December 1 - 15, 2025 Shopping for Christmas and Getting Ready!

1-Mon-Today’s agenda included a trip to the dollar store for labels to put on the Christmas presents. After lunch we wrapped the presents that we have on hand. I made penne bake for supper.

2-Tue-After breakfast and getting our bodies revved up to get with it, we got dressed and made the bed. We put up our Christmas Tree and the inside Christmas decorations. For supper we went to the Kumback Cafe on the square in Perry with Linda and Hazel. I ordered beef stew, but it was not appetizing and I had a hard time finding the beef or vegetables. It was mostly some kind of icky thick gravy substance. So it didn’t taste bad, but it definitely did not fit my definition of beef stew! It did not look appetizing either. Probably won’t return here.

A storybook picture of the entrance to Farragut State Park near Athol ID. We volunteered there in the summer of 2015. I stole this picture off of Facebook.

An ornament from my sister Marsha, From New Jersey.

Our Christmas Tree

3-Wed-After breakfast and getting around we went to Linda’s shop and visited about an hour. Then we returned home and I did some bill paying. After lunch we went to the post office to mail a check to the Weedman. Of course their price increased since last year, but the yard looked good this fall, so we paid it again! I went to the library and renewed my card so I can use the Libby app to get free books. We also went into a little store on the square called Prairie Exchange. We didn’t see anything to buy. Next I went into Thorn’s and got tickets for the Christmas Tour of Homes. I am still coughing! I am so tired of that!

4-Thu-We putzed around for awhile this morning. I have no idea what we did today. I do know there was a full moon tonight. We watched Dallas get beat by the Detroit Lions. 

Supper was chicken soup, crackers and berries.

The Moon!

5-Fri-I got up late today, about 9:00 and Steve got up about 6:00. After lunch we went to Stillwater to shop. We went to Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Sharpe’s, Ollies and Shoe Sensation. Then we made a stop at Walmart. We got home about 4:30. I was so surprised when I checked our mailbox in front of the house. We got a La Macarena Gift Certificate from Marsha and Tony! She pulled off a pretty good trick, since she lives in New Jersey. She looked them up on the internet and then called them. The people who operate La Macarena are so nice and delivered it to our mailbox. So Steve and I had date night at La Macarena! Woo hoo!

Chicken  Soup

6-Sat-Another routine morning. I talked to Marsha. Then we ordered some more  gifts online. After lunch we worked on putting up our outside lights. That took most of the afternoon, but we didn’t have any conflicts. We watched football after that. We are getting in the groove for Christmas. 

Outdoor Lights

7-Sun-We both slept in a bit this morning. We then watched TV til 11:30 . We got dressed and I fixed my hair. We did the Christmas Tour of Homes from 1:00 til 3:30 PM. Then it was more football. I made homemade pizza for supper. Yum!

An Oklahoma State Tree we saw on the Christmas Tour of Homes

Another tree from the tour. Steve had a great idea, put that wire tree over a green tree and it would look really neat!

8-Mon-We were up and around early today. We left the house at 8:00 AM. Steve had his annual appointment with his MS provider at the VA. Our first stop was medical records to sign a release for his back MRI report and disc. Then it was Xray on 2nd floor to pick up the disc. Next it was back to the 1st floor to see his PA. He was also seen by PT, OT, Speech Pathologist and Social Worker. On our way out we stopped in the Cafeteria so Steve could have a snack and take his meds. He had to be fasting today. We drove home, got gas and picked up the mail. 

My sister & her husband live in New Jersery but go to S. Carolina for the winter. We visited them there last year and I did not buy an ornament for the tree while I was there. She sent this to me for our tree!

9-Tue-After we had breakfast and putzed around for a while we started the laundry. I paid a bill and filed a travel claim for yesterday. Later we went by Linda’s shop to get some yummy treats. I went to Thorn’s to order a poinsettia for Marsha and Tony (Christmas present). We got back home and Steve went ahead and ordered new seat covers for his pickup. Steve and I ate at La Macarena without Linda and Hazel.

Saw this at Linda's beauty shop!

10-Wed-After breakfast we got around and wrapped presents. We had an appointment at 1;00 and then went to the bank for a visa gift card. Next stop was the dollar store for a Chili’s gift card. We mailed our long distance gifts (cards and a check) today. Supper was cube steak, fries and berries.

11-Thu-We returned to Stillwater today. We had bought a snow globe there and it broke when we unloaded it at home. So we returned to Home Goods today and bought another one. Our next stop was at Walmart for supplies. We got home and unloaded our stuff. We tried to get the oil changed in our vehicles but they could not do it today. Then we went to Linda’s to make a hair appointment. Linda joined us at La Macarena for supper.

12-Fri-Our plan today was to drive to OKC and meet Kristi and John at Target for more Christmas shopping. She was off today because she has to work one Saturday per month. John was off because he hurt his hip at work. So we toured Target and bought some things for Christmas. We ate lunch at Cowboy Chicken and it was really good. They had great chicken strips! Then we went to the mall and got some items at Eskimo Joes. We also went into Dillards and Penneys. We took Kristi and John back to their car. Steve & I returned to Dillards to get some towels that Kristi admired when we were there. Before we left OKC we went to Bob Hurley RV to see if they had any RV’s that would suit us. No success. For supper we had pork loin, baked potatoes. Then we had berries and ice cream for dessert. 

13-Sat-We were very ambitious today. We changed the sheets on our bed. It is quite an operation, since it is king sized and adjustable. Then we wrapped more presents that we bought yesterday. We washed the sheets. We spent time looking for RV’s online. Trying to find a different RV is difficult.

14-Sun-Not much to report today. It is 15° today. That is way too cold for me! We stayed inside and watched football. 

15-Mon-We got a lot of stuff accomplished today. First, we completed the laundry. Then we got the oil changed in the car and pickup. We checked the mail and bought some lottery tickets. We hope to win the billion plus prize! Steve tweaked his back when he was cleaning something, so I put the TENS unit on him later. I made turkey chili for supper. 

Steve sent this out to the kids!
Out of time
Out of paper
Out of patience
Out of money
Merry Christmas Everyone!

December, 2020 The First Half of the Month!

 December 1 - 6 (Tuesday - Sunday)

This month starts the month of buying presents! I ordered some things from Amazon yesterday to get started. On Tuesday, I attended my WW Zoom meeting first thing. After lunch we worked on limbs in the front yard. We loaded the limbs in the back of the pickup and went to the dump to get rid of them. We also had three bags for the trash guys to pick up. Steve and I went to La Macarena for supper without Hazel or Linda. Wednesday was a slow day, I read a book in the morning. In the afternoon - Steve had a bad asthma episode. I thought I was going to have to call 911. But he finally was able to breathe normally. It kind of scared me. Also we watched the Steelers play the Ravens on Wednesday. The Corona virus has these football schedules all messed up. Thursday was gloomy and overcast with a high of 36 degrees. We did walk outside, even though it was chilly. We have been trying to walk outside most every day. It's a short route about a mile total. It only takes us about 20 minutes, but the dogs LOVE it! So we do it to keep our dogs happy. Friday we went to Stillwater for some more Christmas shopping and pick up supplies at Walmart. Saturday we tried to work on putting up our outside lights, but we needed bulbs. So we went back to Stillwater after checking all the stores in Perry (Dollar Store, Ace Hardware, and Tractor Supply) with no luck. We ended up getting some new strings of lights at Walmart because we could not find bulbs to match the lights we had. We also watched OSU beat TCU in football today! Yea! After we got around on Sunday, we got our outside lights and decorations put up. Also we watched football again! Imagine that!

Moon rise - Dec 1, 2020

Zoey putting on her mask!

Christmas Decorations - Outside

December 7 - 13 (Monday - Sunday)

The week started with Steve's annual appointment at the VA SCI clinic. They do a thorough checkup of his MS and he is doing good. We were out by noon and so we went to Kohl's to do some Christmas shopping ( with our mask on of course). We drove through McDonald's on our way home and that was about it for the day. Tuesday I tuned in  to the WW Zoom meeting - and new changes are coming for the virtual meetings. I did some other computer stuff then we had lunch and took a walk. We started to put up our Christmas tree but many of the branches would not light up. Steve couldn't trace down the problem - so we decided to buy a new tree. We went to supper with Hazel. Linda didn't join us because she went to a basketball game. So after supper we headed out to Stillwater and bought a new tree at Lowe's. We watched the Dallas Cowboys get beat after we got home. Wednesday started out with a bad phone call from Hazel - Her husband, Wayne died of Cardiac arrest at rehab. He was supposed to get to come home this week. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I lost all my desire to put up the tree. I felt sad all day for Hazel and it also made me sad to remember all the family members and friends I have lost. So sad. We did finally get the tree up and put out some Christmas decorations. Thursday, we went back to Stillwater to get Steve fitted for orthotics. He also got a new pair of shoes at Brown's Shoe store. Also we stopped at Lowe's to check on the kitchen remodel plan - but the girl who is in charge of that area was not there. That will be followed up on in the new year. We took a poinsettia to Hazel and gave her a hug. Later the dogs convinced us to take them for a walk and I started getting out my Christmas Cards. Friday we mailed some of our Christmas Cards and bought some more - because I didn't have enough. Later we met Kristi in OKC for lunch and some shopping. Steve bought another pair of shoes at REI - Oboz. That is the brand I bought for myself last summer. We also went to Penn Square Mall and back to Kohl's. By the time we got done and back home - we were pooped. Saturday we wrapped presents, did some errands in Perry and watched OK State beat Baylor in football. Sunday morning we woke up to snow! We  took some pictures of the snow while it was pretty. Also Steve had to get the snow off the satellite dish so we could watch TV. Dallas won their football game and we didn't do much today. 

Snow - across from our house Dec 13