It Could Have Been Funner!

WE had a very good time on our barn trip today...but it would have been more fun if Carolyn could have been there with us. She was feeling under the weather...so much so that she went for a Covid test...but thankfully she tested negative. Marie and I headed out around 10am and I got home a little aftrr 4pm...lots of barns were seen and photographed and a good hamburger enjoyed before we headed back to our respective homes. Tonight's photos were taken almost in Marie and Carolyn's back yard...these photos show damage from the tornado that came through a few weeks ago. There were lots of big trees uprooted all around their area...some damage to homes...and then this barn and its surrounding fence. The house next to the barn was also damaged. It was an interesting day to take pictures...lots of moisture in the air...so misty/foggy...which gave an ethereal feel to the scenery...we will see if I captured that feeling in any of the pictures! There was a feeling of things being out of focus...so if my pictures are out of focus we will claim the atmosphere as cause! What the human eye sees and what the camera captures can sometimes be totally different! I haven't had much time to look through the photos so the verdict is still out on my photo captures of the day. Well, it is time to go down and set up Woody's dialysis for the night. He has had a quiet day...since he didn't have me yacking in his ears! He has been reading and watching TV on this last day of 2021. I plan to ring in the New Year cross stitching. I'm getting started on Christmas ornaments for next year. As I type this, I am hearing fireworks...so probably won't be a quiet night! As we head into 2022: Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

The Year is Drawing to a Close

Joy gave me what's in tonight's photo...bet I won't forget who gave it to me!!! I guess she sort of turned the table on me as I usually give her an ornament with "Joy" on it. I give Esther ornaments with "Noel" on them as her name is Esther-Noel. I have told them that any ornaments or decorations that I have with their names on them, they can eventually have. Today I have stayed busy most of the day. One of the first things that I did was head to Kroger to pick up our order that I made last night after I blogged. Then, of course, there was the unpacking and putting away...but I didn't have to put groceries into the cart or onto the conveyer or into my trunk...just out of the trunk and to where they are stored. I have been trying to get a handle on the mess that I have made with making ornaments, etc. I have been putting sewing items away...still have some to go, but it is a start. I finished the last ornament today...it is the one that we will keep for our tree...when next we put one up. It is a rather tiny ornament. I will put a picture of it here...I took a picture of it on my cutting board that has one inch grids on it so you can see how tiny the stitched part is.

This one was so tiny that I didn't cross the stitches...they are all just half of a cross stitch...just a slanted line...but you can't tell that they aren't crossed. This afternoon I chose gift bags for Melany, Wade, and family's gifts and got their gifts into the bags so they are ready to go to their house on New Year's Day. I got a call from Marie this afternoon saying that she and Carolyn had been talking about taking a "short" barn trip tomorrow and would I like to come...and, of course, I said that I would! So shortly I will get my cameras ready to head over their way in the morning. I have some special cross stitching planned for tomorrow also. So the last day of 2021 should be a busy day for me. I think that Woody is enjoying having an accessible laptop again. I see him looking up things on it...something else to occupy his time. Speaking of time, I guess it is time for me to go get his dialysis treatment set up so the treatment will be over early enough for me to head off on our barn trip...the last of this year...what a good way to see the year out. I'm guessing that I will have a few new barn pictures to share with you after tomorrow's trip. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! Melany's doctor told her today to expect it to be a rough couple of months for Covid once they get back to school...her doctor was just getting over Covid...she was triple vaxxed...she said that she would hate to get Covid not having had the vaccinations, as she was still having respiratory problems and it had been ten days. Melany's doctor visit was virtual.

I Was Warned

The one thing that needed to be done today, other than dialysis, was to order Woody's dialysis supplies. I called after lunch and was given a warning immediately that it would be a long wait till someone would get to my call. I was also told that I could leave my number and they would call back. My thoughts: I would rather control the call, to a point, and stay on hold. I didn't want to be at "their mercy" for a call back. Two hours and forty-four minutes after I placed the call, the order was finally completed and I could hang up! Now...I did not sit with the phone to my ear all that time. I put it on the arm of my chair and let the hold recording play on and on and on and...I read and went through some cross stitch magazines making decisions about next year's cross stitch ornaments. So managed to accomplish a few things while waiting. I have a better chance now to finish the book that I'm reading and that will be whisked away tomorrow night about this time and someone is waiting for it so I can't renew it...so it was good to be able to move on in it. I was just glad that I was able to place the order and not have to think about it again until it is time for the delivery in two weeks! We have had a storm blow through a little while ago. It is still raining, but no more lightning or thunder. I was hoping that it would pass by before it was time to connect Woody tonight. As soon as I publish this, I will go down and get his treatment set up. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Lazy Aftermath Continues

Tonight's photo is the picture that I put at the top of our Christmas letter. Still thinking Christmas...sort of...but un some ways Christmas seems way in the past...not just a few days ago. I haven't felt the greatest today so that and it being a rainy day has added to the lazy quality of the day. Woody has done a bit of dozing in his chair, too. My major accomplishment was getting lots of cardboard boxes flattened so I could put them out beside the road to be recycled. And, ingot the inside wastebaskets emptied into the trash for pickup in the morning. And, I have picked up things here and there and moved them to a better spot...and even put some things in their proper place! Pretty much ho-hum around here. We hace both done some reading. My e-book is about to be taken away from me so I am trying to get it read before it goes off into cyberspace. I renewed Woody's books. He still has a few to read in that bag of books I got him a couple weeks ago. The ones he has read I have in a stack on the stairs...ready to be taken back to the library. We may have some strong storms tomorrow. Today we have just had fairly light rain off and on. I thought that it wa over, but I am hearing it on the roof again. Well, it looks like it is time for me to go set up Woody's dialysis for tonight...one of the for-sure things that we do everyday! Tomorrow it is time to make the next dialysis supply order...it's been two weeks since the last deluvery...order tomorrow and then in two weeks we will have another delivery. Next week Woody starts having appointments again...but at least both of those appointments are in town. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

After Christmas Calm

I always enjoy the calm that comes after Christmas...its almost like I am in a bubble during that week after Christmas. We had a nice Christmas weekend...and, of course, we are extending our Christmas as we will celebrate at Melany and Wade's with Nathan and Kathy and family on Saturday. Not a lot to do for that...a few gifts still to wrap...I made ornaments on Christmas Day and have one more cross stitch ornament that I have to make into an ornament...it is stitched...just have to get motivated! On Christmas Day I decided to start a new sampler...so I have worked on that in some of my down time. I will move back to the other sampler that is almost finished...but it is always fun to start a new needlework project...so doing such was like a present to myself on Christmas! I have stitched one line of an alphabet on the new one. It is a small sampler...the one I had planned to start after I finished my Town Square Sampler. Woody is getting used to a new laptop that he got for Christmas...today he managed to get it to turn on without help! I hope that he enjoys having a laptop close at hand again. He has been having to depend on my iPad since he isnt going upstairs these days...where our laptop is. That laptop is connected to too many things to make it portable...plus it is quite old...I need it to keep going on its antiquated operating system as it can talk to my sewing machine and the sewing machine can't talk with newer operating systems...so I hope that it can crip along for a while longer! I guess it is time to get Woody's dialysis treatment set up. He did go to Prayer Meeting tonight...one other came to it...the dedicated ones who even come during Christmas week! Yesterday was strange as we stayed home as our church didnt have Sunday School so we stayed home and attended our service online...something that we have been doing for more than a year (really going on two years). Woody found out tonight that Melany and Nathan's friend who has Covid had been in the hospital, but is home now. I guess the question is when can we stop...being safe, well, and cautious due to Covid. My sister went to the doctor today and while the doctor was with her, he received a call that his son had Covid and told my sister that he had been with him this past week. It isn't over yet! So continue to: Be safe! Be well! Be cautious...as we go into 2022!

Merry Christmas from Woody and Lois!

Merry Christmas Eve from the Dorrells!

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Eve

Lots going on including a lot of head spinning as I attempt to complete whatever I am doing! This evening I'm baking. Earlier in the day I was sewing....no more sewing today and probably tomorrow. But I did get the project that Woody wanted me to make done. But there will be one promise of future sewing in one of the gifts...unless I get an unusualt spurt of energy when I get back upstairs after my baking is finished, I have taken a loaf of cranberry orange bread out of the oven and am preparing to mix up some pumpkin muffins next. I have also started the process to make sausage balls. When/if I get those done then my baking will be done! And, I am ready to be done! I guess the next thing to do is start getting Woody's dialysis treatment set up and then go back to my baking...once it is done I will be more than ready for my recliner! I still have a couple of presents to finish wrapping for in the morning, but the majority are done thanks to Woody...thank goodness! I added tissue paper to a couple of gift bags and put the gifts around the room...no tree to put them under this year...so am stacking them on top of all Woody's dialysis boxes in the living room! A more low-key Christmas this year...which I am rather enjoying. 'Tis the season...so back downstairs I must go! Be safe...be well...be cautious as you gather with family and friends this Christmas weekend!

'Tis the Season…To Be Busy!

Oh, my...I think my battery is running down...and there is still much to do. Some Christmas goodies cooking and still some sewing. Woody has a gift sewing project that he would like me to do...we'll see! He mentioned this item a while back and I didn't think about it again. Though, today when he told me a plan he had it made sense that this item really needed to be a part of the gift. We will see if it can happen or not. I've about decided that one of my planned gifts that still needs to be sewn is going to be "a promise" to be told about and then sewn and given after Christmas. Last night and today I completed 12 sewn items for gifts that I just bought the fabric for yesterday. Woody offered to wrap gifts. I'll bet he was surprised as to how quickly gifts and wrapping supplies appeared near his chair! I have Woody's nightly dialysis treatment set up and once the solution warms, I will connect him for the night and then I will head upstairs. I need to make one more ornament...not handstitched, but machine embroidered. I will get that done so I can go back to regular sewing on that machine and see if I can knock out what Woody is wanting me to make. Hoping that I get my second wind...if not...not much more will get done tonight. At least the next item planned, the machine does all (well, sort of) the work...I "just" have to change thread colors and add pieces of fabric pieces when the machine tells me to...at least if is a change of pace from what I have been doing. Count down is on...only tomorrow to get ready for Dorrell family to Dorrell family gift exchange. The kids voted for doing it at 9am Friday! I've promised food to snack on...at the moment all that I can offer is Chex Mix...guess I had better get back into the kitchen tomorrow! I had planned on fudge being one of our snack items...somehow fudge at 9am just doesn't seem "right." So may need to regroup a bit...'tis the season for regrouping!!! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Welcome, Winter!

Winter has arrived and we are experiencing the shortest day of the year. Bright side of this...from this day on our days will begin getting longer! I burned a bit of midnight oil last night and fully finished the ornaments for our Dorrell grandchildren. Over the last few days, I have had a few ideas that I want to still make for Christmas gifts...today I went to JoAnn's and got the needed supplies. A bit earlier I managed to make the first prototype...not without picking out a few seams...but I've got it now! Famous last words! I imagine that there will be more midnight oil burned over the next few days. We plan to exchange gifts and get together with Nathan and Kathy and family Christmas Eve Day...so a few more days for theirs to get completed. We plan to get with Melany and family and Nathan and family on New Year's Day...so a few more days to get theirs ready! There is still a lot of wrapping to do, too. 'Tis the Season! I arranged, I hope, for the old cycler machine to get picked up again...that is supposed to happen tomorrow between 8am and 8pm...reason that I ran errands today...JoAnn's, the shoe store for a new pair of shoes for me, and the grocery down the street for sugar. So while waiting for Fed Ex, I can sew, cook, or perhaps wrap a few gifts. Well, time to get Woody's dialysis going so...Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Getting Closer!

Christmas is gettinf closer and we are getting closer to being ready for Christmas. Today's accomplishments: Chex Mix made, Christmas cards mailed, and another ornament stitched and now getting ready to make the ones I have stitched into ornaments...oh, and getting ready to start stitching another ornament. I've checked and we have wrapping paper so I guess wrapping can commence too. Another gift arrived in the mail today. Oh, and, a packGe showed up on our porch that I wasn't expecting...the dialysis cycker that we attempted to return came back to us! I guess the Fed Ex driver didn't figure out who to send it to! I guess that means more time on the telephone tomorrow to attempt to get a shipping label! I spent time on the phone today verifying with the Credit Union a purchase that I had made over the weekend. I was afraid that might have slowed down getting it sent my way, but just got notification it should be here tomorrow. So far things are still getting here fairly quickly. Woody went to prayer meeting tonight and has returned. I have his dialysis set up for when he is ready to be connected. He addressed all our Christmas cards yesterday abd got them ready for me to take to the Post Office today. Later this evening I plan to work on finishing seven ornaments...that will out me another step or two closer to being ready for Christmas. 'Tis the season! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! I learned from Woody when he got home this evening that one of Melany and Nathan's childhood friends who goes to church with us has Covid. I wish that we would quit getting news like this!

A Milestone! 3/4 of a Century!

It's been a big day for Woody...he hit the 3/4 of a century mark! I made him a banana cake with cream cheese frosting...one of his favorites. Nathan and Kathy and Isaac and Joseph joined us late afternoon. They challenged Goosey (Woody) to a game of Rook. I frosted the cake while they played. Abigail, Joy, Esther, and Elijah are on a student retreat with with our church's youth department...somewhere in the Gatlinburg area. Graham was going to work. So some missed out on the party this year! Nathan helped me finalize a secret Christmas plan before he left. Last night instead of finishing cross stitch ornaments, I ended up making a grocery order which I picked up this morning. We have decided to make some of our favorite Christmas snack items so needed to get some of the ingredients. We should be set for groceries till after Christmas...time will tell! I have already identified one key ingredient that we are low on that I forgot to add to my virtual cart! I am about to set up Woody's treatment so he can start early enough to be off dialysis by time to leave for Sunday School in the morning. I still have a mess to clean up in the kitchen from today's baking. But I do plan to do some ornament finishing toight. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Miracle on Yale Street

The title of tonight's blog is incorrect...it should be Yale Drive...but in keeping with the Christmas movie (Woody's favorite), Miracle on 34th Street...decided to use Street. At one time one end of our street had a sign with "drive" on it and at the other end with "street"...and there are only 5 houses on our side of the street...so not a long enough street to warrant two different designations. Legally it is drive...according to our house paperwork. Now to tell about the miracle. Yesterday we received 2 wrong items for the 1 that we ordered. Late yesterday afternoon, I let the company know and didn't hear from them till two hours after the miracle happened! As I mentioned yesterday, Fed Ex was scheduled to pick up the dialysis cycler machine that had been replaced. The Fed Ex driver arrived around 11:30 am. He was supposed to have a shipping label, but didn't have one, but he said that he would take care of getting one...or I guess if he doesn't it will have lots of rides around in various Fed Ex trucks or land in the dead package space in a Fed Ex facility! The unusual thing was that he had a package for us and it looked a lot like the incorrect one we received yesterday. He said that he had a package for us and he understood that I should have a package for him...well, I took off upstairs to retrieve the items and the bag that they arrived in, quickly stuffed the items in the mailing bag and taped the bag up (glad that I had put the mailing tape and scissors on the dining room table!). He took the one I had and handed me the one he had and he was off with box and bag. Two hours after he picked up and delivered, I got an email from the company appologizing for the mixup and asking me to take a picture of the incorrect items and send it to them and that I could have a refund or they would ship the correct item, but that they couldn't guarantee that it would arrive prior to Christmas! So...however this got here we are impressed and amazed. I'm guessing that the mixup was discovered...probably person who was supposed to receive what we had may have complained before we did? Who knows...but we are happy and that much closer to being set for Christmas. What was supposed to arrive today didn't arrive...the first one lately that hasn't arrived on the day we were told...not a problem at this point...still time! I cooked this morning so I would be downstairs to hear the doorbell...in the end he just knocked. I made a pot of chili...something that I was hungry for. Woody did taste a small amount and said that it tasted "okay"...maybe he will eat a little larger helping tomorrow? I then settled in at the dining room table to work on the Sunday School lesson and pretty well have that finalized. Then it was time to tackle typing the Christmas letter, that Woody had written out long hand, into the iPad. I have accomplished that and made it fit on one page and got it approved by Woody and have started making copies. Another Christmas task accomplished...now Woody will address and stuff the envelopes. I will have to buy some more stamps and then we can get them off. I'm heading off now to get Woody's dialysis set up and then get him connected and then I will go back to my needlework...either fully finishing some ornaments or stitching some. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! And, I hope that there are some Christmas miracles on your street, too! 'Tis the season!

Busy Day—Appointment & Christmas Preparations

'Tis the season to be hustling and bustling around. This morning he had an appointment with his team at Fresenius Kidney Care Center. He ended up being their last patient...and they were ready for him to be finished...we weren't in there very long at all...once we got called in...we had around an hour wait in the car...waiting for our turn. I guess everything was good...the only thing that was a bit off was his phosphorus number...a bit high so they reminded him to take his phosphorus binders and to be watchful of phosphorus in what he eats. The nurse and the dietician liked the first Christmas ornaments that I made for their babies. By the time we got home it was time for lunch...really past time. We ate lunch and then Woody started tasking me with final decisions about Christmas presents...he took on finding gifts for everyone and I then ordered them and/or went out to purchase them. This afternoon I did both...ordered and went to a store. By an hour or so ago I think that we are pretty much finished with purchasing (Don't tell Woody, but I'm not quite finished!). We did get one order today that they sent the wrong thing...I have emailed and am waiting to hear from them about how to get the correct item. Of the things that we ordered today, they are supposed to be here next week...except for one and that delivery date is iffy...hopeing that it gets here in time, but if it doesn't we can always wrap up a picture of said item and let the gift be known that way. Anyway, I know that Woody is feeling the weight of the holidays lifted off his shoulders. I have given a few suggestions and am responsible for a few of the gifts, but mostly he has found them and let me pass approval on them. He has written out a rough draft of our Christmas letter and I am going to type it up and add my additions/changes and then pass it back to him for another revision probably. I've got to get busy again on the ornaments I'm making. I also have to make final revisions on the Sunday School lesson that I am teaching this Sunday. I started working on the lesson whiile at Vanderbilt on Monday...or was it Tuesday?! This week has been crazy with appointments. Tomorrow no appointment to have to go to, but have to wait on Fed Ex to come pick up the cycler machine that was replaced. We have been handed a nice Christmas present...if the calendar remains as it is currently...but for the rest of the month/year Woody has no appointments! His next appointments are all in January of 2022...that is a freeing feeling! Woody's dialysis is already going and he is watching a movie on TV. Once I press "publish" I am going to pick up some cross stitching. I think it is too late for me to concentrate on ornament finishing (making the already stitched piece into an ornament to hang on a tree)...that involves measuring and lots of messy gluing...I want to be fresh when I approach that part of ornament making. The stitching part can be done from the comfort of my recliner! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Ever Feel Boxed In?!?

Today we got our monthly dialysis supply delivery...and, this is what my living room looks like. The boxes in front of the couch will be taken into the family room. I just haven't had the time of inclination to do it today! I am standing on the stairs and below me are boxes stacked to the height of the 5th stair. I ended up having to call Kathy in for backup this morning because the delivery came about the time that I needed to take Woody to his TN Oncology appointment. Kathy stayed here to direct the placing of the boxes and signing the delivery order. I had decided that I wouldn't stay for his ocology apoointment today and it was a good thing. There were absolutely no parking places when we got there. So I pulled in behind parked cars and got Woody into his transport chair and wheeled him through the door of the office and headed out to move my car and head home. When I got home, I had more Fresenius business to take care of. I needed to call the nurse and make sure that Woody's machine was set upcorrectly. He did sleep better last night and had only one alarm that he heard. There were some others but the nurse said that on the new machines that there are some quiet alarms that just remind you to move to help increase the drain flow. Maybe...he heard them in his sleep? I also had to call the service folk at Fresenius, the number I called when they arranged to send a new machine. I needed to check in with them as a mailing label wasn't sent with the new machine for me to attach to the box that I am returning to them. They fixed it so Fed Ex will have the label when they come to pick up the machine on Friday. I also had to return a call to Woody's Fresenius nutritionist as she had some questions to ask for her monthly report. After I talked to her I called Fresenius Pharmacy to return a call that they keep making to get us to refill one of Woody's medications...got that done. The other Fresenius thing that I am in the process of doing is making two First Christmas ornaments...one for one of Woody's Fresenius nurses who had a baby earlier in the year and for his nutritionist who just came back from maternity leave. I'm hoping to get those done to take with us in the morning when we go for his monthly check-in with Dr. O and the rest of his team. Woody did start back on Keytruda this morning...he will get that infusion every three weeks. I'm afraid we will both dream medical stuff tonight! Well, off to get his nightly dialysis treatment going. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Lots Went on Today!

First off this morning, when I headed downstairs, I found out that Woody's cycler was still going and wasnt as close to the end as it usually is at that time. One of the reasons was that an alarm went off at some point and Woody was deeply asleep and didn't hear it so that put the time off some. I think by the time that we finally got him disconnected he had been on the cycler machine for right at twelve hours! We are hoping that alarms and longer than normal cycles will stop since we got a new cycler this afternoon. I got it all set up and it seems to be working well...now the test will be how it does overnight! As I often say...time will tell! This morning I did a bit of clraning...vacuumed all the downstairs floors and also made a small pot of chicken noodle soup. I have been busy most of the day...not a lot of sitting time. The cycler didn't get here till after 3pm. It set up easily. I will take the information about the new cycler with us when we go to Fresenius Kidney Center on Friday. This cycler is an updated version and has a couple of other settings so I will see if we use them or not when we see the nurse. Dr. Wyman from Vanderbilt called around 1pm to tell Woody about his PET scan. The report is pretty much like the last time...the melanoma is only in two places...the tumor on his arm and in a lymph node under that same arm. Dr. Wyman suggests that Woody go back on Keytruda and then talk to Dr. Kelly, the Vanderbilt doctor who surgically removed the first tumor that came up on that arm. That surgery was back in January of this year. Woody has an appointment in the morning at TN Oncology where he gets his Keytruda now...it's in Tullahoma...so no long drive. In the morning we will also be getting a dialysis supply delivery. I just called Kathy to see if we could get a back up if the delivery doesn't get here prior to needing to get to TN Oncology. THe delivery is to be between 7 and 11am. The last time he got here around 8am and he is very efficient...so delivery is made quite quickly. Tomorrow he also has to pick up four boxes of solution that will be out of date in January. My guess he will be here and gone before we need to get to Woody's appointment...again...time will tell! We are hoping for a smoother night for Woody with the new machine...hoping that he can get a good night's sleep without alarms, etc. interrupting his sleep. Again...time will tell! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

To Vanderbilt And Back…Again!

Well, another Vanderbilt trip under our belts! And, the interesting thing is that we don't have any upcoming Vanderbilt appointments. Dr. Wyman said that he would call with the results...also I can look at the MyHealthatVanderbilt app and see the results once they have posted them. Dr. Wyman said that often the patient gets the results that way quicker than he does. He was hoping to have the results so this PET scan can help with the decision on Wednesday as to whether Woody should go back on Keytruda. The appointment was handled very efficiently. We got there a bit early and registered and went straight back to the PET scan area. We sat down in the waiting area and it wasn't long till they called him back. He gets an injection first and has to wait close to an hour and then has the scan. We were back on the road by 2:30. Tomorrow Woody's new dialysis cycler machine is supposed to be delivered. Next day dialysis supplies are supposed to be delivered and he also has an appointment at TN Oncoogy here in Tullahoma. We're counting on the supplies being delivered early so he can get to his appointment which is a little after 9am. Thursday is his appointment with the dialysis team at Fresenius in Tullahoma...so this is a busy appointment week. Right now Woody is at Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting. I'm watching for him and will go out and get him back in the house. Our Sunday School party went great yesterday. It's always fun to get together with our group for fun, fellowship, and food! Because of Covid last year we didn't get to have the party so it was extra good to be back together this year. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

What We Woke Up To!

This is nothing to what "neighbors" woke up to in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois...such devatation over many miles. Nathan does prison ministry in Kentucky and found out this morning that the son of the head of the prison ministry lost his home in the tornados that rolled through their area of Kentucky. We only got a short period of wind and it did rain for a while this morning...very hard for a time. Our electricity went out for a very short time...I didn't even realize about the power outage, I must have still been asleep, but Woody knew it and I would have realized it at a point as our microwave clock was blinking. I'm not sure if the power outage caused the message on Woody's dialysis cycler or what caused it. Woody's dialysis was complete so it didnt cause any problems except for being able to remove the cassette and the lady who answered my service call helped me get that out. She said that when the "Watch Dog" message comes on they replace the machine as it could happen again. We are being sent a new machine that is to be here on Tuesday and the old machine will be picked up on Friday. This will be our third machine. His first one "failed" his first night of home dialysis...the cartridge leaked inside of the machine that night and if it gets wet inside they replace it. I'm hoping that we will have less alarms with a new machine. I learned at the last appointment that lots of alarms could be a reason to get a new machine...so maybe this problem will solve a couple of problems? We will see! Today was Wassail making day for me. Our Sunday School Class is having a Christmas get together tomorrow afternoon. It has become tradition for me to make Wassail for our party. I use the recipe that I got when I was at Cottey College...this recipe has been made many times in the 50+ years since I got it...my mother and I both used it many times over the years. The wassail has been sitting for almost 12 hours...at the 12 hour mark I will reheat it and let it simmer for 15 minutes and it will be ready for reheating when I get it to Ruth's house tomorrow afternoon. I went to the public library this afternoon to replenish Woody's reading material. My book bag was pretty heavy when I left the library...we'll see how long this load lasts him! Woody's dialysis treatment has already started for the night since we have Sunday Schook in the morning and have to be out the door fairly early. We need the treatment to be finished so we can go through the disconnecting routine plus have breakfast and get ready to go. After I publish this, I will head down and do a few things in the kitchen while I wait for the 12 hours to be up so I can do the last step on the wassail. I hope to get to do a little stitching after that. I did get one more ornament finished this afternoon and am on the last one for our 7 Dorrell grandchildren. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Look Who Came to Visit!

Graham dropped off Isaac and Joseph to spend a couple of hours with us. Joy is at a party in Murfreesboro and her parents had to get her there and pick her up. I suggested that the boys bring a few of their Osmo games and play them with my old iPad. That is what they are doing in tonight's photos. They tried a couple of the games they brought and then branched out to other things. Isaac finished a church library book...good place to finish it...the librarian's house so he can return it to her in person! Joseph found a box that we used in school...Block Buddies...a set of blocks and cards that you make the pattern. Joseph couldn't figure out what he had made and then realized he had built it upside down! Once he moved to the other side he could see that it was a gazelle's head! It was funny when he realized! Isaac worked with another block pattern item that we have called pattern play...I call it the quilt block puzzle...very symetrical and the patterns remind me of quilt squares. I think they have had fun...they don't get over here very often these days. I got Christmas boxes put back in Christmas closet today...took out a couple of other things. I also got all the Fall decorations put aeay. I will show some pictures of my very minimalist Christmas decorating this year in future blogs. I finished another ornament today...this one for our class ornament exchange...my machine acted badly, but I finally got it to behave itself...it misbehaved with only 2 minutes left in the design...but when I finally got it running correctly again, I was able to get the messed up threads taken out and backed the machine back to where it messed up and got it started stitching at that point and it finished with no further problems! I'm also almost finished with cross stitching the 6th ornament for the Dorrell grandchildren...soon will be starting on the last one for them. That may be the last handstitched ornament for this year. I'm about ready to go back to stitching on samplers. But still have several stitched items to get made into ornaments before I get back to normal everyday stitching. I have been stitching on ornaments since the first of the year...need to start early every year if I will get enough done...not everyone is getting a handstitched one this year...some hand stitched and some machine stitched...but all handmade! Woody finished another book today. I think that means it is time for me to make another trip to the public library. Maybe tomorrow after I get the Wassail made for our Sunday School Class Party. We are due for more bad storms in the wee hours of the morning. Tornados are possible and high winds. There's no tellig how much sleep we we will get tonight! We had Nathan put the car in the garage for tonight to get it out from under falling branches and/or falling trees...please "no" to the latter! The boys have been picked up. They played super well together. They're both really growing up! Melany and Kathy and I are trying to figure out when we can get together at Melany and Wade's for our family Christmas celebration...looks like on New Year's Day this year. Christmas is whenever we can get together! Well, I guess it is time for me to get back to sewing...or whatever I end up doing this evening. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

I Have Caved…Slightly!

Yesterday I was getting something out of a cabinet and saw thus platter...and, thought, "I'll put this on the buffet. As I put away the plate that had been there, I spotted the winter ornament on a stand (it has a barn on it, too) and "had" to put that out, too. The Christmas card on the right came in the mail today and I decided that it would add another festive touch. The rolling island in the kitchen got a little festivity as did the dining room table. The last thing that I did was on the coffee table in the living room. Woody said that he wanted the Precious Moments Nativity out, so this year it is adorning the coffee table. I "think" that is all I will do...but now that I have done these little touches, I am very tempted to put up the corner tree with handmade ornaments on it. I'll mull that over and decide tomorrow! I got my hair cut this afternoon. While I was gone a box full of four puppies visited Woody. Now it is time to get Woody's dialysis machine set up for tonight's treatment. After his treatment is up and running, I will head upstairs and see about working on more ornaments. I made aothrr ornament the day before yesterday and gave it away today. I need an ornament for our Sunday School Class' ornament exchange on Sunday. Yesterday, I went hunting for what to make. Now I need to decide and get it made. Still cross stitching some too. Busy times! 'Tis the season! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Treading Water!

Well, we managed to get up by 4am and were on the road right around 5:30. We, of course, got into quite a bit of rush hour traffic so we didn't make as good time as we usually do, but we signed in at the registration desk right at 7:15, which was our appointment time...though we are supposedly to get there 15 minutes ahead of appointment time. We were hoping for lots less folk in the lab waiting room since it was so early...but no...almost every seat was taken. BUT he was called in fairly quickly after we sat down. So he was in and out of the lab much quicker than he had been lately...no complaints! We then walked across the hall to wait in the doctor's waiting room. That was a bit longer wait, but not all that long. And, we didn't havae to wait on the doctor very long either. He looked at the tumor and then Debbie Wallace came in and declared what we knew already...that the bubbly part of the tumor had gotten larger and the other part smaller. She did not recommend for Woody to get more of the T-VEC injections. Dr. Wyman decided that he wanted Woody to get another PET scan this coming Monday so they could compare it to the one he had in September. Also having the PET scan Monday would let Woody's oncologist at TN Oncology know what is going on so he could make the decision as to whether to start Keytruda again. Woody sees Dr. Eze at TN Oncology next Wednesday so we should have results by then. Woody did ask about surgiclly removing the tumor. Dr. Wyman said that that might be an option, but that there is concern about how it would heal. Also radiation was mentioned. Those decisions will wait till after the PET Scan. So as tonight's blog title says...we are once again treading water...waiting to see what comes next. I got the answer I expected when I asked Woody how he was with these developments..."I just go with the flow!" I really sort of expected that he might not get an injection today. I don't think that Woody had really thought about it, but he said that he had assumed that he would get an injection today. At the moment you all know about as much as we do as to what the next step might be! We were home by a little after 11am even with going the back roads which takes a little longer. I think that we both napped away a good part of the afternoon after our early morning rising. Next week's PET scan is in the early afternoon...thank goodness we won't have to rearrange all schedules to get there on time that day! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Goals Met (for this day)

Goal #1 that was met = all the names for Marie's Christmas stockings were finished last night and Marie picked them up today. She will attach them to the stockings. Goal #2 met = all the ornaments that are for out of state friends and famil were fully finished into ornaments or whatever they were be turned into. Goal #3 met = all those gifts got wrapped. Goal #4 = all those wrapped gifts were put into a shipping box and taped up and addresses put on the two boxes. Goal # 5 met = They have both been mailed...one to Alabama and one to Arizona. Goal #6 met = Getting Woody's dialysis tratment started by 6pm so it will hopefully be finished early enough tomorrow that we can get him disconnected and both eat breakfast before leaving the house by 5:30am so we can be at Nashville by 7am. Phew! I'm tired! I have another couple of tasks to complete before I can come upstairs and stay up here. I am taking a short break as I hadn't sat down much today and my back was saying "rest for a few minutes." I decided that I could restand get tonight's blog written and then go back downstairs and finish in the kitchen. Woody has settled in for the night...I'm hoping that he can rest at least some between now and 4am...when the alarm is set to go off! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Our Day Started Out a "Bit Windy," You Might Say!

Tonight's photo shows what happened to the WalMart sign. This is the only damage that I have seen, but there is a lot more throughout the area. I just heard on Huntsville news that there was a confirmed EF1 tornado in Moore County...which we are very close to Moore County. Several of our friends who live in the particular path that this one took were, as of a couple hours ago still without electricity. Their main damage was with branches down. One friend had the top of a tree fall...that tree had been hit by lightning in another storm this year. I did see a picture of a house that had significant roof damage. Some barn-type storage buildings got tossed about in a parking lot...again, I just saw pictures, but I think maybe it was Lowe's parking lot. Anyway, we had "just" a bit of wind in our area this morning! We just have a few branches down. We just had some hard rain and it got really dark for a while...but then it was early morning. I think that the tornado touched down around 7:45am. Motlow Community College, our local community college did cancel classes today...their main campus is in Moore County. They had to reschedule today's finals for Friday. The power was out atthe Baptist Collegiate Ministry building, but did come back on while Nathan was there, but then they headed home since there would be no students there today. Once the storms passed through, we had a very pleasant day. As soon as there was no chance of lightning, I got my sewing machine up and running...while names stitched for my friend's stockings, I got some preparation done for finishing my next ornament. All the names are stitched out. The last one is soaking in the sink to wash out all the wash-away stabilizer. I will blot it fairly dry and then iron it dry the rest of the way, then trim it and that job will be done...then it will be back to stitching and finishing ornaments and getting two packages off in the mail. I think that all the things that I ordered on Saturday have already been shipped...some arriving on Wednesday, some Frday, some Saturday, and the rest next week. They divided the order up into five shipments. It was good to hear that they have all been shipped. Midafternoon, I headed off to run errands...managed to get them all done in an hour and was home before it got dark...these days dark comes between 4:30 and 5:00...too early! We did get sad news this afternoon, our friend who had Covid did pass away. I just set up Woody's dialysis treatment for tonight. He is at Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting right now. I am typing this at the dining room table watching for him so I can go out and retrieve him! The temperatures are definitely much cooker than they were the last few days...that cold front coming through did more than just produce a tornado! Tomorrow night is when we have to get Woody's dialysis started super early if we are to be able to leave the house by 5:30am! Last night's treatment took 11 hours...longest that it has taken that I can remember. So it is nigh on to impossible to predict how long tomorrow night's will take! We had a nice drive-by treat...Isaac came to the door with samples of Christmas goodies they had made. We have tried a couple of varieties. I messaged them that they were "Good Cooks!" Last night our church puton a Christmas Cantata with adult choir and children's choirs. I watched it from here on my iPad. Kathy and Isaac and Joseph were in it. Kathy is the children's choir director. I think we may havea very talented grandson...maybe a vantriloquist in the making? He stood there very straight and tall andI never saw his lips move any time that I was looking at him!! That would have been Joseph...our more reticent of the grandchildren...a bit shy and quiet...but he stood there through the whole program and it wasn't a short program! Isaac was almost out of my view, but when I could see him...his mouth was, I assume, singing...at least moving! It was a very nice program...put everyone in the mood for Christmas songs. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Busy Saturday…Must be “‘Tis the Season”

Looks like the pictures are posting tonight. I will go back and see if I can get last night's to post. Tonight's photo is a tradition for me to post on Facebook...my school friends and also my present day friends and also some of my cyberfriends all look forward to me posting and say that they look forward to it being posted. This is Christmas 1957...a momentous one, but as we enjoyed trimming the tree, we had no idea what was to come in a couple of weeks. I was nine and Cheryl was two. On Christmas Eve that year, my parents were in a very serious head-on collision. Daddy decided that he wanted to go out for coffee at a local restaurant, The Range, before he put together gifts for my sister and me. He and Mother went and left us at home with our grandfather. The problem arose when the restaurant wasn't open its usual hours due to it being Christmas Eve, so Daddy decided that they would venture on down the road a bit and see if another restaurant was open. At this time there were very few street lights on the stretch of the main road that they were on. It is thought that our car's lights drew the attention of the drunk driver and he headed across to their side of the road. Daddy wasn't hurt as badly as Mother...probably because of the steering wheel...remember at that time...no seatbelts...Daddy suffered broken ribs, but Mother suffered major head injuries...we were never sure if she hit the dash board, which at that tine were not padded or if she was thrown into the rearview mirror. She was in the hospital for weeks. That night there was a surgeon close by who was able to operate on her...it was a miracle that she wasn't killed or at the least brain injured...but all's well that ends well...she ended living to almost 99! But it was a traumatic Christmas to say the least! Oh, another miracle...one of my good friend's father was the local mortician and ambulance driver. He and his family had been at a family gathering that night and he had had a call for his ambulance so he ended up driving the ambulance to the party. He and his daughter drove home in the ambulance and came upon on Mother and Daddy's accident and took her to the hospital. Small town! Going back to the good memories from this picture...some years back, when this photo came to light, was when I realized that I really did live in the "Leave It To Beaver" era! Such good times and such good memories...most of the time! Tonight I am a little late blogging not because I forgot, but because I needed to get Woody's dialysis going a little earlier because we have to leave early in the morning for church. Also, I guess it is time for us to move the time earlier every night until we are at 6pm starting for Tuesday night so we can leave on time to get to Vanderbilt by 7am on Wednesday. His treatments are taking at least 10 hours these days and most days quite a few more minutes are added on to the hours...yesterday's took 10 hours and 45 minutes...depends on how many alarms he gets during the drains! It's not something that we can time precisely! It will be touch and go about getting off by 5:30 at the latest on Wednesday morning. Woody has enjoyed the football diversions today...something different for him to watch on Saturdays and Sundays. Learned some exciting news a little while ago...our Tullahoma Wildcat's won the high school state football championship today...first time in the history of the school. Lots are excited about it. I got a good amount of our Christmas shopping done this morning...online...just have the three oldest grands to buy for and their parents! I just have to wait for the rest's gifts to be delivered this coming week and the next. Now it is time for me to get back either to my machine embroidering or my cross stitching...need to do both! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

'Tis The Season For Stitching While Blogging!

I'm not sure what is going on with this site tonight...but when I insert a picture it shows a minus sign in an circle shape instead of the picture in the place that I usually see the picture before telling to it to use that photo. It does have a code like I usually see above where I am typing so maybe it will post a photo...so we shall see what shows up after I publish this! WHat you are supposed to see in the photo is what is right in front of me as I write this...and, though, the photo doesn't show it, the machine is stitching away while I type this. Nice at this time of year to be able to multitask! I've stayed busy today mainly with filling the larders with food for the next couple of weeks...I filled my virtual cart at Kroger last night and then this morning picked up the real food, came home and put it away and even cooked some of it. Woody had been wanting broccoli (Go figure! Would not be my choice!). I steamed the broccoli and he had that along with some sweet potato casserole and a gelatin salad. After the broccoli cooking, I decided that I was through with cooking until tomorrow...but when I came back in from taking the compost bucket out to empty into the compost pile that I needed to go on and roast the chicken today. Why?!? Well, when I back into the house all I could smell was broccoli...not my fragrance of choice for our house! The roasted chicken aroma was much better...plus a cooking job for tomorrow checked off the "list!" Woody added another book to the "take back to the library" stack and started another book. He has watched some TV and played some solitaire also. I decided that I would let this design stitch out (by the way it stitched out faster than I write!) while I blogged...it is the test run for the first of the names for the stockings. It looks pretty good in the current form...but what it will look like after I wash away the base fabric might be anothrr story! I will leave it soaking while I get Woody's cycler set up, so I will know a bit later whether this is going to work or not. I won't stitch all of them like this one, but there are several that I think would look best using metallic thread and metallic thread is not always the friend of stitcher or machine...this stitch out worked pretty well...only a couple of thread breaks. The nice thing about this machine is that if the top thread breaks, the machine takes the needle back to where the thread break occurred...these computerized machines are amazing...and mine is no longer the top of the line...but it is plenty amazing for me! I guess it is time for me to go soak this piece and then head downstairs to get Woody's dialysis machine set up for tonight's treatment. The set-up phase is the phase thwt takes the longest...lots of waiting on the machine to cycle through the set up...I do what the screen instructs me and then it does it thing and then it "tells" me to do the next step and then I wait for it to do its thing again...sometimes the times between what I do and what it does are quick and other times take longer. There is usually a task that I do while it is working to get ready for the next step...sometimes I just sit and wait...this is when I watch TV...whatever Woody has on. The funny thing is that I don't watch that much, but I have noticed that I am watching repeats of some shows...guess it is starting to be rerun season during the holidays? Off to soak fabric and then go see what is on TV tonight! Then once I have Woody connected, I plan to go back to my cross stitching...still working on getting ornaments finished for gifting! 'Tis the season! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! OK guess you get to see the symbol I saw...will attempt to replace the photo later...hoping that it is just a glitch in their system tonight!

A Visit from a “Stranger!”

Today has been a rather social day...as has this week. Earlier in the week Ruth stopped by with two large pickle jars so I can transport the wassail that I will be making for the Christmas Sunday School gathering. We sat in the living room for a while and caught up with each other. On our Pie Day Alex called and said that he would like to come see us this week. I haven't seen him since June...the weekend of his and Brooke's wedding and Woody hasn't seen him for even longer than that...such is life when the grands grow up! Alex works pretty much full time at Kroger and is also going to college at Middle Tennessee State University and is married now...so not a lot of free time to run and see us, which I totally understand. He had a day off (sort of) today due to it being the end of the semester and they reviewed in his class Tuesday so he didn't have class today...preparation for finals. We had a nice visit and he brought us lunch from Arby's...Woody was happy! He stayed for a couple of hours and we caught up with what is happening in his life. Graduation is in sight after next semester. We talked about what he hoped to do after graduating...he will have a degree in Concrete Engineering...he will be overseeing concrete making...to make sure that the concrete being poured at constructions sites is proper mixture, etc. among other things. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about when Woody quizzed him on several things. After he left, Marie brought the stockings over that she wants personalized and we talked and made decisions about how to do the names...now for me to carry the plan out! I continue to work on finishing the ornaments that I have stitched over this past year and still working on stitching on another...and, there will be a couple more to follow that one to stitch and a few more to machine embroider. 'Tis the Season! Well, it is almost time to get Woody's cycler machine set up and then on to another night of dialysis for him. He is watching TV and playing solitaire at the moment. He has added another book to the finished stack to be returned to the library and has started on another one. A stack of books doesn't last him long these days. But I am glad that he has his reading...a good way to escape into another world!!! I am about finished picking up pumpkins and other Fall decor...just a few more pumpkins on the dining room table along with some fake fall leaves and a basket. I am taking them upstairs and putting them on the guest bed. Once they are all gathered, I will put them back in their storage tubs for next year. I reorganized my sewing area and also my finishing area...after a bit those two places can become creative chaos! For the moment both areas look much better...just waiting for me to make a mess of them again! I have one more ornament to fully finish for out of state gifts after that I can concentrate on getting those wrapped and boxed up to send off to Arizona and Alabama. Tonight I am going to get a grocery order placed so I can pick them up in the morning. So once I get Woody connected I will be concentrating on that...trying to not forget an item or two or..! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Busy Day

Today has mostly been about dialysis. first thing we do most mornings is disconnect Woody from his overnight treatment. Breakfast comes after that. Today after breakfast it was time to get ready to head to the dialysis center. Before we could leave the driveway, I had to pull the garbage can back the back of the house. With all the leaves at the curb, there is no room to pull the gwrbage can next to the road except at the base of the driveway. Today I also had to load up bags pf fluid that had drained from Woody over night as it was time to test those to see how well the treatments are doing. These four bags are quite heavy so I wheel them to the car in the wheelchair. At the center one of the nurses gets them out and takes them in. Once I got the drain solution in the car and the garbage can out of the way, it was time to get Woody into the car. The nurse was waiting for us this morning...he waved us in before I got a chance to call to oet him know we were there. He was ready for us because he had had to fit in another patient this morning. His part of the appointment went quite quickly. But we also had to see the social worker because she was going to be out of the office when we go back in two weeks. That took a bit of time as it was time to reask all the question that she has to ask...the part of the team effort that I could without...lots of questions about how you are doing, feeling, etc., etc. I guess it is necessary...but takes up a lot of time. We finally got away...and the appointment only took about an hour from arrival to departure...so really not bad, but this one is usually much quicker...in and out usually. We got home and it was time for us to do the manual drain. While he was draining, I checked his dialysis supplies...counted what we have, as it was the day to make the next order and made out that list so I could make the phone call after lunch. Woody prefers to wait for lunch till after he has drained. I got our lunch and we ate. Then I went upstairs to make the call for the supply. I was on hold for more than a half hour and finally got to talk to a person and made the order. By the time I hung up 45+ minutes had passed since I picked up the phone. I will say they are very proficient with getting the order figured out from what I have on hand and very pleasant to work with. By that time I was pretty much done in and ready to quit dealing with dialysis for at least a little while! I went downstairs one time...a little after 3pm and Woody was dozing pretty soundly as he didnt hear me tell him that it was time for Family Feud, one of his afternoon rituals is to watch "The Feud." I came back upstairs and ended up taking a nap. I decided that I would blog early so maybe I wouldn't forget. When looking for a barn photo, I found a group that I hadn't shared quite a few from...so have a few more in reserve to post. My friend is still very sick with Covid. She was given some respiratory treatment at the hospital and then taken back to her health care facility, but we understand that she is not doing well. Please...be safe! Be well! Be cautious!