Today Was Full...

Today, Claude was up and at 'em  early. He had a 9am meeting in Lexington. I set my alarm and got him up then I laid back down for a bit. 

After about a half-hour, I got up, got ready for the day and got busy. I was able to get another year finished on a project. I am creating a PowerPoint of our 50 years of marriage. Next year is our 50th anniversary. We are having a family reunion. We will have the conference room at the resort and it has audio/visual equipment we can use. It occurred to me a slide show of the 50 years of our family would be a fun thing to have playing through the days. I have 1970 through 1979 complete. Yeah me!! 

I was able to get some little phone call things completed. One was to determine the best way to purchase root beer. When one tours Buffalo Trace Distillery (where bourbon is made), one gets a free shot of bourbon at the end of the tour. When one does not drink bourbon, one is given a free shot of root beer. This has been Dr. McGillicuddy Root Beer. I would go to Buffalo Trace Distillery and buy it by the case to have when family visits. It is really good root beer. I learned I could order it from the manufacturer in New Orleans for less than driving to Frankfort to purchase it. So for years I have ordered two cases at the time and keep it on hand for visitors and family. Thanksgiving is coming to be followed by Christmas. There will be family visiting for each of these holidays. I am down to one extra 6-pack. Time to order before the holidays arrive. I went to the website for Dr. McGillicuddy and couldn't find the root beer. There was a place to eMail them a question. I sent an eMail and asked where to find it now. Turns out they have changed the name to Freddie's after a long-time employee at Buffalo Trace. Now I have to buy it from Buffalo Trace again. Okay... I checked the website for Buffalo Traces gift shop. They have Freddie's for $5 more per case that the last time I ordered. If I order two cases through the mail, it will also cost the same as buying three cases with the shipping included. Ugh. I called Buffalo Trace and left a message to be sure of their cost in the gift shop. It is the same as online. We will be going directly to Buffalo Trace again to get this great root beer. It is that good.

The other phone call was a tender one. Our daughter is a first grade school teacher. She shared with us about the needs for one of her little friends. Then she asked if we could put his name on the prayer roll at the Louisville Temple. I told her I needed to have this child's name for that. She can't give me the name. This all happened on Saturday. Now, Andie is not active in Church anymore. I prayer daily for my kids to have experiences with the Church, to remember how much they enjoyed when they were active. To me, Andie's request was an answer to that prayer. Andie cannot give me the child's name. We left with her being assured the child would be remembered in our personal prayers. I pondered over this all weekend. This morning I called the Louisville Temple and explained the situation. I asked if they could put Andie Marx's student on the prayer roll. The sweet lady on the phone said she was sure Heavenly Father would know what the intent was. She took Andie's name and put it on the prayer roll as Andie Marx's student. I sent Andie a text and told her that her friend was on the prayer roll now. She was very happy about that. So many tender things here. There can never be too many prayers to help someone. Andie's little friend will benefit from these prayers. Andie will benefit from knowing he is being prayed for. I have had confirmed for me once again that the Lord does hear and answer every prayer. Very tender morning with this one. When Claude and I had lunch, I shared this with him. My Big Guy had tears well up in his eyes for his daughter and her friend. Sweet moment for us.

Claude and I met for lunch at Jimmy John's. We experienced the fastest service we have ever had. By the time I finished my order and Claude started his, my sandwich was handed to me. Claude got his before he could even got his wallet out to pay. It might have been because we were the only customers in the store. It might also have been because we eat there fairly often and we always order the same thing. They just might know us and our order too well. 

Claude headed for home to get our yard work for the afternoon set up. Then he would come back to Georgetown to have his physical therapy for his back. I headed to the nursing home to spend time with Papa.

Papa was in the dining room when I got there. He and another man had just had their eye exam. They put drops in their eyes. I'm not sure if it was to dilate them or to check the eye pressure. Nonetheless, they were each having fun with how things looked with their eyes still recovering from eye drops. Sort of a halo of color around things. Papa finished eating and we got him out to my car. As soon as we got outside, Papa commented about how very bright the sun was. Then I remembered he had those drops still wearing down in his eyes. We got him in the car and he was fine. 

Papa and I opted to hang out by Elkhorn Creek in the Cardome Park again. It was just pleasant. A little cooler today but we enjoyed our time. I took this picture of Papa watching the ducks. This was my comment as I posted this picture on Facebook. "It is often the simple things of life that bring the most joy. This is a lesson I am learning caring for Papa."

As I sat there with Papa, I looked at the beauty of a fall day around me. I took these pictures of things that caught my attention from the driver's seat in my car. It is so pleasant when life slows down and you can enjoy the beauty of where you are at that moment in time.

I took Papa back to the nursing home and checked my cell phone for messages after getting him back in his room. I had an eMail from our son, Jake. He sent his turtle-loving Mother this great picture. Jake explained that every year Nikon has a contest for scientists who submit their best microscopic images. This year the winning image is this one of a turtle embryo. Oh Be Still My Heart!! Is this an amazing photo or what?? I love it. Hope you do as well.

Then it was off to my doctor for my flu shot. This was something I used to not do or even consider. Now that I spend so much time at the nursing home, I feel it is more important to do what I can to help me stay healthy on my own as well as around these residents. I learned this time that there is a stronger dose that is usually given to those over 65. I am 69. However, our doctor was out of the stronger dose. I would have had to wait until next Friday to get that dose and it still takes it a couple of weeks for the shot to be effective. We determined, since I don't usually get lots of sickness like flu, I would probably be better helped to take the normal dose and let it be working before we get into November when the flu is getting more prevalent. So, I had a shot in my right shoulder. I was told to keep the arm moving so it didn't stiffen up. I assured her we were planting in our yard when I got home and that should keep it moving well. She chuckled and agreed.

Back to Sadieville I hurried and changed into my yard working clothes. We have a flower bed along the back of our home. I had it full of mint plants. They were scraggly and needed to be replaced. Claude bought nice bricks and made really nice flower beds there. I pulled up all the mint. We both went to Lowe's and determined what we wanted to plant in those beds. Claude bought good dirt to mix in with the poor soil and clay we have on our hill. Today was the day to put the plants in the ground. We worked together digging the holes. After I dug my first hole (there would be four holes), I stopped to mix up the bad soil we dug up with the good soil Claude had opened and put into the trailer behind his tractor. We would use the trailer as a mixing bowl of sorts. I would do the mixing while Claude planted the two holes we dug. Then I would dig the other two holes and also pour shovelfuls of the mixed soil into where he was doing the planting. It was a great system and we had it completed in an hour. Here are before and after pictures. 

I enjoyed looking at our burning bushes on the south side of our home. We planted those when we bought our home 15 years ago. They were actually the dwarf version. They do not look dwarf to me!! I do love burning bushes in the fall. I first learned of them in Maryland. I always looked forward to them turning bright red. It was great fun to plant these in our yard when we moved here. 

We rewarded ourselves with a trip to Hardee's for dinner and a sweet treat when we got home. We earned it. The amazing thing was we had all this day done in time to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in the evening. Yeah Us!! 

Let's see if we can fill up tomorrow with as many good things.