Jan 1 - 15, 2024 Baby It's Cold Outside!

Jan 1-Mon-Well today we start a new year (2024), Woo Hoo! I got up at 9:00. We didn’t sleep that well last night. We enjoyed watching the  Rose Parade. Then we did some routine things like making the bed etc. We put away all the inside Christmas decorations and took down the tree. We did this while also taking a few breaks. Supper was ham, cheesy potatoes  and black-eyed peas - for a prosperous new year!

Jan 2-Tue-I spent a lot of time this morning getting our shred boxes emptied. Steve vacuumed. We also picked up our mail and went to the bank drive-through. I had to make another stop at the Dollar Store and then we went back home. 

Jan 3-Wed-Today’s highlight: Steve polished furniture and I worked on the blog. Later we put the regular knick knacks back out. We have also been trying to walk on days when the weather lets us. We ate supper at Braums. The two of us were tired of ham and other leftovers!

Jan 4-Thu-We were up and around in good time this morning. We left for Stillwater to pick up orthotics for Steve. We did some other shopping, Ulta and Lowes. Then it was back home for awhile. We had all decided to eat supper at Texas Roadhouse tonight. So it was back to Stillwater for that. Linda and Hazel joined us. Good times. 

Jan 5-Fri-I didn’t jot much down today. We paid some bills and did some book keeping. Then it was just a regular routine day. Kristi wanted to know if I still had my Beanie Babies (remember them?). Of course I do! This is a small curio cabinet with some. I have another with three times that many in the other bedroom!

Jan 6-Sat-Another routine day with a lot of football watching. We did walk between games.

Jan 7-Sun-Same routine, different day. Today Tampa Bay Won, Dallas won and the Buffalo Bills won.  I like all these teams. I helped Steve put up our new mailbox. Next we will paint the wheels that it is mounted on. But the weather has to cooperate. We picked up pizza for supper!

Jan 8-Mon-This was a laundry day. In addition we went to the post office, bank and Homeland. Then I worked on the blog and deleted old emails. Steve’s MS provider called us to discuss a change in meds that will let him change form shots to oral meds. Nice! I made Chili for supper. 

Jan 9-Tue-Another day of miserable cold! We stayed inside. It’s much too cold for fun.

Jan 10-Wed-We had a big adventure today. We went to Stillwater to Walmart and bought groceries. Later we watched the movie, Stillwater. It had Matt Damon in it. 

Jan 11-Thu-We were up late. After taking care of things around the house we went to the tag office to get the Pickup and RV tags. We are now able to renew them for 2 years. So that is nice. We also listened to a VA community Call. It explained some of the newer programs to help Vets and what the plans are for changes at OKC VA facility. Later we headed to O’Reilly’s to get an antifreeze tester. We checked the RV, Pickup and Car to make sure we are ready for the Arctic Blast that is coming our way. We were able to walk today. I made meatloaf, baked potatoes and mixed vegetables for supper. 

Jan 12-Fri-Today we went to the post office and homeland after our morning routine. Tonight’s entertainment was Far Haven (movie). I thought it was free on Amazon prime - but it wasn’t, still only 4.99, so not bad. The movie was OK, but not great. The main character was played by the guy who played Branch in the Longmire series (which we loved watching). Anyway, some people really liked it. I thought it was either poorly directed or low budget or something. We are also watching Reacher (series) which I really like! 

Jan 13-Sat-Today I worked on my blog. In addition I made chicken vegetable soup. We watched football. The Texans beat the Browns. It was 10° at 6:00 PM. Brrrrr. Too cold!

Jan 14-Sun-Same routine, different day. Dallas got beat by Green Bay. Basically we are staying inside! The high today was 2 °! I can’t stand this cold weather. I know we watched more football, but I don’t remember who else won or lost! Our boss from Montana (Tony P) texted us today, he said it was -31° there yesterday and -10° today. He wanted to know if we wished we were there to enjoy that! I said no, we are at a balmy 2° here - so we will just live with that. 

Snow to go with our cold weather! Yuck!

Jan 15-Mon-It was 0° at 7:00 AM! We are staying inside to keep warm! We did laundry. Next on the agenda was football: The Bills beat the Steelers and Tampa Bay beat the Eagles! That is about all we are doing. Just staying inside and keeping the TV going!

December 16 - 31, 2023 Celebrating Christmas and Steve's Birthday!

Dec 16-Sat-After doing the routine things around the house it was off to town. I picked up the mail and went to he Dollar store, Homeland and Ace Hardware. I made Beef stew in the crockpot for supper. 

Dec 17-Sun-Today’s big adventure was a trip to Walmart for the remainder of our Christmas groceries. Then it was football all afternoon. My brother-in-law (Tony) in S. Carolina had an echocardiogram today. They have found out he has 3-4 blocked arteries and the transferred him to Charleston for open heart surgery. I am worried about him and my sister. We will know more after the week-end. 

Dec 18-Mon-After our morning routine we started working on laundry. We wrapped a couple of presents also. Then Austyn and Logan arrived and we went with   Logan to check out an older SUV (Tahoe) that is for sale. He and Steve drove it to  see if it is something he wants to buy. We took them to La Macarena for lunch and visited at home a bit. He decided that it is a vehicle he wants to buy. It belonged to our insurance agent- so we think it has been well taken care of. 

Dec 19-Tue-We were up and around pretty good this morning. The guy arrived about 9:15 to install our new garage door. We have been waiting quite a while for that. Steve worked in the RV making a liner for the floor of the sink area. I monitored the situation. 

Dec 20-Wed-Steve was a tired and had a slightly sore throat this morning. So we putzed around. Later we took a walk. John, Kristi and Logan got here about 4:00 and we went  with them while they purchased the Tahoe for Logan. Next it was off to the tag office to get a license plate. After we got the license plate we ate supper at La Macarena. They made it home safe. 

Steve checking out the Tahoe. It's 2001 an oldie but a goodie. 

Dec 21-Thu-Steve still felt a little funky today. We left at 9:15 to head to Bartlesville. We are celebrating Christmas early with my sister, her husband’s and niece and family. We arrived at 11:30. Paige made a nice lunch for us and we ate up. Later we visited and exchanged Christmas gifts. Today was Tony’s open heart surgery. It went well and he will be in ICU for a few days. Then on to the regular floor for awhile. We talked to them and wished them Merry Christmas. I drove us home and was arrived about 4:30 PM. 

Me and my sister Pam

Dec 22-Fri-I went shopping in town again. I went to Stillwater Mill, Thorn’s and picked up the mail. I wrapped a few more presents. Steve is still not feeling great. I think  I am finally done shopping for Christmas. Yeah!

Dec 23-Sat-Today we baked chocolate chip cookies, and sugar cookies. I made Pink Party salad and Pistachio salad. We fixed the table and did some straightening up around the house. 

Dec 24-Sun-Well today we are celebrating Christmas with Kristi, John, Austyn, Sky, Logan, Cielo, and Marianna! The whole crew. I put on two turkey breasts about 8:00 and put out snacks. Everybody started arriving. Logan and Cielo and the baby were last to arrive. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, crescent rolls and all the snacks. We also had pies for dessert. Then we opened all the presents. We all had a great time. Then we watched football. My brother in law had his pacemaker taken out. So a little progress on his way to recovery. 

Sky & Austyn

Logan, Mariana, Cielo

John

Sky & Austyn again

Logan & Baby in Bell Bottoms!

Four Generations: Steve, Kristi, Logan, Mariana

Steve

Dec 25-Mon-Merry Christmas! Well today we were slugs! We did very little. We ate leftover soup for lunch  . Then we watched football and took it easy. I talked to my sister, Marsha - Tony had A-fib, but they straightened it out with meds. He also got to move out of ICU today. That is good news. 

Dec 26-Tue-Just another regular day. We caught up on our bills and bookkeeping.. I picked up the mail and we also sent two get well cards to Marsha and Tony. 

Dec 27-Wed-Well today we took our dogs for a ride. We also checked our mail. Today my team, OK State plays in a bowl game and they won 31-23! Yea! Marsha and Tony got back to Pawley’s Island and out of the hospital. I know they are tired, but so glad to be “home.” We had chili for supper tonight.

Me, Go Pokes!

Dec 28-Thu-After our morning routine we had leftover chili for lunch. We also did some laundry. I talked to Marsha and they are doing ok. I went shopping again here in Perry to get Steve’s birthday presents. I ordered something on Amazon, but it won’t be here on time. So I got him some more gloves and a box cutter. This man doesn’t need much. I also bought an ice cream pie and a cake for the celebration. While I was at Thorn’s I ordered some flowers to be sent to Tony & Marsha to cheer them up. 

Dec 29-Fri- Today is Steve’s birthday! We took it easy this morning and then we got around and left about 3 PM. We drove to Kristi’s and hung out , then us and the whole gang went to Hideaway Pizza in Yukon, OK. We had a nice celebration! We returned to Krisit’s for cake and ice cream pie. Steve opened his presents and we had a great time. Soon after it was back home for us.

Top: Cielo & Mariana, Me, Steve, John, Kristi
Bottom: Logan, Sky, Austyn

Full Moon

Dec 30-Sat. We took a nice walk after lunch and then we decided to take down our outside Christmas lights. That was a good plan because the weather is getting colder. For supper tonight we went to the Boomerang and had Pancakes and sausage. it was good and I didn’t not have to cook.

Dec 31-Sun-We got up and around pretty good today. We left early to go to Walmart for groceries. This was a good plan as we got back home by 11:30. We put our stuff away and had lunch. Then it was a football kind of afternoon. I also made the Weight Watcher Key Lime Pie. We stayed up til Midnight to Ring in the New Year at Home!

Dec 1 - 15, 2023 Getting Ready For Christmas

Dec 1-Fri-We got around pretty good this morning and left a little after 9 to go to Stillwater. We went Christmas shopping at Big Lots, Home Goods and a few other places. We also hit up Walmart. It was an overcast chilly day today. 

Dec 2-Sat-Today was the Big 12 Championship Football game. My team OSU got beat by Texas 49-21. Oh Well! At least we got to represent. We also paid some bills and did some bookkeeping. We completed a walk today also. 

Dec 3-Sun-Today we worked on wrapping some presents. Then we watched Denver get beat by Houston and Philadelphia get beat by San Francisco.  We walked and did a few other odds and ends.

Dec 4-Mon-We were up and around early this morning. Today Steve had his annual appointment with the SCI clinic at the VA. He was fasting so they could draw labs. We were out by 12:15 or 12:30. We ventured to Edmond to the Neighborhood Jam to eat breakfast. Linda and Hazel kept telling us it was great. We were not that impressed. there was too much food and it kind of upset my stomach- probably too greasy. 

Dec 5-Tue- We renewed the car tag and picked up the mail this morning. Then we also got the oil changed in the car. We went by the City of Perry to sign up for the electric rebate for having our Christmas  lights on. We walked today. Later we had supper at Braum’s.

Dec 6-Wed-Today it was another trip to OKC for my appointment at McBride. This is my one year follow-up for my left shoulder. They did and Xray and it was all good. Next we went to Quail Springs Mall to shop. While we were there we ate lunch at Chick-Fil-a. Our next stop was Target , then Kohl’s. We are making progress on the Christmas shopping, but it sure does tire us out. 

Dec 7-Thu-Today was pretty routine. I did have a hairdo at Linda’s. About 4:00 PM we went downtown for the Perry Christmas Parade. They had lots of cute stuff set up. There was a snow tube slide, a reindeer, a penguin, and some igloo tents set up for selling things. We made our way around looking at things and then the parade started about 6:00 PM. This was a run evening spent outside. 

Mary & Steve

Mary (different one) Linda and Steve

Reindeer

Red Pickup in the parade

Penguin

Dec 8-Fri-We called about a used car for Austyn (granddaughter). Steve & I went to Dunfords to check out the car. We drove it and made a deal. After lunch, we picked up the car and started cleaning and vacuuming it out. We are trying to surprise Austyn. It is an older car- Grand Marquis, 2001.

Dec 9-Sat-Steve worked on detailing the inside of the car. I worked on a picture book. Then I went shopping around Perry. I went to Tractor Supply, Thorns, Stillwater Mill and the hardware store. We decided to go eat at La Macarena because we were both tired. 

Car we bought for Austyn

Dec 10-Sun-I helped Steve check the tire pressure on the car for Austyn. Then after lunch we got ready to go on the Christmas tour of Homes. We went to 9 different houses here in Perry to check out their decorations. I learned that the ticket money goes to the city for decorations downtown.

Dec 11-Mon-Today we were off to Walmart for groceries. We also went to Aldi’s for a few items. We returned the license plate to Richard at his car lot. I attended Book Club tonight. They changed it to Monday this month and I was on time. A somewhat uneventful day.

Dec 12-Tues-We left for OKC at 9:20 this morning. We arrived at the VA by 10:30 AM. We parked and got up to the 3rd floor. By 10:36 we were check in and we left about 11ish. Steve got injections in his back today. We were home for lunch. I made him take it easy. I wrapped a few more presents. For supper we went to La Macarena and met up with Hazel and Linda. 

Dec 13-Wed-Today is the big surprise for Austyn. We used the ruse of having her come here to clean our carpets. So we left at 8:30 and drove to El Reno to pick her up. Then we drove back to Perry. We had the car hidden in the garage and got her out there. When she saw its she couldn’t believe it for a minute. Then we convinced her. We went to the insurance place and got the tags for it so she was legal. Then Austyn shampooed the carpet and drove home. She has had some trouble with vehicles, so we are hoping this helps her get lined out. We talked to Kristi and Logan, she is in Georgia with Logan’s for his graduation from basic training. 

Austyn and her car

Logan in his Dress Uniform-graduation

Dec 14-Thu-Today we putzed around doing odds and ends. I did some computer stuff and made calls. I also made a welcome sign for Logan. He and Kristi return tomorrow.

Dec 15-Fri-We left about 4:00 PM to go to the Airport. We planned to surprise Logan by meeting them (he & Kristi) at the airport. They didn’t know we were coming. We waited for their arrival and boy were they surprised we were there to meet them. We all went and ate at The Garage in OKC. Then Steve drove us home. Logan’s girlfriend brought the baby - so we got to see her in person for the first time.

Our newest Christmas Dachshund

Sunset on the way to Will Rogers Airport OKC

Mariana

Cielo & Logan

November, 2023 Highlights of November

 I am going to try to hit the highlights of this month. We always do routine things. We have been trying to walk around our neighborhood most days. We got the covid shots  at the health department on Nov. 2. We have enjoyed watching Bosch Legacy on Amazon Prime. And of course I am always happy when my team (Ok State) wins their football games. The Dallas  Cowboys got beat by the Eagles.

Me & Steve in the Wrapping Room

Sunset, Nov 5th, 2023

If anyone wonders whether summer is over, well its not. I mowed the yard in front and back while Steve operated the weedeater (Nov 6). Steve completed another project in the RV. He put a check valve in the shower. That way the water will stay hot longer. On Nov 8th we went to OKC  to meet with the pain management doctor. He gave Steve a date to get steroid injections in his back. Overhead Door returned our call and we ordered the garage door. Of course it will be December before the door arrives. We have been trying to walk most days. 

Logan - Basic Training Photo; Steve in his AF Dress Blues!
Honoring our Veterans on Veterans Day

Sunset Nov 12, 2023

Steve cut out a tree root in the NE corner of the fence in the back yard. It was making the fence bulge. I helped him the next day to re-stretch the chain link fence and get it back together. It was difficult and when we finished we knew we had accomplished something. I hope he doesn't dream up that project again! We did bookkeeping and started ordering gifts online.

One of Steve's Christmas Presents (early)

We went to all the dollar stores in town looking for Thanksgiving paper plates. We could not find any. So we will just use our regular plates! Next year I will buy them earlier. We did some housecleaning before company comes on Thursday (Thanksgiving). The Tuesday before Thanksgiving we ate supper with Linda and Haze at Texas Roadhouse in Stillwater. That was a nice change. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Kristi and John and Austyn and Sky. We had all the usual stuff- turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole, pink party salad, pumpkin pie and crescent rolls. That afternoon we watched football and napped!

The Christmas Tree went up on the Friday after Thanksgiving and we also put up our outside lights. We did take a little break before finishing, but we got it done! Steve and I had supper at La Macarena. Saturday  I did some shopping and we watched football. On the 26th we went to a 50th Anniversary celebration for Linda and Wes. I mailed out our Christmas Cards on the 29th and present wrapping began. The last day of November was overcast and rainy. We didn't do much except some online shopping. In addition Dallas beat the Seahawks on a Thursday night football game!

Mary & Steve with the new Grinch decoration

Poopsie & Buster napping on the couch

Christmas Lights-Outside

Cake

Wedding Day

50 year Anniversary

Christmas Tree

Full Moon Nov 28, 2023