We Filled Up Another Week...

Monday, September 7, 2020

Labor Day...how does one celebrate Labor Day. When we were first married, it seemed like all holidays were a good time to paint a room that needed it or get some big yard project accomplished. Now, we are retired and living a quarantined life. So we were not inviting family over as we were still waiting for the end of our 14 days of quarantine after attending Aubrey's wedding. Hmm...what to do, what to do? We talked of taking a drive but opted out of that since the roads might, just might, be full of holiday traffic. We postponed the drive idea for Tuesday. Hmmm....what to do, what to do? We both agreed we would have a pajama day in the basement watching movies of our choice. So that is what we did. First Claude got the kitchen in order for the day while I wrote a letter to Papa. Then we settled into the basement in our pajamas for the rest of the day watching movie after movie. 

The first one was 2001 Space Odyssey. Claude saw it was going to be on the television so he recorded it. Haven't seen this in so many years we both had parts we didn't even remember being in the movie. I remembered watching it before and not really getting what in the world it was about. This time I tried to pay better attention to what it could possible mean. After watching it, we determined we should ask our son, Jake, to help us understand what in the world the movie was about. Jake has a love of movies and really knows them well. He is also a deep thinker and we really trusted him to give us an explanation we could understand. I sent Jake a text and he responded. This was our texting dialogue.

Me: "Please help your shallow parents!! Just watched 2001 Space Odyssey. What does it mean?" 

Jake: "Try not to overthink 2001. For all the visual artistry, it's best to watch it as a very literal film."

Me: "It appeared to be the progress of man and forming other worlds."

Jake: "Aliens drop a monolith in prehistoric times and it provides an evolutionary nudge, depicted as early primates learning how to use tools/weapons. 

Me: "Then it appeared Dave was reborn or reincarnated to the new world.""

Jake: "Yup. What they do with Dave is in prinicple what they did with the primates at the beginning of the film. The book gets more into the details and compliments the film well. But you've got the basic idea. It's more that the aliens upload Dave's brain contents."

Me: "It moves very slow compared to today's movies. Your dad said it was a 1968 film. That is the year I graduated high school."

Jake: "I love the film, but yeah, it's slow. I also think that 2010 does a good job further developing the story, while being more entertaining." (See, I knew Jake would know the book and the movie and have an educated understanding of all of it. That's our boy!)

We had a good time picking movies we own and watching through them. We even watched the Eagles Concert in Australia. It was a good day. 

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

This would be our oldest great grandmonster, Raelyn's, first day of school. She sent pictures and asked if we were dressed like her. Raelyn is also in a picture with her dad, Drew, and her mother, Katelyn.

We sent this picture of us. I put on a purple t-shirt as that is her favorite color as evidenced by all the purple in her first day of school clothes.

Today we would also do our car drive. Claude picked out a route that took us to Cincinnati and across the Ohio River to pick up Hwy 52. This is an Ohio River Scenic Highway. We planned to follow it to Ashland, Kentucky and then home. Well...we actually thought about taking it to Ashland and then coming back to Cincinnati on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. Alas, that was too long so we will do the Kentucky side at a later date.

We saw signs as we drove that indicated Ulysses Grant's birthplace was not far ahead. We decided to stop and take pictures. It was all closed up due to the virus but that was okay. I just wanted pictures of the area. First, the home Grant lived in the first year of his life. His family then moved to Georgetown, Ohio and he lived there till he went to the military academy. 

There were signs that described Grant's life and the area in which he grew up.

In this area of about a big block, there is also a church named in honor of Grant. It is the Grant Memorial Church. 

And back on Hwy 52 there is a small bridge over the Big Indian Creek that is named the Grant Memorial Bridge. 

I was particularly smitten with Big Indian Creek. I walked to the middle of Grant Memorial Bridge and took the first picture looking up the creek toward the land. I took the second picture from the other side of this little bridge where the creek runs into the Ohio River. So very southern looking to me.

Time to get back on Hwy 52 and drive a little more. We passed the Zimmer Power Plant. A little ominous...

We paused in Higginsport for Claude to get a speeding ticket!! No pictures. I thought about asking the nice police officer if we could get a picture but thought better of it. We haven't had one of these tickets in years and years and years. 

We also saw several beautiful bridges spanning the Ohio River. This one is from Aberdeen, Ohio looking across to Maysville, Kentucky. 

Summer is the season of road repair anywhere you drive. No different in Ohio. This was an automated stop light with NO traffic. We waited for a good while until we got the green light. Then we drove through the one lane area of the road with still NO traffic. But we were obedient to the traffic light. We weren't really sure the nice police officer in Higginsport had not radioed ahead, "Watch for that bright green Jeep. He might be good for a ticket!"

We did pass an interesting truck. No picture of it. But I did note that it was a truck to clean out port-a-potties. Its name was Johnny on the Spot. That was in Wheelersburg, Ohio. Clever, really clever.

This is the Ohio River Valley which means there is flat land along the edge of the river suitable for good farmland. 

We crossed the Ohio River at Ashland and drove Hwy 60 until we took Hwy 180 to I-64. Then we pointed the Jeep toward home. I took that drive time to post pictures of our drive on Facebook and to send some to Jake, who is not on Facebook. I sent them to Jake with this text, "There are many perks to being the wife of a living Claude." Okay, that only makes sense if you know that Monday we watched Ghostbusters 2 and there is a line in that movie that is very similar. I find it very amusing and quite clever on my part. Jake will well know the line. 

Raelyn's first day of school was so much fun that she came home and took a nap!! 

We also learned that Utah started their morning with hurricane force winds ripping through the area and dropping the temperature to below freezing. Our family is all okay with the exception of tree and home damage. They experienced different lengths of time without power and Internet. But all are safe. They closed schools and government offices. They closed their rapid transit and major roads. At one point they had 10 tractor-trailer rigs blown over on major highways. One of our nephews was headed home from work when he saw one and stopped his car to go help the driver get out of his truck. Claude's brother is at Camp Atoka up the canyon from Ogden and they had many large trees that fell over at the campground. He called Rick, his brother-in-law, to bring a big tow truck so they could pull down a few trees he knew were going to fall. It was quite an experience for the people in Utah. 

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

We made an errand run to Georgetown this day. One of the errands was to pick up my turtle bracelet that would not stay on my arm. Claude gave this to me for Christmas. It turned out beautifully and I have worn it twice since picking it up. Look how old my arm looks!! Yike!! Somehow when you are going about daily life you forget that you have live 70 years already. Then you see your reflection or your arm in a picture and you remember...yes, I have lived all those 70 years.

I was able to order Papa some glasses. They arrived and we picked them up. I took them to Papa and then I went to fill his bird feeder. Kathy was kind enough to pull up the blinds and crack the window about an inch so I could yell at Papa through the window. I managed to get two okay pictures. The first one is when he put on the glasses and could see so well. His hands went up in surprise. The second is him in his glasses. He seemed very happy with them. 

I stood at the window for  quite a while and Papa came closer and talked and talked. He really misses that interaction. He even told me my least favorite story about Elvis Presley killing the Louisiana Hayride. But he was happy to think and talk out his thoughts. I confirmed for him that his girls were all okay. I showed him pictures of his three great great grandchildren. We ended with me yelling at him, "Papa...I promise not to take nary a wooden nickel." as we both laughed. This is how we ended our in-person visits each time. It still brings him a laugh and so I end my daily letters to him with that phrase as well. It did my heart good to see him looking good and talking, even it was about Elvis.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Wednesday evening as Claude and I were watching television there was something about French Onion Soup. Now, I know that Claude loves that. I went to find my recipe book with the crock pot recipes in it. That one was given away when I cleaned out my recipe books. I failed to get that recipe out of it. Next step, a Google search. I found a website named 101 Cooking for Two. Now that sounded good. So many things you cook feed lots of people. There are only two of us and Claude has learned how to pare some recipes down. But a whole website full of things to cook for just two people sounded super. They had a French Onion Recipe and I sent Claude the link. Thursday he made this recipe. Our home had the fragrance of that soup wafting through it all day long. It turned out really good and the recipe says you can even freeze it. Here is the link in case you are interested http://www.101cookingfortwo.com/easy-crock-pot-french-onion-soup/.

We also decided to make a trip for Claude's birthday. A short trip that will be social distancing friendly. I made our hotel reservations. More on that after we take the trip.

Friday, September 11, 2020

9/11. A day I'll remember forever. Driving to work I heard on the news in my car that a plane crashed into one of the twin towers. I parked my car in the parking garage and hurried up to the office to be sure others knew. Dick Kadish, the owner and president of CAPREIT, had the television on in his office and we all gathered there to see what was happening. Video played of the second plane crash and the story went on. I remember trying to get in contact with Claude who was working in Washington, DC at the Peace Corp. Phone service was awful and it was impossible to get through. I managed to get to him eventually by eMail and found he was okay but they were in heightened alert mode as this was terrorist related and they have people all over the globe. He wasn't sure he would even make it home. It was good to know he was okay. 

This year a friend posted this picture on Facebook and it really touched my heart. I share it now.

We got these cute pictures of Emelia and Raelyn. They were at Michelle's home. The little one in the pink pajamas is Michelle's granddaughter. Love these little bundles of energy and so grateful Michelle takes pictures and sends them.

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Well, we had been home for 2 1/2 weeks. Other than my allergies starting to go through the roof, we had no Covid-19 symptoms. I asked Andie if it would be possible for us to visit them this Saturday or either of the next two. We wanted to get a visit in before the Mini's head back to school and they have contact with all the other kids. Andie will start with her kids in class this Wednesday. We may not want to interact face-to-face for a while till we are sure about the virus. One of Bailey's friends father got the virus and was a first responder. He was on a ventilator for an extended period of time and when it was removed he died. The virus is very real for those families that get hit with it. Andie said they would be home in the late morning. It was okay to come.

Claude and I did errands in Georgetown on our way. Then we got on I-64 and headed toward LaGrange. We saw this car while driving. I have literally never seen this before. It looked like a back pack for the car. 

We would stop at Hometown Pizza and picked up our carryout order of pizza and salads. Bailey had the Rumble in the Jungle cross country meet that morning so she and Andie picked up cookies for dessert. We had a wonderful visit with the Marx family. I was able to give Bailey and Andie haircuts. We watched some of the things Hayden enjoys on television. It was just a good time for us to be together. 

Here is Bailey in one of the aprons I made them from Claude's old shirts. She looks great.

I took Andie the Kon-Tiki that she made in Junior High School when she was Bailey's age. It was fun for Andie to notice all the detail she put into this project all those years ago. She even put initials on Thor Heyerdahl's shirt. She carefully placed it on her mantel. I told her I have saved it all these years and I had not the heart to throw it away. She could do that if and when she feels so inclined. I think it will sit on the mantel for a while.

Then I asked Hayden if I could take a picture of his hair. He has not had a hair cut since the virus started back the first of March. He has wonderful curls and was very obliging to letting his grandmother take a picture. I took several and let him pick the one he liked best. This is it. Look at this amazing head of hair.

Then Hayden sent me this one he took. Oh My Goodness!!

Then Andie got into the act. She searched for messy men's hair styles. She came up with one we both liked. I sent her a picture from my phone of Hayden. She did some digital doctoring and came up with this picture of Hayden with a messy man hair style. Hayden was not impressed. Andie even put OC for Oldham County on the t-shirt. Love the boy. He was a good sport through it all.

The highlight of this visit was Hayden giving me a big bear hug when we left. Haven't had one of those since March. It felt soooooo good. Love my family.

Sunday, September 13, 2020

This morning we watched Sacrament meeting via a Zoom meeting. They put passing the sacrament at the end as this ordinance is not to be televised. After sacrament meeting, Claude passed the sacrament to he and I in our home, we did our reading and watched the Darin show. 

One of the things that happened was a change in our bishopric. Our Bishop was called to be the Stake President a few Sundays ago. This Sunday we sustained a new Bishop and two counselors. It sent this eMail to our young missionaries today about this experience. 

"This morning we sustained a new bishopric in the Georgetown Ward. Bishop Holt is now Pres. Holt and is our stake president. This morning we sustained Bishop Kevin Johnson, Dan Parret as 1st Counselor and Trent Parker as 2nd Counselor. What a great bishopric they will be for Georgetown Ward!!

"I am going to greatly paraphrase Bishop Johnson's remarks. Please do not take this as direct quotes as I only wrote key words to remember the thoughts he shared.

"His first words were Jesus is our Savior. (I loved that is the first thing he testified of.) Then he said Heavenly Father prepared this land and we are sent here to learn and experience and to work on our eternal progression.

"He cautioned that when we question it is usually focused on a small thing. If we look at the total as an eternal picture we can work with the small thing.

"Bishop Johnon then compared the ward famiy to the cross country family. Everyone chuckled. It felt like when Pres. Uchtdorf uses a flying analogy. Bishop Johnson spoke of how we each work out our own salvation as individuals just as the cross country runner is running on his/her own. This includes gaining a testimony and living by faith. But, eventhough you are running on your own, you have a team that supports and loves the other members of the team. When you feel discouraged, they are there to encourage you and help you by example and deed. Our ward family is like this. We support and sustain each other through difficulties (mourn with those that mourn, comfort those in need of comfort, etc.) I thought this was a great analogy.

"So...run the race you are given. And know that your ward family supports you with faith and prayers and all the love they can send."

Sandi Christensen

The Marx family gave Claude and I Oldham County Marching Band t-shirts for belated Mother and Father's Day gifts. We took our picture in them and sent it with a thank you note to the Marx family. I loved that they were clever enough this year to put the wording inside a corona virus shape! Very clever.

This afternoon I have written to the missionaries and caught up my Blog. Now I will write to Papa. Then I'll pick something else in the sewing room full of 'to do list' possibilities and try to make a dent in it.  Good week. Good day.