricity last weekend, not sure how long, and were still not reconnected to the Internet as of Monday. They have a fireplace and were able to cook some on their gas stove. I probably would have gone to a hotel but they are tougher stock than am I. Poor Kerry was without heat on Monday and Tuesday in her apartment building, and described shivering the same way I was last night. Her fellow tenants include families with little ones, and after countless phone calls to the landlord finally resulted in the furnace man coming. Kerry said she watched over his shoulder to see what he was doing to the boiler, and he said it needs replacing. Hope it lasts through the winter. My poor people up there in snow country and I am going there on purpose!

This is just plain nasty!

Tonight our low temperature is expected to be 19 above zero, and it is important for me to mention the above zero part of that. It could be worse, right? Poor north Florida is suffering! The winds were similar to what was experienced up north, so much so that it blew the water the wrong way in the river, exposing some very ugly areas normally covered by water. Ewww!

This morning I urged myself from bed and got ready for the day, dressing in layers in order to make an attempt at warmth. It was only 34 degrees when I left the house, leaving my red coat behind because I was being stupid...sure could have used a coat today! And gloves! As I reminded the ladies today, not that long ago we complained (well, not me but others...) about having to grab hot steering wheels when we left Longhorn. Today, not so much! But first we did Bible class, where we are looking at the Kingdom of God study. Joseph arrived a bit late, with us wondering if it was too cold for him to walk over. He came bearing gifts, each got a card from him, plus he made brownies, which no one really knew were there. He put them by the coffee maker and he was the only one drinking coffee! After class he exclaimed that no one ate the brownies and then apologized for burning them...I got one that was not well done and wrapped it in a napkin, to go. He took off across the lawn but not before I gave him a church newsletter which has the special service times and dates printed in it.

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Only 5 of us went down to Longhorn today and man, did we freeze in there! The poor waitress said she could do nothing about the A/C being on because the restaurant temps are 'controlled by corporate'....what???? How can that be true!?? When Mark used to be the manager there, he would climb up and down on chairs or in the booths to adjust the temperature (one of us liked to comment about the cold temps....) but now that he's gone, someone at the corporate office off-site adjusts it??? Really??? Poor, delicate Jackie was eating with her collar turned up, clutched to her neck, handling her cheeseburger with her free hand. It actually felt good to be outside, and better yet, back in the car!

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At first I had sort of thought to go shopping after lunch but remembered that Sherri was coming back this afternoon to touch-up some of the areas which were missed on her previous visit. She had told me to let her know if I found something not exactly right, so I did let her know! Don't usually do this but felt it was important that she know what was overlooked. The primary reason for her cleaning was to remove the dirt from the remodeling/repairs, and to have sawdust remain in the original damaged bathroom was unacceptable. She even used my Pampered Chef scrubbing tool to clean behind the toilet....Sherri was looking for an SOS pad or similar for cleaning back there. No worries, I put it in the dishwasher and ran the cycle on full tilt to clean it off. Not like there was actually any 'potty' back there, I think she just could not reach it. Regardless of the fact that there was a toilet brush along side the potty....Anyway, she got that as clean as she could, cleaned up the sawdust left behind the door, plus tackled the French doors to the dining room. I had shown her the dirt on the frame but she did the glass and blinds and dividers...which kicked her butt because she could not get the smears off. But she brought me a wonderful plate of molasses cookies, because "I love you so much"! Nice!!!

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Sherri enjoyed sitting by my computer and looking at my family photos with me, but then had to get going. I think she liked being so close to my heater...Before she left, Sherri asked me if I could help find the address for her cousin in Vail, CO and in two seconds, I had the address for her. She complimented me on my computer skills but really none were required for that search. She also took a copy of The Palace Press, wanting to try the Mexican Dip recipe I included this month. She asked if it was good, and I told her I had no idea, I never tried it! Someone else gave me the recipe, from Kewaunee, and said it was good, so............

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Worked on the CHRISTmas cards some more this afternoon/evening plus watched my radio show. I feel like I was busy but accomplished little, if that makes sense. Tomorrow, in the bitter cold, I will venture out to shop since I am not sure when Justin will be ready to exchange gifts or anything before I leave for WI. He loves to beg for stuff at CHRISTmas and this year is no different----except that he asked for new toilet for his bungalow! Oh, that guy!

Good Shepherd had a flash mob event today!

There is presently playing a wonderful commercial on Fox of assorted folks singing "This Little Light of Mine"....not sure what was being promoted, but I enjoyed hearing and watching it. It has been a goofy day weather-wise in north Florida, starting with sunshine and plenty of wind. While at church, it began to rain and feel incredibly chilly. That feeling and wetness stayed until just before kick-off when it appeared that the sun was attempting to make a come back. On the ride home, I got a phone call from my friend, Gretchen, reporting that she made it safely across the Buckmann Bridge in spite of the rain. She was pretty freaked out about driving in the rain but she was victorious! Unfortunately, in her haste to get home, she missed out on the Cookie and Candy sale after worship...

I, however, did not miss out on the sale, and managed to make myself nearly ill on the ride home, eating some of my purchased goods! Folks brought festive baked goods or seasonal treats which were bought by the pound by people like me. Two frosted sugar cookies and two Special K green wreaths were simply delicious and took the place of breakfast and part of my lunch. Some of the kids had reindeer made with marshmallows which were dipped in chocolate, with mini-pretzels making up the antlers. On a stick! And very cute!

The day began as it normally does on the Lord's Day with preparations for Bible study and worship, only today Good Shepherd was hosting a special song service for worship. The joint choirs of Victory and GS, plus the bell choir from Victory were participating in the service, bringing Advent anthems to the congregation. Before we had our rehearsal, the Bible study folks gathered in the Fellowship Hall to run through a service called The Compline which we will be using on our next midweek Advent service, to help those who have never heard or done it, become familiar. (Some of us who stayed later on Friday at the School of Worship Enrichment participated in this more contemplative close of day worship.) Before long though, it was time to head over to church to rehearse with the other choir members, once the bell choir was done with their run-through.

As quickly as we could, Rachel put us through our paces, practiced the processional and recessional hymns, plus portions of each of the anthems for the service. We had people coming in and out during the practice, not unusual at all but one of our newer members had her rather unruly son sitting in the church with her the entire time. She got fed up and tried to take him out, but he got a grip on Rachel's pants leg as his mom dragged him away....nearly took Rachel with them! Rachel never missed a beat!

At service time the two choirs gathered in the back of the church for our processional and were ready to go, only waiting on Pastor so we could begin. I head the exterior door from the sacristy slam and knew he was on his way. Guess we were just anxious to get underway! The service was lovely with few glitches, the musicians performed admirably including Suzanne and our new member, Sterling, who plays in the Navy band. For one choir number, he played the bassoon, and it was well done. Robbie was our accompanist this week, and next week it will be Rachel's mom, Esther. She has not rehearsed with us so this could prove interesting for all involved.

Normally nothing gets done in the sanctuary until all the members are ushered out, but since it was raining outdoors, more folks clustered in the doorways and entry. The bell choir got busy almost immediately in taking down their tables and pads and packing things away while the live musicians were still playing the post-service music. At one point when folks were just mingling, Robbie and Suzanne began playing "In Christ Alone", and I was singing. Anne H. heard me singing and said, "Let's go and sing...should we?" and off we went. Poor Suzanne and Robbie ended up playing the hymn all the way through yet another time as more and more of the choir members made their way over to the piano, grabbed music and began to sing with us. A flash mob, Good Shepherd-style!!! Carol told me she wanted so badly to come over and sing but was on the opposite side of the church and in conversation with someone, and she did not think it was 'appropriate' to leave that person and come sing with us. BUT, she was singing in her head, and talking, in Carol's words, "multi-tasking", something she never does!

Next Sunday we do this service again at Victory with their wonderful accoustics making our offerings sound so much more full. Justin is staying the night here with me, driving me to Victory, and then from there, to the airport! "In Christ Alone"!!