...and more snow!

Not feet deep but enough to mess up my plans for today! I was originally planning to get the laundry done today and then head to my friend/cousin, Yvonne’s, house by mid-morning. Before I was to leave, though, she sent me a message saying that if I wanted to wait a day, she would understand. The guys on the radio were saying the roads were getting slick and since her home is in the country, well, another day might be better. I only hope there is one!!

My other plans included lunch with Linda and her sister, Georgia, at Time Out Restaurant. We still did that except without GA because she was working. Linda and I nearly had the place to ourselves since it was just noon when we ate. She had gotten out of work early in order to run some errands first, including paying the real estate taxes for the year, along with a lineful of other people with the same plan. I remember doing that when we lived up here yet.

Last May I had eaten at this place and had the best breaded perch. Oh my! The coating was almost like shredded wheat and when I asked for that today, the waitress almost laughed at me. She had never heard that description before and had to ask the kitchen manager if he knew what I was talking about. They offer hand-breaded perch and batter fried, and because they didn’t know which one I preferred, they gave me some of each! Very nice! I did like the batter-fried better, and guess the type I had in May was a fluke or something. I ate every bit of my perch and shared an order of onion strings with Linda. We sat in the window and watched the snow come down, and schnuddered. More customers did come in, but we sat the longest!

While I was there, my sister, Jill, called to warn me that the police scanner reported cars going in the ditches, etc. so instead of going visiting elsewhere, I simply came back to Mom’s. I likely could have made a couple more stops but for safety’s sake and peace of mind all around, I came home. It’s hard to believe that my time here is already coming to an end and some folks have not been visited yet!

 Angelo playing his grandma's computer

I had planned a Dinner and a Movie night at Mom’s this evening but my sister, Lynn, won’t be able to make it. She is watching her grandsons at her home since Thursday afternoon, and because of the weather, has them one more night. She is all set with sufficient diapers for Angelo, and the two older boys are keeping busy with Pokemon cards and watching TV. Angelo will be the guy to keep occupied, and I wish her well. Maybe they went outside to build a snow man in that packy snow! I still made my casserole which Mom and I will enjoy after Jeopardy! is over. (I nearly wrote “Justin and I”---guess I miss my boy!) We won’t watch the movie though without Lynn, as she’s never seen “You’ve Got Mail”. Guess we will find something else to watch tonight instead.

Tomorrow I am meeting my friend, Karen, and her husband, at The Charcoal Grille. They are coming down from Green Bay and I am so excited! Karen is the sister of my friend, Judy Hutchens, and I had met her in person last month when she came to FL for their brother’s wedding. In the afternoon we are having a birthday party for my nephew’s birthday, if Jamie’s family feels healthy enough to make the trip from the Janesville area. They have been plagued with coughs, colds, and strep throat in their household. There is a nephew, Sawyer, whom I have never met, so I do hope they can make it.

I might run out of Saturday to go visit Yvonne….she might have to pencil me in for Sunday or Monday afternoon!

I am so gorgeous!

At least my hands are, anyway.  Linda and I went to Rose Colored Glasses yesterday to have our nails done.  Linda goes every few weeks for a nail touch up or a re-do as she wears acrylic ones. When I am in town, I join her at the salon and sometimes have a pedicure there. This was my first time having a manicure and it took two ladies to make it so!

Let me back up a bit, though. Our day began early with meeting Lori, David, and Dusty for breakfast at Fork and Knife. Mom, Lynn, Jill, Danny and I rounded out the group. Alayna couldn’t make it because she slept too late and didn’t see her text messaged invitation. We had a very nice breakfast together, saying ‘good-byes’ after we finished up. I was going to FG to help Linda with the bulletins and some of the others were going their own way too. Lori and family came to Mom’s and spent several hours here with her.

From church Linda and I met some friends at Harborside. Lynn was coming too, having been told of the time to be there by Linda. I was attempting to call Lynn to tell her what time to meet us but somehow my phone had gone into ‘airplane mode’ and I couldn’t dial out. Weird! When I got to the restaurant, I used their phone to call Lynn so she could come over. By the time I figured out my phone, the battery had died entirely. Ugh, so frustrating!

Linda had some friends she wanted me to meet so I once again dined with Angie, and met another lady friend, Chris. She is from First German and Linda attends the Wellness Center with her as well. Another friend, Debbie, was unable to join us (again!) due to an appointment. Her loss! They all exchanged gifts, having that mostly accomplished before Lynn arrived. I gave Linda her framed photo which Dee had modified for me and Julia framed. She loved it, and will use the little easel for displaying it at her office. Linda has such nice friends, and Lynn sort of knew them from the Center as well.

Linda and I have a joke about using our ‘spa voices’ at Rose Colored Glasses, and had agreed to enter whispering. Linda had to move her car over a few spots because of having the tires marked by the police. Must be a two hour limit or something. I stood on the sidewalk while she attempted to move the car, but she somehow set off the alarm, and didn’t know how to make it stop. So much for whispering at the salon! Finally she got it shut off and moved the car over, with me laughing on the sidewalk.

When we got inside, the owner, John, told us the ‘spa voices’ rule was suspended for us. Whew! Nicole, John’s wife, did tell us that a massage was going on so we were back to spa voices again. All the nail seats were taken but a temporary table was set up off to the side. John maneuvered it around so my back would not be to Linda. Nice!

I chose a color of polish similar to that which I had at Mom’s house in case I chip it. I do work so hard that my nails suffer for it! This salon is such a class-act, a real treasure in a small town. I wish more people knew about it, but it seems to always be busy. It was yesterday! The young lady who started my nails had another client come in, a first-timer, so a different young lady came to finish up. I loved it! They both admired my “Phantom of the Opera” ring and I told them the story of how Justin gave it to me for Mother’s Day about 8 years ago.

                      

When Linda and I left, she took me to church to get my car, and I came back to Mom’s. Lori and family were still here so I got to say ‘good-bye’ to them once more. Dusty was trying to connect with a friend he knew in town but was unable to do so, which was why they stuck around longer. Worked out great for me! They got home to Holmen by 9:30 pm, safe and sound.

Lynn had asked Mom and I to dinner at her house. Jill would have come along but had plans made to go shopping with a work friend in Appleton. Lynn prepared sauerkraut and pork which was quite delicious. First we watched Jeopardy! and then ate dinner. Afterwards we watched a DVD made at Lynn’s retirement party. Oh, was it ever nice!! Lynn had to take in photos from infant to adulthood and a slide show was presented of those who retired. I even showed up in a couple of the slides. It was very nicely done, and Lynn’s speech was brief as she struggled to maintain composure. It was tough for her but she did it! I was so glad to see it, and to hear the nice things folks had to say about her. Previously I had read her cards and seen the gifts that folks had given her, and now saw the DVD. What a treasure it is! As my grandma Sickles used to say, “They must have liked her!” She is right!

Just some photos

This is a view from the back of First German Ev. Lutheran Church

 Angelo is modeling the Woody pajamas Justin and I gave him for Christmas

 I am sporting my fabric Green Bay Packer football helmet which I stole in the white elephant gift exchange!

Manny is wearing his Angry Birds hat I gave him for Christmas

A blessed Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve candlelight service last night at First German

My sister, Kerry, left early this a.m., but many of the rest of my family enjoyed the Christmas Festival Service at First German. (Last night Lori, David, and Dustin worshiped with us for the candlelight service but decided to sleep in this a.m. and not join us at church.) Lisa and her boys came up from Sheboygan this a.m., as well. The boys’ grandma, Lynn, was in the choir loft upstairs and they could see her when not holding her choir music. Alayna was in the balcony as well, joining the choir once more for the holidays.

Before this morning’s service, Mom pointed out to me in the service folder the proximity of the crying room---she knows me so well. I cried right there in the pew, like I always do! The hymns were so lovely, accompanied by the pipe organ and the orchestra (actually it’s a band since there are no strings) made up primarily of the grade school students. They play so well, it is hard to believe their ages! The music at my home church and school is excellent, and worship is done well. It just fills me up to overflowing worshiping there!

After church we came home to Mom’s, meeting Lynn here and joined by Lisa with her boys. We were expecting Lori and family to come over here once they finished breakfast at their hotel. Jill and Danny went to their apartment on the 2^nd floor and didn’t come up to Mom’s. The way it worked out, Lori did not show up until after Lisa had left and we had changed from our Christmas clothes! According to David, Lori and Dusty needed a nap after brunch, which made them later in getting here. At least she came bearing cookies and handmade candies so we forgive her late arrival. They had plans with David’s side of the family this afternoon and evening. If time allows, Lynn and I might join them at their hotel and enjoy a dip in the pool/hot tub. We shall see about that! I am getting used to these quiet evenings here at Mom’s but am also ready to spend more time with my sisters. I hope we can make that happen!

The “unopened gifts” Part II

The other day I wrote about the ‘unopened gifts’ which were being discussed on the radio program Justin and I subscribe to. The guest host, Joe Paggs, was talking about the sorrow of those parents in CT who would have to deal with the unopened gifts purchased for the children who would never again gather around the Christmas tree. Justin cautioned me not to listen to the first hour of the show (downloaded podcast) because of this discussion, knowing it would cause me upset. I also had to deal with unopened presents when Timmy died, his funeral being on his 5^th birthday.

Well, our family gathered tonight to open our Christmas presents in Mom’s community room. We were laughing and having a great time watching the kids unwrap their presents and so on. Then, after the two older boys were done and off playing with new gifts, Lisa helped Angelo open his. He is quite expressive and would oooh and ahhh over his cars and trucks. At one point, Lisa pulled an orange ‘Wiggle’ out of a gift bag and then a stuffed animal in a cardboard wrapper. Angelo grabbed the orange carrot-looking thing right away.

Lynn leaned over to Lisa and said, “That lion was Timmy’s…” She was presenting Angelo (Lisa) with ‘an unopened present’ which she had purchased to give to Timmy for his 5^th birthday. Lynn had had it on her shelf for these nearly 12 years and decided it was time to move it on to Angelo (Lisa) after reading my blog. Needless to say, many of us were in tears just like that (snap of the fingers). I am still so moved I can barely see the keys. Thanks, Lynn, for that wonderful gift, now opened and soon to be placed on Angelo’s shelf!

Collecting thoughts

The other night Mom and I watched “A Christmas Carol”, the version with George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. It had been years since I saw the story from start to finish, and it was good. I would see snippets of it portrayed at the Clay County Christmas but that hardly cuts it. Mom remembered seeing a much older version of this story when she was younger so I looked up the listing of men who had played Scrooge in the past. That is quite the lengthy list, including Henry Winkler and Jim Carrey.  Some of the stories were cartoon-style as well as the darker, spookier ones Mom recalled. This one with GC Scott went a long way to presenting the story of Christmas’s past, present and future. I am curious, though, what was done to help Tiny Tim and his illness after Scrooge’s conversion.

On another night the two of us saw “Driving Miss Daisy”, always a fun movie to watch. When the movie first came out in the theater, Mom and I went to see it. She did not often attend the movies otherwise, and saw more with me in Florida than she had in a long while. Sometimes others from church would join us for movie outings or just she and I would go. Besides seeing “Daisy”, we once saw “Fried Green Tomatoes” starring Jessica Tandy in each movie. As I told Mom the other night, the good news was “Daisy” was going be on. The bad news was it started at 9:00 pm when Mom is usually ready for bed. The two of us did manage to watch almost all of it before having to retire. It goes longer when there are commercials!

Not normally a fan of the Christmas-themed movies, I have seen a couple with Mom since I am here. She has already seen many of them, or variations of the same movie with different actors. The story is basically the same but the city or something is just different enough to make it a new movie. We did watch one or two together when there is simply nothing else to watch. They are alright, but nothing I can make a steady diet of. I so prefer my comedies or a good “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” to amuse me. But I am also a good sport and wish to be socialable with Mom. She also likes to watch “American Pickers” and “Pawn Stars” but those are on in the day time, I think.

My sister, Lynn, has been having treatments done with lasers on her eyes, first the left eye one week and then the other the next, in order to ease pressure in her eyes. She has the early stages of glaucoma and in order to avoid having to instill the drops for the rest of her life, she opted for this treatment. When she was in for her 2^nd eye this past week, the doctor measured the pressure in her first eye and determined the pressure was down, which is great news. It worked! 

We are all urged now to go have our eyes tested in case we have it too. My plans are to do that in January as I am sure I need glasses anyway. I hope my pressure is okay. Mom has been using the drops, various types of drops twice a day for years now, and what a blessing this type of procedure would have been for her, and others like her.

Kerry and Alayna agreed to babysit for the boys last night, at Grandma K’s apartment. I was making dinner which included a roast my sister, Jill, provided. At one point we had 9 people including the kids in Mom’s house. Good thing the boys are so well behaved or it could have been hairy! 

Besides the roast I made sweet potatoes and mac ‘n cheese purchased at Wal*Mart in the microwaveable containers plus cooked up the head of cauliflower I’d bought a few days earlier. Oh my, what a tasty meal it was! Angelo ate on the run, not wishing to sit down to dine but he did fairly well. He'd rather play than eat, it seems.

All three boys are getting over being sick, which caused them to miss their Christmas program at the church school they attend last Sunday. That is the 2^nd time I was here but not able to see the boys in their program. Might have to wait until they are in high school to see them! Gabe mentioned being sad about missing out on it, but he couldn’t come up with the song they were going to sing. It was a different melody of “Angels We Have Heard on High” but without the music, he could not sing it for us.
***

Kerry, Jill, and I went shopping a bit yesterday afternoon. I hadn’t meant to tag along but needed the ingredients for making the pretzel torte. Justin wanted me to make it ‘for the family’ so I will try my hand at it in the morning. Instead of using the Jello and fresh berries on top, I am taking the short cut of using a can of pie filling. Should do the trick nicely, I am sure. 

Justin asked me to borrow Linda’s blitzhacker from Pampered Chef but she suggested another tool from PP which would do the same or better job. I did bring it along from her house but Mom offered her rolling pin and I might use that instead. This is a major job---crushing the pretzels! One recipe I looked up said to pulverize the pretzels while another cautions against such a thing. Must find that middle ground! Wish me well on this!

A very good day

I just said to my mom and sister that I had a very good day today. Excellent, in fact. It started with worship, the last Sunday of Advent. We had a guest preacher at FG this morning, Pastor Schaefer's dad, who serves a congregation in Milwaukee. His sermon was about Mary, the mother of the Christ-child. Instead of singing the Song of Simeon after the sermon, we sang The Magnificat. The Order of Service was Divine 1 from the CW Supplement, printed in the folder as they do not yet use the CWS in the pews. The singing and the music is so wonderful in this church building---I could almost melt!

But today no melting was going on, and, in fact, the contrary was true, due to a problem with the boiler. I was so glad to have my coat on both during church and Bible study, which took place in the church basement. If I could have written while wearing my gloves, I would have tried. The congregation did get extremely wonderful news in the past few days as a generous donor has allowed them to worship this day entirely debt free! Wow! That warmed a few hearts if not our hands, and wet a few cheeks in joy.

Alayna, my niece, had gone upstairs to the school to obtain a Diet Coke for me which did not help to warm me during the Bible study. Pastor’s dad sat across from Linda and me, as did the new grade school teacher, Jennifer. We had several good chuckles and solid discussion during the class with him. The study was based on Romans, now at chapter 8, which talks about how the Holy Spirit knows our hearts and can express our prayers to the Lord when we cannot put our thoughts together. Also, the Lord will not allow anything more to happen around us outside His guiding hand and management. Great comfort in those passages---GREAT comfort!

After the class we came back here and got things ready for watching the football game. I had a little bite to tide me over until lunch because I had not eaten anything at church during the fellowship portion of the morning. We were going to have a buffet of our leftovers from previous meals but Kerry had also picked up Old Wisconsin brand Polish sausages which were simply delicious. I managed to squirt some of the juice from my sausage onto my red sweater but Kerry worked some magic with Dawn dish soap and cold water, and saved the sweater. Oh my! I was being careful and yet, it dripped!

 Go Pack Go!

A group of us watched the Packer game, Mom included, and what a grand game it was! The Packers just about shut out the TN Titans but in the last moments of the games, the Titans managed to score, the final being 55-7. Mom felt sorry for the poor Titans so got her wish for them to get a touchdown. The Packers even played their 2^nd string players which is likely how the Titans managed to get the TD they did!

The Titans are the main rivals to the Jaguars, both teams being formed in the same year. The Jags did not fare as well as the Packers did today, but at first gave the NE Patriots a run for their money. Justin was at the game and said I would have been cold there, but for the most part, it was nice. His seats were in the sun which certainly helps to keep the chill from the bones.

This might be his last game as a season ticket holder as his buddies and he decided to invest in the NFL package from Comcast for next season. Two of the group will be living in the same house by that time, as Justin will soon be moving in with Ron and Sarah. Their closing is in January with Justin expecting to be moved out of my place by February 1. He had better start his packing in earnest now in order to be ready to go by then!

Anyway--back to our day--aside from the spot on my sweater, it was a great way to spend my Sunday. Kerry likes to cook and is making a version of stuffed chicken breasts for our dinner. I did a little bit of dusting in preparation for the Christmas gathering tomorrow, even though most of the activity will take place in the community room downstairs. Dusting the furniture and such at Mom’s is quite a bit different than tackling that project at my house. One-two-three and I was done. Things are ready for the festivities!