Filling up a Weekend...

Yesterday was Saturday and we had a day at home...mostly. 

My goal was to clean my home. I waited until Claude was awake before I started my banging and moving around the house. Then I got things really moving. Laundry was started and I set up the ironing board. I had ironing from the previous weeks laundry and needed to get it done. While I did laundry I worked on that ironing. Then I just ironed whatever was in each load of laundry as it was completed. Poor ironing board stayed up all day.

I also started the oven cleaning. I kept smelling something different while I was ironing and couldn't figure out how one little iron could make that much of a fragrance. Then I realized it was the oven cleaning itself. Silly Moi!

I also sprayed down our bathroom shower to clean it. 

Claude was to meet Mike Mizell, a city commissioner, to go inside the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. Mike is new to the city commission and wanted to see what needs to be down as we work on restoring this historic landmark. Claude asked me if I wanted to come along and give a feminine perspective. Into the Jeep we got and away we went to meet Mike. Had a nice walk-thru. Made some plans and noted some concerns about the building. I took a few pictures of the building. Love this building and the Rosenwald School.

Then it was back to the house to complete those things I started previously. We paused to eat dinner at 6pm. Then we busied ourselves until time for the General Women's Broadcast on BYU-TV. Excellent broadcast. A couple of my favorite thoughts were:

1. Carol F. McConkie, 1st Counselor in the General Young Women's Presidency: She quoted from 1 Chronicles 16:29 "Worship the Lord in the 'beauty of holiness". What wonderful phrasing. She also stated that 'holiness' is a 'gift of the Spirit'. 
2. Pres. Henry B. Eyring, 1st Counselor in the 1st Presidency: "Those who do not see their weakness do not progress." Love that!

We stayed up a bit after the Broadcast but headed to be a little early. It would be another very early day today.

Claude was out the door by 6:45am. I was waking up at 6:45am. Today was our firstborn child, Nissa's birthday. She turns 46 years old today. Amazing. I spent a few minutes posting a birthday greeting on Facebook with a couple of pictures from her childhood. Then I was off to pick up Papa for Church.

I called Papa at 7:30am to remind him about Church and give him plenty of time to get dressed. I got to his apartment at 9:05am. I knocked really loud on his door as is my habit. He didn't respond so I let myself in as is my habit. When I entered the living room, there stood my poor father with his unbuttoned shirt on and he was trying to get into a pair of pants. Yike!! I quickly covered my eyes and made my way to the kitchen. I kept myself busy while Papa tried his best to get into those pants. Alas, his tummy has gotten so big he can't zip his pants. He buttoned his shirt and tried to zip and button his pants but it just wasn't going to happen. He also couldn't get the top button done on his shirt. We finally put his belt on and buckled it without the pants being buttoned or quite zipped to the top. Then I tried to button his top button because Papa is loosing feeling in his fingers and that doesn't help when the shirt is really too tight to button. I gave up and assured Papa he was fine without a tie. By now we had just a few minutes to get to church on time. I guess I'll be buying bigger pants for Papa.

Lots on my to do list for this evening so I'll end this Blog entry and be off to get those things accomplished. Life is just busy. 

Bailey's Boot Camp...

Bailey loves to perform. She is just uninhibited when she is on stage. In Crestwood, Kentucky, there is an old church that has been re-purposed as the Arts Center. It is a beehive of activity. This time, Bailey attended a Boot Camp for theater. Friday, March 24th, was Bailey's final class. After the class they were going to do a performance for family and friends. Claude and I made the journey to attend this very brief performance.

The music was mostly from The Lion King. Bailey had the part of Zazu. She chose to wear a blue T-shirt so she was as close to Zazu as she could be. Such fun to watch her act her part to the fullest. Lots of fun music and so there was lots of singing and dancing. The girl loves to dance and is getting quite good a learning steps. 

Here are a few pictures of our Bailey in full acting mode. Look for the blue T-shirt and black leggings on a girl with very long legs.

When they finished their performance they were all quite proud of what they did. They laughed and hugged each other and squealed with delight. It was like they were all the very best of friends. 

I was having trouble getting my camera to cooperate. So I handed it to Hayden to run as he saw fit and I grabbed my cell phone. When the performance was over, I noticed Hayden had taken three very interesting pictures. They were of me, Claude and Hayden...only they were reflections of each of us in the mirror behind the performers. You see, the room this was done in is the 'gym' and it doubles as the dance studio. Hayden was sitting on the floor at my feet and opted to try this form of photography. That boy cracks me up!

We'll be back in LaGrange Tuesday evening. Bailey will have her Performing Arts Club play at Buckner Elementary.

Just Plain Silly...

Sunday, March 19th, Claude was to speak in the Beaumont Ward (congregation). He needed someone to speak with him and asked if I might do that. The topic was the Plan of Salvation. Love this topic and was very happy to get to speak with Claude. 

Since we teach this in the first Temple Preparation Class, we opted to divide the topic as we do in that class, I would take Pre-Mortal life, the Fall, the Creation and Mortal Life. Claude would take Death, Resurrection and Eternal Life. I gave a talk on the Plan of Salvation in 2016 in two other wards. So I retrieved those notes, our notes from teaching the Temple Preparation class and the General Conference address we were given. It was just a delight to prepare that talk. Things just flowed and, when I finished, I read it out loud and it took 13 minutes. That was just about right. 

I had a conversation with Claude asking him how long I needed to give myself on a Sunday morning to get to the building in Lexington in time for a 9am beginning to the meeting. I set my alarm. Got up Sunday morning after Claude. He had meetings before this in Lexington so he was long gone when I got up and got ready. I left at 8am which should have been plenty of time...right? An hour for a 30-45 minute drive?

I arrived at the Tates Creek building at 8:47. Parked and strolled through the building to the chapel. There I saw Pres. Krebs shaking hands with people. The alarms went off in my head. This was a ward in the Lexington Stake. I was at the wrong building!!! It was now just 10 minutes until time for the Beaumont Ward to begin their meeting and it was a 20 minute drive at least to the other side of Lexington. Oh My!! I raced to my car, sent Claude a quick text that I was at the wrong building and was on my way. Then I hopped in my car and told Heavenly Father I would be breaking some speed limits but I still hoped for his help to get there safely. Yeah, right. Oh My!

I chose my path for what I thought would be the quickest drive and away I sped. Most lights were in my favor and I even found a parking space right by Claude in the Sir Barton building parking lot. 

When I entered the building, they had already started, of course. I entered the back of the chapel and found a seat on the opposite side near the back of the chapel. Claude happened to be at the pulpit performing some stake business. He saw me and continued on with the things he was assigned to do. As he turned to take his seat, he simply said into the microphone, "Come on up here Sandi!" All eyes turned. I dutifully but cheerfully made my way quickly to the stand and sat by Claude and the congregation enjoyed a bit of a giggle. 

It was an interesting beginning to my Sunday. I knew Claude would find humor in this. When the Lexington Stake got large enough several years ago, one of the wards in our stake still met in the Alumni building. That was the Beaumont Ward. All the time I was the Stake Relief Society president, that is where I went to visit them. After I was released, they made the change and moved all Lexington North Stake wards to the Sir Barton building and all the Lexington Stake ward to the Alumni building. I had not visited Beaumont since that change was made. So, mentally, they were still in the Alumni building. Goodness me. It was all very cute and just plain silly.

Stuff...

It seemed like just a few days ago I Blogged. Then I checked and it was actually two weeks ago. Goodness. Time just keeps moving way too fast. Only proving that old saying that time goes by quicker the older you get. It really does. So, I'll just post a few things that have happened in the last two weeks.

Saturday, May 4th I took two pictures of things that captured my fantasy. The first was my 2015 Christmas poinsettia. It is really starting in turn red. I guess there is enough darkness in the bathroom this time of year that it gives it enough darkness to turn red. I have so very much enjoyed this poinsettia. 

The second was my car. I was running errands at Walmart and when I came out the sun was shining on it and it looked purple to me. It is really Midnight Amethyst but should look purple some of the time. I love when I get a peek of the purple in its color.

Sunday, May 5th, Papa was planning on going to Church. He assured me Saturday he really wanted to go. I called Sunday morning at 7:30am to remind him and be sure we were still a go. He said he did but he was watching a show about the Presidents of the United States. He said he would finish that and then get ready. In my mind and heart I knew this meant I would get to his apartment and he would have forgotten because of his interest in the show. So, I prepared myself mentally and emotionally to deal with that. Then about 8am I receive a call from Papa. He realized this show ran longer than he thought and he really wanted to watch it. Now he wouldn't be going to Church. Okay. I sent Velvett a quick text and ask her if I can pick her up and take her to Church. She was elated. We enjoyed Testimony Meeting and then I took her home and I went to Papa's for a visit. While I was there, the Priests came to administer the Sacrament to Papa. He was very happy to have them come. Such is life with Papa on a Sunday morning. One just rolls with what he is up to.

Monday, May 6th, I was going to the store to purchase Papa's groceries and pulled up to a red light. My peripheral vision caught something and when I focused on it, it was something one doesn't typically see on the streets of Georgetown.

Steve Price is Georgetown's local character. He believes everything should be off-the-grid. This is Steve pulling a cart, that is loaded with lumber, by himself down Broadway, which is a major street in Georgetown. Gotta love his heart. A week before, I was in Kroger getting Papa's groceries. I was in front of the milk cooler and there were some ladies paused there looking at someone, trying to figure out what was happening. It was Steve Price in full winter gear with his old bicycle with him in the store in front of the milk cooler. He was trying to hold up this old bicycle and load it with several gallons of milk. Clearly some residents don't know about Steve and his eccentricities. He is a man with a cause and he does want the world to know and recognize it. He regularly files lawsuits over something others wouldn't even think about and then loses the lawsuit. He is harmless but and avid believer in living off-the-grid.

We are in the Lexington North Stake of the Church. Our stake had a special week of emphasis on taking names to the Temple. Claude and I went over Tuesday night (March 7th) and again Friday morning (March 10th). Claude would go back on Saturday but I had another meeting in the morning and then needed to spend time with Papa. Friday, after finishing at the Temple, Claude and I went to Red Robin for some lunch before heading home. The Louisville Temple is actually in Crestwood, Kentucky and about 1 1/2 hours away from our home. Claude ordered a burger which comes with 'bottomless fries'. They brought his meal and the presentation was lovely. As Claude got near the end of his little container of fries, he picked up the container to pour the remaining fries on the plate. Surprise. This is what the 'bottomless' fries container looked like. Claude said, "Now I understand why they call it bottomless!" Bwha-ha-ha!!

I was fascinated with the wall decor behind me. It was a set of four pictures made with rubix cubes that were turned to make their portion of each picture. The pictures were each 5 rubix cubes by 5 rubix cubes. I was impressed with someone doing that and thought it was quite cute.

Sunday, March 12th, was Daylight Savings Time change...Spring Forward as it were. Claude changed our clocks and we headed to bed early so our poor aging bodies might adjust more quickly to this hour difference. I truly appreciated my new car and the ease with which one can change the time in it. We were also happy that we got Claude to the airport on time for his flight to Washington, DC. He would be there through Wednesday at a National League of Cities event. The forecast was for a blizzard to dump a potential foot of snow while he was there. He was fortunate that it only dropped 4-5 inches. The people further north were not so fortunate. Sunday evening I prepared four Institute lessons. Yeah me!!

Sunday I also took Velvett to Church again. When I took her home, she asked me to wait in the car and she went in to get a gift for Claude. Several weeks ago, Claude was interviewed by Velvett's grandson, Paxton. He had a major project to accomplish in school. One of the things he had to do was interview someone in the military or in the government. Since Velvett knew Claude was Mayor of Sadieville, they asked if Paxton could interview Claude. Claude went to the Church on his way to Frankfort and Paxton interviewed him there. Paxton was so very happy about all of this. He took a picture of him and Claude together and put it in the center of his project board. The end result of all Paxton's study and his interview and his presentation with his project board was an outstanding grade. Paxton and his mother, Silver, made Claude a thank you gift and that was what Velvett was bringing to me in the car. I assured her I would give it to Claude when he returned that Wednesday. I took it home and took a picture of it and sent it to Claude. He was blown away by it. He posted the picture on Facebook with this comment: "Not long ago I was interviewed by young Paxton Owens, a 5th grade student at Northern Elementary. This kindness by him, and his classmates and teacher is a result of that great experience. Better than a paycheck..." 

Tuesday, March 14th, was repair day for Claude and me. Somewhere in living life, our bed broke. Well, the bed itself was okay but the mechanics under it that let you raise and lower the head and feet was completely broken. It was literally in pieces under the bed. We figure this could have happened with Miss Bailey who loves that bed when she visits or it could have happened when we had the upstairs carpeted and it was moved around for the carpet layers. Claude saved the pieces and checked to see if it was under warranty. It was and the lady he spoke with knew immediately what the problem was without him even explaining a lot. She told him they would mail a replacement piece that 'absolutely anyone' could install. Then we would mail the broken one back to her and they would pay the postage. The new part came while Claude was in Washington, DC. We paused on the 14th to work together to fix the bed. It required our moving the mattress off the bed and leaning it against the dresser. Then we lifted the board that supports the mattress which has the framework and mechanics for the bed attacked to the bottom side. It was a good thing there was two of us to do this. Claude had jokingly, at least I believe it was jokingly, asked me while in DC if I had fixed the bed yet! No, I had not. But together we managed to maneuver everything and get the new piece in place and the broken part in the box. It was true, 'anyone' could have fixed this. However, it really takes two 'anyones' to maneuver all that heavy bed stuff.

Thursday the 16th of March Claude received in the mail a new 'thing' to add to his Jeep. His previous Jeep had a spare tire cover that simply said "Jeep" in big letters. This time he found one with a compass and I must admit he did a fine job of picking out something very nice.

We have had two of our four March Birthday's so far in March. Aubrey Anne and Andie. Since Aubrey is in Michigan, we didn't get to see her, but we were able to hoof it over to LaGrange to help Andie celebrate. We actually took charge of shuttling the Mini's to their events and then picking up dinner on the way home. This gave Andie two whole hours to herself. We even got a haircut done for her before dinner. Hayden had a movie he wanted the family to see so we all watched Moana together. Cute movie. We purchased an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for dessert. It was a lovely afternoon and evening. With the exception of getting dinner.

Andie wanted Big R Barbeque for her birthday dinner. We all love their barbeque. I called ahead and ordered 12 smoked wings, a family pack of ribs with two sides and a family pack of brisket with three side and a package of burger buns. We got to Big R's and Hayden went in with me to pick up the order. They were bringing it to the counter right after I paid. Hayden took the heavy bag and I took the other two bags and away we went to the Marx home. Claude and I started to set up the island in the kitchen so everyone could serve themselves. Claude looked at me and asked where the wings were. Hmmmm...no wings. I called Big R's and explained and she was immediately apologizing. They found the wings right after I left. I assured her we would be back to pick them up. Claude drove back and I cut Andie's hair. When he got back we set the wings on the island with the rest of the food only to realize the rolls were not there. Goodness!! We did not go back for the rolls. The food was great as usual and I really don't think we have ever had that much trouble getting the entire food order.

While we were waiting to watch the movie, Hayden had the theme song playing on the DVD. He had Percy in his lap and was moving his arms to the music like he was dancing. These cats are something to behold. Percy was so patient with Hayden. Even when Hayden started to tickle him under his arms. Percy never flinched at all. We were in stitches.

This is Bailey singing Happy Birthday to her mom before we had cake. The kids is all action.

That brings us to today. Whew! Life is good. Really, Really it is!

A Little Too Much Water...

Oh, the rains came down and the floods came up. 
The rains came down and the floods came up. 
Oh the rains came down and the floods came up.
But the house on the hill stood firm!

Hallelujah!

We had big rains Wednesday, March 1st. Well, they came during the night and continued into Wednesday morning. When I looked out Wednesday morning this is what the creek looked like at the bottom of our hill. The trees in the middle of the creek are really the supposed to be on the creek bank. 

And this is what the creek looked like from the east side of the bridge into our neighborhood. There is actually a little dam in this picture but you can't tell where it is. It is between the trees and is completely covered over with water.

And this is what the creek looked like from the west side of the bridge into our neighborhood. The first picture is the feeder creeks behind the old gauging station into Eagle Creek flooded and going into Eagle Creek. The second picture is a view down Eagle Creek on the west side of the bridge. 

As a point of reference, this west side is usually just a tiny stream with grasses growing in it and low enough in places you can hop across dry land to the other side.

A friend posted this picture on her Facebook page. This is a major intersection about 7 miles from our home. I usually drive this road coming home on Wednesday nights from teaching Institute. This Wednesday night I tried thinking it would be clear by 9:30pm. Alas, I got right to the intersection and it was closed. I had to turn around and go back to Georgetown to get another road to take me to I-75. 

Nothing like a little weather action to liven up our lives. No one injured or hurt in any of the damage in our area.

Turkey...

Monday, February 22nd, I bought Papa's groceries and went to his apartment to put them away and then clean. While pausing to chat with Papa every now and then, we noticed his friends...the turkeys. Papa has been telling me about these guys. It seems they come around frequently now. When he is sitting in his chair in the back bedroom they walk past in his back yard. Sometimes they will come to his window and peek in at him. Sometimes they even peck at his door from his kitchen to the patio. There were six of them on Monday. One even flew for just a bit to get out of our sight.

So there you have it...Papa's friends are turkeys!!