Happy New Year!

I think a lovely picture of a Hawaiian Sunrise, even if it's from 2007, is a good way to say Happy New  Year. 💗  May we all have peace, good health, and contentment.  Take care of yourselves.

God Bless America!

A Hint of Spring!

Those of you who know me, know  I am ready for Spring and warm weather on December 26th.  I am fine with whatever Winter weather we get through Christmas.  Then I am done with it.  Today is a hint of Spring, it's sunny and going to be in the mid-60's!  YAY!  Of course, I realize we are not really done with cold weather, but I can  hope.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

This is from the "Wizard of Id" comics.

Whew!

I have been very busy here keeping up with things and un-decorating and cleaning.

The Christmas decorations are all put away now except the sleigh and the snowman.  They are the last two pieces to go into the attic.  Still have to get the snowman upstairs and then I will get them both put away.  The dining room tree's lights did not look like they could be repaired and I was not going to mess around putting a string of lights on it, so it went out for our regular bulk pickup.  I have ten or eleven months to decide what to do. 🎄

I started cleaning and intended to work on that "to-do" list some more today.  But I am tired and achy and decided to just wait.  I did get all the usual things done and made a trip to the Commissary.

Our weather is sunny and close to 60 right now.  Supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow and rain on Saturday.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Remember to wear your masks.  Life is good!  

God Bless America!

Picture from "I Can Haz Cheeseburger" site.  It totally sums up attitude some mornings. 😀

A Review

 

There has been local excitement recently as an old empty restaurant building was torn down and new construction started near our neighborhood.  Eventually word was out that it was going to be a "Raising Cane's" chicken spot.  People were raving about it and anxious for it to open.  

Well, it has opened.  Every day there were police on duty and flashing lights and disrupted traffic, and as we would drive by we could see the very long drive-through lines. You would think they were giving away gold in there!

Les and I decided to try this supposedly fabulous chicken one evening.  But he ordered online and I went to pick it up and we skipped the extremely long lines at the drive-through.  Fortunately, they have ample accessible parking spots right by the door, so no problem.  The hard part of getting the order was having to go inside through a mass of people to fill the empty drink cups, and carry them in the not-sturdy carrier they provided.  You order the drinks with your food, but they do not fill the cups for you.

I figured I wanted to see what exactly their food was like so I ordered the basic combo.  Les did, too.

And here is my review:  Yes, they were very good chicken tenders.  No problem there.  The cole slaw tasted "funny", not sure exactly what was in it, but neither of us ate it all.   The French fries were not cooked long enough.  The Texas toast was a tad soggy and tough.  And the flimsy drink carrier didn't hold up and tipped over in the car.  If we have Cane's again, it will be to just get the chicken tenders; as I said they were very good!

Life is good.  Take care of yourselves. Remember, don't believe everything you hear.  

And God Bless America!

Lemon - a Progress Report

 

I am currently taking care of Jordan's cute lizard, Lemon, while they are all at her other Grama's.  Lemon is a cute little thing.  Jordan printed out a list of instructions and things to know.  I am getting the hang of feeding him.  

I have to use a very long tweezer-like thing to pick up the tiny live worms and then wiggle them in front of his face.  Evidently he won't eat if they aren't put right in front of him.  I am not sure how his breed survives in the wild, but this is how it is. 😊  He eats every other day late afternoon or early evening.  

Usually there is a green leafed vine in there with him, but Jordan took it out to make it easier for me to feed him.  He spends most of his time in one of his caves.  If you look closely at this picture, you can see him eating his last bite yesterday.

The day we had the severe wind and temperature drop I made an an extra trip over to check on him.  It wasn't a feeding day and he was all hunkered down in his cave and didn't come out.  We did make eye contact though.

Stay safe, people!  

Remember to care for all of God's creatures.

Life is good and God Bless America!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and warm. It was 11 degrees this morning here.  

We did not get snow, but we did get very strong wind and cold temperatures.  I had to bundle up and make several trips outside yesterday to retrieve wreathes that were blown off the gates and other things that were blown around.  Also had to take in most of the outside Christmas decorations.  The wind was so strong it moved our grill on the deck and blew the cover off twice.  The first time, I moved it up against the house.  The second time I retrieved that cover, I bungeed it with large cords.  And then I decided if anything else blew around, it could just keep going. 😊

I tried to go out to fill our bird feeder today and I couldn't get into the shed to get to the seed.  The lock is frozen.  While out I bagged up our frozen solid geraniums from the porch.  They almost made it to Christmas.

I have made Les' Christmas peanut butter pie and also made a blueberry breakfast loaf for tomorrow morning.

Take care of yourselves.  Life is good.  God Bless America!

We hope you have a happy, peaceful Christmas. 

Winter Sky

 

I took this picture yesterday morning, Winter Solstice Day. Good thing I took a picture then, it is too dark, gray, and rainy today to be standing out there.

We were up and out early this morning.  I needed to have my ID Card renewed.  Les got the appointment set up at the Ft. Eustis office.  Once we found the place, the procedure was quick and easy.  If  I'm reading the new ID correctly, I never have to get another one!

Then we went to breakfast, stopped at our favorite Emily's and got a couple donuts, and came home.

We've been getting texts, emails, and Alexa messages all day about wind chill advisories.  The temperature here is supposed to start dropping tonight and through tomorrow.  By Saturday morning the temp is predicted to be 10 degrees!  I think that might just finish off our still blooming geraniums on the front porch.  They are red and blend right in with the Christmas decorations.  I will hate to see them go.

Les' appointment with our ortho doc went well and Les has the PT evaluation appointment this afternoon.  We are hoping the PT will help.

While he is doing that, I will be getting ready to go check on Lemon, Jordan's lizard.  I am watching over him while Jordan is not here.  Please keep me in your thoughts.  I don't really expect any problems though.  Some friends have said "yuck" and they couldn't do that.  I am fine with it, just concerned he won't eat for me.  When I was a little girl, I really freaked out my Granma when we were at Jungle Larry's Wildlife Park in Ohio.  They were showing all the different reptiles, and when they asked if anyone wanted to pet the snake, I was first with my hand up!  What can I say, it seemed like a cute snake. 😀 

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!  Life is good!

A New Decoration

 

There is a long-running, loving tradition here in our family.  Les and Jacquie have a "difference of opinion" about Will Ferrell.  Don't get me wrong, Les and I have laughed at many of Ferrell's comedy works.  But Les is not a fan of his movies.  So, every now and then, Jacquie gets him something.  This is now hanging on our front porch.  I do agree with the sentiment of this, but have only seen the movie once.  Thanks, Jacquie, your Dad needed that laugh.

I hope you are all taking care of yourselves and staying safe.  Life is good.  God Bless America!

Some "Vintage" Christmas Photos

These first two pictures are from Christmases in Germany, in the early 1970's.   

This one of Les and me was taken at one of the last office Christmas parties before he retired.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  God Bless America!

An Update

 I certainly hope you are all doing okay and taking care of yourselves.  The news reports said this is "Super Saturday" and stores will be crowded with people doing/finishing their shopping.  So, if that is you, good luck!  And stay safe!

It has not been a particularly good week here.  I'll start with the better news and work my way down on how it has been.

Les is recovering from his knee surgery and is starting to move and walk better. He is keeping the cane handy in case he needs it, but is doing alright without it.  He has a follow-up appointment this week. There will probably be some PT next.  Unfortunately, something else developed not related to his knee and he is on antibiotics for that.

I am on antibiotics for bronchitis.  I developed a nasty cough that wouldn't go away and went to see our doctor.  First thing that was done was two different kinds of Covid tests.  Both were negative.  Dr. P. and his nurse both told me they were not taking any chances with their patients because of all the things going around now - Covid, Flu, RSV, etc.  And he told me there are new variants, too. I had not heard that, but am not surprised.  He thinks we should all wear masks any time we are out and about and around others.  He prescribed antibiotics, said to take Mucinex, and drink lots of water for my bronchitis.  I am feeling better and finishing up the antibiotics now.

It's been cold and we've had rain a few times.  Today is sunny and in the 40's.

Our girls and families are busy. 

I have finally started some baking and have some cookies made now.  One batch is cooling and needs to be iced when I finish writing.  

Take care of yourselves.  Life is good.  God Bless America!

P.S.  This is the new ornament that Les ordered for me. Thank you, honey!  💖

Coffee

 

Stay safe, people.  God Bless America!

Hi!

Been kind of busy here and haven't posted in a while, but I have thought about it. 😊

Les' surgery went well.  Our doctor repaired his knee and cleaned it up.  Les was the first surgery of the day and we had to be checked in at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.  He is using a walker to get around the house and I think he might be getting better.  It was a bit rough when the surgery drugs wore off.  He is not supposed to do anything major or strenuous, and he has to limit his walking and movement.  When he feels confident about it, he can progress to using a cane.  So far, there's been a lot of sitting with his legs elevated, ice on his surgery leg, and a compression cuff on the other.  

I have been trying to keep up with things.   I got this picture taken the evening before his surgery and but did not get it posted.  So, here is a picture of our outside decorations.  I think the snowman turned out very nice after I repainted him.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  There are a LOT of germs around!  Life is good.  God Bless America!