Counting My Blessings

After a couple of busy weeks, today I stayed home and did laundry, cleaned, washed and vacuumed the house, and generally did homemaker stuff. It is not something I enjoy, but I really do appreciate a clean house.

We also moved the last of the patio furniture into the screened porch for the winter. They are forecasting wet weather tomorrow, they are just not sure what kind. We are on a weather line. It will be wet, we are just unsure if it will be snow or rain or ice.

I get my stitches out this morning and I hope to get the results of the biopsy as well. I did get the results of my cholesterol level and I am still borderline. I sure hope that my good cholesterol levels (which are high) will keep my doctor from wanting to put me on cholesterol-lowering drugs. I have such bad reactions to things.

My daughter sent me some new pictures of the kids. You know, every day I feel blessed to be their Oma. They are such loving children!

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My darling, Savannah. She is six and a half now!

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Darling Quinn is two and a half!

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Everytime I see those beautiful faces, I break into smiles!

I have to report in on Anneliese. When we saw the Canine Ophlathmologist, he told us that the eye drops might work, or they might not. It was a 50/50 thing. Well after almost a week, I am here to tell you that Anneliese’s eye is looking better! She will never be completely cured, but this appears to have stopped the progression of the problem! Yay!

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Another Great Day

Sunday was Veterans Day. Many places offered free meals for Veterans. Naturally, Jack wanted his meal, so off we went at lunchtime for a nice meal.

Jack had a wonderful piece of roasted pork tenderloin with a balsamic glaze, and I opted for a burger. The food was really good and we enjoyed being out and about.

Jack also decided that today would be a good day to take me shopping for my birthday gift. There is a women’s store nearby that I love. Talbot’s. I just love their clothes.

A chair was situated at the back of the store near the dressing room for him to sit on. We’d selected a bunch of clothes, and I would try them on, and then show him. It was fun and I got a whole bunch of stuff for the winter months. One sweater, in particular, I just adore. I put it on and I felt like it was made for me!

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It may not look like much on the hanger, but on me, it looks great! It will look nice with black, brown or white slacks. So pretty.

Jack also bought me a bunch of new tops, another sweater, and two pairs of slacks. I am all set for the winter!

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Now before you all think that I went hog wild, I must tell you that this was an Outlet Store, (everything was marked down 50%) and I had fantastic Coupons! In fact, I love Coupons and I got all of this for half of what it would have cost. So trust me when I say that this was a steal!

I’ve always been a bargain shopper/hunter. I hate to pay full price for anything, and after living with a Scotsman for 30+ years I am perhaps cheaper than he is!

This was so much fun and I think even Jack enjoyed the process.

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Coffee & Muffins

The day has arrived, and by the time most of you read this I will be down having my biopsy. Nothing to worry about, right?

I got a call earlier today and my Primary Care Doctor wants me to have my bloodwork done while I am in-house, (read: at the VA Hospital). It’s fasting bloodwork too! Ugh!

Jack was concerned about this and I told him not to worry. I went out to the store, bought a couple of muffins,

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some bottled orange juice,

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and a Dunkin Donuts Coffee. The coffee is bottled as well and meant to be sipped from the bottle cold.

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This should get me through my appointments after the bloodwork until I can go have lunch.

On Monday I met up with my friend Laurie and had lunch. It was so nice to catch up with her. In fact, we’ve already made plans to get together Saturday to go to the Christmas Bazaars.

Life is speeding by.

My Life, Or Something Like It

Have you ever noticed how you make all these great plans and then a few things happen and everything gets rearranged?

This week I had Anneliese into the Vets about her left eye. We will bring her over to Portsmouth, NH on Wednesday afternoon to see a Canine Ophthalmologist.

20181009_204237It’s sort of strange but Jack has known this man since he was a baby. Jack flew with his father way back in the day, for Pan American World Airways. I am hopeful that he can help Anneliese. She may not have much vision left in that eye, but if he can at least save it, that will be good. I will not entertain the worst case scenarios. Anneliese will be just fine. I know it.

I was due to spend the night down at Mandy’s after watching both of Savannah’s plays. Sadly both Quinn and Matt are sick, so it just wouldn’t be a good idea. I’ll meet up with them for the 2:00 performance and then drive home.

I may actually go down early so I can do a little Christmas shopping. But I will have to see how that all works out.

As much as I have claimed that I am not nervous about the biopsy, I admit, I am. I was worried about a few things last night and my brain clicked on about the biopsy and at 2:00 AM I was wide awake. I could not get back to sleep.

After an hour I put on a movie that I know so well, that I don’t have to follow it. I close my eyes and I let the music carry me away. Usually, I am asleep after about 10-15 minutes.

I will be very glad when we are past Thursday next week and cruising toward the weekend. I plan to go to a few Christmas Bazaars and also relax.

But for right now, I need to put one foot in front of another, relax and try to remember that it will all be okay. It’s just that my middle name is worry-wart!

Today, Saturday, my only plan is a little housework and then this afternoon while it rains like crazy, I plan to sit and crochet. Savannah keeps asking me about her blanket.

I hope you all have a marvelous weekend!

Saturday Morning

On Saturday we had our first snowfall. I woke early, and it was cloudy but dry. I enjoyed my first cup of coffee, (isn’t that the best thing ever?), watched the news and checked my email.

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Jack got up, and we had our breakfast. It was then that I looked out and realized that the first flakes of the season were falling and sticking to the ground!

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I did not feel like going out into this mess, but Jack convinced me that we needed to go. So, I put on my winter coat and hat, called to Arnie and off the three of us went.

It was the usual Saturday morning stops. Post Office, Grocery Store, and Liquor Store to get some Brandy and a Lottery Ticket.

I never used to buy Lottery Tickets, but int he last few weeks I’ve been thinking I would like to prove to God that I could really handle winning that much money. So far I have won nothing, but a girl can dream, right?

I also prepped the Sauerbraten for Monday or Tuesday. It must soak in its marinade for a few days and then it will be perfect for a good meal or two. I love cooking Sauerbraten because it brings back memories of my grandmother, mother and times my family spent together around the table exclaiming about the perfection of the meal! Yes, Sauerbraten is a very good thing!

I napped again today, but I feel I am winning the battle against this little cold I have. No fever or anything, just feeling stuffy and tired. So, I decided to listen to my body and slow down!

Have a great Sunday, Everyone!

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Pretty Day For A Ride

Friday Jack drove me to Portsmouth for my doctor’s appointment. All was perfect and after that, as we were driving back (It takes about an hour each way), Jack pulled into an unknown Mexican Restaurant (unknown to us), and we had lunch.

I had a great Taco Salad and Jack joined me. It was so delicious! It was also huge! By the time we were done, I was completely filled up. Our sweet waitress asked if we wanted dessert. I looked at the menu and noted that they had Flan. This is one of Jack’s favorites. He asked how much it was and there were no prices. So he said no, maybe another time.

The waitress disappeared to cash us out and returned with a Flan for Jack and me to share and enjoy! And it sure was wonderful.

Needless to say, the waitress got a good tip!

When we got home I fed the dogs, and was sitting in my chair and I felt so tired and chilled. So I lay down on the sofa with Arnie and slept for an hour and a half. I still feel tired now. I think I am fighting off a little cold.

It was a pretty day for a drive though, and we had almost completely open roads. We noted the snow-covered peaks of the Ossipee Range and the Waterville Valley ski area, which we can see from Meredith.  Yes, as I have been writing, winter is just around the corner.

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Oh, one thing, until my Web Designer gets my Comment Button installed (I hope this weekend!) in order to leave a Comment, just click on the Title of the days Post and it will take you to the Comment Page. One day it will all be fixed and I will be sooooo happy!

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Wednesday Happenings

My day started off gray, rainy and very cold. The wind was blowing and as I walked the three dogs in my slippers, nightgown, and jacket, I could feel the wind blowing on my knees and chilling me to the bone. Thankfully, a hot shower was the next thing on my list to do, and boy did that shower feel good!

I’d slept a bit later Wednesday morning, so I was really going quickly through my morning routine getting ready for WW.

I took the wonderful shower, dressed quickly and then did my hair. All I can say is that I really need a dip in the fountain of youth, as hiding my gray roots is getting harder and harder. Thank goodness for curly hair!

I raced out to the kitchen to prepare an Egg McMuffin to take to class with me, and I put the egg in the container, poked the yolk several times and put it in the microwave.

30 seconds. Good. Check the egg and all was well. 20 seconds. BOOM! It flipped the egg poaching container wide open!

I didn’t have time to redo it, so I took the somewhat exploded egg, put it on the toasted light English Muffin and wrapped it in tinfoil.

Off I went to class.

Honestly, I’ve been struggling, but I refuse to give up. The class was good, and afterward, when our Leader was giving new people a rundown on the program, many of us stayed after to listen again. I’ve just got to do this.

I had to return some wine glasses to TJ Maxx. They were too tall for my dishwasher. But as I was getting ready to leave I saw the cutest Vera Bradley purse in sort of a bright and wild color. Havana Rose. It was so cute and for the bargain price of $29.99 I could not say no.

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I did find replacement wine glasses at Homegoods, and two smaller Christmas Dackel Glasses that I sort of splurged on. Yay!

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So Wednesday was a good day.  I have gotten a lot done and stayed eating the good things I should and not straying from my diet.

Life is good!

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Toothaches

Monday was dentist day. I knew that this was going to be a partially bad one, only because I have been having two teeth that ache.

Sure enough, I have two teeth that need their fillings redone because they are causing me a lot of discomforts. Anbesol is my new best friend. Wherever I go I keep a tube of that with me. It really does work!

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I will be going in October 31st to get those taken care of. I can hardly wait!

All that was the good news really. Yes, it hurts now, but it can be taken care of and taken care of soon! The bad part is that I have a cracked tooth. It’s slightly cracked now, not bothering me, but eventually, I will need to crown that tooth. That’s the scary, bad part! I am hoping it can be put off until the Springtime. That’s the one part of my exam I wasn’t too thrilled about. But…oh well.

Aside from those three problems, mostly caused by age, my teeth were in surprisingly good condition! No new cavities!

How were your experiences with your dentist as a child? Mine was so bad, that to this day I feel almost ill every time I have to go in for a cleaning. Other Classmates from my High School days have confirmed that I wasn’t the only one that dentist tortured back in the day.

My granddaughter loves her dentist. She goes to a special kids dentist and it has made all the difference. I wish they had them back when I was six years old.

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Another Day

Despite the fact that I did not feel like cooking tonight, I bit the bullet and after I fed the dogs I began the prep work for our meal. This meant chopping onions, peppers, and mushrooms, starting to saute this and then add cut up zucchini and summer squash along with basil, garlic, salt, and pepper.

It’s a dish I make pretty frequently, so I know the recipe by heart. Once that was started I got out the Rice Pilaf and the seasoned bread crumbs for the turkey tenders.

I got everything all on the stove and in the oven and now I have a few minutes before I serve it all up.

Some days I feel like cooking, and some days I don’t. However, this meal should be good and we should have some leftovers too!

We got three air conditioners pulled out of the windows and put to bed for the winter. There are just two left to do and we will probably get that done tomorrow, but Jack and I ran out of steam.

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I had a weird, but wonderful thing happen to me the day before yesterday. I was grocery shopping when I saw a Paramedic shopping for food. I went over and I thanked him for his service to the community. (This is something I have been doing for years.) He asked me why I was thanking him, and I explained that 33 years ago two Paramedics not only saved my life but had a profound impact on it.

We started talking more and he asked if I recalled their names. Of course. I told him both names. One had been his instructor and one was his Boss! I told him that I would be very grateful if he could pass along a message to these two men.

“Please tell them I am happy and that I now have two beautiful grandchildren.”

He promised to and wrote everything down. In many ways, things came full circle in, of all places, the grocery store!

I’ll still keep thanking our First Responders and Paramedics and Military Men and Women. So much of the time, no one notices the real service they provide, and the risks they take to save a life.

But I will never forget.

Home Again

On Tuesday morning I drove back to Meredith after getting Savannah off to school and waiting for the plumbing and heating guys to work on Mandy and Matt’s furnace.

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Savi waiting for her bus! As I watched her waiting, and then getting onto the school bus, I recalled her mother and standing and waiting with her. Wasn’t that just the other day? It’s crazy really. As I keep saying, the time has flown by, and so much has changed, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

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My beautiful and sweet grandson, Quinn, using the Ipad. I am amazed at his brain to hand dexterity.  I watched him as he learned numbers and letters and used his fingers to put things in circles and boxes.

As I drove the one hour back to my home, I noted that most of the pretty foliage was gone. I wondered about this until I learned that the night before a cold front moved through with high winds. The news reported that there were trees down and power outages. Thus the end of our leaf season was upon us.

I was greeted by my husband and dogs as if I had been gone for several years instead of just a couple of days. Jack said the dogs all showed signs of depression during my absence. I still believe that they are a completely different pack of dogs without their fearless leader, Greta!

So I am home, feeling happily tired and with a big smile on my face. Time spent with my grandchildren is always a good thing. I can hardly wait to see them again

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