The Friday Five

Another week has come and gone. It seems that January is flying by, and as I write, I wonder if all of 2018 will be like this? In any case, here are five things I am thinking of as the week closes and the weekend begins.

  1. Finally Jack and I are recovering from out mid winter colds. It’s been a real monster and very hard to shake. In fact it has lasted almost 3 full weeks.
  2. We are finally warming up a bit, after several weeks of below zero or single digit temperatures. In many ways, I am ready for Spring!
  3. I have actually gotten some important house work done the last few days. I do what I’ve been told. Work for an hour and then take an hour off…It’s worked and in many ways it’s like Spring cleaning, without the warmer temperatures!
  4. I made a great Prime Rib Roast the other night. It came out quite well, and today I will make a nice beef stew with some of the leftovers.
  5. This weekend, my big plan is to get all the Christmas stuff together and get it put away for another year. I have wrapping paper I bought for 50 cents, and bags of bows for 25 cents! I also bought my Christmas cards because they were on sale, but also because I loved their antique style! So I am already for Christmas 2018

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and my your days be filled with fun things and good friends and family times!

Oh yes, and GO PATRIOTS!!!

The Friday Five

I woke this morning and I am actually feeling better. After being ill since just after Christmas, it made me very happy to actually feel better. So here is today’s Friday Five!


1. After not being able to breathe through my nose for weeks, I can actually breathe and not have to blow my nose every two seconds! Yay nose!

2. I can once again swallow. I have lived on liquids for a couple of weeks because swallowing has been hard. My cough is also slowing down, after weeks of gagging, hard, coughing.

3. Despite the fact that I could not eat whole foods, I have not lost any weight. Thus confirming my belief that I could survive a nuclear holocaust as long as I had some sort of liquid. Vodka perhaps?

4. Jack bought me a new rug cleaner in November for my birthday. At first I was nervous about using it, but I have to say, it is the best machine (Bissell ProHeat 2X® Revolution™ Pet Pro Carpet Cleaner/2007) I have ever owned! And the cleaning fluid, Bissell 1990 Pro Pet Urine Eliminator Upright Deep Cleaner Formula + Oxy, is magic! It has worked on old stains as well as new ones. If you have a dog or cat, trust me this works like a charm!

5. Jack is also a bit better, although not quite on par with me. I am hoping that with a few more days of rest he will be on the mend along with me.

The Friday Five & 1

I woke up this morning to more snow. Now ordinarily I could care less, but I had an important doctors appointment and this rapidly falling snow was only going to make it more difficult. Here is how my day went.

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  1. I kept waiting, hoping they would call and reschedule my appointment. But they never did. In fact once I got there, the secretary told me that almost everyone had cancelled today I could have come in sooner. Grrr!
  2. Jack and I had a quick small lunch and then we headed to the doctor’s office. The roads were terrible! This was at 1:15 PM and at that time we had probably 6-8 inches of snow.
  3. Jack drove (thank goodness as I really flip out driving in those situations and Jack does not). Everyone was driving about 15 to 25 miles per hour, as things were brutally bad. Jack is such a great driver and I knew we would be fine.
  4. However, there was one guy in a little sports car that was driving so fast and fishtailed his car’s rear end all over the place. I seriously thought he was going to go into a tree.
  5. Jack just came in from digging a little path for the dachshunds. He says there is at least 10 inches now and they have forecast more snow until 4 AM on Friday. So when all is said and done we will probably have over a foot.
  6. Oh yes, I did make it in to see my doctor. Well, actually he wasn’t there and I saw this wonderful Nurse Practitioner. Truth be told, I liked her more than I did him, and I felt that she listened to me better, as well as gave me a more thorough physical exam. Diagnosis, Bacterial Sinus Infection, which explains the high fevers, painful sinuses, and a rather gruesome multitude of other symptoms! Treatment: nasal sprays and antibiotics. Then all should be well.

The Friday Five

Here we are the last week in 2017. The last Friday. Not only has this week gone by quickly, but the entire year seems to have flown by. But as the year ends here are some things on my mind.


  1. There really isn’t anything more important than Love. Love for your family, your friends, but probably most importantly, love for yourself. If you do not love yourself first and take care of yourself, you will be unable to truly love anyone else.

  2. After love, I think physical health is most important. Thus, my New Years Resolution (of which there are a few this year) is to go back to Weight Watchers and not only lose a little weight, but to get healthy! This will mean eating well, and getting out and moving again. 2017, where I was so ill, has found me in the worst shape of my life. I need to be healthy, body, mind and spirit!

  3. Care. This year I plan to dedicate myself to caring more for my home. Being unwell, I let a lot of things go. This year (Resolution) I want to get each room cleaned  and spend time painting and resealing each window. The painting and sealing is so important.

  4. I want to work on my blog more. (Resolution) I let it go so much. Thanks so my friend, Megan, I have a new look and now I am ready to daily blog once again! I have so much to say, so much to share. So 2018, look out, here I come with some new posts!

  5. Back to crocheting. I love working with my hands, and while making Savannah’s afghan I found that the motions of crocheting, helped the arthritis in my hands! So I have two projects I would like to do this year. Both are big projects. Both will be incredibly fun!

So I think 2018 will be a wonderful year, full of hope, dreams and excitement! Spent with the ones that I love, and of course, watching my grandchildren grow! Life is good and if there are days it deals me lemons, I shall make lemonade!

The Friday Five

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Well folks, this is the last Friday until after Christmas. I was out today to go for an appointment, and to pick up a prescription. My Pharmacy is in my local grocery store. I could not believe how crowded our little grocery store was! My prescriptions weren’t quite ready, so I poked around the store and what should call my name as I passed the meat counter? A small leg of lamb! Yes, it called to me! “Maribeth, take me home! I am just the right size for you and Jack!” And the package just hopped into my cart!

I also picked up a few things I missed yesterday when I did our big shopping, and while paying today’s bill, I came to the realization that grocery stores are dangerous places for me! Since I love to cook and prepare meals, going in there almost always finds me buying something to make for Jack!

Anyway, here are five things going on in my mind, as the week ends, and we prepare to celebrate Christmas with our family.

  1. My wrapping is done! I put on several Christmas movies and got all my wrapping paper out, and wrapped my presents. What movies did I watch?
  2. “The Bishops Wife” The old version with Loretta Young, Cary Grant and David Niven. Then I watched, “Love Actually”. That’s a movie that I can watch almost any time. Besides be set at Christmas, the movie is really all about LOVE! and lastly the first “The Santa Claus”. I love that movie as it expresses so much about the magic of Christmas!
  3. My favorite Christmas movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I will watch that on Christmas Eve, along with Jack’s favorite movie, “A Christmas Story”. That movie is probably more memorable now that we have visited the house where they filmed the movie.
  4. Christmas Eve will find me baking for Christmas Day. Mandy asked me to bring a few things, so I am making an Apple Pie and Carrot Casserole.
  5. Then for the next two days I can sort of kick back and relax. Which will be really difficult, because I am so excited about seeing the kids open their gifts on Christmas! Which goes to show you, no matter your age, you never really outgrow Christmas!

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The above stars are a gift from a very special friend! Thank you, Karin!

The Friday Five

So, here we are, another week has flown by. Hard to believe, but in just a few more weeks 2017 will be over, and we will be starting a New Year! So here are my Friday Five for the holiday season.

  1. Looking back I can absolutely say that I am glad 2017 is coming to an end! I felt very much like we were being challenged medically all throughout the year!
  2. I can safely say that I do not want to have another operation for the rest of my life. The Staph infection really scared the heck out of me.

  3. And to have Jack’s infected Toe and amputation come right on the heels of my illness, just seemed to add insult to injury!

  4. But we are all doing well, even my old lady Greta, who seems to have bounced back. So as we enter the Christmas Season, all is calm, all is bright!

  5. I have just three more presents to get and then I am done for the year! Let the wrapping begin!

The Friday Five

You know you are getting older when you look at your weekly calendar, and 4 out of the 5 working days are filled with doctor’s appointments! LOL! So it was, this week for Jack and me.

This lead to some interesting encounters and so here are my happenings for the week of October 9 – 13.

  1. I started off the week with an appointment with my Primary Care Physician. All went very well, although tests have been ordered to check on the Cervical Fusion I had back in February. An MRI has been ordered. Otherwise, I am in very good shape.
  2. The next day, Jack went in to have blood work in the morning. You know, those pesky fasting blood work types? He and I were both starved when he got done, but it was late in the morning, and not many places were still serving breakfast. Except this diner over by the Manchester Airport, called “The Airport Diner”. The menu was good, the food was so tasty and the people were friendly and nice.
  3. After this, we headed back to the VA for Jack’s Podiatrist appointment. The good news is, that the infected toe is healing up nicely and I have really become a very good nurse for him.
  4. Thursday we were over at the White River Junction, Vermont VA. They do Audiology there. Jack already has hearing aids, and today the wonderful Audiologist was able to adjust them so he is hearing much better again! I really like the White River Junction VA. It seems everyone is friendly and kind, and very respectful to each and every one of the Vets who come in for care.
  5. Now here is the “I can’t believe…” of the week. I was in the grocery store the other day, and I was talking with the young checkout clerk. I think he might have been 21 or so. The conversation went to Vietnam and Agent Orange and the effects it has had on so many of our Vietnam Veterans. The young man was interested and as I finished telling him that Jack had served in Vietnam, and his health had really suffered, the young man said, (and I kid you not!), “I don’t know much about Vietnam, just what I’ve seen on M.A.S.H.“!!!!!!!! Now I can’t make this up folks. I told him (gently) that M.A.S.H. dealt with the Korean War, and if he wanted to know what it was like in Vietnam, he should go to the local American Legion and buy a beer for a few of the Veterans and ask them about what Vietnam meant for them.

And that folks, was my week. Have a great weekend and enjoy the Autumn weather!!!

The Friday Five

I’m off to my High School Reunion in Falmouth Massachusetts. So this weeks Friday Five is all about High School MB.

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  1. I went to school and was scheduled to graduate in 1977. This is the class I was in school with all of my life.
  2. Love stepped in and I took a full schedule in summer school and graduated in 1976. This is why I have two Class Reunions! Fun!
  3. This year is so special because many of these people I have not seen in 40 years! Wow!
  4. I wasn’t a great student. If I could go back and tell myself one thing it would be to slow down and enjoy school. Why is it that kids feel like school is a punishment?
  5. Ah, but they say youth is wasted on the young! Life turned out just fine for me, and I really don’t regret any of it at all.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Friday Five!

Well, here we are again! Another week has come and gone as well as the summer. Welcome Autumn, as today is the first day of my favorite season. So many things are happening right now, but here are this week’s top five!

  1. Our dear friends from Massachusetts are coming up today to go out to lunch with us. So, what does this mean? All the little jobs I’ve been putting off in the house got done on Thursday. Things like vacuuming and washing floors and dusting….but it all got done. The house looks and smells great!
  2. I went and had my hair styled yesterday. It’s slowly growing out, and I love how my new stylist is helping me achieve this. She is also a master with color, and I feel so fresh and rejuvenated. The new style is in the side bar to the right.
  3. It looks like it will probably be too cool to wear bathing suits to the beach next week when my sister and cousin and I go to the Cape. But that’s okay. Our alternate plan is to go to the beach, in jeans and a sweat shirt, sit on our beach chairs and enjoy the ocean.
  4. I am so looking forward to our girls weekend. It’s our first one ever! Sort of odd thinking about this, as Melodie and I grew up in Falmouth on Cape Cod, and Janet came down all the time. And here we are grown adults, and we’ve never done this before. I guess there is a first time for everything!
  5. I started working on a Christmas gift. I would really like to make several Christmas gifts for people this year. I want to personalize things a little more.

Well, that’s it for this week. I hope your week was a good one, and that the start to your Autumn is full of bright skies, colorful leaves and happiness!

The Friday Five

The leaves are starting to change here in my part of the world. I love it. At first the green leaves look just slightly off, and then the trees start to get tipped with yellows, red, orange and coral colors. The apples are ripening on our trees and that is beautiful as well! Autumn truly is, my favorite time of year!

It’s been a rather busy week for me, although most of my week was spent at home. Here’s what’s happening in my world.

  1. The week started with me having a touch of Vertigo. I’ve had it before, but not in a long time. The first day was the worst, but as the week wore on, I found I got progressively better. Here we are on Friday and I am fine!
  2. I made two stir fry’s this week. A Chicken and a Beef stir fry. Both were so easy to make, tasted great, and we both really enjoyed them. I am finding that we like lighter fare more than we used to. Anything super heavy and neither one of us feels well after.
  3. Jack hates the new flip phone I got him when his old flip phone died last summer when he was in the hospital. Frankly, so do I. I cannot hear in it and find it difficult to open. So, I was playing with his old dead phone, and I cleaned all the contacts and I actually got it running again. Not only that, but I switched the number from the bad flip phone back to his much loved flip phone, by following Verizon’s instruction page. My hope it that I can teach Jack to use my Samsung Galaxy S5 so I can get the new Galaxy phone for my birthday!
  4. Jack is doing okay, although he does have two places on one of his toes that are concerning me. I have doctored them and kept infection from setting in. We go to the Podiatrist today, and we will see what he says. Hopefully, we have done everything right.
  5. I met the two new Veterinarians that are taking over the Practice of my much loved Vet. Now she will work for them part time, but they not only bought her Practice, but her big old farmhouse and farm as well. They seem very nice and it’s my hope they will care for my pack of hounds with the same love as Julie always did. Especially my Greta.

So that wraps up a rather crazy week. But in the end, it was all good. Enjoy your weekend, folks!