Saturday Dec. 5

FIRST - Happy Birthday Ross!!!! Didn't get to see him today but we did talk on the phone for quite awhile. That was good enough for me.

Feeling mighty good today. Definitely on the upswing. May talk Steve into going to Target early in the morning before the crowd arrives.

Did a lot of knitting today, making a lap blanket for Steve's Dad. Hope this works, it's lookin kinda sketchy.

The weather was just crap; we both took Paxton for a walk this morning in the cold rain. It just kept raining all day long, until around 4:00 and it turned into snow. Steve decided it would be fun to take Paxton for a walk in the snow so I stayed home (no desire to get out in that mess) and made lasagna. The snow didn't stick to anything, just fell from the sky. UGH!!

FINALLY finished the lasagna at 6:00, now I remember why I always refuse to make it. It was really good but we will be eating it for a LONG time.

Watching UR football tonight and hopefully will finish the current project.

Friday December 4

Today was a better day.

Steve was off and it's always nice to have his company. He did his housework duties of ironing and vacuuming. I cleaned the bathrooms.

I finished my latest book: Twilight. I had decided about 1/2 way through that I wasn't going to read anymore of them BUT now that I'm done with book one I'm embarrassed to say that I'm going to have to go on to New Moon. UGH, can't believe it.

Really didn't do much else. Convinced Steve that I needed to eat more iron so we ordered out and I had fried chicken livers for dinner. They gave me enough to feed about 10 people. I wanted to count them to see how many chickens they had come from but something told me I really didn't want to know. I don't know if leftover livers are any good. Any thoughts?

Will stay in and watch another movie tonight.

Tribute to my Aunt Esther

So I got the dreaded call this morning that my Aunt Esther had passed away during the evening. She had been having some health issues on and off but had always managed to pull through. Guess it was time that her body finally gave out.

Due to my issue with germs and infection I'm going to be unable to attend the service, so here are my thoughts and remembrances of my God Mother and FAVORITE Aunt (sorry other Aunties).

Aunt Esther:

1. Was a farmer - driving tractors, planting crops, bailing hay, hauling corn

2. Was a harness racer - we used to go to county fairs and watch her race horses on those cute little carts. She looked pretty cool in those racing jerseys.

3. Was a horsewoman - feeding, cleaning stalls, brushing, exercising. She would take us out to the farm when she had to do chores. She would make some kind of "calling" noise at the gate near the trough of water and the horses would always come. I was very impressed at the time.

4. Taught me how to use the hay in the stall as a potty when I really had to go. BUT I must say, I always did something wrong as I walked around with wet pants afterwards. Nary a word from her.

5. Built model airplanes and hung them from her bedroom ceiling.

6. Made toys out of soda pop cans or anything else she had lying around. The helicopter she made with Ross when he was young even had wheels. Ross is still very impressed with that to this day.

7. Always drove a really cool Ford Thunderbird.

8.Had a couple of Pekinese pups. I always thought they were very cute, but I'm not sure Grandma Boyd thought to much of them.

9.Was a very hard worker. It seemed to me she could do almost anything. She was always busy putzing with something.

10. Was the decorator for Christmas (I think). When we were kids, their living room was decorated to the hilt with lites etc. The tables were always very festive but I ALWAYS had to sit at the kids table.

11.At 70 she decided she was too old to drive so she totally gave it up and started tooling around in a golf cart and riding her bicycle.

12. Moved to "the city" and learned how to take the city bus to wherever she wanted to go. How many people do you know that would do that in their 70's?

13. Went to Kaths after having heart surgery to plant annuals at her house. Kath had to practically force her to sit and rest.

14. Never forgot a birthday and always sent a card.

15. Made good morning coffee and always added great conversation.

She was little, she was short but she was strong!!! I will miss her.

Thursday -

We're watching Wizard of Oz on DVD!! Who would have thought. It is my favorite movie.

Woke up still feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Had eggs AND peanut butter toast for breakfast. Making a valiant effort to up the protein and the iron.

It was a gorgeous day today so I took Paxton out for lots of sunshine and fresh air. Steve had a Dr. appointment today (he actually has bursitis in his hip. They gave him a steroid shot and he's supposed to take Aleve a couple of times a day).

We went for lunch (Chicken cheesesteaks, which we ate in the car) and then went on to Walmart so that he could do the grocery shopping. I stayed in the car and read between all of the phone calls from above said person who was confused in the store. Everything worked out and we got everything we needed.

Made meatloaf for dinner (I ground the sirloin myself), mashed potatoes and spinach. Beginning to feel a bit better this evening. Think I may be on the upswing. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Crappy Blood

Well, well, well. Had the infamous blood work today. Not good. White Blood - 1.7 so I have to really watch and be careful of the germs for the next week or so. UGH! There goes my Christmas shopping AND Ross's Birthday. Also, platelets and hemoglobin were low but just barely. Now it makes sense why I feel like it has taken me longer to shake the worn out feeling. I thought maybe it was all in my head and I was just getting "tired" of this whole thing but actually there is a reason. So-----I dug out the spinach and lots of protein for dinner. Hopefully, I'll get back on track soon.

Steve has the next two days off so I guess he'll be going to do the shopping etc. on his own again. I put up the aluminum tree in the dining room today and had decided to decorate with all gold balls. I didn't have enough and was planning to get some tomorrow but Steve has generously agreed to take care of it for me.

Plan for this evening is to pick out some "nutritious" food to have this weekend and hopefully get to some knitting. (I am addicted)

Monday

Starting to feel better. Still not 100% energy level but I did get off of the couch this morning to get some things done. I got the mantel decorated and also worked a bit more on the tree. Got back in the swing of taking Paxton for 2 walks today. Made stir fried rice for dinner with egg and turkey. Was pretty good.

But...spent most of the day knitting.

Plumbers came and moved some t.p. off of the float of the ejector pump so now everything works fine. $126.00 later.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thursday - Turkey Day - Feelin' good. Went to friends for meal. It was wonderful. I baked homemade cinnamon rolls in the morning. Took it easy for the rest of the day. Overall, a very good day.

Friday - Still feeling good so we decided to go out Black Friday shopping. Of coarse all of the

"great" deals that we were searching for were gone by the time we got there. We stopped at Kohls, Target, Toys R Us, Home Depot and B.J.'s. We had a great hotdog for lunch before we left BJ's. Started to get a bit tired by Friday afternoon evening. Fell asleep early.

Saturday - Pretty much a washout. Slept almost the whole day. Was one of those; don't feel like eating but must days. Ordered pizza for dinner. Actually was pretty good. Watch VT beat their rivals UVA AGAIN. Slept like a log all night long.

Sunday - Woke up feeling a bit tired still. Rested on the couch this morning while knitting. The weather and temperature was great today, probably close to 70, so Steve insisted that I go for a walk with him and Paxton. I came home and put the lights on two small trees outside. Watched a "bad" movie in the afternoon and continued to knit. Maybe this current project will get done soon. Having leftover pizza (yum) for dinner. Tomorrow will be a more energetic day if all goes as has in the past.

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was relaxing, delicious and time well spent with family and friends.