Meet Stone!

A friend needed to rehome her cat, so Lew and I are back to a two-cat household. Stone is almost four years old. He and Marilyn are getting along splendidly!

He looks a lot like our sweet kitty Jerry, doesn't he?

Thankful

I was updating my book list and decided to write a brief post, too.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Other than my fighting my annual "Tracy has a bad cold on Thanksgiving" condition, we had a nice day. We went to Matt & Emily's house and ate far too much. It was delightful. We are thankful for family.

I do have some sad news to report. Our sweet cat Jerry is no longer with us. His kidneys were failing and we said good-bye to him a week ago (Wednesday, November 19). He was a great friend to Lew, Dad, and me. We are thankful for the 13 1/2 years we had with him.

The bathroom on Dad's side of the house is being remodeled for a more accessible shower for him. The work is almost done. It's going to be nice. We are thankful for our home.

I believe our dinner has arrived. I am thankful for lasagna from Romeo's!

Travelers Update

Kelsey, Zachariah, Bode, and Boston safely arrived home today. It was fun to have them in Maine, but I imagine being back in their Illinois home is nice for them — especially after such a long drive!

Of course, we've had two beautiful days here after their departure. They did have mostly good weather for their vacation, though.

Next time we'll "see" them will be when we stream Zach's basketball games. We always try to find them in the stands, as well as watch for them after the game is over. Bode and Boston love to run around on the court.

Is it too early to say it?... GO, ROCKETS!

The Annual Family Trifecta

Happy 87th Birthday to my father!

Happy 29th Wedding Anniversary to Debbie and Glen!

Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary to Lew and me!!!  Our silver anniversary!

The celebration:  Super beef sandwiches (with extra sauce) plus cake and ice cream.

Thank you to my sisters for providing the yummies!

🎂🩷🕺💗🍨

Grateful

On this Mother's Day, I am thankful. God blessed me with a wonderful mother! I sure do miss her.

It's May

Happy May!

I meant to post on the 1st... my birthday... but didn't. It was a lovely day. Lew made breakfast, and then I pretty much was a bum for the rest of the day. Lots of reading and resting. Just what I needed.

I meant to post on the 4th... Star Wars day... but didn't. "May the Fourth be with you!" The best meme I saw for this was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. They were joined by a Fourth, the Son of God....

Yes, may the Fourth be with us all!

The Christmas Spirit

I haven't done much decorating for Christmas the past few years. I decided to do so this year.

The day after Thanksgiving I brought down all the boxes of decorations from the attic. After piling the boxes throughout the downstairs, I asked Lew how he liked my decorating. He said, "The feng shui is off a bit!" Hee hee!

I am taking my time going through the boxes and putting the items out. Our cats would absolutely destroy a tree if we put it up, so I have come up with my own solution for hanging ornaments. (Picture to come when I'm finally finished.)

Lew has always made the outside of the house look festive, and I am glad we are making the inside look festive, too.

Lighting by Lew.

13 Years

Thirteen years has gone by fast.  Grandson Eli is now a teenager!

Below are links to my first three posts after he was born.  Enjoy.  💗

Baby :)  

Thursday, 10/27/2011

Photos... by Eli

Friday, 10/28/2011

Milestones

Saturday, 10/29/2011

One Year Remembrance

It's been a whole year as of today. A whole year since I held my mother's hand as she slipped away into the arms of Jesus. I rejoice that she is with the Lord, but I sure do miss her. I always will.

I love you, Mom!

People say Mom looks like Karen Carpenter in this photo.

She loved riding her tricycle. She was "The Parade Monster!"

Remembering Mom

We had a lovely time last night as our family dined on brisket, corn on the cob, bread, watermelon, cookies, and chips 'n dip. (I may be missing something.) The meat and the corn came all the way from Illinois. Yum!

In attendance were Dad, Lew & I, Kim & Joe, Kaelen, Kelsey & Zach, Bode, Boston, Debbie & Glen, and Zack. We were short one member because Josh is working his 90-day shift on the ship. (We missed you, Josh!)

After the meal we had a brief time of remembering my mother.

Kelsey and Kaelen led by reading the obituary. I then read Mom & Dad's wedding invitation, after which I shared the Bible passage Mom and I often read together.  Said passage was Genesis 1, with Mom providing "good" after I read "and God saw that it was..." — my family performed Mom's part last night. I told everyone they were on Mom's heart until the end as I sang to her, "He's got Mary Lou's family in His hands."

After I finished the "planned" portion of the evening, the rest of the family shared (mostly funny!) stories about Mom. It was a nice time of remembrance.

We will always miss her.

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗 💖 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

The Annual Trifecta

Happy Birthday to my father! (86 years.)

Happy Anniversary to Debbie and Glen! (28 years.)

Happy Anniversary to my husband! (24 years of wedded bliss. I'm still not sick of him. 💗)

Conversation With an "Old" Friend

This past Tuesday evening I stayed up until 12:30AM (into Wednesday morning) talking on the phone with one of my dearest friends. I met her when I lived in Kansas, which is still her home.

She came to Maine for a visit about four years ago, and we couldn't remember if we had spoken on the phone since then. Text messages and the like, yes.  But speaking, not so sure.

At the end of our three and a half hour phone conversation, we talked about how it hadn't seemed like a possible four years. Wasn't it only yesterday that we were sitting in the same room, drinking hot tea, and watching a chick flick?

Friends are forever. Especially "old" ones.

It Snowed on April 4th

Everything screeched to a halt on Thursday because of heavy, wet, and icky snow!

Police and fire departments requested that people stay home if possible.

Our power went out about 4:15AM. 

We were cold.

We were tired.

We were cold and tired.

Just over 12 hours later — around 4:30PM — our power came back on.

Warm food for dinner!

Hot coffee! (Regular for Lew, decaf for me.)

Cable TV and internet working again!

Every time we lose power, I promise to never take it for granted again. But then I do....

Therefore, many thanks to the line crews that have worked hard these past two storms.

And, Spring, you need to step it up.

A "Normal" Work Week

I worked yesterday and today, and I am done for the week! 😀

My new office-mate is working out splendidly. I am glad to be back to doing just my own tasks.

I do have one little thing to do for work tomorrow, but it will only take about 15 minutes and I can do it from home.

In other news:  Another nice win for the Rockets tonight!

Praying for Mom

Dad and I both see Mom every day. When I got to the nursing home on Friday, she was sitting in her wheelchair! It had been a while since she had done that.

Yesterday she asked to "play games" which means to do her little jigsaw puzzles. She did a few with me and also did some with Dad when he was in later.

It was nice to see her sitting up, and it was nice to work on puzzles with her. But the current concern is that she is not eating more than a couple bites (if that), although she is drinking fluids.

Today was a difficult day. She didn't say much. I asked her, "Am I your Tracy?" and she nodded. Before I left to pick up Dad for his visit with her, I asked what her husband's name is, and she did answer... correctly, by the way!

Please pray that the nursing home staff can keep Mom pain-free and comfortable. And pray that her mind can be at peace. I made a sign a long time ago that hangs where Mom can see it: "Mom, don't be afraid. God is with you."

Friday... working on her puzzles!

Lew and I Host a Gathering

We are long-term subscribers to WORLD Magazine. I also get the weekly "Roundup" newsletters various WORLD writers send via e-mail.

Several months ago I wrote to Steve, the writer of one of the newsletters. He had told a story about how he and his wife had a bat in their bedroom. This reminded me of our own story, of course! You can read our story right here on Mainely Tracy:

Superkitty (July 26, 2012)

My Take on the Bat Incident (July 27, 2012)

I sent our bat tale to Steve. He thought it was hilarious, and he published part of it in his newsletter. Jerry was definitely the hero! A few weeks later I sent Steve a photo of Jerry looking at a page from WORLD Magazine — a page with a photo of Steve and his own cat.

Our subsequent correspondence led to a gathering of WORLD Magazine donors in Maine. Steve and his wife flew to Maine yesterday morning. We had a fun meetup at our house with them and 12 other donors who responded to Steve's invitation. It really was a great time....

And everyone got to meet Jerry, the "CATalyst" for how this came to be!

Jerry reads WORLD.

Forgot I Had a Blog!

The past week and a half have been such that I forgot about my blog!

Dad is doing well and will be coming home from the rehab facility Monday morning. The antibiotics are working for the infection, and he is now allowed to weight-bear fully (not just on his heel) while wearing his surgical shoe. Yesterday he and I walked from his room on the short-stay wing to my mother's room on the long-term-care side of the facility. He took his time and did well.

Mom has shown great interest in doing her little jigsaw puzzles. The puzzles she does are about 12-pieces or so, and she enjoys doing them over and over again. I ordered some more puzzles on Amazon to provide more variety... for ME! 😁 

Happy September to all!

A Birthday and a Monday Update

Happy Birthday to my husband, Lew! It's a milestone year for him. (Hint: Three quarters!)

As long as all the insurance paperwork goes through as expected, Dad will be transferred from the hospital to rehab tomorrow. He needs to have a short-term stay since he isn't allowed to put weight on his left foot yet. We are expecting him to be in rehab at the same facility where Mom is in long-term care, so that will be handy... one-stop visiting!

Lew and I are still keeping up with the Little League World Series even though the team from Maine is out of contention. We always enjoy this Series, even if Maine isn't represented. It's fun to watch the kids play.

Check back tomorrow for another update!

Saturday Summary

Lew and I have visited Dad and talked with him on the phone over the past few days. He is still in the hospital and seems to be doing well. He especially enjoys ordering his meals -- room service! -- and has a good rapport with the staff. The big "wait and see" at the moment is an MRI; it's been ordered but may not happen for another day or two. The MRI is to see if the infection has gone into the bone in his foot, and we are praying that it has not.

My employer gave me a nice raise in my hourly rate of pay. I certainly welcome that. 😀

Maine will be represented in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA! The team from Gray-New Gloucester/Raymond won the New England Regional tournament. The entire state is looking forward to watching them in the World Series.

I've had some nice visits with Mom. The room change has been hard on her, but she's slowly getting used to the new space. I do think that watching some familiar TV shows has helped, believe it or not! We've also done the puzzles she likes.

I have a big old scratch on my right index finger courtesy of Jerry. It's time to trim his claws! 😼

A week ago today Lew and I attended a get-together at Carole's house. Dick would have turned 75 last Saturday, so Carole invited family and friends to a celebration of his life — complete with cake! We will miss him always.

Double-Digit Day

Lew and I went to grandson Adam's 10th-birthday party today.

Ten years old already.  Wow.

The kids in attendance at the party went on the homemade slip n' slide.  I did not.

I did, however, eat a hamburger, chips, fruit, and a piece of ice cream cake.

Happy Birthday, Adam!