WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE #582

Thank you Joyce.

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"THANK YOU JOYCE FOR THIS YEARS HODGEPODGE"

1. What's one thing you want to get done before the calendar flips to a new year?

Honestly, it is getting my wall calendar and purse calendar filled out with all the birthday for the year.

2. What's something that brought a smile to your face this year?

It's obviously James. We saw him on Sunday and that is my happy time. 

3. What do you like on a cracker? Do you have a favorite cracker variety?

We get Pita bite and also multigrain crackers from Trader Joe's and my favorite on a cracker is Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese spread. 

4. Do you have plans for ringing in the new year in a fun or special way? Are you typically awake at midnight on the last day of the year? 

No plans for New Year's but every year we stay awake, watch the shows on TV and open a bottle of  champagne at midnight. 

5. What are three words that describe your 2024? 

Family - Love - Health

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

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So you know about my injuries. The bad ankle and the fall with the cut. I'm not sure if I told you that I went to Urgent Care to have them look at the cut under my left knee. It looked okay but because it was red around the sore and felt warm, that can be a sign of infection. So I have 14 days of antibiotics to take, 4 times a day. I think I'm about a week into them. 

So on my ankle I got a referral to an Orthopedic Surgeon from my primary doctor. When it came in the mail Mark said "What about Dr. Lercel?" So I called our primary doctor and asked for a referral to him. He did my knee replacement 7 years ago and Mark's knee from his accident last May. So they said "does he do ankles?" So I called them and was told he does ankles. 

So I called my primary doctor back and they got me the referral. In fact they called me soon after with the referral # so I could call before they mailed it to me. So I called and you won't believe this. I am seeing him this afternoon. Now whether or not he does this injury I have is yet to be seen, but if he doesn't I trust that I could get a good recommendation from him. 

WEDNESDAY HDEPODGE #580

Thank you Joyce.

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1. What's the best $5 gift to give someone? 

I'm drawing a blank but maybe a Starbuck gift card. 

2. What's your favorite way to relax/unwind during the busy holiday season? 

Most likely watching a Christmas movie or the Hallmark Christmas movies along with a glass of wine.

3. How do you feel about gingerbread? Love it or no thanks? Are gingerbread houses a part of your holiday tradition? If you said yes, how does that look? Do you like ginger flavor in other kinds of dishes? 

I like gingerbread but rarely have it. Yes, since James was old enough, him and I decorate a ready made gingerbread house each year. I would say no to using ginger flavor. 

December 2021

December 2022

December 2023

2024

4. December 5th is National Blue Jeans Day...will you be celebrating? Do you have a favorite brand? A favorite pair? Do you have a hard time parting with a favorite pair of jeans? Blue jeans-joggers-leggings-yoga pants...which one do you wear most often? 

If I'm going out of the house I would probably be wearing blue jeans. I actually wear a stretch pull on leggings jean. I buy them from Women Within. I can't say I ever had a favorite but I just can't wear a regular jean anymore. 

5. As we head into this holiday season what's your biggest priority or goal for the end of the year? 

I have a lot of goals to reach and at this time they are not happening. I'm in a very sad place. If you saw on Facebook I have a lung infection. I'm on my second dose of medications. I usually get one after Christmas because of all the work I do decorating. This is throwing me way off because I get winded quickly. 

I also have something wrong with my ankle. My right ankle gets a steroid shot a few times a year for a pain that I get. After the shot, within three days it is gone. That didn't happen with the shot I got 3 weeks ago. I have something I have never experienced before, extreme pain on the side and up the tendon at the back of the ankle. As I type this I am going to go to urgent care today. I can walk with an ankle brace on but I'm in constant pain. 

I tried working on decorations and I accomplished some but I just can't stand for a long time. I really doubt that my tree will go up this year and you can only begin to imagine how sad I am. Christmas is my thing! 

I still have cards to get out and gifts which need to be mailed which I know I should be able to accomplish but the house is not going to be decorated much at all. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our one section of Bird of Paradise is going crazy this year. 

FYI: We will be watching James and the dogs over at Adam and Gabby's Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I will most likely not be reading many blog posts. Thank you for understanding. I actually plan on working on my Christmas cards while James is at school on Friday. 

My Chromebook, which I love, it out of date and I cannot get into Feedly anymore where I read the blogs. I can still read them on my big Toshiba computer but I don't travel with that one. Hopefully I will be getting a new Chromebook soon. 

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE #526

Thank you Joyce.

To join in click HERE

1. Are you too hard on yourself or not hard enough? Elaborate. 

Lately I've been very hard on myself. This year has been a hard one and there is so much to do before the end of the year and I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all done. 

2. What's the role of gratitude in your life? 

I send out thank you notes for gifts I received. I am a big card sender for everyone's birthday's. 

3. Where do you get your news these days? How much attention are you giving it currently? 

I've never been one to watch the news because it is always depressing. However, currently I watch The Five with Mark Monday thru Friday. 

Before my dad passed away in 2020 he would call me when something big was going on in the world and I would turn on the TV to watch it. Obviously I see some things on Facebook.

4. Do you like potatoes? Last time you prepared potatoes in some way? Which of the following is your favorite...baked potato, mashed potato, french fried potato, sweet potato, hash brown potatoes, roasted potatoes, or potato salad? 

Yes, I like potatoes. We don't have them too often but we do like to bake them in the oven. I do like a baked sweet potato also.  I like potato salad also but we don't have it often at all. 

5. Are you a veteran? Are there any veterans in your family? Will you do anything special to honor them on Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day this year? 

No I am not a veteran. Mark's father was a veteran. He's been gone a long time. Our son in law Dylan is a veteran and I mailed him a card. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

James is doing really well in T-K and was recently Star of the Day! 

Getting ready for Christmas. He recently asked if we would be doing a Gingerbread house again. Yes we will! At his age it is easier to get one that is already together and then we just decorate it. 

This was last years. 

CHRISTMAS MOVIES

For those who are interested.......

FUN WITH THE FAMILY

We had Adam, Gabby and James over on Sunday. Of course Roxy and Gracie came too. It's my time to show James my collections and for them to see the house all decorated. 

He is always interested in the moving ornaments with music. Of course the best thing he likes is playing with a train set at our house. 

Before they came over Adam texted me that James wanted to take a bath at our house. He's never done that before. We decided to let him take his bath in our tub with jets. 

I also had snacks out when they arrived. That's always fun!

He played for awhile with the train, then the ornaments and then I took him into the other rooms to play with the singing snowmen. 

Then it was time to do the Gingerbread House. I buy one that is already put together because it would just take to long to wait for the house to be sturdy enough to decorate. 

I put on the frosting and he puts everything in place on the house. He had such a nice time and so did I. This year I bought the Frosted Mini Wheats so the roof looked like it had snowed. It was fun working on it. 

Mark got a picture of me with James. I've recently been telling Mark that I am never in pictures and I need to be so he can look back someday and remember grandma. 

Say cheese....

Then we had a lovely dinner of rib eye steaks, mashed potatoes, corn, Caesar salad and garlic bread. Then James played with the train for awhile before he took his bath. That way he would be in his pajamas and ready for bed when they got home. 

So then it was bath time. I asked them to bring some kids bubble bath because I didn't have any. So Mark filled the tub and James took his bath. Then we turned on the jets and boy did the jets do a number on the bubble bath......

Hopefully I will be back another day to show the decorations in the house. I didn't put out everything but I do things I think James will enjoy. 

Of course we do miss not having Amber and Dylan here to share these times with us. 

BAKING WITH JAMES

We babysat James on Saturday night and we baked cookies. He was so excited and he had so much fun. 

Frosting the cookies...

He loved putting the sprinkles on too! 

Next we will decorate a Gingerbread House over at our house before Christmas. I buy the ready made house so all we have to do is decorate it! This year we will put Frosted Mini Wheats on the roof. 

This was last years.....

I CAN'T BELIEVE....

That February is almost over. Where did this month go?

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That I'm still having issues with my lungs. Of course I went through this last year and wasn't feeling myself until towards the end of March. I have been through 3 courses of steroids and antibiotics. Still wheezing! 

I was able to get in to see my doctor on Monday. She thought a steroids shot would help but wasn't sure it was a long enough time since I did the others. I called back on Wednesday because I was miserable and they got me in and I got a steroids shot. I'm better but still not great. I've missed 5 weeks of bowling!

Sadly, this new doctor who I love, and her father in law who is awesome too, are leaving the medical group we are in with our insurance. I might just try to continue to see her and pay a fee depending on how much the office visit is. 

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That it took me until February 12th to get the ornaments off the tree. Mark packed the tree up yesterday. I did however have everything else put away earlier in January when I had a good day on the steroids. Sadly this has happened before in the past. I think I need to slow down at Christmas, put out less and not stress so much. I always get sick after Christmas. 

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That James now knows when he has to poop. He tells them "poop" goes into his bedroom and closes the door and then comes out with a huge silly smile on his face. Then Adam goes and changes him. I think it is time to put him on the toilet. 

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That I am still taping Hallmark movies each day and watching them. I am a fan of so many wonderful movies which I watch over and over again and yet I've had no desire to watch them since the pandemic started.

However, now that I might be feeling better and Christmas is done, it is now time to "Persevere" and start on the rest of the house to declutter something each day. 

First thing up will be my large cabinet under my sink. I have a lot of products that I don't use anymore in my drawers, under the sink and the side cabinet. I also have new ones that need to go into the cabinet and things on top of my sink that I can't stand looking at anymore. 

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That I haven't gained any weight in 7 years. Now I am definitely overweight but with my stage 4 COPD it is almost impossible to get in any good exercise. I go up 5 pounds and I go down 5 pounds throughout the week. I do try very hard to eat right so I am able to at least maintain where I am at. However, I have to try harder because I need about 50 pounds off of me. 

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Now this one I can believe....I've been watching all the ice skaters at the Olympics and I also was very interested in seeing Shawn White on the Halfpipe. I think that 4th place was a wonderful way to finish. All those young people are so good and yet he was able to take 4th place at age 35. So very proud of him. 

There is still some more skating set to tape and I believe the closing ceremony is on Saturday. I've been watching to cheer on our athlete's but not happy that we were in China. 

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That's all I have to say today. I thought I had more to tell you.....

Oh wait, I do have one more thing. Super Bowl Sunday was fun at Adam and Gabby's. Some of you wanted to know about the new snack item each quarter. Well we ended up getting so full that two of the quarter snack items were never made. 

We did have two different side pots going on about the scores and one with questions. It was fun. I won $40, Gabby won $60, Mark won $20 and Adam didn't win anything. It was really a fun day and when I'm over at their house, being by James, I feel wonderful. Wouldn't even know I was sick. 

THIS AND THAT

We received some lovely gifts at Christmas. I thought I would show you a few of mine. We did get some wonderful gift cards to use. I actually got myself three new pairs of pajamas from Macy's with a gift card. There is a pajama that I like a lot but for some reason the buttons match up with our counters and I keep catching the buttons on the knobs. I'm so tired of sewing on buttons! Hopefully these new ones will work better. 

We also received gift cards to Amazon which are always appreciated and of course a nice check from Mark's mom. We also received some Target gift cards. We got our favorite grippy socks from Amber and Dylan so we don't slip, along with my Macy's card, Mark's Home Depot card and a Doordash gift card. 

I haven't sent out my Thank You notes yet but I have addressed the envelopes but still need to write the notes inside.  

This candle was from James.

This wreath was from Adam and Gabby. It was a suggestion of mine. When Mark painted our bedroom there was a picture we got rid of and I've been looking at the painted screw in the wall for a while now so I thought this would look lovely there and it does! 

This Lego Flower Bouquet is from Mark but this isn't actually what he bought me. I will explain. I had a article out for this last February for Valentine's Day. I never did receive it. After we went to New York in 2016 I was wanting the Statue of Liberty and he remembered that which was really sweet. However my feelings have changed since then. 

I felt really bad but there was just no way I wanted the Statue of Liberty displayed in the house. Heck, I need to get rid of things. I felt so bad but Mark totally understood so we returned it to Target. When he was shopping at Christmas he was unable to get this Flower Bouquet but it was actually available on Amazon the day we did the return at Target. I am excited to work on it. 

I do need to mention that 2 years ago I got the Lego Gingerbread House for Christmas from Mark and I haven't put that one together yet but I definitely will someday. I love it! These flowers will be simple to display in a vase. 

Adam and Gabby had given me a box of Nuts and Chews from See's candy which I love. When Adam was there he saw the glass ornament and definitely thought about me and my tree. I really love it and will be putting it on the tree next year. 

I purchased two Brain Teaser books for Seniors for Mark and I from Santa Claus so we can keep our minds sharp. I also gave Mark a $100 gift card to the Duluth Trading Company. 

It was a lovely Christmas. 

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

On Christmas Eve Mark made a delicious Prime Rib and we had scalloped potatoes. We watched a few Christmas movies and it was a very nice day for us. We also had Roxy and Gracie here for a few hours.  When they picked them up James came in and played with the train for a little while. Then we noticed him walking with the Gingerbread house and he said "I built this!" It was so darn cute. 

We had a lovely Christmas Day with Adam, Gabby, and James. James was napping when we arrived. He definitely wanted to open presents when he woke up. However, he wanted every present to be his. He didn't understand that we all open presents and we watch each other open presents. 

He already had a lot of new gifts from Santa and other family members. He had zero interest in the bike we brought into the house. He certainly didn't care about clothes. One of our gifts didn't arrive here at the house but will be here for when they come over on New Year's Day. 

That is not James on the bike but it is what's know as a Balance Bike. We got it from Amazon. They learn to walk with there feet and balance that way. Then at some point you can snap the peddles out and he can ride the bike. They are for ages 2-5. No more training wheels. 

Little Tikes My First Balance-to-Pedal Training Bike for Kids in Green, Ages 2-5 Years

So we gave him a gift that Amber and Dylan bought for him and he was as happy as can be. Nothing else mattered. The rest of his day was about the recycle trash truck. He took pieces of wrapping paper and filled the truck with it! 

And no doubt he probably took it to bed that night. 

As it turned out, he also was fascinated with the little card with Santa on it that was on the package from his great grandmother, my mother in law. Had to get a picture for her! 

We really didn't take any other pictures on Christmas Day. We always forget to take pictures of ourselves. It was a perfect day and not much traffic on the road. We had our Lou Malnati's frozen pizza and an awesome salad. 

Earlier when we arrived we had a nice variety of snacks too! It was a perfect day and only wished that Amber and Dylan could have been there with all of us. 

They will be over on New Years Day so James can enjoy our decorations one more time and have fun with the train set. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SUNDAY HOLIDAY FUNNIES