My View: Super Blue Blood Moon

This picture is nothing to write home about...except...that I actually got up and tried to capture it a little after 6am this morning.  This was how I saw the super blue blood moon from our bedroom window.  Last night before setting my alarm I read and/or heard that it would be in the northwest sky this morning...and that happens to be a direction that I can see from one of our windows.  And, I am glad that I rose when I did as it wasn't very long till it was out of my sight due to the trees...but for a few moments it was high enough in the sky to see it through just branches...and I could see that the eclipse had started.  I was happy to have gotten this much...especially when you consider the vast number of trees in our area.

I had a usual Wednesday school day.  Today was Esther's long time.  She worked some on her cross stitch picture and then we read some more in the book that she and I are reading together.  After lunch, I headed to the church library. Donna and I did maintenance and then we got a book order ready.

While I was at church, Woody went for his walk.  I'm not sure how far he walked as he decided to walk to his new local urologist.  He made an appointment this morning and they needed paper work filled out before his appointment next week, so he went to do that, but ended up seeing the doctor because they had had a cancellation.

After he got home, I spent some time on the computer trying to get copies of Vanderbilt lab reports from yesterday that his new doctor wants to see.  I managed to find them on Vanderbilt's new medical web pages and also managed to print them out.  We are still waiting for the reports from his scans yesterday.  Dr. Wyman suggested that Woody  see a urologist because his creatinin levels continue to rise.  Today's doctor seems to think that the problem might arise from a kidney stone that isn't moving but might be blocking things...that is the reason that he would like to see yesterday's scans to see if he can spot a stone.  I will see what I can do to get a copy of the scans to him.  He made a statement to Woody that his office has trouble getting Vanderbilt to send patient records to them.  We'll see about that!  I will work on getting Vandy records to Tullahoma...if need be! It would be nice if Woody didn't have to go through another scan since he goes through so many as it is!

I guess with this blog I will bid January good-bye and say "I'll "see" you next in February!"

A Good Word to Continue Hearing From Your Cancer Doctor!

Everything looked good with Woody's CT scans today.  And, the word at Woody's last appointment from Dr. Wyman was that if things looked good today in the scans then he would move appointments to six months apart!  Hooray!  This marks two years that Woody has been in what they term "remission."  A very good place to be!  Answered prayers!

Tonight's photo is part of one of the four collages that hang on the wall in the hall that leads toward's the patient exam rooms where we see the doctor.  On the way out the words "Yay Remission!!" popped out at me. Woody was on his way to check out and get his next appointments so I decided to go back and snap a picture of part of that collage...figured that these words were apropos for today!  These collages seem to be made up of  words of encouragement for patients and notes of thanks to doctors from patients.  I noticed that one of the notes that can be seen at the top of the second picture is signed from "a melanoma survivor."  More words that fit Woody's Vanderbilt experience!

We left the house at 8am and returned a little after 3pm.  Everything went pretty much like clockwork...one appointment after another and most close to on time...waited for a while for the scan but then he didn't have contrast dye...so the scan only took a few minutes. We knew that we would have a wait to see Dr. Wyman because he doesn't see patients till after lunch.  I think that we were leaving Dr. Wyman's office at about the time that Woody's appointment was scheduled...so sometimes we were ahead of schedule! Vanderbilt wasn't covered up with patients like it is some times...so I'm sure that helped us to move right along from point A to point B and then to point C! We even managed to miss Nashville's rush hour traffic at both ends of our trip.  We did have school zones at both ends...but that is much better than rush hour traffic patterns!  We are both tired.  Neither of us slept all that great last night.  Woody chose to drive to the prayer room this evening rather than walk.  I think that was wise.  He came home just a few minutes ago. So...once again we are settled in for a quiet uneventful evening after our gadabout day!.  

Oh, Look! See What Isaac Read!

Isaac met another milestone today at Grammy School.  He finished another large book of Dick and Jane stories.  We checked in the small Dick and Jane books that I have and found out that he had read all the stories that were in them either in this Dick and Jane collection or in the other one that his family has.  Congratulations, Isaac!  Go Issac Go!  I think that we are going to move on to another early reading series that the rest of his siblings have read.  As the pictures show...we had school this morning...a usual Monday morning of school.  Abigail had her long time and is making a cover that goes on a mug that has pockets to put items like pencils, etc. in.  She made one for her mother for her birthday and is now making a second one more on her own.  She thinks that she may make a few more to give as gifts.

I did manage to get the tree down last night and back upstairs and in its box...there is now a BIG empty place in the living room where it had been.  I am still working on vacuuming the room before I move furniture around to non Christmas places.  I'm trying to make sure that I have all the pine needles vacuumed up...probably won't happen...I usually find them one place or another all through the year.  Woody started putting boxes back in the Christmas closet.  Once that job is done, Christmas can be put behind us for about ten months!  I actually got Christmas "down" before the calendar page was turned to February!  A record for recent years!  The last few years my goal was Valentine's Day...and, I think that last year it was even later since I had that bad case of gout during the whole month of January last year.  Glad that I am moving a bit faster this year!

Woody walked four-miles this afternoon.  I rested for a while and then came downstairs and made my potato soup.  I wasn't in the mood to make it...but it surely did taste good when I ate it for supper...so glad that I put forth the effort!

We will head out the door in the morning to go to Vanderbilt.  Woody will have CT scans, lab work, and see Dr. Wyman.  It has been four months since his last appointments.  We're planning on the length of time between appointments to become six months apart.  He had new instructions for this CT scan.  He is supposed to drink 8 cups of water starting 12 hours before his appointment time...not all at once but over the 12 hour span .  That is rather hard since he usually goes to bed before 10...and he is supposed to start drinking water a little after 10. I suggested that he start more like 8 and then drink more in the night when he will inevitably wake up because he is drinking so much water!  We also have about a two hour drive...he can drink during the drive...but not easy to make potty stops between here and Nashville!  I think about the number of CT scans that he has had and the instructions are never the same...they are always changing something about what you should or shouldn't do! This time nothing was said about not eating before the scans...but in the past that was one of the rules...so we just continue to follow that rule to make sure that he can have the scans. Tomorrow's appointments are spread out over a lot of hours...Scans 10ish, labs noonish, Dr. Wyman oneish.  I'm sure that it will be another looooooooong Vanderbilt day!  Will report what the doctor has to say when I blog tomorrow night.

Woody has just returned form the Furnace Room Prayer Meeting at church.  So I guess I can say that we are now settled in for the evening.

Saturday Doings

Tonight's photos feature the photo gallery that I put on our tree each year. The top picture has ornaments that I put on the tree the year that Erin and Alex were born.  The frame that Alex's is in has a story:  Melany was very sick and had  been diagnosed with Crohn's and had surgery in December when Erin was four and Alex was around four months.  They both stayed with us for quite a bit of time because in the four months since Alex's birth Melany had three surgeries...first a C-section when she had Alex and then about a month later she had gall bladder surgery and then in December she had surgery for her Crohn's. At the time of the C-Section I was at their house helping out for a couple of weeks and then for the other surgeries and her recovery time the children came here.  Busy times!  Woody's mother had also moved in with us at that time due to her dementia.  We were meeting ourselves coming and going.  I realized that I needed to put Alex's picture on the tree so hoped that I could find a frame ornament somewhere in Tullahoma...and I didn't really have time to look in many places.  WalMart was my main hope of finding one...and when I was coming down one of the aisles...there hanging on one of their end shelves was this frame...not what I would have chosen under most circumstances...but it worked and I kept his baby picture in it...a reminder of that busy time in our lives!  In the second picture hang our seven grandchildren who came after Erin and Alex!  The girls are on the left: Abigail in the frame with the gold bow, then Joy in the yellow frame and Esther in the green frame.  On the right Graham is at the top in a snowflake frame, then Elijah is in a gingerbread man photo ornament that I made, then Isaac is in a frame that used to be a magnet on the refrigerator, but works great for his ornament, and then Joseph is at the bottom of the boy column...a red mitten made by me.  It's fun to look at their baby pictures hanging on the tree...9 sweet memories!

Today Woody chose to walk to the library so that he would be sure to get his walk in before the rain got to us.  The rain held off here till just an hour or so ago.  I can hear it on the roof as I type this.  I stayed in and cleaned and cooked, again!  I got up and got busy and put a Boston Butt Pork roast in the oven.  I made a herb/spice rub for it and then roasted it in the oven for four hours...at that point it was ready to be pulled.  We had barbecue sandwiches for supper...pretty good.  I think that this was an easier way to cook the roast...I didn't have to cut it off the bone, stand over the pot skimming off fat for hours, etc.  I put the rub on it, let it sit at room temp for 30 minutes and then popped it in the oven and let it cook for four hours.  The only thing I had to do was check the temperature of the roast towards the end.  Then I let it sit for fifteen minutes and after that was able to do the pulling with two forks...and truth be told...my fingers worked even better than the forks!  Woody made slaw this afternoon...so now we have pulled pork, slaw, and Boston baked beans...and pea soup.  I didn't have enough cooking energy to make my potato soup...so still have that to go and then we should be set for several days of meals and I can sit back and only have to heat up whatever we choose to eat.  I organized some recipes on my iPad during part of the cooking time for the roast.  Then I came upstairs and put finishing touches on the Sunday School lesson that I will be teaching tomorrow...well, I still have a bit to do on it because I took some time out to talk to Melany on the phone while she and Wade were driving back home from seeing Wade's parents today.  Then I went down to have a sandwich...and now I am blogging...so in a few I will get back to the Sunday School lesson!  I have brought a few more branches up to the Christmas tree box...I think that there are two rows of branches missing on the tree now.  As soon as I blog I need to go get towels out of the dryer and get them folded and put away...then I will do the last touches to the lesson and get it printed out.  Woody has watched TV including sports of one kind or another, watched a DVD he checked out at the library, read, worked crossword puzzles, made slaw, washed a few dishes, etc. Seems like it has been another busy day for both of us!  And, I still have to say "slowly but surely!"

Today is an anniversary for Woody and me = 50 years ago today he asked me to marry him!  Wow! 50 years ago!!!!!

Final January Friday

The month of January is rapidly drawing to a close.  It seems like it has zoomed by.  I didn't get much done with what is left of my undecorating today because I spent most of the day in the kitchen. When I got up I headed down to get my mother's baked bean recipe put together.  Woody headed off to do our weekly grocery shopping.  I couldn't get the baked beans into the oven till Woody got home as I didn't have enough molasses.  So while I waited his return, I worked on cleaning up the kitchen.  I am working on using things up that are in the freezer.  I had salt pork frozen in the freezer since the last batch of beans that I made.  And, I have found out that salt pork doesn't freeze for a very long time...and since Christmas was a month past, I knew that it would be good to get the salt pork out before it went rancid.  It was fine...so didn't leave it in too long this time...guess you can tell that at another time I left it in too long!  (And, yes, Carla, I will share Mother's recipe...if I could just remember when I am on my iPad to send it...that is where the recipe is stored! One of these days!)  The other thing that I got out of the freezer was a ham bone.  Woody mentioned that he wanted Split Pea Soup the other day.  So after I got the beans into the oven to slow cook the rest of the afternoon, I made a pot of split pea soup.  That is the extent of my cooking today.  I had wanted to make a pot of potato soup...but just didn't have the energy to do that...hopefully tomorrow...as that is the kind of soup that I am wanting at the moment.  I am also planning to make pulled pork...this time I am going to try to cook it in the oven.  I found a recipe on how to do that.  The beans are for the pulled pork...or for whatever.  I had a small bowl full tonight when they came out of the oven...pretty good, if I do say so myself!

As I mentioned Woody did our Friday grocery shopping...I put away groceries...I think that the cat "only" got in twice today!  Grrrrrrr!  She came straight to me in the kitchen and stretched her paws up on the cabinet!  Woody got her and out she went!  Yesterday she got in once when Woody didn't realize she was in...he came back in and was surprised to see the cat inside!  I think that she has adopted us...but the feeling isn't mutual!  Woody did get his four-mile walk in and he also sat over at Nathan and Kathy's house with Isaac while the rest of the family went off for a little while.  Joseph was supposed to have stayed as he had just gotten his four-year-old shots this morning and wasn't feeling the greatest...but decided that he would rather go than stay!  Mid afternoon Woody took the vacuum outside and attempted to vacuum out the car...trying to have the car clean inside and out for a change!  We had pea soup for supper and then I got the rest stored away.  And just before coming up to blog I got the beans stored away...so pots are soaking.  I will need the soup pot tomorrow for my potato soup. I have gotten a start on taking the branches off the tree...when I walk upstairs empty handed I am trying to remember to make a trip over to the tree and grab a couple of limbs and taking them upstairs and putting them into the Christmas tree box.  Once I get the tree stored away in the box...THEN it will be Woody's turn to take over and get all the Christmas boxes into the closet...definitely a "puzzle" to work!  I will be glad to turn it over to him.  We can barely walk down the hallway at the moment as the boxes have taken over all but a narrow path.  Slowly but surely!

What Do You See?

Hopefully you are seeing an empty tree!  Just a little while after supper I finished getting the last of the ornaments off the tree.  The last to be taken off were all the handmade needlework ornaments.  They are still on the dining room table awaiting me putting them in the two boxes that are left...hope they fit!  They are the last two boxes and the ones that I designate for the handmade ornaments...so that is good that I ended with the correct boxes for the last of the ornaments.  I haven't added many new handmade ornaments so they should all fit...except for the new angel that I made for the top of the tree...at this point she doesn't have a place in any of the boxes.  I may have to search around and find another one just for her.  I am so glad that the last ornament is off!  Hopefully tomorrow I can get the tree branches back upstairs and into the Christmas tree box...and trudge up the stairs with the five or six filled to the brim boxes that hold all the ornaments.  Then I can vacuum and move furniture back into its non Christmas positions.

I had a usual Thursday school day.  Elijah had his long time.  He did a sound wave experiment that was pretty neat/cool!  Then he decided that he wanted to read in the book we are reading together for the rest of his hour.  The book we are reading is about a boy playing baseball.  Elijah is really enjoying it!

While I was having school, Woody made a visit to one of his Deacon Care Families.  After that he went to a drive through car wash.  It needed to go through one of those because Nathan drove it to Nashville during our last wintry weather and the roads had been salted.  This afternoon Woody took a four-mile walk.  It has been a pretty nice day temperature-wise.  It was nice hearing the neighbor grandchildren playing outside this afternoon.  I looked out a couple of times and Esther was outside with her kitties.  I think that it is supposed to get colder again this weekend...back and forth, back and forth! Surely is nice when we have a warmer day in between really cold ones!

Busy Wednesday!

Six of our seven neighbor grandchildren had school with me this morning...a usual Wednesday school day over here.  Today was Esther's Grammy long time.  She continues to work on a cross stitch picture.  She is beginning to pick up speed with it.  She made quite a bit of progress today.  I ate a quick lunch and then headed to the church to work in the library with Donna and Fran.  We managed to get books checked in, checked out, returned books shelved, and some new books added to the computer.  Then we looked through a book catalog trying to make some selections to purchase.  While I was at the library, Woody went on a four-mile walk.  It wasn't super cold...BUT the wind really added to the chill factor!  Woody was back home when I got home.  I almost immediately got busy making our supper--ChunkyTomato with Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce served over linguine.  It sounded good when I started, but by the time that it was ready to be eaten, I no longer felt like eating.  I think that I had just gotten over tired from go, go, going today.  I came upstairs put the heating pad on my back and reclined a bit in my chair and covered up with my fleece throw...and just rested for about an hour.  I don't think that I really slept...maybe dozed a bit.  But by the time I got back up I felt much better and did go down and make myself a small plate of pasta and sauce...and it did taste good.  I haven't had time today to do any undecorating of the tree...there's always tomorrow! Slowly but surely!

Tuesday Reminder

Just when I was getting ready to come in here to blog, the phone rang and it was a reminder from Vanderbilt about Woody's appointments next week. In some ways it doesn't seem possible that four months have already gone by since his last appointments and in other ways it seems like quite a while since we were there. Dr. Wyman told us last time that if all is okay with the scans that he will go to six months between appointments...sounds good...the farther apart the better as far as we are concerned.  I am glad that they called as I had down the wrong day for the appointments.  I had looked a while back at his appointments and I was sure that it said that they were on Monday...that surprised me a bit as we don't usually have Monday appointments.  I have double checked since the phone call and now the website also says the same day as we were told tonight.

The picture tonight is one of  the new ornaments I was given this year.  It is an etched design made in Egypt. It got put back into its box a little while ago.  I keep taking ornaments off and putting back in their respective boxes.  So far I have three large boxes packed back up with ornaments.  I still have three or four more boxes...but not as large as the ones that I have already filled.  The tree is definitely getting emptier.  The end is in sight! (I keep saying that, don't I! Maybe I am just trying to convince myself!). About every time I pass the dining room I pack another ornament up in a box.

I think that we are finished celebrating birthdays for a while...four in just a little over a month was quite a few! The next will be Graham's towards the end of February...so a bit of a breather for a while from all this celebrating!

I had school today on a usual Tuesday schedule.  Joy had her long time and she completed a border around the center of her quilt and chose the color that she is going to use to sash between some large blocks that go around this part that she has just finished.  She is happy to see it growing larger.  Woody walked to the prayer room this evening.  It isn't all that cold out...EXCEPT that there is a breeze and feels ever so much colder than the actual temperature.  After lunch I went to get my hair cut and ever since spending that small amount of walking to and from the car several times, I have had trouble feeling warm.    I guess Woody decided that it was time to have a dessert.  He made the lemon pudding for a lemon meringue pie.  I made the meringue.  I had a tiny sliver.  The last time I ate lemon meringue pie I ended up being sick to my stomach and being sick a good while into the night...that doesn't make me too inclined to eat it again.  But...I love it...so I decided that I would try a very tiny piece...I hope that I am not sorry!  I think that I am finished with undecorating the tree tonight.  I have walked around the tree so many times in the last few days on that infamous hunt looking for a particular ornament for a specific box.  There have been many elusive ones.  I am almost finished with ornaments that have their own boxes...which makes the job go faster...just take off...put in a box wrapped in tissue and move on to the next.  I still have all the handmade ornaments to take off the tree and then most of the rest are miscellaneous.  I will be glad to get the tree down and the living room furniture back to where it all goes.  I'm more than ready for everyday/normal!

MORE CELEBRATING! JOSEPH IS 4!!!

 HAPPY 4TH

BIRTHDAY,

JOSEPH!

The Annual Hunt is On!

Today I got up and headed downstairs to finish clearing off the dining room table.  I got it emptied...took the tablecloth off so I could wash it, left the table pad on it and brought in the first large box of ornament boxes.  I took out the individual ornament boxes and then began hunting for the ornaments that go in each of the boxes.  I put the ornaments on top of each box...or next to the box and then when I have found them all I put them in their boxes and start loading them back into the big box.  I have three boxes that are larger that go in this box also and these take miscellaneous ornaments that don't have boxes.  I haven't started putting any ornaments in those yet.  But at least I am underway...and...you can actually tell that some ornaments have come off the Christmas tree...well, you might not be able to tell that any are missing if you were to come in my house and see the tree...BUT I can tell that the ornaments are getting sparser.   I can only do the undecorating of the tree for just so long as my back gets to hurting...must be the way I stand or it is just lack of sitting...I'm not sure.  But after I got to a point after lunch I headed upstairs so I could put the final touches on my Sunday School lesson for my ladies' class tomorrow. The lesson is complete...that is till I think of something else to share!  I have just a little more of a book to read and then I can take it back to the church library in the morning and get the next one in the series.

Woody went to the library mid morning and then later in the afternoon he went on a four-mile walk.  He is glad to get back to his walking.  He missed it when it was too cold and icy for him to venture out.  He has read, done crossword puzzles, and watched TV including some basketball this afternoon.  

Once again it has been so nice to see sunshine come in the windows and to have the temperatures above freezing.  It has been a very pretty day.  It was good to hear the neighbor grandchildren playing outside this afternoon.  Our cat intruder got back in today.  It was my fault.  I was taking the table cloth outside to shake it...it had a lot of glitter on it from one decoration or another.  And, I wasn't thinking and opened the door and the cat marched right in.  I had to once again lure her out with a tidbit of food.  I do wish that she didn't like us so much.  I wish that she would go back to her house on the other side of the block!

Light at End of Tunnel is Getting Brighter!

I felt like going back to barn pictures again tonight for the photo...tired of Christmasy things and snowy scenes!  Today I got up with the goal that I would have the kitchen table all cleared of Christmas items before Woody got back from his grocery store trip.  And, I met the goal.  Now the next goal is to take the leaves out of the table and have a small table in the kitchen once again.  It has been its biggest size since Thanksgiving...ready for it to be small again!  I have made a lot of progress on the "Christmas put-away" today.  I think that the only thing left downstairs to tackle is the tree.  BUT...before I start the tree, I still have some things on the dining room table that need to be put away.  The things that are left are stored in the buffet.  I have to do a little rearranging to get the things back in...some of these things are Christmas items that just stay in the buffet all year long...like Christmas decorative plates.  There are also some books and other items that I use when I am displaying Christmas items...the books get hidden under a cloth that drapes across the china cabinet and they raise angels up so they can be seen better...things like that have to be put away.  I will get the table completely cleared off and then bring in Christmas ornament boxes and start the BIG HUNT for ornaments on the tree.  The last thing that I did just a few minutes ago was the shadow box in the family room...it is now back to "everyday" and the Christmas items are packed away in a box and the box is upstairs.  I still have three big boxes of Christmas decorations that need to find their way upstairs.  I really loaded them so they are heavy.  Woody was gone when I got them loaded so I haven't asked him to bring them up yet.  I mentioned to Woody that I was pleased with where I am in getting Christmas put away and he agreed...his words = "Yes, it isn't even February yet!"  I usually have the goal that I will have the decorations down by Valentine's Day.  So hopefully I will be much ahead of that date this year...unless I really get bogged down by the tree!

Woody did his usual Friday grocery shopping.  I had the table ready by the time he got home so he could put the bags on the table.  I put away the groceries.  We had lunch and a little later in the afternoon we ventured out for a treat...our first Blizzards of the year!  (Thanks, Sue!) On the way home we stopped at WalMart to correct two purchases that he made this morning...Woody went in and I stayed in the car.  This afternoon Woody went on a four-mile walk.  Finally the weather was good enough and snow/ice had melted enough that he could walk safely.  While he was away I started getting the Sunday School lesson pulled together/organized for Sunday.  Woody has done crossword puzzles, watched TV, read, etc. today when he wasn't walking or grocery shopping.  We are glad to have the temperatures start climbing again.  Nice to not have such frigid temperatures.  It looked so good to have the sun streaming in the windows today.

Another Birthday & Another Snow Day = CELEBRATE!

Happy Birthday, Kathy!
Here she is opening up the gift that Abigail made her.  It is a special mug cover that has pockets on the inside and outside to put various items in.  Good job, Abigail.  Your mommy was very pleased!  We had lunch at their house.  Abigail did most of the cooking with some help from her daddy. She made Chicken Alfredo.  They made a heart shaped cake made out of cupcakes.  The children always get "into" the gift giving.  

Along with birthday celebrating we also had another snow day.  The children played outside some more today.  It was a bit warmer today due to the fact that the wind wasn't blowing...made it much "warmer!"  Joseph said that he got hot in his snowsuit.

Except for going next door to party, I stayed in today and continued with my undecorating/redecorating.  I really made a lot of progress today.  Items to be boxed up till next Christmas are "slowly but surely" becoming less on my dining room table and kitchen table.  Today I got all the "normal" decorations back up on the shelves above the kitchen cabinets.  The mantel is cleared off.  The shadow box in the family room has all Christmas removed and just waiting for everyday items to go back in it.  I have packed up a lot of boxes and carried them up to put in the hall.  It is getting harder and harder to walk through the hallway.  I am almost to the point that all the boxes that are left are the ones for the Christmas tree ornaments.  I can "almost" see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Woody has stayed in again pretty much today...he has been to the mail box and next door for the party.  He has done crossword puzzles, watched TV, watched a DVD...sticking close to the house waiting patiently for the thaw to begin.  We did get a bit above freezing today so the melting has started.  The road is beginning to clear.  But Tullahoma schools are out again tomorrow--they haven't been to school since last Thursday.  Melany left me a message that her school is out again tomorrow also.  I think that the super cold temps are behind us and each day it is supposed to warm up a bit more...heading to the 50's and perhaps even the 60's with rain in the forecast for this coming Monday.  Wonder if this is it for our wintery weather or if there will be more before the winter months leave us...more wouldn't surprise me...seems like when we get one good snow, we often get another or another. Time will tell.  But we are very glad that the super cold temperatures are over, at least for this round!

Snow Day!

Even Grammy's school had a snow day today.  It was still just so cold when it was time for Joseph to come over for his time and the wind chill made it seem even colder, that we decided to abandon school with me today.  It got down to 3 degrees here last night according to our thermometer.  And, I know that the wind chill was well below zero...too cold!

When I found out I wasn't going to have school, I got busy with my undecorating/redecorating.  I put away a bunch of things and then got out the items to replace those.  I even hung a few pictures.  The Carolers have all found their boxes to rest in for the ensuing months till I decorate next!  A little while into the morning I got an urge to bake some bread.  Snowy days have always made me want to bake.  I sat down with a cup of tea and my bread cookbook and decided on what kind to make.  I ended up putting two recipes together...Cinnamon Swirl and Raisin Bread...so we ended up with Raisin Cinnamon Swirl bread.  Pretty good.  It made two loaves.  I drizzled confectioners icing over one loaf and left the other one without...as I wanted to be able to toast some of it.  They turned out really good for a first time making either of those recipes and surprisingly good since I didn't really follow a recipe exactly!  The house smells so good with that freshly baked bread smell!  I have been trying to use things in the freezer and today I used the rest of the shrimp--and made crusty "fried" shrimp in the air fryer--very good and only used a brush of olive oil on them.  We paired the shrimp with broccoli...Woody thought that we needed something green to go with them!

Woody again only walked to the mail box and to get the trash can in.  He also attempted to sweep off the front walk...not a lot of melting has happened either in the yards or on the walkways or on the roads...just too cold.  He hoped to help with the melting by sweeping some.  And, what he did was let in an unwanted guest!  When he came back in the front door didn't close completely and I guess the wind...or perhaps our unwanted guest pushed it open.  Anyway, I was sitting down in the living room waiting on one of the steps for the bread and all of a sudden I heard a "meow!"  It was the bobtail cat that tends to hang around at our house and she was coming down my stairs from upstairs!  Yikes!  I happened to be eating a snack...and decided to use it to lure her out of the house...that worked...but I hate that I encouraged by feeding her!!!!! I want her to go back to her home which is on the other side of our block...we have decided that she hangs here and at Nathan's because we are the main ones who are home during the day and also we cook and good smells emit from our houses making her hopeful!  Anyway she seems to have taken up residence on our front porch on the pillows in our chairs.  I feel sorry for her...but then I don't...because...she isn't ours and we know that she has a family close by!  I guess she was my excitement for the day!  I can do without excitement of that kind!  I love cats...but love them mainly when they are mine or Esther's!

I had planned to post a picture tonight of some of the grandchildren sledding yesterday...but the photo transfer software didn't want to open up tonight so I decided to just post another of the snow and how it looked yesterday.  It was 14 degrees before I headed upstairs so we are in for another cold night.  It is supposed to start warming up again as we get closer to the weekend. I think that we are all ready for it to be warmer!

The Furnace Room

I'll tell about our day and then share the story about The Furnace Room along with the significance that this story has for our church.

We did get snow today...not a lot but enough to close schools (Well, not the Dorrell Academy due to the students not having to travel on slick roads to get to school!) and cover the roads and make them slick.  The children happy for a reason to be out in it gladly walked through it for each of their times of school with me!  Joy had her long time.  She finished the center section of her quilt.  She just needs to sash around that section before she starts adding some other large squares.  She has done a very nice job and is excited to see it grow larger fairly quickly now.  Tonight's photo was taken out our bedroom window one of the times that I looked out and saw that it was snowing quite a bit.

Woody's outside exercise of the day was to go to the mail box and empty the inside waste baskets into the outside trash can and roll it to the road for trash pick up tomorrow. Woody made us Red Lobster biscuits to go with our soup for lunch. Yum!

Along with the snow we have really low temperatures.  At the moment it is 11 degrees and supposed to drop into the single digits over night with a wind chill of below 0.  Just too cold!  Tullahoma City schools have already declared another snow day tomorrow. Most all area schools are out due to road conditions.  I'm sure that our daughter Melany is happy to have another snow day off from her school in Rutherford County (about 45 minutes away from us)!  I did a little more on undecorating/redecorating today.  I did get the china cabinet back to "normal." And the top of the buffet is "almost back to normal."  I still have to find a couple of things that go on it.

The Furnace Room

The story is told of five young preachers from the US who went to London in the late 1800's to determine why there was a great revival at a church there.  They got to the Metropolitan Tabernacle early and were waiting for the doors to open when a gentleman they assumed was the janitor offered to give them a tour of the church.  They were shown the large sanctuary, the Sunday School rooms, in fact, almost the entire church complex.  All the while the janitor kept telling them they really needed to see the furnace room, the power plant of the church.  As it was July and already warm, they declined.  But the janitor insisted, so they finally gave in.  The janitor took them to the basement, walked over to the door, opened it and there inside were hundreds of people praying.  At the end of the tour, the gentleman they assumed was the janitor introduced himself as Charles Spurgeon.

The number of people praying in the furnace room is believed to have been more than seven hundred.  Estimates of the Sunday morning crowds were often over twenty-three thousand and no week passed without people being saved.

Significance for First Baptist Church, Tullahoma:

During the renovation of the old Sears Building to form what we now call the Ministry Center, an area on the roof was found where there was a lot of soot.  And down below was evidence where at one time a furnace burned.  This area is in the large room in the Ministry Center that the Youth use for large group time in Sunday School.  This is the room where we will hold the Furnace Room; and hopefully we can be the power plant behind a great revival at First Baptist Church.

The Furnace Room Prayer Meeting is a deacon-sponsored prayer time with emphasis on praying for our pastor, staff and church, and for revival in our hearts and the hearts of people throughout our community and the world. Day and time: Mondays @ 6:30pm in the Ministry Center. Come join us.   

And, January Marches On!

Can you believe that it is already January 15?  I can't believe that January is already half over! We have had a pretty busy day.  Isaac and Joseph came over for school together today.  The rest of their family (minus Graham and Joy--they were on a youth retreat with our church) went to church for juggling practice. After they got back from practice they picked up Isaac and Joseph and headed off for a fellowship with another homeschool family. So no one read with me today.  Woody did get in some reading time with Isaac and Joseph after they finished with school with me.

 I put away the rest of the Precious Moments Nativity since I finally found the box with their boxes in it.  And, I have started boxing up the Carolers.  Some of the boxes that they will be stored in have other items in them that I have to put back before the Carolers can reclaim their box.  One of the boxes has the Hummels that go in the china cabinet.  Before I took the Hummels out to put Christmas in, I snapped some pictures so it would be easier when it came time to put them back in.  Since I went searching for the pictures, I decided that I would post one of those pictures tonight.  One of the figures in this picture isn't a "real" Hummel...though he looks so much like one.  Mother found him in San Francisco one time when she and Daddy came to visit us when we were living in Sunnyvale, CA...many years ago...Melany was two and Nathan just born.  Mother thought that he looked so much like a Hummel that she got him for me.  The other two Hummels were some of hers.  My sister also loves Hummels and she was supposed to have Mothers because she was going to take care of Mother in her old age!  Well, when Cheryl married and moved she no longer had a place for them so they have ended up residing here.  I love them.  I have quite a few of my own, but now have quite a few more.  So maybe after blogging I will email these photos to my iPad and will go downstairs and redecorate my china cabinet.

Abigail came over mid afternoon for her long time.  She ended up getting what she was making for her mother's birthday finished...amazing to get a project done in two sewing times...that doesn't happen very often.  I ended up making one of these items over the weekend so I would know the ins and outs of making it so it would go faster.  Abigail is going to make another and do a few more of the details on her own...like making her own double-fold bias tape from our own fabric rather than buying it.  I made what she used today and I want her to experience how it is made.

Woody went to the Life Care Center this morning.  He had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with several church members.  Later in the afternoon he headed off for a four-mile walk.  This evening he went to Monday night prayer meeting at church.  The name of the prayer meeting has changed to "Furnace Room Prayer Meeting."  I will get him to give me the blurb that he wrote about the reason for the name and share it with you another time.

While waiting for Abigail this afternoon, I made a start on a big pot of Chicken Noodle Soup...probably should have made this sooner since it's supposed to be good for what ails you!  After she finished her sewing time, I finished up the soup and we had it for supper.  It really hit the spot!

We are still in the midst of a very cold spell.  And the "s" word is back in the forecast for tomorrow.  We will see...the last time that the forecast said "snow and ice" we didn't get anything but a few flurries.  We are supposed to get more than flurries tomorrow.  I guess time will tell!  And, I continue to go along...slowly but surely...with the undecorating!

Progress!

 What may look like a mess to you...looks like progress to me!  I am starting to get surfaces cleared off.  At one time today all the angels that had been on top of the china cabinet were all on the dining room table...now most of them have been boxed up and the rest are just waiting for me to find the boxes that I can tuck them away in.  The bookcase in the living room has all the Williamsburg Christmas items taken off and just the things that stay there all year round are there now...waiting for me to find the rest of what will join them.  I found the bells that go on the narrow shelf on the bookcase just a little before coming upstairs to blog...so perhaps I will go down do that task this evening.  The kitchen table has all the Christmas items that have resided above the cabinets this holiday season...again...most of them have already been tucked away in a box...the rest are just waiting for me to find the box that they go in.  I still haven't come across the box with the rest of the Precious Moments nativity boxes in it...but eventually I know that I will come across that box and they will be quickly boxed up and put away.  The piles are growing taller and wider in the upstairs hall...a good sign that things are progressing.

Woody waited for it to warm up this morning before going to the library...still in the 20's when he went. The high was only 23 today according to Weather Bug. He has worked puzzles, challenged the computer to Scrabble, helped clean up the kitchen after I made chicken tenders for our lunch, and watched some football on TV.  It was too cold for a walk today.  I got my exercise climbing up and down the step ladder and up and down the stairs carrying boxes.  I have taken several rests to recover from all my activity!  Slowly but surely..!

Temps Down Again

Woody knew what was supposed to happen with the temperatures throughout the day so he chose to go on his walk around 7am.  It was 55 degrees when he left and by the time he got back (before 9), it had already dropped down to 41 degrees.  And, before he left for the grocery store around 10:30,  it had dropped another ten degrees.  Right now according to WeatherBug it is 21 degrees...but "feels like" 8 degrees!  I think that I will stay inside my warm house!  We got spoiled the last couple of days when it got into the 50's and even 60's.  We never got any ice or snow...I guess there is still a chance that we might get some snow in the night.  Woody said that the grocery store shelves were about wiped clean...a phenomenon that happens in our air once snow or ice is even whispered by a weatherman!

I haven't gotten a lot accomplished today...at not what I had hoped.  More Christmas has been tucked away and I even started undecorating the tree...one box packed back up with ornament boxes...probably around 25 or the 750 or so that are on the tree!  Again...slowly but surely!  Woody bought chicken breasts at the store so I skinned and deboned them and made liquid gold (chicken stock) with the bones.  I'm planning on making chicken noodle soup tomorrow or the next day. I'm hoping that chicken soup will be good for what ails me...still not feeling all that great!  I also began gathering my thoughts for the Sunday School lesson for Sunday.  So I did accomplish a little something...but never felt like sitting down at my sewing machine as I had hoped to do.

Tradition!

Our carolers have once again gathered in front of the Christmas for one last chorus of Christmas carols!  Elijah and I moved them all onto the coffee table this morning after we got the Fisher Price Nativity put back in its boxes.  So...one step closer...of course I have to find the boxes that the carolers go in before they can be put away for another year.  The Precious Moments Nativity is partly back in its boxes.  Again...I have to find the last box that has the rest of the boxes in it.  There are a few less snowmen and trees on the mantle. And, a few less angels on top of the china cabinet. Slowly...but surely the pile of boxes grows higher and wider in the upstairs hall!

I had school this morning.  Isaac and Joseph decided to have their school time together this morning.  Then Abigail, Esther, and Joy came over for their reading time.  Elijah had his long time with me.  We divided up his time between a science experiment, a little undecorating, and then he got out the Ipad Osmo system and worked on figuring out his Christmas present from us this year--a HotWheels virtual car race game.  I think he understands it better than I!  But we had fun playing it for a little while despite my ignorance!

Today my culinary efforts went into making guacamole and later in the afternoon I made Spicy Vegetable Beef soup.  That has about finished out my energy for the day.  While waiting on the computer (it is trying my patience these last few days), I started working on my sewing cabinet...putting some things away and then dusting it.  I have plans to do a little sewing this weekend...I probably shouldn't as I need to concentrate on undecorating, but I know that I can't do the undecorating for too long before I have to rest...so sewing sounds like a good resting activity.  We'll see!

Woody is back to being able to do his printed daily crossword puzzles since we got the new ink for the printer.  He missed doing them on paper.  He says that it takes much longer doing them on the computer screen.  He walked four miles first thing this morning.  Later in the morning he ran a couple of errands.

Now we are settled in for the evening...and waiting to see if the "snow event" that is perhaps coming our way materializes tomorrow.  Will let you know!

Isaac is SIX!!!!

Last Day to be Silly & 5!

Here's Isaac on his last day to be a silly five-year-old!  He is pretty excited about celebrating his birthday tomorrow!  Party! Party!

I had a usual Tuesday of school.  Joy had her long time and got back to piecing her quilt.  It is starting to grow!  I had planned to head off right after lunch to go shopping for Isaac's birthday present, but a task had to be performed on the car before I could leave.  So I waited patiently...in other words took a short nap.  Woody walked to the barbershop to get a haircut and to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription...his walk for the day.  When Nathan got back, he aired up the tires and I took off.  I had not a clue as to what to get Isaac.  It is so hard to come up with a good birthday present when it is so close to Christmas!  But I did manage to find something that I think he will be happy with...he will be happy as long as there is a present from us!  I came back home and sat down to rest and took another nap.  We had leftover chili for supper so I didn't have to put forth any effort for that other than push a button on the microwave!  I have another box out and keep forgetting to get the Christmas item that goes in it.  I guess I will close and go down and get it while I am thinking about it! Slowly but surely!

Back to Routine!

I guess since we have started back into a school routine, I will also go back to the pictures I was posting prior to the Christmas holidays...so back to some of the barn pictures that I took on December 1.

We had a normal start to a school week.  Joseph came for his preschool time, Isaac came for his time with me and then Elijah, Esther, and Joy had their turns to read with me.  Then Abigail had her long time with me.  She started a new sewing project...top secret since she plans to give it to someone special as a gift!  She got the pieces cut out and marked so she will be ready to take it to the sewing machine the next time she comes over.  She wants it for next week...I told her that she might have to give it as a promise!  After lunch I was pretty tired so took a nap and rested.  Later in the afternoon I headed downstairs and made us a pot of chili.

Woody didn't end up getting to walk today due to it raining off and on.  He went to the Life Care after lunch and had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with Eric.  He stayed for quite a while.  Almost as soon as he got home, he said that he was going for a walk...he hadn't been out the door a minute before he was back as it had started raining again.  It's raining as I type this as I can hear it on the roof.  One thing good about the rain...keeping our temperatures up and they will stay up for several days before another front comes through to drop them again. Back and forth! Back and forth!  I heard on TV that today was the warmest that it had been since the day before Christmas...so we have had several weeks of quite cold temps.  Good to have them go back up!  Woody is happy...he can once again print out his daily crossword puzzles.  Our printer ink got here today and I put the new black ink in while he was at Life Care.  I have only taken a few things to the stack in the hall way today...but the stacks of boxes are growing taller and wider.  You still wouldn't be able to tell, if you were to come in our house, that I have done much undecorating.  "Slowly but surely"...that will be my theme these days/weeks that it takes to get all the Christmas put away and the everyday decorations back out!

Today Begins the 10th Year of Our "Dorrell Delineations" Blog

Ten years ago this date, January 7, 2009, I began this blog. I started the blog solely to be able to share about Woody's melanoma treatments and keep everyone up to date on how he was faring without having to make lots of phone calls and write lots of emails, etc. I will say that when I started this, I never dreamed that I would still be blogging all these years later...especially since Woody was given less than a year to live.   My but a LOT of water has gone under the bridge since beginning my almost daily sharing.  God has seen us through quite a few forks in the road and has kept us on a direct path to Woody's continued remission nine years later.  To God be the glory! I hope that the story that I have shared about our lives during Woody's treatments and now...through just general humdrum times in our lives...may have helped someone who might be going through similar trials to look ahead and see that there is possibly a light at the end of the tunnel.    

Here's my first blog post:

January 7, 2009

A fork in the road: which way should we turn?

I am beginning this blog so that our family and friends will be able to keep up with us during Woody's melanoma treatments.

Woody found out Monday (Jan. 5) that the bones in his arm haven't healed sufficiently--so he will need further surgery--bone grafts and a plate. His orthopedist and his melanoma doctor conferred and for the time being that surgery will be put on hold so he can get started on his melanoma treatments.

To back up a bit for those who haven't been in on the story from the beginning: Sept. 15th(2008) Woody was in a very bad bicycle accident--he will be the first to tell you that it was caused by a woman driver! He was going along at a pretty fast clip (between 20 and 25 mph). He saw a car approaching so he moved over to the paved shoulder. The driver turned in front of him immediately after passing him. He ended up braking to avoid hitting the car or vice-versa and the pavement broke his fall and he ended up with a compound fracture of both bones in his lower left arm just above the wrist. The orthopedist, Dr. Fiala, attempted to put the bones back together--but lots of bone was left along the side of the road. Dr. Fiala described what was left at the ends of the broken bones as cornflakes! Woody had surgery on Sept. 15th and a bar (external fixture) and pins were placed in his arm and hand to keep the bones in alignment with hopes that the bones would regenerate. So it has been almost 4 months since the accident. The bar and pins were removed Monday, Jan. 5. He now has a soft, half cast on the lower arm to protect it until he can have the surgery.

Early in November, he felt a soft knot behind his ear and immediately called to set up an appointment with his dermatologist. Woody acted swiftly due to the melanoma that he had had removed from his forehead 2 1/2 years ago. The dermatologist told him that he was sure that it wasn't anything, but due to his history he needed to have it surgically removed. It was removed the week before Thanksgiving. We received a call (after 8pm) from the surgeon on the Monday after Thanksgiving telling us that it was melanoma. The surgeon set up an appointment with Dr. John Zubkus, an oncologist in Murfreesboro. At our first visit Dr. Zubkus set up P.E.T. and CT scans. Those scans showed hot spots in several places in his body. Dr. Zubkus got Woody an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Sosman, the head of melanoma research at Vanderbilt. We found out the results of the scans on Dec. 23 and we were seeing Dr. Sosman on Dec. 26th--so once in a while initial appointments with a doctor can happen quickly! Dr. Sosman has put forth several options that Woody can choose to try--and that is the reason that I call this post "a fork in the road."

Dr. Sosman put things on hold till Woody found out about how his arm was healing at the January 5th orthopedist appointment. The treatments that Woody has to choose from would not aid in bones healing. But now that the bones aren't healing, I imagine that we will be going forth posthaste with melanoma treatments and look at surgery on his arm at a date after he has recovered sufficiently from treatments. We will be returning to Dr. Sosman on Monday, Jan. 12, at which time I am pretty sure decisions will be made about which treatment/s Woody will be taking. None of the options will be any fun. Woody will be in for the fight of his life.

Once Woody chooses which treatment/s, I will explain more about it/them.

We ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Lois

Six Days In

When thinking of a title for tonight's blog, I was thinking about it being the 6th of January...so we are six days into the new year...and after I wrote the title I realized that it had another meaning for me...six days in the house with this "crud" that I have gotten.  I am still coughing but thanks to the cough medicine, it is much better today...not as many "bad" coughing spells.

Woody is feeling better today. His ear isn't hurting.  He chose the warmest time of the day and walked to the public library for his walk of the day.  The rest of the day he has spent quietly inside working crossword puzzles, watching football, and reading.

I spent time "kitchen dreaming."  I looked up products on the internet that I might like to have in our kitchen.  I am determined to get up enough nerve this year to renovate the kitchen.  But when I start looking...trying to make some decisions, it just becomes overwhelming!  Today I looked at different types of cabinets and counter tops.  Speaking of the kitchen...just before coming in to blog, I found the box that has kitchen shadow box items stored in it.  I think that I will go do something in the kitchen...move the Christmas items out of it and put back the everyday items.  That will be another step towards undecorating.  I packed up several more things today...but so far there really hasn't been a dent made in the decorations...but I have started...a move in the right direction!

Two Peas in a Pod!

Woody and I both have felt better!  Woody started having an ear ache today so decided to go back to urgent care.  He got a shot and a prescription for an antibiotic...messed up sinuses, again...or perhaps still?  He did make our weekly grocery run this morning.  I am still coughing.  I had him get me more cough medicine and cough drops and allergy medicine...the bag he brought me back should do something to deal with what ails me!  I didn't sleep the best last night and when I finally did get to sleep I ended up sleeping in a bit later than usual this morning and I have felt sleepy most of the day and have dozed off and on. I haven't even felt like reading today. Sometime in the night I coughed so hard that I really hurt a rib...so sometime in the night I found a pillow that I could tuck into the belt on my robe so I can use it to cushion my coughs.  I am hoping that I haven't cracked a rib...I have done that in the past due to coughing so hard.  I have been psyching myself up to start undecorating and actually did put an item into a box and brought it upstairs to put in the hallway to await being put back into the Christmas closet...eventually.  I have gotten out another box from the Christmas closet so I guess it is starting to be official that I have started to undecorate!  It is a long process...but at least it is started.  I won't be setting any records in getting it undone since my energy level is still pretty low!  And, a lot of trips up and down the stairs aren't exactly what I feel like making currently.  So hopefully "slow and steady will "eventually" win the race!"