Hide and Seek

I spent a good part of the day playing hide and seek with the ornaments on our Christmas tree. I think that they enjoy hiding from me. Take as an example the ornaments in tonight's blog picture. I know that these ornaments are hard to find so I start taking them off before I even get to the box they go in. Today when I finally got to their box and put them in there was one of the "12 Days of Christmas" missing and I had to go walk around and around the tree to find it.I finally found it and this box was ready to go back into the larger box of ornaments where it is stored. I have managed to repack three large boxes of ornaments today and this is how the tree looked when I left it a little while ago...though, the ornaments in the boxes on the coffee table are now packed back into their larger box. Still a "few" to take off!

Woody did his normal Saturday errands...library and Walmart. Later in the day he walked four miles. Besides taking ornaments off the tree I have been making plans for Joseph's one-year outfit that I am going to make for him. I woke up early this morning and decided that I would look through some of the fabrics that I have hanging in my "fabric closet" and I actually managed to find exactly what I need...fabric for some overalls and also some for a knit shirt. Each of Nathan and Kathy's children have had their one-year photo taken in something that I have made...I would hate to break tradition! Now for a memory about the "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments. My mother bought these for us when we were on a trip in Salem, MA back in 1988. We were in MA for a family reunion on my mother's side of the family. Mother, (my father didn't come), Cheryl, Woody, myself, Melany and Nathan were all there visiting with my aunt and cousin at the same time...the only time that ever happened. While we were there we took a day trip to Salem...went to The House of Seven Gables, The Salem Witch Museum and several other places...one of which was a really neat Christmas shop that was housed in a gift shop called The Stoned Elephant (its name another story in itself!). You couldn't find happier people than my mother, sister, aunt, cousin and myself in a Christmas shop!(One of the reasons that we have so much Christmas "stuff!") We had the best time looking and choosing various ornaments. Mother ended up getting a set of these 12 Days of Christmas ornaments for me, my sister and my cousin. So they are a very pleasant memory of a great family time together. And, now for the rest of the story about the reason for the name, The Stoned Elephant: It seems that the first elephant to come to the U.S. came by boat. The water supply ran out and they had to give the elephant beer to drink. Another aside: To help defray the expensive drinking habit of the elephant 25 cents was charged to see the elephant. In that time that was a week's wage! Just a little trivia for the last day of the month!

Moving Right Along...

Well, goal met...at least I think that it is met. As of a few minutes ago all Christmas other than the two Christmas trees has found its way into boxes. There are boxes to my right that can't be seen in the photo and also boxes in the Christmas closet that I haven't taken out yet...the boxes that the ornaments go in and the Christmas tree boxes. One hurdle cleared...but still a pretty tall hurdle to get the two trees undecorated. This morning I got up and started in on packing up items. After doing that for a little while, it was time for me to go pick up a friend to take her for rehab. She isn't supposed to drive yet so several of us in our Sunday School class have been taking her. When I got home it was time for lunch. After lunch I got back to packing up Christmas stuff. I also climbed the step ladder quite a few times taking things down from above the kitchen cabinets and then putting back everyday things. Luckily I don't do a lot over the cabinets since they already look Christmasy because there is lots of red and green up there due to my apple collection. I just take a few things down so I can put several trees and snowmen up there. I still have to shelve the Christmas books, but they are in the sewing room waiting for a time that I feel like getting down on my knees to put them in their spot in the book shelves. Woody chose to let the cold temperatures and wind talk him out of a walk today. I think that it was best since he still hasn't gotten rid of his cough completely. He made French Market Soup this afternoon. It was nice to have him take over that cooking task. He also cleaned up the cooking mess. We have now settled in for the evening. I plan to carry the ornament boxes downstairs this evening, but don't plan to put anything into them till tomorrow. Can you believe that tomorrow is the last day of January?

Back in the Groove?

Tonight's photos show our plan of travel in rush hour when we are in large enough cities that have HOV lanes. We pick up an HOV lane Murfreesboro and have them till we get off the interstate just a mile or so from Vandy. But of late we notice that it isn't that big a help because once there is a traffic slow-down everyone seems to drift over to the HOV lane even if there is only one person in the vehicle and that lane becomes as blocked as all the others. We haven't quite figured out why these rules are at the side of the road every 100 feet or so, yet they never seem to be enforced during the specified hours. You can see that we are pretty much able to sail right along without many in the HOV lane until the traffic bogs down and then there are as many cars in the HOV as in the other lanes. We got back into the groove once again with school...everyone came in their own slots and we didn't have to do any adjustments today due to any appointments, etc. Joy sewed a button on her pajama top and then worked on her sewing notebook. Woody had a meeting in town this morning so he worked that into his walk for the day. I have put more Christmas items into boxes and carried more boxes upstairs. Yesterday after we got home, I did do some more packing of items. I am hoping after tomorrow I will "just" have the two Christmas trees left. We got a call a little while ago reminding us of our appointments at Vanderbilt next week...we are getting those automated Vandy calls just too frequently these days.

Mixed Reviews!

Once again we got information that we weren't expecting when they gave us the report on Woody's PET scan. We also got what we were expecting. I will start out with what we were expecting...the Keytruda is definitely working as it is supposed to...the melanoma sites that they were watching have all decreased in size...to the point that the dye didn't even penetrate them...one of the places was at the base of his neck and the other is in his right leg just below his knee (the place that he had radiation after he was dismissed from NIH). So that is very good news and what we both were expecting to hear. Then came what we weren't expecting...he has a place in one of his lungs that measures 1/2" and then some "sprinkles/whisps" that showed up in the general area around the spot they see on the scan. They do not think that these are melanoma. They think that they are a side effect of the Keytruda...an infection that can happen due to Keytruda. He also has a cough (another possible side effect of Keytruda) that he has had for a while which is probably connected to this too. We were chocking the cough up to allergies. But Woody had mentioned just this morning before we left that he didn't understand his cough because he didn't seem to have any drainage and that it was just a dry cough. Dr. Sosman is in CA so not available to confer with his nurse practitioner so she conferred with another melanoma doctor and also a thorasic surgeon to get their opinions. The picture shows him with an oxygen monitor on his finger. He took a walk around the halls of the clinic...sort of a big circle...so the nurse practitioner could check his oxygen levels after exercising. He passed with flying colors...though he was disappointed that it wasn't 100%...it was well up there in the 90%. In the end it was decided that Woody would not have a Keytruda infusion today. We will go back next week (these weekly trips are becoming a habit that we hope to break...soon!)and have a chest x-ray, lab work, see Dr. Sosman, and perhaps have a Keytruda infusion if Dr. Sosman deems it okay to have an infusion. This seems to always happen when Dr. Sosman is away...no one seems to be able to come up with a definite plan without him! There is a chance that he might be given a round of antibiotics or steroids next week. I guess they will have to make the call about the steroids as he was given orders by NIH not to have steroids unless in an emergency situation. I did ask after NIH dismissed him and they suggested that he continue to try not to have them unless necessary...so we will see "if" this situation turns into a "necessitity!" We went to get appointments set up, but they sent us on our way as they were going to have to work out appointments with his nurse as he was booked up. I'm sure that it will be a zoo around there next week since that is when Dr. Sosman has just returned and he will be making up for "lost time!" About an hour after we got back we got a call from Vanderbilt with the appointments all made for next Wednesday. I'm hoping that we can get back on a Tuesday schedule once we get worked through this little glitch! Here is the picture of Woody with his treat for being such a good boy during all his appointments today:

The Lunch Bunch

We had school like usual...though on a Wednesday schedule rather than a Tuesday schedule. Since Woody and I will be away tomorrow for Woody's Vanderbilt appointments we did Wednesday today so the Wednesday children who have long times could have theirs (no one has long times on Tuesday...so an easy swap). When it was time for Esther and Graham's long times it was time for Woody and me to go next door to take care of six of the seven. He and I went over there and I got instructions for the day and then Esther and I came back here for her time with me. Esther and I worked on getting her sewing notebook caught up. We printed pictures today. Graham ended up not having his time with Goosey as he had some tasks to finish at home so he opted out of his time with Goosey today. We tasked Abigail with getting the sandwiches ready for lunch. We ate a little after Esther and I got back over there. The rest of the afternoon went very smoothly. Everyone stayed busy with one thing or another. Nathan and Kathy and Joseph had an appointment in Nashville for Joseph for allergy testing. When he was introduced to both eggs and cows milk in the last week or so he had a reaction so they needed to find out if he was allergic to either or both. Unfortunately the tests showed that the answer is allergy to both. So for the next twelve months he is to have no milk products or things with eggs in them. Then he will be tested again after he turns two to see if the allergy is still with him. They got back before supper time. I am adding a picture that Kathy took with her phone while at the doctor's office. Poor baby! Don't think that there is much doubt that he is allergic to both...the top two are the eggs and milk.

I have wrapped up a couple of bells with tissue paper and tucked them in a box, but that is it...don't think that I will do any more undecorating today either...the mess will wait for another day...in this case two days as I doubt that I will feel like undecorating when we get back from Vanderbilt tomorrow afternoon. I did manage to get the mantel cleared of snowmen and trees last night and all those are tucked into one box or another. The carolers have also found their way back into their boxes for another year. We will be up and out of here pretty early in the morning as his first appointment is 9:30...so we will be traveling in morning rush hour.

Arrrrrrrrrrr, Matey!

Accomplishments of the day: Abigail got her sewing notebook brought up to date; I continue to box up Christmas and put out everyday; I made Joseph's ornament for the corner Christmas tree (I have each of the grandchildren's pictures either in a snowflake or snowman frame on that tree since it is a snow theme tree.); Elijah and I made him a pirate eye patch during his "Grammy long time;" Woody did Bible study with his friend at Life Care; he brought us home Taco Bell for lunch; he walked four miles this afternoon in the cold. We are settling in for a quiet evening. I plan to go downstairs and attack the Christmas in the family room. I was boxing up angels and bells just before coming up to blog. As you can see by Elijah's picture tonight the big tree is still up...that will be attacked last...after everything else has been put in boxes and said boxes put up in the hall upstairs. The hall is an obstacle course...best put on the light before walking down it...only a narrow path...could be hazardous to one's health! One of these days things will be back in order...I'm almost to the "bah humbug" point of my undecorating! When you see my Scrooge ornament you will know that I have reached that point!

Quite the Juggling Act

Five-year-old Elijah is becoming quite the juggler. He has managed 27 catches...very good...especially for a child his age. He entertained us tonight while Goosey (Woody) and I were next door keeping an eye on all seven children. It can be quite the three-ringed circus over there at times. Tonight Elijah juggled bean bags and Esther juggled rings. Elijah said that he is practicing and trying to get to 30 catches and then he will be ready to try juggling rings. Woody did his usual Saturday routine...library and Walmart. I got up and started in on undecorating and have made a bit more of a dent in that monumental job...Christmas things are being put away and every-day things are being put out again. I am ready for this ordeal to end...but at the moment the end really isn't in sight. Woody walked four miles this afternoon despite it being rather cold...especially factoring in the wind chill. We did have a light dusting of snow over night. I woke up in the middle of the night and checked and sure enough our garden had a covering of snow and the car had some on it as well, but that was it (see photo below). We went next door after supper and have just returned. We managed to get them all into pajamas and some stories read before their parents returned. Nathan and Kathy's Sunday School class had an "after-Christmas" Christmas party.

Next Choir Rehearsal...November!

The decorations are slowly but surely being put away. I always gather all the Byers Carolers on the coffee table till I find all the boxes that they go in. It looks to me like they are having one last sing in front of the Christmas tree till the next Christmas. I called next door mid-afternoon and asked Graham and Elijah to come over. I had found the three boxes that the Fisher Price Nativity goes in. They came over and made short order of getting all the pieces put away in their proper boxes. After they did that is when I gathered all the Carolers together on the coffee table. I have also boxed up a lot of angels this afternoon. It has rained and/or drizzled most of the day. It rained out Woody's walk for today. He went next door this afternoon and took care of most of the children while Kathy took Joseph for his one-year well check up and Nathan had made a trip to Nashville to pick up some boomerang supplies (explanation: Nathan uses and sells boomerangs at some of their programs.). I continued to undecorate while Woody kid sat. This morning I took a friend over to Manchester. She can't drive at the moment and needed pick up/do some paperwork. That was the first time that I had driven the "new" car (now over a year old)out of town. Snow flurries are predicted for tonight...we will see if that prediction comes true...or perhaps we won't see if they happen while everyone sleeps.

Look Who's One Today!

It has been a busy day. We had school...a Tuesday schedule on Thursday. So I had Isaac and Elijah for their time in the school room and then the other four took turns reading to me. After lunch I got busy on making a pot of soup...Ham and Barley again...utilizing the ham bone from the ham we had this past weekend. I left Woody to eat the soup by himself as I had a "date" tonight...a date with my Sunday School class. From time to time we go out to eat and tonight was one of those times. We had a smaller group tonight than usual, but had loads of laughs as we always do. I came home and headed next door to try to get some pictures of the birthday boy. I then had to download them and choose which one I wanted to use. Woody went on a four-mile walk this afternoon. I didn't get much done with my undecorating, though. I did get a few more things in boxes and those boxes have now taken up residence in the upstairs hall. Maybe tomorrow I will make a bigger dent in the mess! Happy First Birthday, Joseph!

Saying Good Bye

This morning I sat in the living room enjoying my Christmas decorations before I got underway with my undecorating...I guess it was a way for me to say good bye to them for another year. I also played around with my new camera...trying out different settings, etc. I finally got busy in the dining room. I put away the Precious Moments manger scene first as the boxes those go in were reachable in the closet. Then I took Christmas out of the china cabinet and off the walls and off the cup and saucer display shelf and put all those things on the dining room table. By the time that I got all the Precious Moments back in their individual boxes and back in the two larger boxes and back upstairs, it was time for lunch and then it was time to go to the church to work in the library. When I got back from church, I continued on in the dining room and got ALL the angels off the top of the china cabinet. Now all those angels reside on the dining room table till I find their boxes. I got the cup and saucer display shelf back to "normal" a little while ago. I think that will end my undecorating for the night. Woody did his Wednesday Krogering early this morning. We didn't have school today as Nathan and Kathy and the children had a day trip to the Chattanooga area to do a program at a school. They were also celebrating 100 days of school and had plans to visit a civil war battlefield as a field trip. While I was at the library, Woody went on a four-mile walk. He says that he has been more tired than usual today. I figure that can be chalked up to his PET scan yesterday and of course it could be the Keytruda...either seem to be a good excuse for being tired...for me just the trip yesterday has left me tired. He has dozed in his recliner more than usual today.

Another Vanderbilt Trip

We headed out at 8:30 this morning and sailed right through the morning traffic up until we got onto 21st Ave. and then "things" really slowed down to go a very short distance. We still got there early and everything at Vandy went right on schedule. He even got called in for his PET scan ten minutes early. He was back for the scan for a little more than 1 1/2 hours. Then we were on the way down the road. We stopped at Steak and Shake for lunch. Once we got to Murfreesboro, we got off the interstate and came home on the back road we like to take. We took a couple of side roads off that back road and I took pictures with my new "toy." Woody gave me a new point and shoot camera for Christmas and it arrived yesterday. So today I tried out various settings and just shot a lot of pictures getting used to it. All my cameras are Panasonics so they are set up "something" alike. The new one has a lot of features that hadn't even been heard of when my original point and shoot came out. Last night I was able to download an app on my iPad and then Wi-Fi connect the camera and iPad and be able to use the iPad as a remote control...seeing everything that the camera sees along with being able to use all the settings to control the picture being taken. So I could set my camera up on a tripod and then move away from it and control the camera with my iPad. What will "they" think of next?!? This camera has a lot of zoom power. Tonight's pictures show a farm that was off from the road quite a way. The three pictures show three different zoom magnifications. The last shows a dog topiary that you can barely see in the first two pictures. I was in the same position for the first and third picture. The second picture I took when we came back down the road. As you can see I was taking the pictures through a lot of branches, etc. I don't think that this farm will be very visible once the trees and bushes leaf out in the spring and summer. It's a rather quaint little farm. Another nice setting is one that you use if you are taking pictures through glass. That one should be helpful when we are traveling down the road and I am taking pictures through the windshield. Another feature is that you can charge the battery in the camera and I found out today that the USB cord for the camera can be plugged into our car and I can charge it while we are going down the road. All sorts of things to learn about this new "toy!" Well, I think that all my excuses are behind me now and I will have to begin to put away Christmas. Since Woody's nephew and family were coming I didn't want to face having to get everything put away and everything else out and in place prior to their visit. So I decided that I would wait till after their visit. And, then I decided that I wouldn't start before our Vanderbilt trip today. So I guess I will start in earnest (or at least start) tomorrow (note I didn't say tonight!). Woody left a while ago to walk to the prayer room at church so he got his walk in even though we were away most of the day. We will be going back to Vanderbilt next Wednesday for Woody to have labwork done, see Dr. Sosman's nurse practitioner, get the results from today's PET scan, and have his fifth Keytruda infusion.

Celebrating Joseph's First

Another big day in the Dorrell households. Lots of January birthdays...first Isaac's and then yesterday was Kathy's and then Thursday will be Joseph's. We celebrated Joseph's today because Kathy's parents and one of her sisters and a niece were all here today. So fun times were had! Woody did Bible study at the Life Care Center today. About as soon as he got back we headed next door to party. This afternoon he went on a four-mile walk. It has been a beautiful day here. It actually got into the 60's. The children were thrilled to run around outside this afternoon. I have had a fun afternoon. My Christmas present arrived that Woody gave me. I'll share what it is tomorrow night. About as soon as we got back from the birthday party, Woody got a call from Vanderbilt reminding about his appointment tomorrow morning...giving him instructions about not eating and drinking, etc. And, they told him to be there a half hour early which he told him he would as long as there weren't any accidents or other highway delays. His appointment is late morning so we don't have to leave as early as sometimes. Tomorrow is only a PET scan so we "shouldn't" be there as long as some times.

What a Day! Picture Says It All!

Busy!

Are you hungry? Want a piece of pie? I had trouble not having a piece of the cherry pie shortly after it came out of the oven! I met my goal on pie making. I think that it should feed the 18 or 19 of us. Now I just need to prepare some of the salad/potato bar items. I will do a few more of those this evening and then finish the rest tomorrow. I am late blogging as we ate supper over at Nathan and Kathy's with Woody's nephew and family. We had a nice visit. Woody walked to the pharmacy this morning as a mistake in dosage for one of the prescriptions he got yesterday. He noticed last night that the ones he had gotten were smaller. So we checked on his old prescription bottle and sure enough he was supposed to have twice the dosage. It was mistake on the part of the doctor faxing what Woody used to take. All is now fixed as the pharmacy did manage to communicate with doctor office to get it corrected. Well, back to the kitchen!

Smells Like a Bakery!

Nothing much better than the smell of bread baking. As tonight's picture shows the rolls are finished. And, there are still two loaves rising--Grandma's Oatmeal Bread (not my Grandma's but that is what Better Homes and Gardens named this bread recipe). It's almost time for it to go into the oven. The day has been a jumble of doing LOTS of things. Graham's time to read is right after lunch. So when he finished, I jumped into the kitchen and got busy on baking bread. Being a rather cold day the rising times were increased, though I did put pans of hot water under baking racks to encourage the rising. During rising times I have done other tasks...after supper I started preparing some of the ingredients for the salad and potato bar we are having on Saturday. Woody took a friend to the doctor this morning only to find out that the doctor had canceled due to a family emergency. Woody did walk his four miles this afternoon despite the cold temperatures. It has spit snow and sleet off and on today...definitely a wintry day. I guess it was good to stay in and bake! I have also tried to do a bit of cleaning...but at the moment the cleaning has taken a back burner...I'd better get busy...as if I haven't been busy! My batteries are starting to run down!

Wintry Wednesday

Once again I chose a picture that depicts the way the day felt to me. We did have some snow flurries today so it was a bit more wintry to the eyes as well as to the touch. We had a normal Wednesday for school. Though Isaac (3) decided that he wasn't my best friend and that he didn't want to be at school. The rest were willing attendees. Esther and Graham had their long time with me and Goosey. Esther finished up a sewing project--her very own pin cushion and Graham calculated the speed of microwaves...using our microwave and marshmallows...beyond me! I'll stick to the sewing! After lunch Woody and I parted ways--he to the grocery store and me to the church library. He was doing the shopping for our Saturday company meal. Tomorrow is bread baking (rolls and perhaps a loaf or two of bread). I am making a new recipe for rolls as I needed to find a dairy free recipe and the whole wheat roll recipe that I usually make uses milk. So I am making Potato Rolls. The potatoes are ready for mashing when I finish blogging. I also plan to make the gelatin salad this evening. Then that is all the cooking for today. Woody let the grocery shopping be his walk for today. He said that he was pretty tired when he got home plus he still has a cough and it is pretty nippy out today. I ended up going to the grocery store after I got home from working in the church library as Woody wasn't able to find the right kind of canned cherries that I needed for my cherry pie so I decided to try the store nearest us and then when they didn't have them I ventured on to Walmart and found them there. Pie making day will be Friday, but I wanted to be sure that I could find what I needed for the cherry pie or if not then choose another kind of pie. But one cherry pie will now be forthcoming along with an apple and a banana cream pie (latter being Woody's request). I hope that will fill up 19 hungry people along with some ice cream to make those fruit pies a la mode if desired. Well, off to mash potatoes so I can use them for roll making tomorrow. We just got a call from Vanderbilt confirming Woody's appointment next week for a PET scan. We will be going to Vanderbilt three times this month...almost like days of old!

Back In Business!

We once again have internet service that isn't going in and out. Nathan unplugged and then plugged in again a device that helps us get internet over here and I think "held his mouth just right" and things were working once again. We had school this morning on a normal schedule. Then this afternoon I have been finalizing the menu for Saturday and getting items needed on the grocery list. On Saturday we will have a housefull. Woody's nephew and family will be here from MO and Melany, Wade, Erin and Alex along with Nathan and Kathy and crew will be here too. I think that I have counted that there will be 19 of us. So I have started making my "to-do lists." When I got my grocery list finished my "best friend," Isaac, came over for a while. He sat in my lap and watched a show on pbskids.com. It was the first time that I got warm all day! We put a soft throw over us and settled back into my recliner. I will admit to dozing and I think that he almost did. After supper Woody walked to the prayer room at church and is still there. Tonight's picture reflects the "cold" that I have felt today. There isn't snow...but it feels like there could be!

Bloggin' Early

i have gone next door to get internet this afternoon. We use Nathan and Kathy's wireless but since our really cold temperatures it hasn't worked as before...so I will take a few steps and just go to their house. Since I am blogging with the iPad I can't add pictures the way that I usually do so will just skip it tonight. Both Woody and I have been coughing for a couple of days. Woody felt pretty wiped out over the weekend. I don't know if it is from his allergy problem or from his infusion. Woody just said that it was from lack of sleep. Whatever... Today was the first day back to school for me. The grandkids started school last week, but were in and out with travels so it was easier for me to start school with them this week. The whole crew filtered through for school today...Elijah twice as he had his "long time with Grammy" this afternoon. He finished up a sewing project...making a snowman out of fleece and sewing various buttons on for eyes, nose, mouth, buttons. We started the project before Christmas and finally finished it today...perfect for a cold rainy winter day. Woody waited for the rain to stop this afternoon and then he went to Life Care to do Bible study with one of the residents. We had a fun time celebrating Isaac's third birthday on Saturday. He opened presents and then we had his Daniel Tiger cake. I did manage to post pictures of him with his cake on Saturday...but not easily. I am hoping that the internet problems can be solved shortly...we are realizing how much we use it! I have been reading a lot more and am about to finish my fifth book THIS year. Well, time for me to go fix supper.

Happy Third Birthday, Isaac!

Picture to be added eventually when the internet decides to cooperate with us again!

I'll now leave "well enough" alone! It has taken more than an hour to load what I have blogged tonight. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISAAC! We have had a fun day!

In and Out

That is how our network has been today...in and out! I'm posting quickly before we lose connection AGAIN! We are here just not in cyber communication!

Fini

Isaac's "Zoo Window" quilt is completed and its proud owner has taken possession of it! He seems happy. I have spent quite a bit of time today putting away scraps of fabric from the quilt and generally cleaning up my cutting table space and the sewing room...both areas are now ready to take on the next sewing project. Woody did decide to brave the cold temps once they rose into the 20's and walked four miles. He said that it really wasn't bad as the winds had subsided. He and I are both planning to finish the books that we are reading. I forgot to mention last night that it was the anniversary of my first blog...back on January 7, 2009...so I have been blogging for six years...so my seventh year of blogging is officially underway.

It's Cooooooold Outside!

I just looked at Weatherbug and we are officially in single digits...9 brrrrry cold degrees! And, the wind chill has the "feels-like" temperature well below zero. It's a good night to stay inside and pray that electricity stays on and that pipes don't freeze! It will be a dripping-faucets kind of night. This morning I got up and got busy on Isaac's quilt. I needed to make a label for the back before I finish tacking down the binding. I got that done and pinned on the back of the quilt. I plan to work on sewing the binding down this evening after I blog. Woody went on his four-mile walk this morning around 8am before the temperatures dropped too drastically...though, the temperature was in the 20's when he walked...but better than the teens that happened this afternoon. Later in the morning he did his weekly Kroger grocery shopping. When he got home, I put the groceries away. After lunch I headed to the church library. Donna and I got quite a bit done. We hadn't had a work day the last two weeks because of Christmas and New Years so we had quite a lot of books to shelve. We got that done and then went back to work on processing the new books that arrived just before Christmas. I came home and went right to work on making soup for our supper. I tried a new recipe: Chicken Pot Pie Soup. Pretty good! And, it did remind both of us chicken pot pie. Now we are settled in for a long winter's nap...hopefully a warm winter's sleep for tonight! I'm off to my recliner to cover up with Isaac's quilt while I continue to sew on the binding...a good job for a cold winter's night. This snowman greeted me when I went to get my hair cut last week. I'll bet even he is shivering tonight!

Moon Over I-24

We had a smooth sailing kind of day. Everything went like clockwork! We left the house at 6:30am and pulled back into our driveway at 3pm. I thought last night that we might see the moon this morning, but then I didn't think about the moon again until we turned onto I-24 and there it was! We got to Vanderbilt about 40 min. early. Woody signed in and then waited to be called to fill out registration papers. He got called into each of his appointments either on time or a little early. The waiting rooms were surprisingly "empty." Well, not exactly empty, but compared to last time there was hardly anyone waiting. His Keytruda came from the pharmacy in record time. And, we were walking out of the infusion lab at exactly noon. Not bad for three appointments at 9,10, and 11am. We have a friend who fell a few days ago and is in the trauma unit at Vanderbilt so we walked down the long hall that connects the cancer center with the hospital and then went up the elevator to the 10th floor (one floor below where Woody was when he had IL-2 at Vandy). We visited for a few minutes with her and then headed home. We made our traditional stop at Steak & Shake for lunch. We made one more stop in Manchester to pay car registration for our Ford Fusion (Can you believe that we have had our "new" car for a year now?!). Then it was on down the road for home. We pulled into the driveway at 3pm. It's still a long day even when things go like clock-work! I will say that I slept most of the way home after our lunch stop and have had trouble waking up even after we got home. I never sleep the greatest when we have some place to go early in the morning...always concerned that we will over sleep even if an alarm is set. Today we both were awake before any alarm went off. Woody walked to the prayer room at church and has just returned a few minutes ago. It has been a rather chilly day, but I guess that today's low temperatures are nothing compared to what we have in store for us tomorrow and the next day. I guess we need to batten down the hatches and prepare for single diget temperatures. Brrrr! Makes me shiver just thinking about temperatures in that range.

1-5-15

It has been a sunny and bright, but cold day here in Middle Tennessee. This morning I did a little of this and a little of that. Then this afternoon I got busy on Isaac's quilt. Just moments ago I got the binding sewn on by machine...the first sewing on of the binding...I will now be sewing the rest of it down by hand. Woody went to the Life Care Center and had Bible study with one of the residents this morning. He stopped on the way home and got us a treat for lunch from Taco Bell. Later in the afternoon he went on a walk to the library. He picked up a book for me...the next in a series that I have been reading. Well, back to the binding the quilt...the light at the end of the tunnel for Isaac's Christmas present is in sight. Tomorrow will be another day at Vanderbilt for labs, see Dr. Sosman's nurse practitioner, and Woody's fourth Keytruda infusion.

It's Raining! It's Pouring! (Again!)

The above photo shows what it looked like out the window about ten minutes after Woody left on his walk this afternoon. He did have an umbrella with him this time and was able to get in his four-mile walk. He made a stop at the barber and got a haircut on his walk. This morning he did his usual Saturday errands...groceries and the library. I finished my John Grisham book, Sycamore Row and have worked on the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. I also updated my book list...so it is current for the new year. The rain has kept me feeling pretty lazy today. We had a lull in the rain, but it is now back and coming down quite heavily. The black spots in the trees in the pictures below are not leaves, but birds! I heard a ruckus outside this afternoon and this is what I saw when I looked out the window. The trees just filled with these black birds. Ick!

Drizzle and Drear

It has been a dreary, drizzly day here in Middle Tennessee. I decided to post a picture that I had taken earlier in the week when it was bright and pretty! Even Woody's walk got rained out. He set out to walk and not long after he got underway the rain got harder and since he didn't have an umbrella he came back. He never found a good time to walk the rest of the day. I look back on the day and am not sure what I have accomplished...I did do a couple of loads of wash. One load is still in the drier and will need to be put away this evening. We have had internet problems all day and just got back online a few minutes ago. Isaac spent a good part of the afternoon with me. He made puzzles on my iPad and then helped me in the kitchen for a while. I have also read as has Woody. I am close to finishing one of John Grisham's books, Sycamore Row. Woody finished it last week and handed it over to me. We both enjoy Grisham's books. We hadn't read his books in a while, so there are several that we have missed...that means books waiting "in the wings" to read! Waiting to read a popular author has its benefits when one reads library books. It will mean that we won't have to get on a waiting list. The books are probably sitting on the library shelves just waiting for us to check them out. I have had several requests to mention the books that we read on the blog so I will from time to time when I feel one is worthy to recommend. I will add that if anyone is a John Grisham fan that there is another author out there who is just as good in both Woody's and my opinion and that is Randy Singer. They are "sit on the edge of your chair legal thrillers." Good reads if you like that genre of books.

God's Richest Blessings for 2015!

Woody and I do send out our wishes to each of you, our blog readers, for a blessed 2015. I thought it appropriate to post tonight the first picture that I took in 2015. And, it just happens to also be proof that I did accomplish what I set out to do yesterday...get the sewing table cleared so I could put Isaac's quilt on it. That is as far as I got with it last night was to put it on the table and so far today I haven't gotten around to getting it trimmed up. When it is all bound I will post a picture so you can see all of it, but this gives you an idea of what "Isaac's Zoo Windows" quilt looks like. He likes looking at the animals and talking about them. He made a couple of trips to the St. Louis last year so he is rather familiar with most of the animals...except for the panda which St. Louis doesn't have. He is talking the most about the penguin because his Aunt Melany gave him a penguin hat. (Another reason that this photo is appropriate to post today...it is the first that I took in 2015!) I started my New Year's Day off with a yummy omelet and toast and tea. The toast and tea were a start to helping my throat feel better. I noticed last night before I went to sleep that my throat wasn't feeling exactly right. It has that feel that it gets before I lose my voice...maybe Woody will end up being one of the luckiest husbands in Tullahoma (what our doctor used to tell me when I lost my voice). Woody has watched one ball game or another and read and probably watched a DVD or two. I have been upstairs a good part of the day. I even did a little cleaning. Isaac spent a while with me this morning. When I took him home just before lunch, I helped Kathy get the top most ornaments off of their tree. Nathan, Graham, and Abigail weren't home as they juggled at a birthday party this afternoon. Then after lunch I went next door for a little while because Kathy needed to run an errand. I was there long enough to get in a few snuggles with Joseph once he wore down from cruising around the house holding onto things. He took his first couple of steps on his own last week. But Woody and I have yet to see him walk without holding onto something. Woody went for a four-mile walk this afternoon to start off his 2015 on the right foot. I don't know if anyone noticed, but during all of December the titles of the blog were either the title of a Christmas song or a line from a Christmas song. Last night I went through the titles of the December blogs and matched them up with "their song." Here are all the songs that were referred to in a blog title during December: Deck the Halls, And The Bells Rang, Christmas is Here to Stay, The Christmas Song, Angels From the Realms of Glory, O Christmas Tree, Here We Come a Wassailing, We Need a Little Christmas, Silver Bells, White Christmas, 'Round and 'Round the Christmas Tree, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Silent Night, Christmas is a Time for Remembering, Winter Wonderland, and Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New Hymn. And, on that "note," I will say for the last time this Christmas season: 'Tis the Season! Happy New Year!