Category: Friday Five

It the end of another week and the end of the first month of 2021. So far, I am not impressed with what 2021 is offering. Oh well, not much I can do about it. In any case, here is this week’s Friday Five.

1. I am finally feeling better after the cold, which seemed to linger on and on. At least I know it wasn’t Covid, just a rather stubborn cold germ!
2. I had a rather unique thing happen to me the other day. I was doing errands uptown, when I looked down as I walked and saw $20.00 folded up, lying on the ground.
   I picked it up and went inside the store to turn it in. They have no policy for money, but we made a plan. If no one claimed it in two days, it would come to me as the finder. Well, no one claimed it and today I collected the $20.00. But I felt strange. Like I needed to pay this forward in some way. Many of you will know I support St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital, so after lunch today I sat down and sent them the $20.00. It may not be a lot, but to someone in need, $20.00 is a lot! You know, I feel good about this. Really good.
3. Today I will be driving out to pick up Anneliese’s ashes. I’ve really been missing my little girl, but I know she is in a much better place.
4. I finished my 600-page book on the rock/pop group ABBA. It was very well done and answered so many of the questions I had about the group.
5. We are due for some very frigid weather the next few days. The highs will only get into the low teens. But mostly we will be in the single digits! Now that is cold!

I hope that no matter where you are your weekend will be restful and warm! Stay safe, soon it is my hope that we will be done with this blasted Virus!

The last two days have been hard. Arnie and I are still looking around the house for our Anneliese, but she is not to be found. I was feeling as if I were nothing but a weak, emotional marshmallow, but then I remembered that I am one tough cookie and I will help get Arnie through this, as well as myself.

So upon getting up on Thursday, I made my favorite breakfast, sat down, and slowly savored each bite.

In a week’s worth of sadness, here is the Friday Five. Yes, five good things I am truly thankful for.

1. On the night after Anneliese left us, Savi and Quinn called me. Mandy had told them about Anneliese and they wanted me to know that they will miss her and that they loved me. Those simple words out of the mouths of small children meant the world to me.
2. We needed fuel oil and on Tuesday the Oilman cometh! This was very important because our driveway was clear, and the truck had no trouble getting down our drive to fill our tank with 178 gallons of home-heating oil!
3. I went to a psychic last year who told me that Katie was always with me and that she will do odd things to get my attention. He asked if I’d had blinking lights or any other sort of electrical oddities? Why yes, yes I have. So, on Wednesday morning the day after Anneliese left us, I was in the kitchen with my coffee sitting in the darkness only the lights of my Christmas tree to illuminate the kitchen. Suddenly my Christmas tree lights began to blink. Now many years ago I had tried to put the light in to make the tree blink, but it has never worked. But on Wednesday it worked. And it made me smile! Since then, the lights have not blinked again. I think it was Katie letting me know that Anneliese was with her. You may be skeptical but I just know in my heart that it was her. And it comforted me.
4. It’s Thursday and what is it doing outside? It is snowing. I don’t expect it to accumulate too much, and today it is actually pretty.
5. I think this weekend I will spend some time catching up on laundry. I need to clean Anneliese’s bed and put it away. I have left it out for Arnie. It felt right. But he’s doing better so it’s time to let her go and wash the bed.

So that is my Friday Five. Have a wonderful, safe and happy weekend!

It’s strange to be in the middle of January and have the weather be so dry. We had the big three feet of snow a few weeks ago but after that not much at all. It makes me wonder what the weather will be like for the year 2021.

So now, here is this week’s Friday Five, in no particular order.

1. I have a slight cold. No, it’s not Covid, just my usual sore throat, stuffy nose, and tiredness. Perhaps I am actually allergic to Winter! Who knows. Apparently, I look ill because after Zooming with a few friends a couple of them told me I looked terrible.
2. I was carrying a basket of laundry to the basement to start in the machine, when I got my knuckles on my right hand smashed in the door jam. Now in my twenties, if I did something like this, I would have ended up with a few bruises. What happens now that I am 62? The skin on those knuckles just peeled right off! Sheesh! I remember when my grandmother and then my mother did stuff like this. Both lamented that as one aged their skin became like paper. Yeah, well, welcome to the old lady club, Maribeth! LOL!
3. Looking down at my winter down parka (which is baby blue) I noticed that it really needed a bath. I followed directions and the first two washes just were not getting that grime. So I got my fingernail brush, and some liquid dish detergent (Dawn) and set about scrubbing the stained areas. Then I washed it one last time. Presto! The stains were gone. After that, I had to listen to tennis balls in the dryer while the parka dried out. Now I admit to being leery about wearing it as it really is a pain to clean. No pastel-colored coats for me ever again!
4. My Christmas tree is still up, and I am still enjoying the bright lights. I think over the weekend I will carefully take it down and put it away. I simply wrap it up, carefully place it in a box, and that way next year I just pull it out and plug it in.
5. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do once I can travel again. Where do I go? I think the first trip I’d like to go on is with my sister, cousin Janet, Mandy and Savannah. Maybe just a visit to Cape Cod for the weekend, but spend time with my girls! After that? Who knows. Maybe a visit to my friends down in Florida, or maybe Germany. But I am afraid it will be a long time until anyone can travel any great distance.

So, that is the week’s Friday Five. I hope wherever you are that your weekend will be happy and safe.

Here we are now in the middle of the winter. I wake up each day and ask “Alexa” what the weather is. With that, she gives me the current temperature and the outlook for the day. She even wishes me a good day. I lead a very little life. Here we go now, with this week’s Friday Five!

1. I’m thinking that I simply cannot watch the news anymore. I do watch our local news in the morning to catch the weather, but I have stopped watching any other news. It’s all too upsetting to me.
2. I’m reading a terrific book about the group ABBA. I’ve always liked their music and I wondered about how they all got together and made the music they did.

   It’s pretty interesting for a fan like me. And actually a good read. I put on their greatest hits softly in the background and read.

3. Usually, I take my Christmas decorations down, but I like the pretty lights so much that I think I may keep it up for a while.
4. Arnie’s back is coming along. The doctors ran a culture and tested it for sensitivities to antibiotics and so he is now on one that we hope will kick this bacteria to the curb. We are watching him closely and he will remain on antibiotics for another two weeks or more.
5. My first week back on my WW Plan and I have lost four pounds.

   Yay! I am planning everything and writing it all down!

So that’s a few of the things that are happening here in my world. I hope you all are well and have a wonderful weekend!

In a week we will celebrate Christmas. It doesn’t seem possible. This year is ending, and the darn Virus is still wreaking havoc with my family and friends. Oh well, here is this week’s list.

1. We’d been wondering if we would have a “White Christmas”. Well, Mother Nature is laughing loudly at us, as we have over 3 feet of snow, (and as I write, it is still snowing!) It is well past “pretty snow”, and now it is tough. I have been out twice to clear out the satellite dish. This means shoveling my pathway, using the roof rake to get some of the snow down (usually on top of me and my face!) and then climbing a ladder with a long-handled broom to sweep off the satellite dish. The second time I did this I thought I was having a heart attack! It’s hard work.
2. Then at noon, I brought out the two dackels. Jack had shoveled a little path, but here is the sad thing. My little blind Anneliese was completely disoriented. She couldn’t smell anything familiar, everything is white and bright, and she was totally lost. She kept walking in a circle.
3. I brought her in and into my bathroom where I could blow her fur dry, but she was so upset, she went into the corner of the room and wouldn’t come back. I stood up, and went and got her, dried her a bit more, and then brought her into the family room and put her in her bed. I wish I could say that this helped calm her, but she is still very upset.
4. I did not see that coming, however, and I am angry with myself for not having thought out a plan on dealing with snow and a blind doggy. I will be leashing her and taking her out from now on, so she knows she is not alone.
5. This weekend is wrapping weekend. I think I will open up my kitchen table to its full size, lay-out the gifts and paper, and have at it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dear Covid – 19,

Have I mentioned recently how much I hate you? I am looking at this holiday season and I am thinking that the chances are I will not be able to see my grandbabies for the holiday.

1. I’ve never been one to over-react to this Pandemic, But we are averaging over 500 new cases every day and my little town has nearly 50 active cases. My daughters’ town has over 130.
2. I know, it is not safe for me to be out in this world right now. And my heart is breaking because I will not see my grandchildren this Christmas Day.
3. My plan currently is to wrap their gifts, drive them down, and drop them off. Then I will drive home, in tears I am sure, and spend Christmas watching the TV.
4. Yes, Covid, I hate you. You have taken all that I hold dear and kept me from them. This year it seems, my holiday will be very sadly spent without my daughter and my grands.
5. So, this is my Friday Five. I am feeling sad, angry, and a bit forlorn. This will be one year I hope I can forget very soon!

Here we are, people. The first Friday of the last month of 2020. The weather is cold here, and the forecasters are all excited because the first winter storm “might” come this weekend! Ah, well. Here we go. My Friday Five for December 4th.

1. 1. I’d been working on a very important letter to my Insurance Company and I was all set to print it out on Wednesday when my connection to our Network Printer went Kaflooey!
   2. I attempted a simple fix or two, but then my laptop just crashed. I wasn’t too upset because I know how to reset the machine, which I started Wednesday night.
   3. By Thursday morning I still was frustrated by the darn thing, and by about 11:00 I decided to reload the machine, and if I cannot figure out how to get this blasted machine onto the wireless printing, I’ll eventually call someone for help. But for now, just being able to use my laptop again is a good thing.
   4. My Ancestry.com Results are in. Call me surprised.
      Ethnicity Estimate:
      England & Northwestern Europe 49%
      Scotland 35%
      Germanic Europe 10%
      Norway 4%
      Wales 2%

Now I expected the English and German, but what threw me was how much of a Scottish Heritage I had. Jack insists that it is years of living with him. Ha! Norway and Wales also surprised me. It also told me that my sister was 100% my sister. My daughter was 100% my daughter and my Grandaughter was 100% my granddaughter. Now I am no expert on DNA, but this was fun!

5. Is anyone else doing their Christmas shopping online? It seems every day I get another delivery or four and right now I am nearly done with my shopping! Yay! I may just decide to decorate this house!

So that is what I’ve been doing and thinking about this week. Crazy, and wild, with Covid-19 spreading like wild-fire in my State, but somehow I am staying oddly calm.

Stay happy and stay safe, my friends!

Well, welcome to Friday, November 27th. The month is nearly over and we are officially on the Christmas countdown! That’s hard to believe. Soon it will be a full year of Covid-ness, many have died, and our numbers are climbing. But whatever the case may be, here is this week’s Friday Five.

1. I worked pretty hard cooking and baking and planning. As I lay out all the dishes of delectable foods onto our table, I hoped and prayed that everything would be good. I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to work that hard and then have nothing turn out correctly.
2. I needn’t have worried. Each and every item was amazing, most especially the Chestnut Stuffing. But I had another real winner this time, I made Cranberry/Orange sauce and it came out even better than I thought it would. Even my pies were spectacular! Okay, enough bragging!
3. For my Birthday I’d purchased an expensive Champagne. I thought it was really delicious. But today, for Thanksgiving, I bought a bottle that cost 1/3 of what the other cost. And this Champagne I liked twice as much. What can I say? I am a cheap drinker of Bubbly! Scotch is entirely another matter!
4. We let a few hours go by until we had dessert. Both of us had to admit that the Mince Pie came out the best. The Apple Pie was fine, but the Mince was somehow special.
5. The Turkey has been boned, and I have a crockpot full of bones and vegetables, slowly simmering to make a wonderful, rich, broth. Then I will make turkey soup and a turkey pie. Meanwhile, Jack and I are trying to digest all of the above so we can make our Turkey Sandwiches! The best way to end Thanksgiving Day!

So I wish you all a very Happy Weekend!

PS: No pictures were taken of all the food, as it would make me look bad to all my dieting buddies!

Here we are 35 days until Christmas. It sure is feeling like it as our temperatures plunge. But, all in all, the past week although crazy busy has been good and I am so grateful. So without further ado here is this week’s Friday Five!

1. As you know we have been battling doggy illnesses. I think it’s almost to be expected at their age. Arnie and Anneliese (whom I call the twins), will be 14 years old on December 10th. They’re no spring chickens, that’s for sure. Right now Arnie’s back is amazingly better, and Anneliese is comfortable.
2. I needed to give Lili a mini bath. There were parts of her that were just plain gross. Since it was 15 degrees when we got up today, I took a bucket of warm water to our basement garage, bathed her, and then rinsed her off with another bucket of warm water. The best idea Jack had when we built the house was to slope the basement floor to a floor drain. It worked like a charm.
3. I was so happy to see that many of my family and friends have donated to my Birthday Fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where no child is ever turned away, no family is ever billed and St. Jude takes care of the child and the family during treatment. St. Jude, It’s the very best charity I know of where the money actually goes to care for sick children. I am very close to breaking my record for fundraising!
4. On my birthday I was blessed to hear from so many of my much-loved family and dear friends. So many birthday wishes sent so lovingly.  I felt a great deal of love around me.
5. Lastly,  I want to add this. It’s a saying that I repeat whenever I am having a down day. It’s from one of my favorite movies, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

I remind myself of these words regularly.

Have a safe, wonderful, weekend. It’s my hope that one day the Covid will be gone and life will get back to normal.