So, this evening I don't feel clever enough to think of a cute title for this Blog.
Thursday evening, November 18th Claude and I attended the Scott County Historical Society's annual banquet and election of officers. Also attending from Sadieville were our City Clerk, Cindy Foster, and her hubby, Billy, as well as Loni Friddle and Don Piggins. Cindy, Loni and I all serve on the board of the Friends of Sadieville Renaissance.
The dinner was held at Georgetown College and the food was provided by them. This is the second meal we have eaten at this particular location on the Georgetown College campus. The menus are always a little a bit braver than hotel meeting fare. This time we had a nice little green salad. The interesting thing was their choice of having two cucumber slices on the top of each salad plate. One top of each cucumber slice was a half of a cherry tomato. It just looked like two eyes looking at me. I shared this observation with my hubby, big mistake. Claude moved his to the side so they would look like ears. I have to say that only made them look like the eyes of the sloth in the Ice Age movies.
Our second course was not to my liking at all. It was a cooked portabella mushroom smothered with a large slice of red bell pepper and melted cheese on top. I am not a mushroom eater. I can take a little on a pizza or in a recipe but to just eat a mushroom as a dish...it is just not happening. Claude enjoyed two of these dishes as he ate his and mine.
Our main course was chicken, mashed potatoes and steamed carrots with a creamy broth on them. I enjoyed all of this, especially the carrots. I'm really a veggie lover. However, it turns out Billy is allergic to chicken. His allergy started with eggs and progressed to chicken. I had never heard of an allergy to chicken. I had heard of an allergy to eggs.
Dessert was a wonderful cheese cake.
Friday, November 19th, my former stake Relief Society presidency was to have all gone to the temple together. When we were released in October, we all determined we still wanted to make this temple trip.
Laura was not able to participate for a most excellent reason. Her daughter had her first baby and Laura was playing Gramma.
Claude also did not get to go with us. He got up Friday morning, I thought all was well, I went to my sewing room to do some things. I came back upstairs at 10am to find Claude under a blanket on the sofa in the living room. I assured my dear hubby that 10am is a little early to begin a nap. Then he informed me he didn't feel well.
I left about noon to go to Georgetown to take care of my parents. When I returned at 5pm the only thing that had changed with Claude was his head was at a different end of the sofa. I asked him how he was doing and he just looked at me and mournfully said, "I hurled." He was really not doing well. That meant no temple trip for him. I told him I would cancel and stay with him. He assured me he was going to be sick whether I was there or not and to go enjoy my 'Play Group'.
So I headed to Louisville by myself and had a wonderful evening with Lisa, David, Barbara and WC. We ended our evening at Dairy Queen for a quick dessert and some fun conversation. I got home at midnight. Claude had moved to the bed. I felt particularly bad for him. He did have any meetings on Friday and was going to have a day of doing anything but Mayor stuff. Well, he didn't do Mayor stuff but he didn't do any of the fun things he wanted to do either.
Saturday we just stayed in. It was a quiet day. Claude started moving around and in the afternoon started eating again. He was on the mend. Yippee!!
Sunday Claude was out the door for Church meetings beginning a 7am and didn't get home till in the evening. We have definitely swapped rolls. Now I'm the one home and he is one the road on Sunday's. He did have a good day and felt good all day.
I had a tender visit with my mom again. I go to visit her during Sunday School time on Sunday's. This time I took my Ensign and read two talks to her. She held my hand and seemed to look at a few of the pictures. When it was time for me to go back to Church for Relief Society, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her well, then gave her a big kiss and told her "I love you mom." She looked up at me and mumbled the beginning of each word in this phrase back to me "I love you too." Then she grinned and the moment was gone. Such a sweet moment. Each of these tender moments is what I want to remember about this experience.
I enjoyed a brief visit with Papa at his apartment after Church and choir practice. He had a new pair of pants that was too long so we pinned them so I can hem them for him. (Boy that sentenced ended with a lot of h_m words. Jake is probably freaking out reading that one!!)
Today has been very full and will be through the evening getting things ready for this Thanksgiving week.
We spent the morning accomplishing computer stuff, doing Papa's laundry, and some cleaning.
This afternoon we headed to Lexington. I placed an item on hold at Barnes & Noble for Claude for Christmas. I needed to pick it up and today was the only day I could do that. So we made an outing of it. First, we dropped off Papa's laundry. Second, to Lexington and lunch at Chicago Pizza. Third, Claude waited in the car while I went into Barnes & Noble. I got his item, the Angels and Demons DVD and a CD of Enya doing Christmas type music (which I'm enjoying now). Next we stopped at Staples to get paper and ink cartridges and the numerous other things we found that really seemed to be needful. Claude and I are suckers for an office supply store. Two more stops in Lexington included trying out Culver's Frozen Custard and filling up the Jeep with gas at Walmart.
Now we were off to Georgetown to pick up dry cleaning and buy the groceries for this Thanksgiving. Then the drive home.
Whew!!! A full day that is not quite finished. Laundry is going, I've got some computer work to finish and some ironing to do. I hope to talk Claude into a movie tonight instead of the inane stuff we now have on TV. I'm wanting to watch Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code again.
Funny how life just fills up, even when one is supposed to be 'retired'. Retired just means the things you are filling your life with are a little different than when you work.
Oh, my Enya CD just played the last song. It was a beautiful rendition of 'Silent Night' in Celtic. How pleasant to the ear that was. I was not going to list to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving but...it is a new CD...I really enjoy Enya...and...I'm 60 years old and can do what I want most of the time!!!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Gramma Was In Town...
Claude is a Kentucky Colonel. Every year the Colonel's have a big event. It used to be a picnic but they have now changed that to a day at Churchill Downs in the sky boxes. A very nice lunch is served. In the afternoon a refreshment is also served. It is a very nice affair with a dress code and table assignments.
Last year Claude and I went and had a wonderful day at the races. Claude received the invitation for this year's event and it was on a day I was sure I had a meeting. This information came last June when Bonnie was visiting for Katelyn's graduation from High School. I suggested to Claude that he purchase two tickets and ask his mom is she would like to come and go with him. He presented the idea to Bonnie and she was over-the-top excited about it.
Claude bought the tickets and he got three just in case I could come. Bonnie made her flight plans. This last week it all happened.
Bonnie arrived Tuesday, November 9th at Cincinnati Airport.
We had dinner at Mesquite's on the way home from the airport. Bonnie watches 'Dancing With The Stars' so we settled in for that Tuesday evening.
Wednesday we had a day at home for Gramma to rest up. She had a big genealogy project she wanted Claude to help her with while here, so they worked on that some. I went in to sing with Papa at the nursing home in the afternoon.
Thursday we took Bonnie to LaGrange to see Andie and her family. We actually plotted this day so that we could rest up on Friday. As it turned out, it was a great day to help Andie with the kids.
We got to LaGrange early enough to go to the Marx home and put a car seat in my car for Bailey. Andie was not there. She had a dentist appointment. We put the car seat in my car, then headed to Subway to get take-out lunches, then we headed to Hayden's school to have lunch with him. He was so happy to see us. He was very cute. They now have the families sit at a different table than the class. Hayden was watching his class carefully. He told me that when his teacher comes into the lunchroom that is the 'signal' to get ready to go back to class. He was watching from our table to be sure he was ready when his class was starting to get ready to leave. When his teacher came into the lunchroom, Hayden took Bonnie over to meet her.
Then we headed out the door to quickly get across country to Bailey's pre-school. Claude and Bonnie waited in the car and I headed in to pick up Miss Bailey. When the door was opened I bent down so I would be eye-level with her. She looked up from across the room and saw me and ran to jump in my arms. That feels soooooo good to a Gramma. I slowed her down enough to gather her jacket and book bag and a flyer from her teacher for Andie.
She informed Claude (Pa) that she needed french fries. He dutifully headed to McDonald's for a happy meal for Bailey. She was hungry chick-maiden because she downed the entire thing except for a few apple slices before she got home.
When we got to the Marx abode, Andie was there with a still numb mouth from seeing the dentist. We played with Bailey while Andie put together a veggie lasagna that for dinner that evening. The second picture is Bailey wearing Bonnie's shoes.
We bid farewell to the Marx family. For the story of that ride home check my Blog entry yesterday titled 'Irked'.
Friday was supposed to have been a quiet day to rest. Claude had a morning meeting in Lexington. We joined him at the AT&T store after his meeting. Claude purchased a new phone. I had mine officially diagnosed as broken. We ate lunch at Appleby's. I introduced Bonnie to one of my new favorites, "Wonton Tacos" (the chicken version). Then Claude and Bonnie headed back to Sadieville for rest and more genealogy and I went to Papa's apartment to work on his land line issues.
Saturday we were at the Georgetown building at 8am for the Worldwide Leadership Training broadcast about the new General Handbook for the Church. It was a really good broadcast.
Then we were off to the races. It was a wonderful afternoon. Very sunny when we got there and the clouds rolled in through the afternoon for a rainstorm that evening. Lunch was really good and then we pulled out our programs to check out the horses. We watched seven of the races that afternoon. Bonnie learned a little about the process and even bet and won several races. There are monitors in the rooms to watch while you sit at your table. But there are also sliding glass doors that let you out onto balconies where you can stand and watch the races under cover of the roof.
Bonnie wanted to be sure I got the airplane over the football stadium in the background. If you look closely you can see an airplane over that very full stadium. The seats are red in the Louisville stadium for the Cardinals but that Saturday every seat was full as they played a Florida school while the races were going on. All the red you see there is the people dressed in red for the game.
Our tablemates were a lady, who is the Kentucky Colonel, her hubby and her mom. They were interesting people who go to the races often.
I also had the winning sticker for the centerpiece. We now have another Kentucky Colonel bud vase.
After we left the races we headed back to the Marx home. Hayden had his birthday party with his little friends that day at lunch time. It was a Space themed party. We found a huge rocket on the front porch taped to a step ladder. We each had our pictures taken in the rocket just like the kids did when they came to the party. Here we are:
We had dinner of left over pizza and pasta salad from the party. We played some more and took a few family pictures to finish off this quick visit. Then we were headed back to Sadieville.
Sunday morning was spent with Claude on his visit to Owingsville Ward. This is such a fun ward to visit. It is the ward he will work with as High Councilor. Bonnie loved being there and totally enjoyed the meetings and the friendly people.
Monday I woke up with Charlie Horses in my side again. This happened once before and it is just muscles that get tense and spasm like a Charlie Horse in your legs. I still managed to move around and get some things done during our day of rest before Bonnie's big flying day to get home. Claude and Bonnie got some more genealogy done. Claude pulled out his jewelry making stuff in preparations for making Bonnie a pair of earrings. I got my new Blackberry and got it loaded with a lot of my stuff. I finished a crochet project for a wedding gift.
Tuesday we had a quiet morning with me starting the laundry and Claude making a big breakfast. Then Claude and Bonnie headed to the Family History Center for the afternoon. Claude showed her how to work in the New Family Search on the computer. Then they headed back to Sadieville where they scooped me up and Bonnie's luggage and we were off to the airport.
It was a full and very fun visit with Bonnie. We tried to provide rest time but it was still a very full week for her and us.
Last year Claude and I went and had a wonderful day at the races. Claude received the invitation for this year's event and it was on a day I was sure I had a meeting. This information came last June when Bonnie was visiting for Katelyn's graduation from High School. I suggested to Claude that he purchase two tickets and ask his mom is she would like to come and go with him. He presented the idea to Bonnie and she was over-the-top excited about it.
Claude bought the tickets and he got three just in case I could come. Bonnie made her flight plans. This last week it all happened.
Bonnie arrived Tuesday, November 9th at Cincinnati Airport.
Wednesday we had a day at home for Gramma to rest up. She had a big genealogy project she wanted Claude to help her with while here, so they worked on that some. I went in to sing with Papa at the nursing home in the afternoon.
Thursday we took Bonnie to LaGrange to see Andie and her family. We actually plotted this day so that we could rest up on Friday. As it turned out, it was a great day to help Andie with the kids.
We got to LaGrange early enough to go to the Marx home and put a car seat in my car for Bailey. Andie was not there. She had a dentist appointment. We put the car seat in my car, then headed to Subway to get take-out lunches, then we headed to Hayden's school to have lunch with him. He was so happy to see us. He was very cute. They now have the families sit at a different table than the class. Hayden was watching his class carefully. He told me that when his teacher comes into the lunchroom that is the 'signal' to get ready to go back to class. He was watching from our table to be sure he was ready when his class was starting to get ready to leave. When his teacher came into the lunchroom, Hayden took Bonnie over to meet her.
She informed Claude (Pa) that she needed french fries. He dutifully headed to McDonald's for a happy meal for Bailey. She was hungry chick-maiden because she downed the entire thing except for a few apple slices before she got home.
When we got to the Marx abode, Andie was there with a still numb mouth from seeing the dentist. We played with Bailey while Andie put together a veggie lasagna that for dinner that evening. The second picture is Bailey wearing Bonnie's shoes.
Bailey eventually laid down for quiet time. Andie and I walked down to pick up Hayden from the school bus. Hayden got a little play time prior to going to his doctor's appointment with Andie.
We eventually had everyone, including Michael, back home again for a nice lasagna dinner and some play time. Bonnie read and play some with the mini-Marx's and had a chance to visit with Michael and Andie.
Friday was supposed to have been a quiet day to rest. Claude had a morning meeting in Lexington. We joined him at the AT&T store after his meeting. Claude purchased a new phone. I had mine officially diagnosed as broken. We ate lunch at Appleby's. I introduced Bonnie to one of my new favorites, "Wonton Tacos" (the chicken version). Then Claude and Bonnie headed back to Sadieville for rest and more genealogy and I went to Papa's apartment to work on his land line issues.
Saturday we were at the Georgetown building at 8am for the Worldwide Leadership Training broadcast about the new General Handbook for the Church. It was a really good broadcast.
Then we were off to the races. It was a wonderful afternoon. Very sunny when we got there and the clouds rolled in through the afternoon for a rainstorm that evening. Lunch was really good and then we pulled out our programs to check out the horses. We watched seven of the races that afternoon. Bonnie learned a little about the process and even bet and won several races. There are monitors in the rooms to watch while you sit at your table. But there are also sliding glass doors that let you out onto balconies where you can stand and watch the races under cover of the roof.
Our tablemates were a lady, who is the Kentucky Colonel, her hubby and her mom. They were interesting people who go to the races often.
I also had the winning sticker for the centerpiece. We now have another Kentucky Colonel bud vase.
After we left the races we headed back to the Marx home. Hayden had his birthday party with his little friends that day at lunch time. It was a Space themed party. We found a huge rocket on the front porch taped to a step ladder. We each had our pictures taken in the rocket just like the kids did when they came to the party. Here we are:
Monday I woke up with Charlie Horses in my side again. This happened once before and it is just muscles that get tense and spasm like a Charlie Horse in your legs. I still managed to move around and get some things done during our day of rest before Bonnie's big flying day to get home. Claude and Bonnie got some more genealogy done. Claude pulled out his jewelry making stuff in preparations for making Bonnie a pair of earrings. I got my new Blackberry and got it loaded with a lot of my stuff. I finished a crochet project for a wedding gift.
Tuesday we had a quiet morning with me starting the laundry and Claude making a big breakfast. Then Claude and Bonnie headed to the Family History Center for the afternoon. Claude showed her how to work in the New Family Search on the computer. Then they headed back to Sadieville where they scooped me up and Bonnie's luggage and we were off to the airport.
It was a full and very fun visit with Bonnie. We tried to provide rest time but it was still a very full week for her and us.
Un-Irked...
Last night as Claude and I were watching Criminal Minds, we spoke of my Facebook issue during the commercial. I had my laptop upstairs so that, during the show, I could take the things I needed off the stake calendar and put them on Outlook to go to my Blackberry. I stopped what I was doing and decided to try Facebook again.
I was amazed that it came up. It was very slow coming on the screen but, none-the-less, it came up. I made sure my settings were all the same and the stuff I put on there was still what I had originally put there. It appears all is as I left it.
This morning I received a little notice from Facebook stating an apology for disabling my Facebook in error and causing an inconvenience. I'm just stating for the record, "I accept their apology. I'm happy to have my good name restored. And I look forward to seeing some more fun thoughts and pictures on Facebook."
I do want to acknowledge that Jake's statement is also accurate. He said, "A true friend will know how to get in contact with you without Facebook." Jake is on target there. The thing with Facebook is that we can find some of those friends that we have lost touch with over the many years of our lives. I was grateful that,as I added a friend to my Facebook, I saved their eMail address in a Word file so I could stay in touch with them at Christmas and as needed through the year, if I couldn't get on Facebook for some reason.
I can't help but reflect on my early years of marriage. This was before home computers of any kind. This was when the only phones were land lines. This was when we only had 'snail mail' or 'Western Union' if you needed to get a message faster. Somehow we managed to live with that.
How did we do it?
There was the fun attempt at a 'Family Chain Letter'. I would write a letter and mail it to my sister. She would add her pages and mail all of them to our other sister. She would add her pages and mail all of that to my parents. They would add their pages and remove my pages and send the remaining pages to me. Then I would add my pages, remove my sister's pages and mail the bundle to her and it would continue round after round until we all finally gave out.
All our letters were just that, letters, handwritten (or typed, if you were lucky enough to own a typewriter). For that matter typewriters were just beginning to be electric. They were just coming out with a white paper you could put in there and type over a typo to white it out.
I just read a book about the future and it spoke of no telephone booths. I haven't checked but I wonder if those are becoming obsolete also on the streets. I know they are still in airports. I'll have to look for that and see how many are still out there by gas stations and such.
Now we go to the airport and there are machines with plugs for every kind of cell phone or PDA you can think of that you can pay a fee for 30 minutes to charge your phone.
Oh well, enough rambling about the past and this current 'thing' called Facebook. I'm just happy I can quickly send a note to a friend on Facebook again.
I was amazed that it came up. It was very slow coming on the screen but, none-the-less, it came up. I made sure my settings were all the same and the stuff I put on there was still what I had originally put there. It appears all is as I left it.
This morning I received a little notice from Facebook stating an apology for disabling my Facebook in error and causing an inconvenience. I'm just stating for the record, "I accept their apology. I'm happy to have my good name restored. And I look forward to seeing some more fun thoughts and pictures on Facebook."
I do want to acknowledge that Jake's statement is also accurate. He said, "A true friend will know how to get in contact with you without Facebook." Jake is on target there. The thing with Facebook is that we can find some of those friends that we have lost touch with over the many years of our lives. I was grateful that,as I added a friend to my Facebook, I saved their eMail address in a Word file so I could stay in touch with them at Christmas and as needed through the year, if I couldn't get on Facebook for some reason.
I can't help but reflect on my early years of marriage. This was before home computers of any kind. This was when the only phones were land lines. This was when we only had 'snail mail' or 'Western Union' if you needed to get a message faster. Somehow we managed to live with that.
How did we do it?
There was the fun attempt at a 'Family Chain Letter'. I would write a letter and mail it to my sister. She would add her pages and mail all of them to our other sister. She would add her pages and mail all of that to my parents. They would add their pages and remove my pages and send the remaining pages to me. Then I would add my pages, remove my sister's pages and mail the bundle to her and it would continue round after round until we all finally gave out.
All our letters were just that, letters, handwritten (or typed, if you were lucky enough to own a typewriter). For that matter typewriters were just beginning to be electric. They were just coming out with a white paper you could put in there and type over a typo to white it out.
I just read a book about the future and it spoke of no telephone booths. I haven't checked but I wonder if those are becoming obsolete also on the streets. I know they are still in airports. I'll have to look for that and see how many are still out there by gas stations and such.
Now we go to the airport and there are machines with plugs for every kind of cell phone or PDA you can think of that you can pay a fee for 30 minutes to charge your phone.
Oh well, enough rambling about the past and this current 'thing' called Facebook. I'm just happy I can quickly send a note to a friend on Facebook again.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Irked!!!
Irked!!! Yep, that about describes my current state of emotion. My intent today was to gather the pictures from Gramma Bonnie's visit and post a really nice little blog entry about that. However.......
Last Thursday we were driving home from LaGrange. We took Bonnie over to see Andie, Michael and her great-grandkids. It was a good day to do that as it turns out. Andie had a dental appointment for herself in the morning and she had a doctor's appointment for Hayden in the afternoon. We were able to provide car services and kid-sitting services during this visit.
I'll post about that later when I'm not quite as 'irked' as I am right now. Back to my story...
We were driving home. I was in the back seat and Bonnie and Claude rode in the front seats. Since it was dark and I couldn't crochet or read, I pulled out my trusty Blackberry and proceeded to play the BrickBreaker game. The Blackberry hung up on a totally white screen with the indicator light at the top showing bright red.
When I purchased my Blackberry, I was told that I should occasionally take out the battery and let it rest a few minutes, then put the battery in and let it restart so it would reset itself. I was told if it hangs up, to try this first.
So, I pulled my battery out of the Blackberry and sat in the dark for a bit. Then I put the battery back in. I got a black screen and a red indicator light shining brightly in the dark. Eventually the word Blackberry came across my screen and the little bar indicating how much longer the process of getting started again had to go. I waited and that indicator bar moved to the middle and stopped. The screen went black again and that red indicator light shown brightly. (I shall now call this 'the process' so I don't have to repeat these steps again in this blog.)
Okay, I must have not let it rest enough. I pulled the battery out again and waited a longer length of time. Then I went through 'the process' again.
I took the battery out and waited until we got on I-75 and then went through 'the process' again with the same results.
Then I pulled the battery and waited until we were past Georgetown to try 'the process' again. I pulled the battery and waited until we got to the Sadieville exit and tried on more time with the same sad results. The drive from our home to LaGrange is 1 1/2 hours. I gave this process lots of attempts with varying lengths of pause between attempts.
When we got home I waited until 11pm and tried one more time. The same disappointing results. I headed to the basement to find my book. I tried to sync the Blackberry thinking that would jog it into working again. No such luck. The manual told me to try charging the Blackberry. So I headed to our bedroom and plugged the little guy in and headed to bed.
Friday morning I tried 'the process' again and got those same pitiful results. I now knew I needed to head to the AT&T store in Georgetown. Fortunately, I had received a coupon for $50 off on a new Blackberry and Claude wanted to shop for a new one to upgrade his Blackberry.
They were very nice at the AT&T store and we finally determined it was not a battery issue as I thought. I went prepared to purchase a new battery. Instead, it seemed to be a defective Blackberry. The sales representative tried a few tests they gave him. He also called the tech support hot line and discussed the situation with them. He was told I should take the Blackberry home and call them while in front of my computer to make the final decision. However, it appeared to be the fault of the Blackberry which was still under warranty.
I left Claude and Bonnie to head for home and spent the rest of my afternoon at Papa's trying to change his home phone, long distance and DSL/Internet usage from Southeast Telephone to AT&T.
When I got home I called the tech support phone number and went through the steps they asked me to do with the phone. They then said it was the phone not the battery. They were sending me a replacement phone and I was to mail the defective one back to them.
Monday, in the afternoon, I got the replacement phone. I spent the afternoon working at loading my addresses, calendar, memos and notes from my computer to the new Blackberry. I tried Facebook and it worked. However, I was not receiving eMails and I couldn't log onto the Internet. Hmmmm....
I found the place in the Blackberry where you put in a User Name and Password to get the Blackberry to work with Outlook so I could get my eMail's and Internet. Here is where the problem arose. I wasn't sure what was used when we set up the first Blackberry last May. So I used what I do on my computer to get eMail's. That didn't work. I thought, "Okay, it is case sensitive and maybe I need to use capital letters." That didn't work. On the Blackberry you have to press two keys at once to get numbers and I wondered if I had not done that quite right and the numbers were wrong. I tried again. That didn't work. Okay, maybe she used my name in some form, so I tried that. That didn't work. After several attempts my Blackberry told me I was blocked and to wait and try again later.
I found a place in the Blackberry where you set the number of times you can try and the maximum is 10. I had exceeded 10 times trying. No problem, I would just wait until much later and try again. This never worked. Tuesday morning that still didn't work.
Claude gave me the paperwork from when we originally purchased and I could find no written record of what Angie used for a User Name and Password. I did find a phone number and called it. They walked me through a process and I eventually had eMail's coming to my Blackberry and I could get on the Internet on my Blackberry. I was a very happy lady.
Why am I 'irked'!! When I tried to use Facebook on my Blackberry it would not work now. It had worked when I first got the Blackberry and when I didn't have eMail service.
I went to my computer and tried to get on Facebook and it told me my account was 'disabled'. There was a hyper-link to a help page. I clicked it and found that they do this when someone uses a 'false' name for their Facebook account and/or they have more than one Facebook account. Now what was I to do.
I looked all over pages in Facebook for a phone number. No such animal people, no such animal. I checked the Internet for a phone number to call. Still no luck. Finally Tuesday afternoon I found a page on Facebook where you can send them an eMail and explain the situation, they put you in a 'queue' and you wait for your answer.
I wrote my nice response indicating my belief this was a direct result of the issues with starting eMail on my Blackberry. I really was Sandra Christensen and my eMail address has been the same for years and I have no other. I waited for a response.
This morning, I got the response. Basically, they refuse to reopen my Facebook because I have committed the grave sin of using a false name and/or having more than one account. Okay, I have NOT done EITHER of these things.
I wrote them another eMail beginning with the words "I am livid." I sent my kids each an eMail explaining why I would not be communicating with them via Facebook.
Jake wrote me back and said to consider myself 'free'. I would love to consider myself 'free' of this but as I told him in my eMail response:
Last Thursday we were driving home from LaGrange. We took Bonnie over to see Andie, Michael and her great-grandkids. It was a good day to do that as it turns out. Andie had a dental appointment for herself in the morning and she had a doctor's appointment for Hayden in the afternoon. We were able to provide car services and kid-sitting services during this visit.
I'll post about that later when I'm not quite as 'irked' as I am right now. Back to my story...
We were driving home. I was in the back seat and Bonnie and Claude rode in the front seats. Since it was dark and I couldn't crochet or read, I pulled out my trusty Blackberry and proceeded to play the BrickBreaker game. The Blackberry hung up on a totally white screen with the indicator light at the top showing bright red.
When I purchased my Blackberry, I was told that I should occasionally take out the battery and let it rest a few minutes, then put the battery in and let it restart so it would reset itself. I was told if it hangs up, to try this first.
So, I pulled my battery out of the Blackberry and sat in the dark for a bit. Then I put the battery back in. I got a black screen and a red indicator light shining brightly in the dark. Eventually the word Blackberry came across my screen and the little bar indicating how much longer the process of getting started again had to go. I waited and that indicator bar moved to the middle and stopped. The screen went black again and that red indicator light shown brightly. (I shall now call this 'the process' so I don't have to repeat these steps again in this blog.)
Okay, I must have not let it rest enough. I pulled the battery out again and waited a longer length of time. Then I went through 'the process' again.
I took the battery out and waited until we got on I-75 and then went through 'the process' again with the same results.
Then I pulled the battery and waited until we were past Georgetown to try 'the process' again. I pulled the battery and waited until we got to the Sadieville exit and tried on more time with the same sad results. The drive from our home to LaGrange is 1 1/2 hours. I gave this process lots of attempts with varying lengths of pause between attempts.
When we got home I waited until 11pm and tried one more time. The same disappointing results. I headed to the basement to find my book. I tried to sync the Blackberry thinking that would jog it into working again. No such luck. The manual told me to try charging the Blackberry. So I headed to our bedroom and plugged the little guy in and headed to bed.
Friday morning I tried 'the process' again and got those same pitiful results. I now knew I needed to head to the AT&T store in Georgetown. Fortunately, I had received a coupon for $50 off on a new Blackberry and Claude wanted to shop for a new one to upgrade his Blackberry.
They were very nice at the AT&T store and we finally determined it was not a battery issue as I thought. I went prepared to purchase a new battery. Instead, it seemed to be a defective Blackberry. The sales representative tried a few tests they gave him. He also called the tech support hot line and discussed the situation with them. He was told I should take the Blackberry home and call them while in front of my computer to make the final decision. However, it appeared to be the fault of the Blackberry which was still under warranty.
I left Claude and Bonnie to head for home and spent the rest of my afternoon at Papa's trying to change his home phone, long distance and DSL/Internet usage from Southeast Telephone to AT&T.
When I got home I called the tech support phone number and went through the steps they asked me to do with the phone. They then said it was the phone not the battery. They were sending me a replacement phone and I was to mail the defective one back to them.
Monday, in the afternoon, I got the replacement phone. I spent the afternoon working at loading my addresses, calendar, memos and notes from my computer to the new Blackberry. I tried Facebook and it worked. However, I was not receiving eMails and I couldn't log onto the Internet. Hmmmm....
I found the place in the Blackberry where you put in a User Name and Password to get the Blackberry to work with Outlook so I could get my eMail's and Internet. Here is where the problem arose. I wasn't sure what was used when we set up the first Blackberry last May. So I used what I do on my computer to get eMail's. That didn't work. I thought, "Okay, it is case sensitive and maybe I need to use capital letters." That didn't work. On the Blackberry you have to press two keys at once to get numbers and I wondered if I had not done that quite right and the numbers were wrong. I tried again. That didn't work. Okay, maybe she used my name in some form, so I tried that. That didn't work. After several attempts my Blackberry told me I was blocked and to wait and try again later.
I found a place in the Blackberry where you set the number of times you can try and the maximum is 10. I had exceeded 10 times trying. No problem, I would just wait until much later and try again. This never worked. Tuesday morning that still didn't work.
Claude gave me the paperwork from when we originally purchased and I could find no written record of what Angie used for a User Name and Password. I did find a phone number and called it. They walked me through a process and I eventually had eMail's coming to my Blackberry and I could get on the Internet on my Blackberry. I was a very happy lady.
Why am I 'irked'!! When I tried to use Facebook on my Blackberry it would not work now. It had worked when I first got the Blackberry and when I didn't have eMail service.
I went to my computer and tried to get on Facebook and it told me my account was 'disabled'. There was a hyper-link to a help page. I clicked it and found that they do this when someone uses a 'false' name for their Facebook account and/or they have more than one Facebook account. Now what was I to do.
I looked all over pages in Facebook for a phone number. No such animal people, no such animal. I checked the Internet for a phone number to call. Still no luck. Finally Tuesday afternoon I found a page on Facebook where you can send them an eMail and explain the situation, they put you in a 'queue' and you wait for your answer.
I wrote my nice response indicating my belief this was a direct result of the issues with starting eMail on my Blackberry. I really was Sandra Christensen and my eMail address has been the same for years and I have no other. I waited for a response.
This morning, I got the response. Basically, they refuse to reopen my Facebook because I have committed the grave sin of using a false name and/or having more than one account. Okay, I have NOT done EITHER of these things.
I wrote them another eMail beginning with the words "I am livid." I sent my kids each an eMail explaining why I would not be communicating with them via Facebook.
Jake wrote me back and said to consider myself 'free'. I would love to consider myself 'free' of this but as I told him in my eMail response:
- My good name now has a mark on it that is not correct or fair. I didn't do anything wrong!! It just feels awful to know there is this scar on my good identity for no reason of my own doing.
- If I wanted to quit using Facebook, I would have at least posted that I was leaving Facebook before I left so that all those people that I have as friends understand why I don't respond to their posts. I don't believe I am a rude person by nature and this just feels rude.
- I also post to the Facebook pages for the City of Sadieville and the Friends of Sadieville Renaissance. I have permission to put pictures out there and to post messages of things that we are doing in Sadieville. I can now no longer do that.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Another Happy Birthday
Friday, November 5th, the entire Marx family made their way to Sadieville. Michael had a game of soccer to referee on Saturday evening in Georgetown. But the true excitement was Hayden turning 6 years old.
Since Michael had to work on Saturday evening, we determined a Birthday Breakfast was the best way to celebrate Hayden's turning 6 years old. Papa and Tiny came out Saturday morning and we were treated to pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast (Hayden's choice) prepared by Claude and Michael.
The rest of us enjoyed time together.
After a wonderful breakfast, Hayden determined it would be fun to look for his presents. We kept Hayden in the dining room while Michael and Bailey hid presents around the living room. Michael even had Bailey tuck one in the pocket of her jeans. She was fairly giddy trying to keep her secret. After Hayden found the first present, she pulled that present out of her pocket and yelled, "Here's one!"
Hayden received birthday money from his Gramma Joyce. He wanted some Mommy and Ma time. We set up Bailey and Claude in the basement with the movie of Charlotte's Web, chips and playdough. Then Andie, Hayden and I headed to Georgetown to let Hayden pick out something with his birthday money. I was very impressed with this process. Andie talked to him on the way in about just how much he could spend and that he couldn't buy everything a 6-year old boy wants. When he got in the store he carefully looked at the items he most wanted, picked the one he would purchase and then worked with Andie to carefully get the most 'bang for his buck' on that purchase. He ended up with a great dinosaur train set with the characters and the track.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
My Pajama Mornin'...
This morning I could have slept in...but I didn't. Claude had to be up at 7am (I know that is late for many people but time can be a relative thing) so I got up when he did. However, I get to have a pajama morning. Gotta love a cold morning and staying in comfy warm PJ's.
I'm getting my wash done, changing linens on my bed (or trying to), and doing a few fun things on my computer to start my morning. My computer was upstairs on the breakfast room table this morning. As I was working on it, I realized the sun was starting to come up.
I first woke up at 6:30am to a starry sky and total fog under the blanket of stars. When I say 'total fog' that is a perfect description. The train came across and I could hear it but see absolutely nothing.
Now I'm sitting at the breakfast room table and the sun is beginning to try and make it's appearance. At first the only thing I noticed was this large bank of clouds behind Sadieville. It was like a huge wall. You could tell there was now clear sky above it but it still was not quite bright enough to see anything but lots of fog, then this cloud bank and then dark sky.
I continued playing on my computer and then looked out the breakfast room window to see white tips on the top of the cloud bank. It was just thrilling to realize I could watch this fun sunrise in Sadieville. I decided to opt out of leaving my breakfast room spot, grab my camera, and take a few pictures of this beauty. Every few minutes I would jump up from the table and take a few pictures.
Some of the neat things I enjoyed were the fog between here and Sadieville as I looked toward Sadieville Christian Church. This time of year the leaves are off the trees and you can see the top of the church. To the right of this was the white tips on top of the cloud bank.
I also enjoyed the trees on the other side of the creek begin to show up as a little more light became available and as the fog started to lift a little with the sun. You could see tree tops through fog. Way cool.
There was even a tiny cloud puff right at the top of the cloud bank where the sun was going to come up. At first I was sure it was a star, then I realized it was just a bit of the cloud.
It made a delightful start to a morning when I didn't have to get up and run to do things. I just love a pajama morning with a great sunrise.
Here are some pictures as the morning progressed.
There, now I'm ready to go on with what looks to be a great day!
I'm getting my wash done, changing linens on my bed (or trying to), and doing a few fun things on my computer to start my morning. My computer was upstairs on the breakfast room table this morning. As I was working on it, I realized the sun was starting to come up.
I first woke up at 6:30am to a starry sky and total fog under the blanket of stars. When I say 'total fog' that is a perfect description. The train came across and I could hear it but see absolutely nothing.
Now I'm sitting at the breakfast room table and the sun is beginning to try and make it's appearance. At first the only thing I noticed was this large bank of clouds behind Sadieville. It was like a huge wall. You could tell there was now clear sky above it but it still was not quite bright enough to see anything but lots of fog, then this cloud bank and then dark sky.
I continued playing on my computer and then looked out the breakfast room window to see white tips on the top of the cloud bank. It was just thrilling to realize I could watch this fun sunrise in Sadieville. I decided to opt out of leaving my breakfast room spot, grab my camera, and take a few pictures of this beauty. Every few minutes I would jump up from the table and take a few pictures.
Some of the neat things I enjoyed were the fog between here and Sadieville as I looked toward Sadieville Christian Church. This time of year the leaves are off the trees and you can see the top of the church. To the right of this was the white tips on top of the cloud bank.
I also enjoyed the trees on the other side of the creek begin to show up as a little more light became available and as the fog started to lift a little with the sun. You could see tree tops through fog. Way cool.
There was even a tiny cloud puff right at the top of the cloud bank where the sun was going to come up. At first I was sure it was a star, then I realized it was just a bit of the cloud.
It made a delightful start to a morning when I didn't have to get up and run to do things. I just love a pajama morning with a great sunrise.
Here are some pictures as the morning progressed.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
This morning I hosted our Countryside Homemakers Club. I've been a member about two years now and this was the first time I've hosted the club in my home.
We have a lesson each month chosen by the Scott County Extension Office after surveying all the members of all the Homemaker's Clubs in our area. This month's lesson was about cooking in crock-pots.
As the hostess, you prepare the main dish and the guests bring a side dish or dessert of their own choosing to compliment the main dish you provide. Since our lesson was on crock-pot cooking, I picked my Chicken Ole recipe and did that in my crock-pot. It is like chicken enchiladas only made in layers instead of rolling everything in the tortilla. To supplement this, I made beef enchiladas and baked them in the oven. I made a double batch of each so I would have some for meals when the Marx family comes this weekend and because my hubby loves enchiladas.
We each brought our favorite crock-pot recipe and I copied them for everyone to take home.
After our meal, I taught the ladies to make a craft I learned at our Relief Society Retreat last year. They are little gift bags made out of 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper. The ladies really enjoyed making these little bags. We are donating two bundles of them for the auction they have in December for new members.
It was great fun to have these ladies in my home. I totally enjoyed their company. I truly believe they each had a good morning as well.
This afternoon Claude drove me to Georgetown to sing with Papa at the nursing home. He had errands to run while I was singing. I was sooooo very tired, it was really nice to have him doing the driving.
As we drove home I noticed that the 'gardens of signs' are disappearing. I learn a lot about the candidates by how well they remove all the signage that goes up for an election. Claude was out this morning collecting his signs while we had the Homemaker's Club meeting at the house. I truly believe that a person who cleans up those signs quickly is probably a lot more responsible than one who leaves their signs till someone else picks up for them. It's a little thing but I think it says a lot about the character of the candidates.
Now the Big Guy and I are home for a very quiet evening. I'm going to play on my computer and Claude is going to read his papers, we'll watch a little TV and graze on whatever is in the fridge. I love a quiet evening after a full day of work. It is just the perfect reward.
We have a lesson each month chosen by the Scott County Extension Office after surveying all the members of all the Homemaker's Clubs in our area. This month's lesson was about cooking in crock-pots.
As the hostess, you prepare the main dish and the guests bring a side dish or dessert of their own choosing to compliment the main dish you provide. Since our lesson was on crock-pot cooking, I picked my Chicken Ole recipe and did that in my crock-pot. It is like chicken enchiladas only made in layers instead of rolling everything in the tortilla. To supplement this, I made beef enchiladas and baked them in the oven. I made a double batch of each so I would have some for meals when the Marx family comes this weekend and because my hubby loves enchiladas.
We each brought our favorite crock-pot recipe and I copied them for everyone to take home.
After our meal, I taught the ladies to make a craft I learned at our Relief Society Retreat last year. They are little gift bags made out of 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper. The ladies really enjoyed making these little bags. We are donating two bundles of them for the auction they have in December for new members.
It was great fun to have these ladies in my home. I totally enjoyed their company. I truly believe they each had a good morning as well.
This afternoon Claude drove me to Georgetown to sing with Papa at the nursing home. He had errands to run while I was singing. I was sooooo very tired, it was really nice to have him doing the driving.
As we drove home I noticed that the 'gardens of signs' are disappearing. I learn a lot about the candidates by how well they remove all the signage that goes up for an election. Claude was out this morning collecting his signs while we had the Homemaker's Club meeting at the house. I truly believe that a person who cleans up those signs quickly is probably a lot more responsible than one who leaves their signs till someone else picks up for them. It's a little thing but I think it says a lot about the character of the candidates.
Now the Big Guy and I are home for a very quiet evening. I'm going to play on my computer and Claude is going to read his papers, we'll watch a little TV and graze on whatever is in the fridge. I love a quiet evening after a full day of work. It is just the perfect reward.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
We Have A Winner!!!
http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/KY/Scott/22314/37505/en/summary.html
Check out this link and you can see in print the results of the Sadieville elections.
After a nice dinner at Pizza Hut, Claude and I headed over the Scott County Courthouse to see the local results. This the fastest and best way to know what happened on the local elections.
There we found that Claude won his bid for election as Mayor of Sadieville, Kentucky for the next four years. We were just a huge bunch of grins.
Then we headed to the GOP Election Results Party and congratulated those who knew they won state and local elections.
Now we're home and I've printed out the official results for Claude's scrapbook as Mayor. Thought some of you might enjoy seeing them as well.
All I can say is...YIPPEE!!!
Check out this link and you can see in print the results of the Sadieville elections.
After a nice dinner at Pizza Hut, Claude and I headed over the Scott County Courthouse to see the local results. This the fastest and best way to know what happened on the local elections.
There we found that Claude won his bid for election as Mayor of Sadieville, Kentucky for the next four years. We were just a huge bunch of grins.
Then we headed to the GOP Election Results Party and congratulated those who knew they won state and local elections.
Now we're home and I've printed out the official results for Claude's scrapbook as Mayor. Thought some of you might enjoy seeing them as well.
All I can say is...YIPPEE!!!
Tending Things...
I'm going to pause from this fast paced week and actually make a Blog entry. I was thinking about it on the way back from Georgetown just now and the phrase "Tending Things" was what came to my mind. So, randomly, I'm going to list some things I've been 'Tending' over the last week...here goes.
First there is Papa. Bless his heart and his computer. The man hours and dollars spent keeping him going are disheartening. I got a call from him Sunday evening asking what his eMail address was. He did know it but it wouldn't work for him. He was just trying to reaffirm what it was. I told him and he tried it and it wouldn't work. I asked him if he could just shut it down and wait until I came in town Monday to grocery shop and I would go to his apartment first and see what I could do. Mind you, I am no computer repair person. I always say that I know just enough to be dangerous. But with the help of Papa and his ever-failing computer, I'm really learning a lot more.
Monday afternoon I made it to Papa's apartment about 1:30pm. I left about 4:30pm. After running a computer scan with his virus software, I noted a very, very, very LONG list of viruses now residing there. Then I tried opening Outlook Express. Everytime I tried to opened any software, I got a pop-up message stating the name of the file that was corrupted with some kind of virus. I wrote all these down as I tried to open each software shortcut on his screen. Everyone had a virus on the .exe file. This was not good.
I then called his telephone company. I finally got a human and asked them if they had any virus detecting software that scanned the eMail's they were sending to my father's home. Nope, they had none. Claude and I have that service through AT&T.
I then asked if Papa was obligated to any contracts with them for service for his long distance, landline phone and Internet/DSL. Nope, he was not obligated.
I then verified the cost of his service each month.
Then I called AT&T and asked what the very best deal they could give Papa if he changed telephone companies and used them for land line, long distance and Internet/DSL. They assured me they would be scanning his eMail's for viruses before they sent them to his computer. I got a deal for about half what Papa is paying now. We set up a date for installing his new modem and getting him with AT&T.
I called the previous company and set up a date for them to stop service with them and assured them the main reason was the lack of help with this virus software.
Papa will now take his computer and see if they can clean the viruses off it and we'll install Norton. Between Norton and the AT&T help, hopefully he will be okay.
Today I tended the 'sign gardens' and Claude has been tending them for weeks. What are sign gardens? These are the little beds of political signs with candidates names and what they are running for in this election written on them. They seem to appear in clumps a lot. The entryway to our subdivision has a bed of them. Claude has diligently tended this bed over the last few months without regard to who is running or what political party they are from. Everyone deserves a fair chance. He has straightened them after the storms came through last week, repaired the one that broke, etc.
This morning as Claude and I headed to Waffle House for our Election Morning Breakfast Tradition, we noticed that the garden of signs at the intersection of Hwy 25 & 32 was not in place. Someone came along and pulled all those signs out and layed them in the ditch or along the bend in the road. So on my way home from Georgetown, I pulled my car over and parked and replaced everyone's signs again. What a silly thing for someone to do. It makes no sense to me. I'm not voting for some of those guys but, gee whiz, what purpose does it serve to drop everyone's signs so no one can see these names.
I also had to 'tend' my tooth today. We had a bowl of trick or treat candy ready for Saturday evening. We left our porch and garage lights on. We had 3 door bell rings for a total of 5 kids. Sunday evening we lift our porch and garage lights on just in case someone else happened to use Sunday evening as their trick or treat outing. Not a soul rang the bell. I decided to have a box of Milk Duds. I love Milk Duds. They are one of my two favorite movie theater treats. I had not had Milk Duds in a long time and thought that sounded like a good snack and clearly Claude and I would need to consume this candy or give it away. I bit into the 3rd Milk Dud and I felt like I was chewing on something that was NOT right. Sure enough, my crown came off. Today I was in Georgetown tending that crown and getting it glued back in place. I will never eat Milk Duds again.
Tomorrow morning the Countryside Homemakers Club is coming to my home. I get to be the hostess this time. Our lesson is on crockpot cooking. The lunch I'll provide is Chicken Ole made in my crockpot. It's like chicken enchiladas made in layers instead of being rolled in the tortilla. I'm supplimenting it with a pan of beef enchiladas. Hopefully there will be leftovers for the Big Guy to enjoy.
So this past week I have been 'tending' my home in preparation for my guests to arrive. I figure it is a good time to do it. The Marx family will come and stay this weekend. Michael has soccer games to referee in Lexington and Georgetown. Then Bonnie will be here for a visit the 9th of November. Then it'll be time for Thanksgiving. Then it'll be time to put up the Christmas tree and decorations. So getting the house in order so I can just pick up and spruce up between these event seems like a good idea. It's been fun to do these things I have put off for a while because of other things that needed to be done.
Claude helped me over 3 days to get the windows in the house cleaned. That is not my favorite chore. I was trying to figure out why and decided it is because I have to have someone around to complete it. I can't hold the weight of the big windows that need extra support and I can't move the big furniture alone anymore. My mom was self-sufficient when it came to doing things she wanted done in her home. I did inherit that gene. My hubby is perfectly willing to help and happy to do so. I just really like to do it when I'm ready and not impose on him or wait for his schedule. But now they are cleaned again and it was fun to do it together.
I also 'tended' the ending of my calling as stake Relief Society president this last week. The final piece was completeing the costs for our Circle of Sisters event on October 23rd. I now have all the receipts in and that is sent off to the new president. It is done. I'll miss that calling terribly. But I'm finding myself realizing I don't need to think about that anymore from the president's perspective and it is actually kind of freeing.
I spent some time 'tending my mother' also. She is really failing. She is losing weight. I notice that most when I visit her and she is in bed. Her leg is getting bony. I can still get a smile or two out of her each visit. Papa calls when he has had success in feeding her. I know he is concerned. Sometimes she is almost agitated at trying to do something. She wanted to reach and do something with the wheel of her wheel chair and she was just adament she was going to do it. She had herself leaned way over in her wheelchair. Mia helped me get her up straight again and I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her and hugged until she settled down and I could feel her body relax. Alzheimer's is a hard way to go. My heart goes out to others who tread this path. I thank my Heavenly Father each day for the fact my mother had not become combative and/or foul mouthed. It happens a lot with Alzheimer's patients.
This morning Claude and I 'tended' our voting responsibilities.
This is a wonderful opportunity we are blessed with in the United States. This morning I took the sample ballot from the newspaper up to Claude and we reviewed it together. I was happy that I knew on my own who I was voting for. I enjoyed going to the polls and casting those votes. The most fun was voting for my hubby for Mayor. I had him wait so I could take this picture of him at the polling booth where he voted. Tonight we will go back into Georgetown and have a nice dinner together, then we'll head to the GOP Party to watch the results with friends.
Claude has waged an honest campaign and done his best to get his message out. He did one mailer and last week he went door to door and left little trash bags on each door with his message inside. I do truly hope he wins and has the opportunity to finish the things he has started and to accomplish some of what he wants to do in the future. He sure has put in the hours and the work so far. He would continue to be a great Mayor for Sadieville.
Well, these are a few of the things I have 'tended to' over the last week. There are a lot of things on my 'to do' lists that haven't gotten done but I feel very good about having direction and accomplishing what I have done.
Now...I must get back to 'tending' for my hostessing duties tomorrow.
First there is Papa. Bless his heart and his computer. The man hours and dollars spent keeping him going are disheartening. I got a call from him Sunday evening asking what his eMail address was. He did know it but it wouldn't work for him. He was just trying to reaffirm what it was. I told him and he tried it and it wouldn't work. I asked him if he could just shut it down and wait until I came in town Monday to grocery shop and I would go to his apartment first and see what I could do. Mind you, I am no computer repair person. I always say that I know just enough to be dangerous. But with the help of Papa and his ever-failing computer, I'm really learning a lot more.
Monday afternoon I made it to Papa's apartment about 1:30pm. I left about 4:30pm. After running a computer scan with his virus software, I noted a very, very, very LONG list of viruses now residing there. Then I tried opening Outlook Express. Everytime I tried to opened any software, I got a pop-up message stating the name of the file that was corrupted with some kind of virus. I wrote all these down as I tried to open each software shortcut on his screen. Everyone had a virus on the .exe file. This was not good.
I then called his telephone company. I finally got a human and asked them if they had any virus detecting software that scanned the eMail's they were sending to my father's home. Nope, they had none. Claude and I have that service through AT&T.
I then asked if Papa was obligated to any contracts with them for service for his long distance, landline phone and Internet/DSL. Nope, he was not obligated.
I then verified the cost of his service each month.
Then I called AT&T and asked what the very best deal they could give Papa if he changed telephone companies and used them for land line, long distance and Internet/DSL. They assured me they would be scanning his eMail's for viruses before they sent them to his computer. I got a deal for about half what Papa is paying now. We set up a date for installing his new modem and getting him with AT&T.
I called the previous company and set up a date for them to stop service with them and assured them the main reason was the lack of help with this virus software.
Papa will now take his computer and see if they can clean the viruses off it and we'll install Norton. Between Norton and the AT&T help, hopefully he will be okay.
Today I tended the 'sign gardens' and Claude has been tending them for weeks. What are sign gardens? These are the little beds of political signs with candidates names and what they are running for in this election written on them. They seem to appear in clumps a lot. The entryway to our subdivision has a bed of them. Claude has diligently tended this bed over the last few months without regard to who is running or what political party they are from. Everyone deserves a fair chance. He has straightened them after the storms came through last week, repaired the one that broke, etc.
This morning as Claude and I headed to Waffle House for our Election Morning Breakfast Tradition, we noticed that the garden of signs at the intersection of Hwy 25 & 32 was not in place. Someone came along and pulled all those signs out and layed them in the ditch or along the bend in the road. So on my way home from Georgetown, I pulled my car over and parked and replaced everyone's signs again. What a silly thing for someone to do. It makes no sense to me. I'm not voting for some of those guys but, gee whiz, what purpose does it serve to drop everyone's signs so no one can see these names.
I also had to 'tend' my tooth today. We had a bowl of trick or treat candy ready for Saturday evening. We left our porch and garage lights on. We had 3 door bell rings for a total of 5 kids. Sunday evening we lift our porch and garage lights on just in case someone else happened to use Sunday evening as their trick or treat outing. Not a soul rang the bell. I decided to have a box of Milk Duds. I love Milk Duds. They are one of my two favorite movie theater treats. I had not had Milk Duds in a long time and thought that sounded like a good snack and clearly Claude and I would need to consume this candy or give it away. I bit into the 3rd Milk Dud and I felt like I was chewing on something that was NOT right. Sure enough, my crown came off. Today I was in Georgetown tending that crown and getting it glued back in place. I will never eat Milk Duds again.
Tomorrow morning the Countryside Homemakers Club is coming to my home. I get to be the hostess this time. Our lesson is on crockpot cooking. The lunch I'll provide is Chicken Ole made in my crockpot. It's like chicken enchiladas made in layers instead of being rolled in the tortilla. I'm supplimenting it with a pan of beef enchiladas. Hopefully there will be leftovers for the Big Guy to enjoy.
So this past week I have been 'tending' my home in preparation for my guests to arrive. I figure it is a good time to do it. The Marx family will come and stay this weekend. Michael has soccer games to referee in Lexington and Georgetown. Then Bonnie will be here for a visit the 9th of November. Then it'll be time for Thanksgiving. Then it'll be time to put up the Christmas tree and decorations. So getting the house in order so I can just pick up and spruce up between these event seems like a good idea. It's been fun to do these things I have put off for a while because of other things that needed to be done.
Claude helped me over 3 days to get the windows in the house cleaned. That is not my favorite chore. I was trying to figure out why and decided it is because I have to have someone around to complete it. I can't hold the weight of the big windows that need extra support and I can't move the big furniture alone anymore. My mom was self-sufficient when it came to doing things she wanted done in her home. I did inherit that gene. My hubby is perfectly willing to help and happy to do so. I just really like to do it when I'm ready and not impose on him or wait for his schedule. But now they are cleaned again and it was fun to do it together.
I also 'tended' the ending of my calling as stake Relief Society president this last week. The final piece was completeing the costs for our Circle of Sisters event on October 23rd. I now have all the receipts in and that is sent off to the new president. It is done. I'll miss that calling terribly. But I'm finding myself realizing I don't need to think about that anymore from the president's perspective and it is actually kind of freeing.
I spent some time 'tending my mother' also. She is really failing. She is losing weight. I notice that most when I visit her and she is in bed. Her leg is getting bony. I can still get a smile or two out of her each visit. Papa calls when he has had success in feeding her. I know he is concerned. Sometimes she is almost agitated at trying to do something. She wanted to reach and do something with the wheel of her wheel chair and she was just adament she was going to do it. She had herself leaned way over in her wheelchair. Mia helped me get her up straight again and I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her and hugged until she settled down and I could feel her body relax. Alzheimer's is a hard way to go. My heart goes out to others who tread this path. I thank my Heavenly Father each day for the fact my mother had not become combative and/or foul mouthed. It happens a lot with Alzheimer's patients.
This morning Claude and I 'tended' our voting responsibilities.
Claude has waged an honest campaign and done his best to get his message out. He did one mailer and last week he went door to door and left little trash bags on each door with his message inside. I do truly hope he wins and has the opportunity to finish the things he has started and to accomplish some of what he wants to do in the future. He sure has put in the hours and the work so far. He would continue to be a great Mayor for Sadieville.
Well, these are a few of the things I have 'tended to' over the last week. There are a lot of things on my 'to do' lists that haven't gotten done but I feel very good about having direction and accomplishing what I have done.
Now...I must get back to 'tending' for my hostessing duties tomorrow.
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