Creedence Clearwater Revisited...

Friday, September 22nd, Claude and I had ticket to see Creedence Clearwater Rivisited in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. This was at their Event Center an a new venue for us. This city has done an excellent job of getting their old downtown area in good shape to welcome people. 

Now, Claude and I learned something this time. I purchased the tickets on line. I printed the tickets at home right after I purchased them. I took them to Claude after I put the information on my calendar. Claude got the tickets and put the information on his calendar. We both put 7pm for the start time.

We stopped in Florence to have something to eat. I checked my Google Map and found there were three wrecks on I-75 between Florence, Kentucky and the exit to I-275 which we were taking. Goodness. The total wait time for these wrecks was anticipated to be 30 minutes. That was all the extra time in our plan. So, as soon as we finished eating, we quickly got in the Jeep and headed to the Lawrenceburg Event Center. We were pleasantly surprised that all the wreck activity was on the opposite side of I-75. Felt bad for those people but it was great for us. 

We arrived at the Lawenceburg Event Center at 6:45pm. Quickly took a walk to the Ohio River edge. Then into the venue. There was a place to line up for entry with a security thing to go through. However, there were very few people in the line. Claude and I were surprised at that but we got in line and started our wait. Pretty soon it was past 7pm and the security people were showing no signs of letting us into the seating. Hmmmm... Claude pulled out the tickets and we looked again. Sure enough it said 7pm. Now it was past 7pm and still only a few people in the line and no movement with the security check-in. Hmmmm... Claude looked at the tickets again and that is when we noticed the 'drs' after the time. It seems the doors open at 7pm. I Googled the event and, sure enough, the start time was really 8pm. I don't sit still well and an hour of sitting could well do me it. But there were lots of interesting people to watch as they came into the Event Center. 

Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up many years ago. This Creedence Clearwater Revisited had two of the original members of the band who are now in their 70's. They were the drummer and the bass player. The other three members were new to the group but were excellent. They played all the old favorites. The lead singer's voice was not exactly like John Fogerty but a very good close second. The audience was ready for this event. It was a really good evening, even if we waited an hour for it to start. Silly Us!!

A New Great Grandmonster...

Thursday, September 21st, Aubrey Anne gave birth to her first baby and our 2nd Great Grandmonster. His name is Nelson Dwayne Thompson. He was 8 pounds 7 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. The name Nelson is my father's middle name. Aubrey's father and his father and his grandfather all were named David Wayne Thompson. I'm guessing the Dwayne is a combination of David and Wayne.

So many, many concerns with this baby. Aubrey is not married, does not know the father for sure, and has no permanent home for her and Nelson. This gives this great grandmother a lot of angst. It is the first time I have felt super strongly that a baby needed to be placed for adoption. I know so many people that are great parents to so many adopted children. One family in our ward has 5 kids, all adopted. But Aubrey has been adamant she will not place her baby for adoption. We'll see but I have serious concerns.

Claude and I will make a trip to Michigan in a few weeks to meet this little man. I sent a blanket I made a month ago. Lots of prayers for this situation. Lots of prayers.

Visitor From the West...

My sister, Junie, visited September 19th through 22nd. She came to spend time with Papa. To facilitate that I had all his things in order Monday, September 18th and told him I was going to back away and let him have time with Junie. Which I did.

Junie's flight got in on Tuesday the 19th in the late afternoon. I called Papa just as her plane was to touch down to remind him she was coming and to give her another hour and a half to get to his apartment. She went directly to Papa's and came here after that visit.

Wednesday the 20th she visited him in the morning. She purchased the movie "Sargent York" for them to watch. This was the first movie Papa ever saw at the movie theater. Then she left for a bit to do her walk. She went back and took Papa to the nursing home. Claude and I had to be in Georgetown in the evening so we met her at Panera and all had dinner together. Claude and I each returned home after we finished our various responsibilities.

Thursday the 21st she took Papa for a car ride. She sent me a text as they were leaving. Claude drove me into Georgetown and we went through some more things in Papa's apartment to prepare for him to move out. Junie got back to Sadieville in the early evening. Claude prepared our dinner and we ate before our conference call with Junie's hubby, Steve, and Neffie and Mike, my other sister and her hubby. 

We all shared how we each felt Papa was doing and what we felt we should do next. It was the opinion of all of us that he is ready for the nursing home. It felt good to know my sisters were in agreement regarding this move. Then we discussed how to handle this financially. I made an appointment that afternoon for Wednesday, September 27th, to talk with Dr. Weckman as my first step in making this happen. 

Friday Junie slept in. She was going to the Ark Encounter on her way to the airport. She enjoyed that and got to the airport in plenty of time only to find the Cincinnati Airport had no electricity. Goodness. I Googled to find out what the problem was. It seems there was a computer issue in Atlanta with Delta Airlines and it shut down lots of flights. Junie said they had to check her purse by emptying it and patting her down as they had no power at security. My concern for her was all the glass windows in the Cincinnati airport with a very hot sun beating down on them. Wouldn't take long for that completely closed off area to get very hot with no air moving around. They finally got it all corrected and she was off to her home in Utah.

She had a good visit. I saw Papa Friday and he was happy with her visit and the drive they took. 

Now I must go through to steps to see if we can even get Papa out of his lease, which we just signed, and into the nursing home. First step, consult with his doctor. Wish me good fortune.

Miscellaneous Musings...

We keep a running grocery list on the counter in the kitchen. When we run out of something or think of something we need, we put it on the list. Every now and then one of us will stop and get groceries. As I passed this list laying on the counter, something caught my eye and I paused to see what I was really reading. This is vintage Claude. Can't tell you how many times I've gotten to the grocery store in our 47 years and found something embedded in the list that makes me laugh right out loud in the store. Can you find it in this picture?

Then, there is my thumb. On Monday, September 11th, the old nail finally came completely off. I believe the new nail will eventually grow completely out, however, it definitely has a big ridge at the bottom over the cuticle area (doesn't really show in the picture) that I believe will always be there. 

Claude participated in a 'Heart Walk' held at Georgetown Community Hospital by the Heart Association. It was a 3K walk, I believe. He had a good morning doing this walk on Saturday, September 16th. 

I didn't get to do this with him as I attended a baptism for a little girl that was a Sunbeam when I was Primary President. Now she is eight years old and was baptized. Very nice. Then I went to visit with Papa. I pulled through Burger King to get each of us a small soda. The car in front of me had these license plates in the back window. Cracked me up.

The most distressing thing is Claude's implant of his tooth. We do truly believe this tooth is snake-bit. It started to wiggle. Claude went to our family dentist and he thought it might be okay. Geez!! But he referred him to an oral surgeon who does implants since the surgeon Claude used for the implant was not available. Claude went to this new oral surgeon and he simple pulled the tooth right out with his bare hands. It was definitely a reject of that implant. There was a long sad story about getting this one in, in the first place. Now it didn't take. Claude made an appointment with the original oral surgeon and was supposed to have x-ray's taken the afternoon of the scout spaghetti dinner. Claude left me at Papa's for a visit, he went to the surgeon, then we were to head for LaGrange after he finished. It turns out the computer's mother board was bad at the surgeons and they had no computers and could do no x-rays. Claude could have sat and waited till 3pm to see if they could fix it. But that was too late to get to the spaghetti dinner so he left after rescheduling. We'll see how this goes. Claude is not amused...and I am not either.

The Scouts & Spaghetti...

Our Hayden is in Boy Scouts. His troop holds a huge Spaghetti Dinner each year as their fundraiser. They easily feed 500 people at this event. We have supported financially each year but this was our first opportunity to actually attend. It is held at a Crestwood United Methodist Church. It was very well organized (which comes from years of doing this).

Claude and I arrived early so we went to the Marx home. Claude was able to get a nap. I was able to work on my embroidery project. Percy, their cat, would stroll over to the love seat where Claude was stretched out and Claude would scratch his back or ears. I did notice the clever use of a magnetic white board on the side of the Marx refrigerator. There seems to be a perpetual Tic-Tac-Toe game between Michael and his children. I found this very cute.

It turns out that Andie took Bailey to her Performing Arts Club practice at the Arts Center which is about a block away from the Methodist Church. We received a text from Andie the night before stating a conversation that she had with Bailey. Bailey was very anxious that Claude come to pick her up from the PAC practice. It seems she was missing her 'big teddy bear'. I shared this text interchange with Claude and his heart melted. He would pick up Bailey. 

Andie and Michael would both work at the dessert table selling desserts throughout the evening. Andie had to go purchase a dessert to donate for this table as she did not get one made the night before. So as we sat in the Marx family room, the plan unfolded. Hayden would ride the bus home and we would get him to the spaghetti dinner. He had to work a shift from 7pm to the end. He would need to eat before. Andie would take Bailey to her PAC performance and leave her there to go purchase a dessert and then she would go directly to the spaghetti dinner to start her shift at 5pm. Michael had the next shift and would come by himself. Tickets for Claude and I were on their table and Hayden needed no ticket as he was a scout and working the event. Whew!! The logistics to get things done. It all worked out great.

We ate with Hayden. 

Claude left to pick up Bailey. She ate. Then Claude bought desserts for each of us. Then the Mini's started their roaming. Hayden set the alarm on his cell phone so he and his friend would be back inside in time for their shift. You see outside were all kinds of games and things to play for a dollar a pop. Bailey had never shot any kind of gun before and they had a paint ball gun to shoot. You get seven tries for a dollar. Bailey got three out of seven. Amazing!! 

Andie and Michael each worked the dessert table the entire event. They did spell each other for a quick dinner break. 

There were two walls lined with silent auction items. Claude bid on and won tickets to Keeneland which we will use when the Mini's come for their fall break visit, two filet mignon steaks, and pizzas from Hometown pizza. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously. 

I Looked Like Donna Reed...

Saturday, September 9th, and Sunday, September 10th, were a weekend I told my hubby that I felt like Donna Reed. If you are young, you don't have a clue about Donna Reed. When I was a child, the Donna Reed show was a television sitcom along with Father Knows Best and several others. The mother's in these shows all woke up in the morning and got dressed in a dress and heels and that was what they wore ALL DAY LONG!!! If you know me at all, you will know I love being barefoot best. I love jeans and a sweatshirt in the winter and capri's and a t-shirt in the summer. I am a very casual person. But this particular weekend I awoke in the morning and put on a dress and heels and stayed that way all day long...both days!! It was grueling!!

Saturday the 9th, my first event was Time Out for Sisters. This is done each year by our Stake Relief Society presidency. They have amazing speakers for two hours. Then they serve an equally amazing lunch to all the ladies who attend. A gift bag is given to each lady attending. This year I was asked to play the organ. I haven't done that in a couple of years. I spent two hours practicing on the organ in our Georgetown building and two hours practicing at the Stake Center before the Saturday event. All that for a half hour of prelude and three hymns. But it was great fun to be playing the organ again. The event was really, really good. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the speakers that day:

1. Love, guided by the Spirit, is Christlike love. ~~ Sally Daetwyler, Assistant Temple Matron, Louisville Temple
2. Christlike love goes the extra mile. ~~ Sally Daetwyler, Assistant Temple Matron, Louisville Temple
3. There is nothing normal about being happy all the time. ~~ Kimberly Toronto, LDS Family Therapist

My next event was the Seminary & Institute Inservice. Another really good meeting. Then I was off to visit with Papa for a bit. Then back to our casa in Sadieville where I took a few minutes to work on my Institute lesson for the next Wednesday evening. Then Claude and I drove back to the Stake Center for a mini-Devotional for the Camino Branch for the Self-Reliance Initiative.

Then I went home and got out of my Donna Reed costume for Saturday.

Sunday the 10th, I dressed in a fresh set of Donna Reed-like clothes and was off too Church with Claude, then a visit with Papa, then home to finish up my Institute lessons. In the evening I went to Georgetown and picked up Nikki and took her to the Alumni Building to have dinner with the other Young Single Adults and to watch the Worldwide Devotional for them that was broadcast from Utah. Elder David A. Bednar and his wife were the speakers. They gave a wonderful address about the importance of doing Family History research and temple work. 

After I returned home it was out of that Donna Reed gear and back into comfy clothes for an hour until time for bed. Hallelujah!! I don't believe anyone can really enjoy that kind of attire all the time. And I didn't even do any house cleaning in it!!!

Southern Comfort...

Wednesday, September 6th, found me at Frank Shoop for an oil change for my car. We have used Frank Shoop since we moved to Kentucky 13 years ago. They are like family that you just get to see once in a while. I checked my car in and headed to the waiting room. This is my post to Facebook after I sat down in the waiting room.

At Frank Shoop for an oil change. The service guy said, "We'll get right to this Darlin'." Passed the last service lady going to the waiting area and heard her call the person on the phone Honey. I love the Southernisms. My sales guy happened into the service area and we chatted. Kim was there with a smile. I love the cheerful care given at Frank Shoop. Today promises to be a good day.

A friend commented on my post with this: "And there are some nitwit women who would sue because of the familiarities used. Amazing!"

I thought about that a bit. Never occurred to me that anyone was being anything but polite in a very southern way. Growing up in Louisiana everyone was Sugar, or Honey, or Sweetie. It was just the way of talking to others. It is a tougher world we live in where these niceties can't be shared without someone choosing to be offended. I personally like the niceties. Claude loves being called 'Honey' when we go through a drive-thru at a fast food place. 

I understand there are people who would turn these niceties into something rude. These people do exist and they are appalling to me. But even with them, I hope we don't lump everyone into a bad category and determine it is politically incorrect to use these terms in a kind way. Come on people. Let's just enjoy be nice to each other. 

The Big Fizzle...

Monday, August 21st, was a momentous day...or supposed to be. It was for many. Not so much for Claude and me.

Monday morning I hurried in to Georgetown to purchase groceries for Papa and then clean in his apartment. I wanted to be home in time to watch the Solar Eclipse that was to pass over Kentucky. 

I had been telling Papa each day for the past week that it was coming. This was followed by a warning not to go out and look up at the sun when he felt the sky darken during the afternoon and wondered what it is. Since he has the memory of a gnat, I was hoping that a week worth of repetition would help with that. As I left got ready to leave Papa's that day, he said, "You know there is a Solar Eclipse coming, I will just go outside and look at it!!! Oh My Heck!!! I found the two channels that would be best for Papa to watch on his television and made sure he was on one of those with the other on recall on his remote. Then I posted a large yellow sign on his front door and his back door to "NOT LOOK AT THE SUN". Then I left him to meet Claude at our home to experience the Solar Eclipse.

My bad...I did not purchase the glasses. All along I felt I would watch it on television at home. We put a white sheet on the driveway and proceeded to watch television in the living room as the Solar Eclipse went over Oregon and across to some National Park in the west. Then it came closer to Kentucky and the news shifted to Hopkinsville, Kentucky where the eclipse would pass directly overhead and last the longest. It was amazing to watch the sky get dark all around the people. Cameras trained on the sun showed the moon passing in front of the sun and blocking it out and then moving away. They talked about the air getting 10 degrees cooler. The animals thinking it was night and getting quiet. The Lexington news station even had a pen of roosters because the story goes that they will crow when the sun comes back out. I do not think that happened but you have to bless their hearts for giving that extra effort for us viewers in case they did. 

Now it should be coming closer to Sadieville. I would go on the deck and take video of the same stretch of ground in our back yard. Then I would go to the front porch and take video of the same stretch of ground, all this was a hope to watch shadows change and the sky darken. Between I was checking the television to see what they were showing with cameras trained on the sun in Lexington. One time on the front porch Claude said, "Do you hear that?" Nope, don't hear anything. That was what he was trying to tell me. All the birds around us in Sadieville were absolutely silent. That was when the eclipse was right over Sadieville. However, our sky was not darkening at all. I have video to prove it. I have video of what it was doing on the television as the people all over Lexington were watching it with their glasses. But, nothing in Sadieville. It got a lot cooler for a bit, the television was saying it was over us, but no change in the light going to dark, no movement of shadows on the white sheet or the plants in the front and the back as I videoed them. Nothing people, absolutely nothing. 

Lesson learned. Buy the glasses. Geez!! 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the Solar Eclipse taken in Salt Lake City, Utah over the Salt Lake City Temple.

And this is another that I really like. It was taken in Logan, Utah looking over the Logan Temple. This is neat to me because Claude and I were married in this temple 47 years ago. 

So, Claude and I both felt the Solar Eclipse was a big fizzle for us. Other were have epiphanies all over the land. We were not. My suggestion is to buy the silly glasses. I bet it would have been something more had we looked at it directly.

On a side note...Papa fell asleep watching the television and missed the entire thing.

Interesting Things...

While talking to someone, we used the term 'bucket list'. I wondered where that term started. Did a little research and this is what I learned. Bucket list comes from the phrase 'kick the bucket' meaning getting things done before you die. Why does kick the bucket reference when you die though? More research. When someone was hanged or wanted to hang themselves, they would stand on a bucket and someone would kick the buck out from under them leaving them to hang till they died. Okay, that is a might gruesome. But I am sure I will think that process through now every time I use the term bucket list...and so will you!!

Katelyn took some of my crabapple jelly to work with her. I'm not sure if it was on a sandwich or what. Nonetheless, she works at a bank and a client came in who sells jams and jellies and things like that. Katelyn shared a taste of the crabapple jelly with this person. They fell in love with it. They were impressed that I would take the time to make a jelly instead of a jam. Not sure why. I asked Katelyn if they grow crabapples in Michigan. Not sure about that either. This person wanted the recipe I followed. I had to chuckle when I told Katelyn I simply followed the recipe in the Sure Jell box!! Oh My!!

Finished. Finally. My mother crocheted tablecloths for each of her daughters. I have the pattern book she used to make mine. I wanted to crochet each of my girls a tablecloth. I started one and measured Andie's kitchen table so I made it first. It has taken two years to finish. I will make one for Nissa but I want her to purchase her home and get a new table before I crochet it. Doesn't make much sense to do that for a table she won't be using, especially given how long it take to make one. There are 225 squares in this one. Each square takes about 1 1/2 hours. I crochet quickly so that is quite a bit of time. Then you have to crochet a border all around the outside edge to finish it off. Lots of hours and lots of love go into these things.

This is just fun. I posted a month ago about friends giving us salad dressing from Zia's in St. Louis. Well, we got the bright idea to see if we could order it. We could and I did. I order the regular, the fat-free and the sugar-free. I of course order too much. So we will be giving some of this to our kids for Christmas presents. It is just the best salad dressing. Our plan is to three all three and find which one we like best. Then we'll order that from now on.

Kids I Have Taught...

Serving in the Church has given me the opportunity to teach and work with young people. Right now I teach an Institute class each Wednesday evening. On August 9th we had four people attend the class. One was Elder Josh Hale. Many of our young people serve missions for the Church. The are usually sent somewhere far from their home. Now they are doing Church Service Missions with some of these young people. Josh is one who is called on a Church Service Mission. He helps the Louisville Kentucky Mission President with inspecting apartments the missionaries live in, going on splits with the missionaries serving in that mission and serving in the Louisville Kentucky Temple two days each week. He is kept very busy but lives at home. On the 9th his Missionary Name Tag arrive and our Stake President, President Jenkins, came to the Institute class to give Elder Hale his name tag. To say Elder Hale was happy is an understatement. Just look at that grin!! 

Then Pres. Jenkins suggested we get a picture of all the missionaries. Valorie Linker completed her mission a year ago. She still carries that treasured name tag in her purse. In the center are Elder MacIntosh and Elder Kloepher. Josh is on the end. Aren't they handsome young people? 

I love teaching these young people. They are the wonderful young adults.

Then August the 5th I was privileged to attend the baptism of Olivia Coyne. When I was Primary president, Olivia was only 4 years old. Now she is 8 years old and baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What a treat to watch them grow and enjoy these moments in their lives. 

I am so grateful to be a member of the Church. I am grateful we are given opportunities to serve and to learn from that service.

Caring for Papa...

After taking Claude to the airport on August 1st, I drove back to Papa's and picked him up for a drive in the country. This time I arranged with Andie to meet them at Cracker Barrel for lunch. Michael was going to meet us and have lunch with us. It was a very nice way to visit with the Marx family. 

Hayden has some warts growing on his thumb. He is having some treatments to freeze the warts and is seeing a doctor about them in a week. I smashed my thumb in my car door a couple of months ago. I have just been letting my thumb heal naturally. We compared thumbs and then took this picture of our poor old thumbs trying to heal. Goodness. 

The Mini's brought my birthday presents to our lunch. They had each carefully picked a gift for me. Hayden managed to find purple cereal! Is that cool or what? Bailey searched and found the right book for me to put my lists in. This clever book had pages with months and numbers at the bottom so you can circle what the date is you are needing things done by. She even wrote me a list on one of the pages. Love her little heart. Loved these gifts from our Mini's. 

After lunch I drove Papa on back roads to his home. He enjoyed the drive a lot.

Then there is the problem with his bathrooms. The toilets in both were leaking. The front bathroom had a cracked toilet and it was replaced and the floor was also had new tile put on it. Then they did the back bathroom floor and reset the toilet. It is nice to have these bathrooms fixed. I sat in Papa's apartment four out of 5 of days of one week so I could talk with the repair men as they came and went and keep everything straight for the first bathroom. The second bathroom was only two days. 

We are still up and down on the blood density. It is a strange thing that something could be so critical but you can't tell it without taking the little blood test. It doesn't show up on Papa or in his behavior, it just shows up on the test if it is too thick or too thin. Then they adjust the meds and we keep on trekking along. 

Papa's memory is horrid. He really melds things together in his memory. Then he ponders on something and comes up with a way that something would work and that is his reality. Doesn't matter if it is accurate or not, it is just his reality. That has given me a lot of pause. I have always felt that I would take these multitudinous pictures I take and my Blog and our travel scrapbooks and find joy and comfort in looking at them and remembering when I could do things and did go and see places and things. You know, have that joy in the journey again. Then I watch my Mother lose her memory with Alzheimer's. Now I watch Papa not remember so many things. I asked him if he remembered giving Mom Tyler roses on a whim when they lived in Shreveport. He has no memory of that at all. Yet she loved it and he loved doing it for her. Now, it is gone. Many, many things like that he has lost from his ability to remember. And, I pause and wonder what it will be like for me. Maybe I won't remember either. But maybe the pictures will help and the Blog will bring back memory. Or, maybe I'll just enjoy it as though it were all new to me. I'll just have to wait and see what my journey is at that point.

Grandmonsters...

Realized Thursday, August 24th, that Claude and I had Friday, August 25th as a free evening. I asked Claude what he thought of offering to watch the Mini's so Andie and Michael could have a date. He was on board for that idea. I sent Andie a text and proposed to her that we do this. She was very happy with that idea.

Claude was already in Louisville at a meeting. He went to the Marx home after they finished Friday and was able to get a nice nap before the Mini's finished school. Hayden wanted his Grampa to pick him up at school. Andie sent a message to Buckner so Claude could pick up Bailey from Bear Care and then they drove to the parking lot and waited for Hayden. Now both kids could have ridden the bus home but it is just fun to have your Grampa come in his bright green Jeep and pick you up at your school.

I drove over and met them just as they were returning to the Marx home. Andie got home from school soon after. I cut her hair and she got ready for her 'hot date' as the Mini's call it.

The Mini's choice for dinner was Dairy Queen. It seems they knew they had a new kind of Blizzard and that was what they really wanted. They each ate a good dinner so they could have dessert. Claude took them to the counter and they picked out what they wanted. We took our dessert to the tables in front of Dairy Queen and finished them outside. Hayden found a Tic Tac Toe game on his cell phone and challenged Claude to a game or two. Bailey found Survival Craft on my Kindle and started it again. After my factory reset, she had to start all over again on her buildings. It was just a lovely evening, cooler than usual and we enjoyed sitting outside and visiting and playing. Then we went back to the Marx home and was America's Funniest Videos till bed time. Nice evening with our Mini's. Michael and Andie came home after having a great dinner date at a new restaurant.

Thursday, the 29th, I was refilling the Kleenex boxes in three places. One was the guest room. When I pulled the Kleenex box out of its cover, it rattled. Hmmm... I turned it upside down and out fell a Reese's Peanut Buttercup. The little kind. Bailey did a scavenger hunt for us over the 4th of July. She hid this Reese's Peanut Buttercup in that box. I just sat and laughed for a bit at our girl and her antics.

I have collected a few pictures of Raelyn. Our great grandmonster. Her dad plays hockey. I love the one of her watching him playing hockey. The next one is Raelyn watching a game with her dad. Her mother loves to read. The last picture is Raelyn reading in her bed after her mom and dad read to her and just before she goes to sleep. Such a cutie. Here are a few:

Oops!!

Sometimes...things just don't go like we planned in our heads.

Katelyn and Drew had their 2nd Anniversary on Monday, August 14th. Claude and I decided to get them a lot of gift cards to Taco Bell. They LOVE Taco Bell. It took us three stores to find Taco Bell gift cards. I put them with a card that explained the 2nd anniversary is supposed to be 'cotton'. Since we knew they found Taco Bell so 'cotton pickin' good, we got them Taco Bell for their 2nd anniversary. I put the gift cards in the mail the next morning, which would have been a Friday, hoping against hope it would make it to them in time. It did not. Not only that it didn't arrive a week after I put them in the mail box. They were just sent US Mail and I had nothing to track or check the envelope. It was just a note card size envelope. Katelyn and I had a talk about it and she said she would see if it went in someone else's mailbox by mistake. Hmmm... Then on August 22nd I received a very happy text message from Katelyn with a picture of the notecard envelope. The gift cards had arrived and we had two very happy people who would dine on Taco Bell that night. 

Sunday, August 20th was the next major oops. Andie is teaching first grade this year. She found a way to get a grant for tablets to be kept in her classroom. There is some way of tracking the kids work or something that she was going to do with these tablets. The key was the iPad is a lot more expensive then a Kindle HD. If she knew a Kindle HD would do what she wanted, she would apply for a grant to get them. She sent a text to Claude and me asking if that is what we had and would they do what she wanted them to do. She told me the two apps she needed to use and she would also need a camera. I found the apps in the app store and put them on my Kindle. Then I tried to use my camera. It wouldn't work at all. It would just freeze up and the only way to get out of it was to shut the Kindle down and restart it. Great! I really never use the Kindle camera. I just use my cell phone. I got Claude's Kindle and his camera worked fine. I reported to Andie that the apps could be added to a Kindle and the camera should work (although mine did not at that time). 

I sat Sunday evening and tried multiple times to get the camera to work. It just wouldn't. I contacted Amazon to get some help with my problem. I went through two techs that help via phone calls and they couldn't find anything to make the camera work or any reason why it wouldn't work. He had me do that thing where you hold the button to shut down the Kindle for 40 seconds and it kind of does a soft reset. That was done twice at least and it never worked. Then he had me reset my Kindle to factory settings. UGHHHHH.... That means all my Gospel Library files will have to be reopened. Any games would go back like you never played them and you must start over. And the list goes on. But, I paid for a camera, I should have a camera, so I did the reset my Kindle to factory settings thing. Alas, that did no good. Great. This is where the man on the phone said he would have to write up a report of what we did and give it to the super knowledgeable people to come up with a solution. They would get back with me. A number for my work order was given to me and I was asked to wait till next week for an solution. Okay...

Over a week later I receive an eMail from Amazon. We have this wonderful idea to fix your camera. Simply reset your Kindle to factory settings and see if that will work. I could not believe that. We did that and it didn't work and I'll be hanged if I am doing that again. No way. So I paused again and played with the camera. This time I was able to hold my finger on the settings icon in the camera app long enough that it opened up. There were ways you could set your picture and pressed a different one than the one it was currently set on. Miracle of miracle, the camera now worked. Now, that was very simple. 

My final oops has to do with me handling home matters while Claude travels. Claude settled into the garbage collection in the house and placing it on the curb chore early on. He just does it. Wednesday night he collects trash in the house and puts it in the garbage can. Thursday morning right after he wakes up he opens the garage door and places the garbage can on the curb. Then he returns the empty garbage can to the garage. He always does it. I don't even think about it. Unless I wake up on Thursday and take it out so he can sleep in. When he travels, it becomes my duty. When he was going on one of his trips, it fell my lot to take the garbage out on Thursday. Claude left Wednesday and I was out weeding our yard. I was trying to get that done so the weeds could go out with Thursday's garbage. Mind you I deliberately did this so that could go out and the next week I would finish the hill and then have an empty garbage can to fill with that weeding. I collected the trash in the house on Wednesday and sent Claude a text so he could not worry about that. 

Thursday morning I got up and got ready to take Papa for a drive. I had an activity to attend in the evening and wanted to get the drive done in the morning. I stopped at Walmart and purchased new silk flowers for Mom's grave so we could do that on our driving loop. I plotted a pass by a Dairy Queen at just the right time for a treat. After the Dairy Queen, I drove on through Frankfort and out into the countryside. Papa started to comment about all the red garbage cans and said, "It must be garbage day." That is when the light went on. In my pleasure with keeping everything done and in order while Claude was gone, I forgot to put the garbage can which I carefully filled with weeds I wanted to go to the dump on the curb. We would have a very full garbage can sitting in the garage for another week. Goodness. Oops!!

Sadieville...

We keep working with our little city of Sadieville. 

One of the things Claude noticed was a possibility of creating and prompting bicycle driving routes between Sadieville and Stamping Ground. Papa and I drove and laid out some we liked. I gave them to Claude and he added a bit more on the Sadieville end. These were given to some bicycle clubs to test to see if they would work. It was agreed they would. Claude and then took the routes to Stamping Ground's city meeting to show them to them and get their input. This was on August 8th. They all agreed this was a great idea. We decided we should do a big event to dedicate this trails and promote them. Since Friends of Sadieville already had the date of Saturday, October 14th for its Chili Cook-off, we agreed to use that date. Stamping Ground plans to do an ice cream social and bikers can go between the two locations. 

I spent Friday, August 11th in the morning weeding the flower bed in front of City Hall. More weeding would need to be done but people were coming through on Saturday and we wanted that particular spot to look great.

Saturday, August 12th, the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism was hold a GeoTrot Trail in Scott County. I did not know this was a big deal in today's world. Works with your GPS system. You register in the morning and are given a list of place to find using your GPS and a passport. Each location has a box in it with things to stamp your passport to prove you participated by visiting that spot. Those who finish are given a prize of some kind. Two spots were chosen in Sadieville: the caboose and the Rosenwald School. The Friends of Sadieville offered to made the Rosenwald School so the door could be open and people participating in the GeoTrot could come in and visit this historic building. Three of us did 2 hours shifts. I took the third one because I had an Institute Inservice meeting in the morning in Lexington. When I arrived at the Rosenwald School at 1pm, Char and her hubby were there. They had lots of people come through and visit the school. Mike also had lots of people come through in the first shift. They all reported back to Tourism how much they enjoyed visiting the Rosenwald School. 

Saturday, August 19th, we held our final Citywide Clean-up Day. I do have one more flower bed I would like to do at Veteran's Park before winter sets in but that will have to wait for another day.

He's Just a Natural Born Travelin' Man...

I will pause here and Blog about Claude for a minute. He is involved in lots of things and they keep him moving all over Kentucky. In the midst of all of this, his 50th year Class Reunion was happening. Claude plotted travel to this so he would have some time to visit with his mother. 

He left Tuesday, August 1st, and returned Monday, August 7th. This would be a very nice trip for my Big Guy. He had a rental car to pick up at the Salt Lake City airport. He asked for a mid-size. This is what he got!! He said it was like driving a truck. HUGE. But it was nice. And he even said he like driving my Buick Envision better. So, I have that going for me.

Wednesday, August 2nd, I received this little video clip. Bonnie has a window in her TV room that she had built into a little green house kind of place. She has started adding these little critters in it. When they have the sun shining on them they are in constant motion. Claude's text said something like, "They just keep moving all...the...time!!" Me thinks he protests a bit. 

The reunion committee always has an auction to help raise funds for the next reunion and remembrances for the family when one of their classmates passes, etc. If you could have seen the care with which Claude took making a basket to auction it would have truly impressed you. He decided this time he would fill a basket with things from Kentucky. He collected everything from a bourbon scented candle from Buffalo Trace Distillery to mixes for Weisenberger Mills and ended with his recipe for Burgoo. As he collected things they were kept on the dining room table in our home. Then he found a basket in the shape of a horse that he was sure would be perfect for all these Kentucky treasures to be put in. He ordered this basket. When it arrived it was very clear he had more items than that basket was going to hold. But he still pressed on. When he left, he carefully packed it all in his suitcase. The glass container items he wrapped in bubble wrap which prompted the scanners in the luggage area to have the bags opened to be checked. But they made it through okay. He sent me this picture after they had the basket all put together before he headed to the reunion. I asked him how many hands it took to get it all together. Fortunately our niece, Kalli, is good at this kind of thing and she came to Bonnie's home and with six hands they got it all in and packaged in cellophane wrap. Goodness. I sent Claude a text after he sent me this picture and assured him he should carry the basket by the bottom. I could just see him picking it up by the top and it popping open and Kentucky treasures spreading everywhere. 

Claude had a good time at this 50th Class Reunion of Bear River High School. They are getting fewer in number. But they had a great visit together and that is what is supposed to happen. Claude spent as much as they made on his basket. But he was happy with his effort. He purchased a quilted square of some kind. It turns out he brought it to the last Reunion 5 years ago to be auctioned off. He forgot he had donated it. Then he bought it back. How funny is that? The things we do for a good cause. He gave his sister the quilted item.

Here are a few reunion pictures:

During this trip, I accomplished something I have been wanting to do and not gotten accomplished. I had 10+ notebooks full of pictures I have saved to use when teaching lessons at Church. I was able to spread them all over the living room, I mean all over. And then toss and rearrange to where I only have 5 notebooks now. Yeah me!!

We have a Retirement Fund crisis in Kentucky. It is very bad. With Claude being President of Kentucky League of Cities, he has been able to participate in some meetings held around the state to address the CERS fund. This fund is in good shape and I believe they are trying to keep it separated from the others rather than combining funds to help failing funds. That is at least partially correct. I truly stand on the periphery of a lot of these technical things Claude does. So don't quote me on that explanation. So, Claude has been driving to these CERS meetings through the state. The first few were close enough he could drive there and return home in the evening. The last three were in western Kentucky and that takes a bit longer and they are also on Central Standard Time where we are on Eastern Standard Time so one must factor that into travel as well. Claude was in Paducah on August 29th, Owensboro on August 30th and Florence on August 31st. The man does get around a bit.

Self-Reliance...

Nothing like serving in the Church. It can fill your time and bring lots of good feelings and lots of blessings.

Claude has been called as the Stake Director of Self-Reliance Services. This is a combination of the Perpetual Education Fund and Employment Services in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lots of training involved. 

Sunday, July 23rd found us in Owingsville. We would train their Ward Council and then stay to speak in Sacrament Meeting. In the evening we went to Richmond, Kentucky to observe their first Devotional. 

Sunday, July 30th we spoke in the Georgetown Ward Sacrament Meeting, then we stayed to speak in the Elkhorn Creek Ward Sacrament Meeting and then train the Relief Society and the Priesthood in Elkhorn Creek Ward. This was also my birthday. No one would have know had Claude not mentioned it at the end of his talk in Georgetown Ward, which is our home ward. This announcement netted us a bag of chocolate candies from the Relief Society and a container of delicious brownies from our Bishop's wife. Yum!!

Thursday, August 10th, we held a facilitator training session. The facilitator's will run the groups that will meet for 12 weeks. 

Sunday August 13th, we went to Winchester to train the Ward Council there. Claude then held a make-up training session for the facilitators that couldn't be at the Thursday session in Lexington. This was followed by our very first Self-Reliance MyPath Devotional. 

This was very well attended. There were 12 tables with 8 people at each table. The room was filled. By the end of the Devotional, the participants self-select one of four areas of training, they go to the corner of the cultural hall with a big poster for their area of training. Facilitators are there and help the people group geographically and then pick a place and time for their group meetings. They commit to a 12-week set of 2 hour classes each week with assignments to follow-up through the week. We are so pleased with the number of groups we were able to create, the number of people willing to be facilitators, and the stake Self-Reliance committee for supporting the effort to have the first devotional and then follow up with each of the groups. 

Sunday, August 20th we provided training to the Camino Branch Council. This is a Spanish speaking unit and we were able to give them Spanish materials and offer to train their facilitator and speak in their Sacrament meetings if desired.

Last night, Thursday, August 31st, we listened to a live broadcast from Salt Lake City. It was for all of the United States and Canada. I believe they had 600 people call in to participate. There were a few bugs to be worked out with that many people and the sound. After we all turned the sound off on our phones and only used our laptops, that helped a bit. 

So, there is lots to be done with the Self-Reliance Initiative. But for our first round, it seems to be going very well.