Monday Roundup

We did get lots of snow on Friday. The plow guy came and the sun came out on Saturday, and our driveway subsequently was clean! Apparently we are getting some snow showers tonight, but not a lot of accumulation is expected.

Saturday night Lew and I went out to dinner with the Batgirls and spouses. When we got home we watched some of the Maine high school basketball tournament games with Dad. It's nice that so much is streamed online. The state championships are this coming weekend and those games are going to be on public television.

Yesterday I finished another jigsaw puzzle. (Photo at end of post.) The puzzle was Debbie's and she gave it to me after she completed it.  Only 500 pieces, so it went quickly.  After I took the photo I broke  up the puzzle and brought it to Mom's nursing home. They are always happy to get more activities for the residents.

I had a nice visit with Mom today. She got her nails done! I took a picture. It was her idea to make a claw! 😍

Sweet Shoppe (by MasterPieces Inc.)

Thursday Roundup

The Rockets' basketball season came to an end last night. They had a great year and we enjoyed watching them play. Coach Zach, we are already looking forward to watching your team next season!

The biggest news has nothing to do with basketball. Russia invaded Ukraine and we will see where this leads. Many are convinced that we are in the end times, and I believe that may be the case. (Although nobody knows the time except for God.)  People all over the world need to be in prayer.

On a less serious note, our dryer has been acting up. The timer has been very finicky about staying on and it has been getting worse over the past couple weeks. When I got home from visiting my mother yesterday, I reacted with an "Oh, no" when I saw what Lew was up to. He had removed the control panel of the dryer in an attempt to figure out if he could fix it. He has ordered a replacement timer, so we are now waiting for that to arrive. If it doesn't work, then we will replace the machines (will replace both washer and dryer). Considering both machines are about 30 years old, I would say we have been very blessed with their longevity already.

We are expecting between six and twelve inches of snow tomorrow!

Dad 608: Rockets Basketball

(Yes... Go Rockets! Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! The temperature is in the 60s. It is almost a summer day. We'll take it!

 

We are in a daily normal rut. Our days don't differ much.

 

Our power has shut off twice today. It flicked off and then came right back on.

 

Looking forward to watching Coach Zachariah's high school basketball team play tonight. It is now tournament time. Win and you play again; lose and your season is over. This past Saturday they won. We'll see what happens tonight. Go Rockets! We have enjoyed watching the games this year.

 

Done writing for the day. Only spent 10 minutes on this. Tracy wanted a short post, and she has it.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Happy Twos-Day!

Today's date = 2/22/22. Twos-Day. Tuesday.  😁

Lew and I had breakfast out with my former supervisor Susan and her husband and daughter. It was really fun to spend some time with them!

After visiting my Mom, I came home and did our taxes. All done and e-filed! Yippee!  Now if the IRS would just finalize the form I need for my parents' return....

I hope you had a wonderful Twos-Day!

Tax Prep Time

The annual pleasure of preparing tax returns has descended on me once again! My parents' return is almost done (just waiting for the IRS to finalize a form). I just finished Matt and Emily's return. That just leaves our return, and I hope to get that done over the next couple days.

In other news, Josh got home last week!  I hadn't seen him until tonight, and he got a big "Aunt Tracy" hug!  😍

A Business Idea

Dad, Lew, and I ate at the diner last night, and I brought home some left-overs: two dinner rolls and two hard-boiled-egg halves.

I decided to eat my left-overs for breakfast. I heated the rolls up in the microwave, put some butter on them, and heated them a little bit more to melt the butter. I then placed them on a plate with the hard-boiled egg. (Photo below.)

I showed Lew my plate arrangement. He said that I was quite creative and maybe I could go into the restaurant business.  I then came up with a great idea!

My idea:

1. All food at my restaurant will be left-overs that people bring in themselves.
2. I heat it up for them in the microwave. (No other type of oven.)
3. Then for the excitement: I arrange it on a plate!

Pretty good business idea for a domestically-challenged gal, huh?!

This is supposed to be a bow.
It looks like a bow, doesn't it?
DOESN'T IT??? 😁

Dad 607: Back to Normal (Almost)

(I hope to wheel Mom out to Bingo tomorrow. Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another fairly good day. Real cold this morning, but it has warmed up from single-digit temperatures to 30+ this afternoon. I'm writing this prior to visiting Lou for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Watched Zachariah's basketball team get back in the win column last night. They played well and won by four points. They were ahead by double figures a couple minutes from the end, so the game got close! They've got another game tonight. Hope we can watch it.

 

Lou's wing at the nursing home is about done with all this Covid mess, and she is getting out to some activities. Must get some exercise to build her strength up. Must have more movement than staying in bed all day. We'll try to work on it.

 

Lou seems to be eating better. She especially enjoys her daily Ensure, which is delivered by Tracy.

 

We seem to be back to normal. Only thing left to do is get rid of having to wear a mask at the nursing home.

 

Must close!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Latest Puzzle

This was a really fun one. Only 750 pieces, so it went more quickly than the 1000-piece puzzles I usually do.

Despite the chaos, these kittens probably are more skilled in the kitchen than I am!  😁

"Kitten Kitchen Capers"  (Buffalo Games)

The Day After the Super Bowl

Happy Valentine's Day!

As everyone in the country knows, the Super Bowl was yesterday. I watched the entire game but skipped the half-time show.  My post-game commentary: COOPER KUPP!

Last week we got zero mail delivered Monday through Thursday. Then finally on Friday we got stacks of it. Same for today. Today's mail was delivered after 9:00PM. What is going on, USPS?

Mom and I continue to play the "pop the bubble" game every day. We play several games. She is the reigning champion two days in a row now. Prior to that, we were co-champions. She usually beats me!

I watched a little bit of Hannity tonight with Dad. There is a lot going on in our country. The emperor has no clothes. Time to wake up!

Two weeks left in February.  😊

Rainbow

At 3:00 this afternoon I saw the most spectacular rainbow I have ever seen.

It was a fairly wide rainbow. The colors were vivid. The rainbow ended in the marsh on our road.

I took a photo through my rain-streaked windshield. The photo doesn't show the true magnificence of this rainbow.

Thanks be to God for His promises!

Dad 606: The Nuclear Option

(Dad had quite the day. Enjoy his post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another nice day with sun and temperatures about 40°. A good day for melting and clearing out some of the ice left in our driveway. Lew was able to clear out all the ice that was in front of our garage doors. Good job, Lew. The driveway looks great!

 

I did not go and see Lou today even though I returned home by about 3:00PM. How did I spend my day? I am about to tell you....

 

Appointment at my cardiology office. For what? For a nuclear stress test using medication to open all veins, which would happen if you walked on a treadmill. Checking for blocked veins.

 

After the first round of medication, they took pictures (sort of like X-rays). Then a rest period until the second round of nuclear medication. A much higher dosage the second time! The nuclear medicine takes 90 seconds to expand all the veins. Then another rest period until the third round, which was more like the first round.

 

They also added a two-day heart monitor.

 

Then I went home! Tracy called me when I get home so I could talk to Lou.

 

I meet with a new doctor tomorrow.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Vital Visits and Big Books

The days are blending together. When asked how things are going, my answer is usually, "We're in a holding pattern." And I mean that in a good way.

I continue to visit Mom in the early afternoon each day. (Exceptions are illness or bad road conditions due to weather.) These daily visits consist of her drinking the Ensure I bring, my reading the Bible to her (a Psalm plus a passage from a Gospel), playing the pop-the-bubble game, and a puzzle or two. Several days a week we also video chat with Kim, who is joined quite often by Joe, Kaelen, and Cocoa! The daily visits from me and Dad have really made a difference for Mom. I'm so glad the shut-down is behind us,

I've had some what I call "big books" to read for quite a while. So a couple weeks ago I started setting weekly goals to try to get these books read; usually a chapter a week. I then break it down into daily weekday goals. I reserve the weekends for catching up. I currently am concentrating on two "big books." I just started week three and I'm sticking with it so far.

In addition to the "big books" I am fitting in some regular-length books. Yes, I really like to read!

Precipitation Predictions Pan Out

Yep... it was a yucky day weatherwise. Lew made yummy frosted cinnamon buns (from a can) this morning. Then I read for much of the day.

I'm trying to get a few productive things done in the next several minutes, then it will be time to watch nephew-in-law Zach's basketball team play. Zach is the head coach. Thanks to modern technology, we've been able to watch most of his games via live-streaming.

 GO ROCKETS!

A Plethora of Precipitation

Here we go again....

It's raining right now (around 8PM). But in the wee hours of the morning it will turn into a freezing rain... then a "wintry mix" and then snow and then a "wintry mix" and then snow again.

According to the weather forecast I saw earlier this evening, we should only be getting around two to four inches of snow along the coast. But the biggest issue will be the ice. The weather guy said it could be one to one and a half inches thick!  Yucky!

I hope to visit Mom tomorrow afternoon, but Dad and I prepared her for the possibility that the roads might be too bad. The storm could go until 4PM tomorrow, so it's not looking good based on that prediction.

Sun, please show yourself soon!

🌞

Dad 605: Longevity

(Dad's short post about a long time. Enjoy! ~ Tracy)

Derf Here! Not a typical winter day. Temp is about forty degrees. We'll take it.

Don't feel like writing today. All is about status quo. I'm about to visit Lou this afternoon. Will fill her bird feeders outside her window. Glen shoveled the area around the feeders yesterday. Did a fine job.

Must finish this up and go see my bride of sixty-one years. Never thought of making it to this many years of being married. Never thought I'd top the time of my parents long life together. But we did.

Done writing for the day.

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Bubbles and a GOAT

Mom and I played the bubble-popping game nine times today. I beat her the first seven games! After Mom won the 8th game, she wanted to get at least one more win. And she did win the 9th game. But, I am today's champion.  😁😏

In other news, Tom Brady officially announced his retirement today. He's played in the NFL so long that it's going to be strange without him. All of New England thanks you, Tom, for the six championships! (And we sort of "claim" the seventh one, too!)