Work, Good Food, and Fellowship

Today is Wednesday, April 20, 2016. It is my day off. This morning I got up early and washed dishes that I was too tired to wash last night. I also cooked pasta sauce for spaghetti. I washed my hair but didn't have to take a bath cause I took one last night. I ironed a shirt for Mark and a shirt for me. Then I fixed my hair, put on my makeup, and got dressed. I went to Nana and Papaw's to clean house til lunch. I worked til a little after 11:30am. Then I left to go to my sister's house.

Sandra invited Martha, Mary & girls, and me for a luncheon at her house. Mary and Jess are sick, so they weren't able to be there. We had the best time. Sandra fixed a delicious lunch for us.

Salmon fillets, baked potato, and baked brussell sprouts. Yummy!!!

For dessert she had frozen yogurt with home made chocolate syrup.

It was so good!!! She also had banana bread.

It was delicious too! Everything was so, so good! 

After lunch we sat on the front porch.

They have an amazing view. It was like a bit of heaven sitting on the porch just talking.

Wayne has a beautiful flower bed in the shape of a cross. It has lillies and they don't bloom til June. Look how beautiful his yard is.

They had several bird feeders in trees and we saw some beautiful birds.

They had installed these beautiful fans on the porch.

I took a pic of Wayne, Sandra, and Martha.

Wayne took a pic of us girls.

We kept making him retake it. Haha! 

We left there around 2pm. I went straight home and changed clothes to mow the yard. Ryan is sick, and he is not able to mow it. It was so high. I love to mow, tho'.

See how tall the grass is? Look how awful the landscaping looks. Ugh! Why can it not stay clear of weeds for a winter?? Wayne has given me weed barrier paper, and they grow thru it. I didn't have time to work in the landscaping today.

I mowed for about an hour and had to take a break. I am gettin' old, I tell ya. I used to be able to mow the yard with only one break but not today. My face was so red! I sat in the garage to rest and this little guy kept me company.

Ryan has not been mowing the bottom of the back yard and it was knee high. It took forever to finish and I could hardly walk I was so tired. Ryan came home as I was mowing the back and tried to take over. There was no way I was letting him get sicker from mowing. I did have to get him to start the mower after a couple of rests, but I finally finished. All mowed.

It feels like such an accomplishment. My next job is to plan to clean out the landscaping. I hobbled upstairs and changed clothes. Then I sat down to rest.

Supper was very easy tonight. I reheated the pasta sauce, and boiled pasta for spaghetti. I ate tuna salad and whole grain gluten free crackers. I have had a lot of fish today. :) After supper, I have rested, and rested. I am starting to feel normal now. I told Ryan he has to wash the dishes.

Monday night I fixed chicken pot pie for supper.

Last night (Tuesday), the power was out because a girl hit a telephone pole and it caught fire. Ryan and I went out and got Chick Fila for us. 

I talked to Nikki on the phone tonight and she said the kids have been getting up @ 6:30am. They are grumpy until they have a nap. :) Then, they don't feel like going to bed early. It is hard to get them straightened out. She has been sending me the cutest videos of the kids. I wish I could get them posted here. I have been having trouble getting videos to upload. 

The other day I came across this pic I took when I was down at their house. They are driving a car. ;)

They are my heart!

I am thankful for:
1. A delicious meal and wonderful fellowship with my family.
2. Strength to mow the whole yard.
3. How much I love my daughter-in-law and our relationship.

May everyone be safe and blessed. Till next time.

An Easy Day at Work

Today was an easy day at work. Judie slept a lot of the day. I think she was just so worn out from physical therapy and her dental visit yesterday. And, she and Dennis always go out to eat after a dr. visit. She didn't get up til a little after 12pm. She talked a little and ate lunch. I fixed her a peanut butter/banana sandwich. I ate one too. I love them. She talked a while after she ate and then went to sleep again. While she slept I washed two loads of clothes, dried, and hung them up. 

I also read my Bible on my phone, read fb and instagram. I love having a lazy day sometimes, but for some reason I am more tired than days I am busy. Judie was confused today. While she was sleeping this morning, I put an outfit at the bottom of her bed, so when she woke, she would get dressed. She sometimes thinks there is someone in the bedroom across the hall and won't go in there to get her clothes. I have been putting an outfit out for her to wear. When she got up and came to the family room, she had on two shirts (that I didn't put out), her adult pullups, and no pants. She said something about not having on pants, and I told her it didn't matter. I said, "when we are here, we need to be relaxed." I honestly don't care and I don't want her to worry about it. As she was eating lunch, she wanted to put some of her books in a box so she could take them home. I told her this was her home, but she couldn't grasp it. I went to the garage, got a box, and put her books in it. It seemed to satisfy her. She also talked about her mother coming. Judie's mother was a banker. She was proper, ambitious, and organized. Judie feels like everything needs to be perfect if her mother is coming. I said, "I thought your mother  was deceased."  She said, "if she is, it just happened recently." So very sad!!!!

Judie woke about 30 minutes before it was time to for me to leave. She was still confused about it not being her home. She started thinking it is my home. I told her I had to go to my home and fix supper for my family and she and Dennis would be staying there. I worry about leaving her sometimes because Dennis gets there after I leave. He thinks she is in a lot better shape than she is.

I called Papaw (my dad) as soon as I left to see if he wanted me to pick up some food for him. I try to pick up something for him on Fridays. He wanted an Arby's roast beef. I hurried to the bank, and then went to pick up his food. I got to his house at 5pm. Dad is usually always sitting at the table waiting for me to give him his food. :) We talked a bit, then I went to get a basket of clothes in my trunk Nikki had given me that Mason had outgrown. I left them for my brother to give his daughter for his grandson. 

Dad lives in the best place!! I love it. He has a huge yard and a nice view.

Mark (my brother) and Wayne (my brother-in-law) just built a new wall for Dad.

The old wall was falling, so this makes it so much easier to turn our cars around.

When I walked out the door to leave Dad, the next door neighbor's poodle was laying there waiting on me. I love that dog. I used to pet her when I took care of Mom. I don't know how she remembers me, but she gets so excited when she sees me. She cries and runs to me and seems to throw herself in my lap. I loved and petted her. She was so sweet! I went to get my phone to take a pic of her and she ran up to the trees.

I left Dad's and went to the Dollar Store to get paper towels and nose spray for Ryan. Ryan is very sick with a cold or the flu?? Then I went to IGA and got ground beef, boneless chicken, and turkey bacon that was on sale. I didn't get home til 6. I hurried and thawed some chicken in the microwave. I fixed rice with chicken broth, cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and cooked it in Dale's seasoning sauce. Then I cooked a pkg. of carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. I mixed everything together and added a half can of cashews. It was so, so good! I wish I had taken a pic, but my phone was in my purse and I was too lazy to get it.

This evening I have washed dishes, folded several loads of clothes and put them away, and put a load of clothes in the washer. I still need to dry the clothes and put a load of towels in the washer. 

Ryan is working on his research paper. He wasn't able to go to school today. He texted me to tell me he felt so bad he could hardly move. He laid in bed with the laptop and typed two pages. He told me this evening as long as he didn't move, he felt ok. He started feeling better a while after supper and now he is working again on his paper. I pray he can finish this weekend and do a great job.

Finally, of course I have to end the post about the grands. While I was at work Nikki sent me the sweetest video of the grands playing and talking and laughing. I think they were snuggling in the bed. Nikki said they were hiding under the blanket and pretending to be in a rocket ship and Haley was the alien and she had only been talking in "beep boop boop beep" for like ten minutes. LOLOL I love hearing about my darlings during the day!

Haley loves to cook and bake. I was looking thru my pictures and saw the ones of her make banana pudding.

Acting like a monkey. :)

Mason likes to bake sometimes too. He helped make a birthday cake for his dad the other day.

His cuteness just melts me. I love my babies so much!

Last night I posted I was going to try to post three things I am thankful for so here goes:

1. I am thankful today is Friday. Yay!!!
2. I am thankful for my job.
3. I am thankful for my family and precious grands!!

Blessings till next time.

No Title

I hate that I have to title every post. Seriously, I sit here forever trying to figure out a title before I start. Tonight I couldn't think of anything, so I just typed no title. Just so ya know.

I slept so much better last night. I could feel a little bit of tension when I was going to sleep because I was afraid of insomnia overcoming me. But, I was able to relax and go to sleep.  Thank God! I still felt tired this morning tho', but I felt so much better than yesterday. 

When I got to work, I checked on Judie, and she was asleep.  She didn't get up til 11:30am. I went ahead and fixed her lunch. It was Healthy Choice Beef Merlot and a biscuit. While she ate lunch I put the towels in the dryer (that Dennis washed) and set out an outfit for her to wear. She had a dentist appointment this afternoon. I also cleaned the bathroom and had fed/watered the dogs earlier. After she ate lunch she talked and talked about going to get dressed. I would say, "ok, I set your clothes out." She does this all the time. She will say, "I need to go to the bathroom before I puddle." I say, "okaaaay." And she sits there and I am dying inside worrying about her not making it in time.

Dennis called to tell me her physical therapist would be there  between 2 and 3. I told Judie she had about 30-45 min before the therapist would be there. Well, she fell asleep. I thought I would let her sleep a bit before I woke her to get dressed. I decided to go ahead and eat my sandwich for lunch. 

Most of the time I bring a bag that has peanut butter and bread in it, and I fix my lunch there. Dennis really wants me to eat the food they have, but I eat gluten free. I bring my bread/food to make sure it is gluten free. Today when I went to fix my sandwich there were a couple of little, black ants. They have been having a problem with ants. At first I would clean the counters with this cleaning paste they have. I thought if the ants walked across the counter with the paste, they wouldn't like it. It helped a lot actually. Then Dennis put out some packet of ant killer and it helped too. They still have ants here and there. I kill them immediately and try to keep everything clean. It is freaky tho' because when I sit down for lunch, I will find one of those little ants crawling on my clothes. I thought, it would be awful if I didn't see one and it crawled under my clothes!!  Then I thought, I HOPE I HAVEN'T EATEN ONE!!!!!!! 

Judie woke right before the therapist came and went to get dressed. I had to help her finish because the therapist came before she was ready. It is so hard to get her to do stuff. Anyway, while the therapist works with her, I go sit on the front porch. The porch is long and goes across most of the front of the house. This is my view.

I could hear a lawn mower across the way. There were two chickadees flying around on the line in front of me. It was so relaxing and wonderful. 

When the therapist left, she told me Judie was really tired. They had walked extra laps. Judie was laid back in her recliner when I went in. We talked a bit and she fell asleep again. I was thinking she much not have slept much last night. It was getting close to time for Dennis to come pick her up to take her to the dentist. I woke her and asked didn't she want to go to the bathroom? Of course, she didn't (although she needed to). Dennis came in a bit and told her to get in the car while he changed his clothes. She decided she wanted to go to the bathroom. Ha! He came out and got aggravated that she hadn't gone earlier. I told him I had tried to get her to. He told me she is very stubborn. He said when their oldest son got married (he lived in Utah), they were supposed to fly there. The night before, he begged her to pack her bags, so he could put go ahead and put them in the car. She wouldn't. The next morning at 9 (the flight left at 10) she was still at the house packing her bags. They ended up having to run to the plane to catch their flight. 

They finally left at 4:05. I left and went to Walmart to get groceries. I buy our bulk of groceries every other week when Mark gets paid. It took me over an hour and I spent $345. I had to get medicine and some things for the house. I called Ryan and asked him to turn on the oven for french fries. I told him to be downstairs to help me bring up the groceries. He brought up the groceries while I fixed hamburgers with tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. I also baked french fries. Very easy.  

Ryan is sick tonight. He started getting sick yesterday. His nose is so stuffy. ugh! I don't think he is going to be able to go to school tomorrow. Maybe he will be able to work on his research paper.

Ok, now for my babies. Last month Nikki's neighbor asked her to go to a farm near their house that is open to the public certain days of the month. This neighbor has a son around the age of Mason. The place was AWESOME.  The kids got to ride horses.

They got to pet a mama cow and see a baby calf that had been born that morning.

They found out if you want to catch a chicken, you have to act like a chicken.

Chasing the chicken. 

They also got to feed a horse.

She knows that she has to keep her hands flat. :)

They had a blast, and I am thrilled they got to experience it.

My heart overflows with love for them!

Ryan and I are planning to watch our favorite show tonight. Well, it is actually not my favorite show. It is a show that scares me to death, but I want to know what happens. It is called 60 days in (I think). It is about a jail that was really rough and a new sheriff decided to get law abiding citizens infiltrated secretly into the jail for 60 days to see if they could find out the problems. Wow! Jail is really scary! 

I pray my family and friends are safe and blessed.  In future posts, I want to start listing at least three things I am thankful for every day. I think I did it before when I blogged. I got the idea from Ann Vascamp?? and her book 1000 Things?? Maybe I will get more info when I post again. 

Wednesday

I have been so very tired today. For probably two weeks I have had trouble sleeping. I can be so tired and relaxed, and one thought wakes my mind and body. I lay awake for hours trying to calm my mind and body. It is not that I am worried. I just have so many thoughts and ideas. Even exhausting days with no dozing does not put me to sleep. I felt weary as soon as I got out of bed this morning. 

When I got to work this morning, Judie was asleep. I sat down for a few minutes before I started my routine. Every day I usually clean the front bathroom, give the dogs fresh food and water, sweep the dog room, sweep the house if needed. Today I washed three loads of clothes, put clean sheets on their bed, and cleaned the back bathroom floor and toilet, and emptied the dishwasher. For breakfast I fixed Judie a sausage biscuit and for lunch, I fixed her a banquet meal of  turkey/dressing/peas/potatoes. 

She said something today that got me so tickled. She was telling me we needed to clean the lampshade. I have cleaned it, but it has stains that won't come off. I told her we needed to get a new shade because the stains wouldn't come off. She gave me this look and I said, "or is that too much money?" (she is always talking about Dennis not wanting to spend money) She stuck her nose in the air and said, "we could go to Kmartshae". Hahahahaha Kmart suddenly sounded very fancy.

I was so, so happy when it was time to go home. I could hardly hold up my head. I went straight home and lay down. I dozed and woke still very tired. For supper I fixed chicken/rice tacos for Mark and Ryan, and I ate leftovers from last night. I have already washed the dishes and fixed lunches for tomorrow. Right now I feel much better and relaxed. I pray I can sleep tonight. 

Ryan is working on an outline for a research paper he has to write this weekend. It is for his college English. I am so excited about one of Ryan's papers he got back today. The professor gave him excellent remarks.

It says:  I love this connection you make between literacy and knowledge here. You do an excellent job discussing each text through this lens (an approach w/an angle I have never seen brought to the assignment before). Draft two was already in good shape, and w/the sentence-level issues polished and some ties to the thesis strengthened, this is an excellent final draft.   This makes me so happy. I pray for his school and knowledge every day he goes to school.

Cruzer is snoozing here right beside me. He always has to be right with me. 

Last Saturday night I gave him a haircut and bath. I really cut it a little short because he gets cold and shakes. I have been keeping a sweater on him. When he is snuggled next to me he doesn't need it.

Nikki has been planting seeds and bulbs with the *grands*. I love the things she does with them. First they planted seeds. Only one grew, so they planted bulbs.

Only one seed grew, so they planted bulbs.

The bulbs grew. Yay!

I'm sure it was because of the help from this little masked guy.

I am off to get to bed earlier. Hope you all have a blessed night.

Funny Faces

Today I cleaned at Nana and Papaw's house. I set my alarm this morning for 8:30 because I usually get to Nana's around 10AM.  Of course I woke at 7 and couldn't go back to sleep. I lay there til after 8 and finally crawled out of bed onto my knees to start my day talking to God. 

I started getting ready but had to stop so Ryan could take a shower and get ready for school. It made me a little after 10 getting down to Nana and Papaw's. The first day of cleaning I try to get all of the bathrooms cleaned really good. I got finished a little after 3 today. 

As soon as I got home, I took clothes out of the dryer and switched clothes to the dryer. I also had to refill Cruzer's food pail downstairs. After I kinda got things in order, I sat down and allowed myself to doze off a bit. It made me feel so much better.

Tonight I fixed Mark spaghetti for supper. I usually fix it for him every Tuesday night because Tuesdays are his hardest days. It is his favorite meal and easy for me to fix. Ryan and I are not crazy about spaghetti, so I baked meat loaf that I had in the freezer and added mac & cheese and slaw. Mark is not crazy about meatloaf so it works out great.

Tonight Ryan is working on his college English. As he was typing his report the power went out. It came back on a few seconds later, and Ryan's computer decided to update. So now he is having to wait for slow updates to finish. So frustrating. I am so proud of how well he has been doing in English. I hope and pray he keeps up with it. He has a 94 average, I think.

Tonight when I started to blog, I went thru my phone pics to see what I needed to blog. I saw so many cute, cute pics of Mason making funny faces. He doesn't like having his picture taken now, but he is happy to make a funny face for his picture to be taken. lol And, I think it is the cutest thing! 

I can't keep from smiling when I see these.

Bahahahaha That one ^ looks like he is about to be sick.

Sometimes we get pictures of him so full of laughter!

It just melts my heart.

Haley can make funny faces too.

Hahaha!!

Tonight Nikki sent me these txts/cute pictures:

These are the police, and you're under arrest!!

Aren't these just the cutest?!!

Finally, here are a few pictures I forgot to post last night. This was Easter morning.

Ahhhh, my little loves.

Nikki always helps them do the cutest things for the holidays. She helped Haley make cute chickens out of the eggs they colored.

Mason loved peeling the eggs.

They also made eggs in a nest.

I am so hungry right now, and that looks delicious! I need to go back to the pics Mason took of me to keep myself from eating!

Ok, I'm off for tonight. I pray everyone has a safe, blessed night.