Making the Best of a Situation...

My goal is to have all Christmas present shopping done before Thanksgiving. December is always, always, always more full of things to do for fun, or because of need, or just something coming up at the last minute, till I want the present shopping out of the way by Thanksgiving. That said, I rarely have it all complete by Thanksgiving. But...the goal is a good one and I keep it and have most of it done by then. I also make a grid (go ahead Laura, laugh out loud!!) of our family and what presents were purchased. Keeps me sane. So, this year I had a little bit more shopping to do. Knew what I needed to complete the grid and be finished shopping. 

We have Stake Conference twice each year with our Church. It is always the first weekend in December for us. I was asked to play the organ for the Saturday night session. I went into Lexington on Tuesday, November 27th in the morning to practice the organ at the Stake Center. Alas, when I drove up, someone was already using the chapel. What to do, what to do? I didn't want to waste the time I had taken to drive to Lexington so I pulled out my trusty grid and went to work finishing my Christmas shopping. Let me just tell you that the Tuesday morning right after Thanksgiving there is no one in the stores. Great time to shop. Absolutely everything I purchase was 30% - 50% off the ticket price. Now that is the way to Black Friday shop without having to fight Black Friday crowds.

My first stop was Target. Not a gift but a need was a new pair of leather gloves for me. I found a pair several years ago in Target and hoped to repeat that success...and I did!! I also checked off two more gifts on my dwindling list for Christmas gifts. 

Still a little time before going to visit Papa and so I drove to Hobby Lobby. On my To Do List (go ahead Laura, laugh out loud!!) I had yarn for a baby afghan with little puppies all over it. Katelyn is blessing us with another great grandmonster in May 2019 and she has requested this blanket for the next great grandmonster. I had success at Hobby Lobby getting brightly colored yarn soft enough for a baby when Raelyn was born and I hoped to have that success again...and I did!! Green is for the background, white is for the flower petals, yellow for the center of the flowers and burnt pumpkin for the puppy faces. This should be a really cute baby afghan and quite acceptable for a boy or a girl. 

I also found the final gift for Miss Bailey. Even that cashier said, "Man, this is a great price for this item!" I concur.

As I left to get in my car and rush to visit Papa, I noticed the Jeep I parked beside had a very interesting paint job. It made me think of my Hubby. While in China, a street artist painted a picture of him in black on a white plate. It was Claude's head for sure, beard and all, with a dragon body. He told Claude he was the Invincible Dragon Man. Oh My!! We bought the plate and Claude accepted the title! The Jeep I was parked next to had a dragon head on the hood with the dragon body down the side. I took these two pictures to send to Claude to see if he felt he might like to do this to his Jeep.

Wednesday, November 28th, I received some cute pictures of Raelyn. Seems her parents took her to the ice rink where she completely wore herself out. Enjoy this sequence of pictures.

Friday, November 30th, Claude drove me into Sadieville before heading out to do errands  to get some pictures of the newest little addition to our fair community. A nice lady works at installing these 'Little Library' boxes in rural communities. She had this Sadieville Little Library installed by our caboose. It is getting a really positive response from the community.

Monday, December 3rd was a really fun day. My hubby had a colonoscopy in Cynthiana. I would be his taxi for the day. I took Papa for a long drive the day before and plotted our route so we would drive by the hospital so I knew exactly where I was going. Made for a nice drive for Papa and I and also helped me get right to the hospital the day of the colonoscopy. Claude was a champ and this time was not in pain as he had been five years ago. They always find polyps and so Claude is on the every five year plan with this procedure. This time they found four so he may have to go on the three year plan once the polyps are tested. We had forecast for some ice or sleet but it didn't happen while we had to be on the roads for which I am eternally grateful. Claude felt so good when finished that we went to Lee's Chicken and had fried chicken for our big meal of the day on the way home. I stayed home with Claude the rest of the day and worked on finishing an afghan request of Aubrey. She wanted a really big red and black afghan for their home. I was up very late but got it finished and will send it as part of their Christmas. 

Friday, December 7th I got my second Hepatitis A&B shot. Now I just wait 5 months and get the final one. 

Today, December 9th, I went to visit Papa at the nursing home. When I pulled into the parking lot, I pulled up beside a car that had smoke coming out of the back. This looked very odd to me except our temperature has only been in the 20's for two days. I parked and got my things to go visit Papa. There was a man asleep in the driver's seat. Okay. I was concerned about carbon monoxide but decided he was okay. I spent 1 1 /2 hours with Papa and then came out to pick up Claude. The car was still next to mine and smoke was still coming out of the back. Now I was concerned. As I opened my car door I peeked across and inside the other car. The man was still asleep and in the same position. I was putting my things in my car and considering calling the police. I mean, I can't sleep in one position for an hour and a half and not be very uncomfortable. As I put my stuff in the car, the man moved and I knew he was okay. Whew!!

I marvel at the things that seem to fill my day that I don't get on my calendar and then when I Blog it seems like nothing happened. It did though and the days were full.

Now, on to Getting Ready for Christmas...