We would return from our Phoenix 53rd Anniversary trip on Friday, February 24th. We would leave for Michigan Saturday, March 4th returning Tuesday, March 7th. We would then leave Wednesday, March 15th for New Zealand and Fiji returning Friday, March 31st. Whew!! This Blog entry will cover February 25th through March 14th and the spaces between the two big trips.
Saturday, February 25th, these two things interested or amused me on Facebook. I have not tried doing this will canned cake frosting but will some day.
We spent the morning sleeping in a bit. I would get the laundry done from the trip and begin labeling pictures.
Sunday, February 26th, was a nice Sunday with church in the morning. I was able to play or Primary again. I labeled a LOT more pictures. We watched more of the Mentalist. Really enjoying this show. Surprised at the number of episodes we don't remember at all.
Monday, February 27th, we started our day with a biscuit run. We would try to get Covid boosters. A trip to Walmart to get a new mouse for my laptop. It is really much faster for me to use a mouse. When they quit working, it is troublesome. I worked on getting my Blog updated with the trip to Phoenix.
Tuesday, February 28th, I was able to finish blogging about our Phoenix trip. Woke up feeling poorly but felt better as the day wore on.
Wednesday, March 1st, Claude picked up his new hearing aids. Sure hope they help him to hear better. So much of life is lost if you don't hear well.
I was able to get my haircut. That always feel so nice.
I had been finishing up and collecting birthday presents and things for the April birth of our fifth great grandmonster. I was able to bag all of this and label the bags to be given to family members when we were in Michigan. This will take care of all March and April birthdays. With traveling most of March and being tired when we return. It feels good to get that done. Delivering all of Michigan family items when we travel there will save enough in postage to pay for the gas for the trip. Yippee!!
Thursday, March 2nd, I had my annual physical with Dr. Lyon. All went well. I will have an endoscopy and a colonoscopy in April. My cholesterol was a little elevated. I also need to take Vitamin D3. I did not have any diabetes. Thank heavens for that!
When I returned home, Claude and I spent some time in the shed getting a few things to take to Jake. We packed our car and then sat down to watch the weather. We had been getting alerts that Friday was to be a bad weather day. We were to leave Friday for Michigan. The weather reports let us know it was not just in our part of Kentucky we would have concerns. We planned to drive north through Indianapolis and past South Bend to get to Holton, Michigan. The severe weather and extremely high winds was all the way past Indianapolis. In South Bend they were expecting a Friday snow storm that would leave 5-8 inches of snow on the ground. That would be coming down while we were trying to drive past it. Muskegon was to have snow but only about a inch. We determined we would wait till Saturday to leave and not drive in that weather.
Friday, March 3rd, the schools were closed in Scott County and Fayette County by 6pm Thursday evening. We hunkered down in our home. Literally. We closed all the blinds and stayed inside until the evening. We had a lovely soaking rain in the morning. Then sunshine. I was wondering why the schools closed. This was not bad at all. Then, suddenly, the skies turned dark, the wind howled and the rain pummeled us. Tornado alerts started flashing. I took video of our little Amish windmill spinning out of control with the wind. Our neighbors fence along the back of her yard fell down. She also lost shingles on the side of her home. We didn't lose any shingles. Our fence held but it waved back and forth. Then reports of no power started showing up on of Facebook newsfeed. Lots of friends would lose power in Lexington and Georgetown and be without power for days. Fortunately, our power lines are buried in Ward Hall Estates. Our power flickered but did not go out. We were grateful we opted out of driving in that wind and rain. Semi trucks were turned over. Trees were uprooted. Lots of fences were blown down. One friend said Aunt Em just flew past her window. Another posted, "I see her. She is coming this way!"
In the evening we had prescriptions we needed to pick up before our trip. They didn't get them ready until 6:30 Friday evening. We ventured out driving through the neighborhood. So many fences down and trees down. We got our prescriptions and drove through Taco Bell for dinner. When we left to come home, traffic was stopped going north on Broadway because of downed power poles. Yike!!
This storm had record breaking wind gusts of 79 mph. The barometric pressure was the lowest ever recorded for this date. It was a powerful storm. I told our family, "FYI...If Jim Cantore (The Weather Channel) gets on the same plane your are flying on and goes to your destination...you should be concerned." It was generally agreed we should all aspire to never be on a plane with Jim Cantore!
Saturday, March 4th, we were up and on the road by 8:30am to drive to Michigan. A stop at Hardee's in Love's in Sadieville for a biscuit and soda for breakfast. Then on through Indiana t Michigan. The weather was good. The show was plowed and roads clear in South Bend. It was the right thing to wait till Saturday to drive.
Sunday, March 5th, was a change in our original plan for our visit. We had set up seeing all of our grandmonsters on Saturday at Katelyn's home. That was moved to Sunday afternoon. Claude and I bought pizza and chips and a bag of chocolate covered donuts. I have to say that the great grands were especially happy to get BBQ chips. That seems to be their favorite. This first picture is Nissa holding up Emelia as she feeds Joel BBQ chips. He loved them and grinned at Emelia so big when she shared with him.
We drove to where Aubrey worked and gave her a hug. Then we took Nelson back to his sitter before returning to the Tyler home in Holton.
Monday, March 6th, The purposed of this trip had been to drive Nissa to and from her colonoscopy on this date. Alas, she got a little cold and they would not do the procedure. Claude and I enjoyed a quiet day with our Nissa. I gave her a haircut. We went to Fremont and had lunch at Charlie's Family Grill. It was delicious and a place we would go back to. I had a veggie backed potato and Claude had a burger with amazing onion rings. Then we did a bit of grocery shopping before returning to Nissa's home.
Tuesday, March 7th, was the day to drive home. Nissa and Todd left early for work. When Claude and I awoke, we had a lovely coating of snow on the ground. Our scrapers were in the trunk of my car under the tubs of things we were taking to Jake. We emptied part of the trunk, got the scrapers and went to work scraping snow and ice off the car.
We hit the road aimed for Kentucky. We stopped at Beaver Dam for fuel. I found these blueberry flavored almonds and Claude and I tried them out on the drive home. They were actually okay. We would buy these again. Surprisingly different taste.
We got home about 8pm. We stopped at Jimmy John's and picked up a sandwich for dinner. Then home to watch the Mentalist for the rest of the evening. We finished Season 6 and started Season 7. Season 7 is the last season. I finished crocheting the blessing afghan for the newest great grandmonster. 
Claude and I spent the morning doing the things that needed to be done in our respective lives. All in our home with church callings and getting ready for our New Zealand trip. Then, we clocked out of real life at about 3pm and started watching the Hobbit movies. Again, this is preparation for going to New Zealand. We watched all three on Saturday afternoon and evening, finishing about midnight. Whew. It will be fun to see which of the back drops we actually see when in Wellington, New Zealand.
Tomorrow, it was off for our New Zealand / Fiji Adventure!!
Wednesday, March 8th, would be a day at home. Laundry, blogging, going through the mail, taking things to Goodwill, setting up to do taxes, working on the grid for our New Zealand trip, etc., etc., etc.
Thursday, March 9th, Claude was supposed to have and MRI requested by Dr. Slabaugh, his urologist. That was to have been a 9:30am. In the afternoon, Claude had an appointment with his audiologist to check on those new bionic ears. We were both up by 7:30 to get showered and ready for the drive to Lexington for the 9:30am appointment. On the way, we saw this funny on the car in front of us.
We got to Dr. Slabaugh's office on Harrodsburg Road. Parked and made our way to the 2nd floor. Claude went to the counter and told him he was there for his 9:30am appointment. They had nothing for him on their schedule. Then, Claude mentioned it was for an MRI. They assured him they did not do those in that office. Those would be done at the Lexington Clinic across town. Okay. I put the address in my Google Maps and we hurried out to the car to get to the Lexington Clinic as fast as we reasonably could.
We arrived at the Lexington Clinic, parked and found our way up the hill to the office. Claude again tried to check in only to find they didn't have any appointment for him. By now it is 9:40am. Also, they do have have an MRI machine at that location. There are multiple Lexington Clinics in various locations in Lexington. The one the doctor's office should have sent us to was on Broadway a few blocks from Dr. Slabaugh's office. This Lexington Clinic called and they could fit Claude in at 2:30pm for paperwork and 3pm for the MRI at the Broadway location.
We did see Everett Varney in this Lexington Clinic. He was mayor part of the time Claude was Mayor of Sadieville. He had been through five heart surgeries over the past year. He is okay now but it was a long year for him.
As we left this first Lexington Clinic, Claude said, "I guess I have to keep fasting until after the afternoon appointment. I am going to be angry." The ladies at their various booths to take peoples paperwork all agreed.
We drove to Dr. Robbins office. He will do my colonoscopy in April. I needed to pick up the prep and it was in the medical building area.
The drive home took us to Lowe's where Claude purchased a lawn mower. We were in my car so I could drive if necessary after his MRI. This meant we had plenty of room for the very large, very heavy box. I suggested to Claude that we back my car up to the garage door and then lower the box out of the car onto the concrete floor. Claude could work on it in my space in the garage and my car could sit outside while he did that.
I think had a 'flash of intellect'. I suggested to Claude that we go get the chairs out of the shed that Jake was willing to part with and take them one at a time in my car to Goodwill. We had time and the car was empty with the seats down. We did just that. Claude may have to store the lawnmower in the shed and that will make room for it now.
I read my March Liahona magazine until time to go to Claude's 1:30 audiology appointment. I sat in the car and finished my reading while he went in for this appointment. They added a new app and adjusted them a bit.
Then we were off to Lexington again. This time to the Lexington Clinic on Broadway. We found it and went in. They had Claude down for this appointment. When he went back, I headed back to the car to wait. He had no sedation so he walked right out to my car when he finished up. Not sure when he will get results.
We were both famished at this point. We neither had anything to eat or drink since the night before. We enjoyed a nice dinner at City BBQ. Then we returned home about 5:45. By 6pm we were curled up in front of our television watching The Fellowship of the Rings. We wanted to see all the Lord of the Rings movies one more time before going to New Zealand the next week. We were able to also watch the Two Towers. One more to go.
This was just a weird day. I remember Claude coming home from Dr. Slabuagh's and telling me he needed to have an MRI. His PSA count was high. They did additional bloodwork and were concerned. Dr. Slabaugh wanted the MRI to be sure of things. Claude called and made the appointment. I was sitting in his study when he did that. He never received any paperwork or phone call to remind him of this MRI. He went to Dr. Slabaugh's office first as he thought that is where he should be. It seemed to be a string of miscues after that. At the end of the day, we felt good about our day. We got things done that we needed to do and used our time wisely. Claude had the MRI and will wait to hear for results. It was a good day but very strange to get through.
Friday, March 10th, was a stay-at-home day. My big goal was bed linens washed, rugs washed, bathrooms cleaned, dusting done, sweeping the house and vacuuming the carpets. I was able to get all of that done. Claude moved all his tax work to the dining room table and worked on getting the taxes done. In the evening, we watched The Return of the King. It was a good day and very nice to be home and inside, not driving all over.
Saturday, March 11th, in the "How Cute Is This" category...I present Joel Roper, our youngest great grandmonster (for a little longer). My understanding his he went to his room and dressed himself in his sunglasses and cap. Then he was ready for his day! I just love this. His little personality is manifesting itself.
Sunday, March 12th, was a day to adjust. But really, there will be a lot of adjusting over the next two week. This time it was Daylight Savings Time. RRRRRR.... I wish they would do away with this one. This was 'spring forward' so we lose and hour of sleep. Claude reset most of the clocks before we started our movie watching. I needed to set a 7:30am alarm on my cell phone for Sunday morning. What would my cellphone do if I set it Saturday evening? I did that about 11pm. When I set the alarm on my cellphone, it tells me how long I have until it will go off. It said I had 7 hours and 30 minutes. That means at 11pm it recognized that we would have daylight savings time and would go off at the proper time Sunday morning. How cool is that?
Church was delightful. Bishop stood up to welcome everyone, give announcements and then introduce the beginning of the program. Before he finished his remarks, the organist started the introduction of the opening hymn. We all got a chuckle. One of the speakers was Scott Brimley. He was hysterical. His talk was really good and full of good doctrine but his method of delivery was hysterical. As we drove home, I told Claude I was sure he really enjoyed Scott's talk. He said he really did. He was sure he could be friends with this young man. I got to play the piano in Primary. Love doing that. Then Jessie Rayburn and I sat and worked on the plan for the Ward Easter Party. Primary has responsibility for this. It was good to get more done on it before we leave.
Burger King for lunch and then a nap for Claude while I work on my laptop. In the evening we cleared things off the DVR.
This poem came across my newsfeed. I have always loved this poem. I was given a book of poems as a graduation gift from high school. This is one of several I loved out of that book. Enjoy.
Monday, March 13th, was attacking our separate 'to do' lists before our trip. I did the final laundry and ironing. Then I went over my grid (thank heavens for the grid!!) and mapped out when we would be where so we knew what to pack, how many days of each item, days we might could do some hand laundry and it dry, activities we would be doing so we could make sure we had appropriate dress for those days. Again, Thank heavens for the grid!!
In the afternoon we went outside to do errands. Claude had used the grid to figure what little money we needed to carry for tips. We went to the bank to get that money. I had an impression I needed to get a coat for this trip. Not that I don't have enough coats for Kentucky weather. But, we would be going into the mountains of New Zealand several times. Claude dropped me at Walmart while he got gas for the Jeep. I found nothing. I asked him to take me to Kohl's. I found the perfect coat. It is as light as my purple one but it has a furry lining so it will be a bit warmer. It has a hood, so if we are caught in the rain I will be able to cover my head. Yeah! Home we came to finish up.
We packed in the afternoon and early evening. Suitcases are ready to go. This is always nice. It gives us Tuesday and Wednesday morning to add things we may have forgotten in the big packing. That always feels good. Especially when one is going to another country and needs to take what one may need.
In the evening, Claude fixed us grill cheese and soup and we cleared more things from the DVR.
Tuesday, March 14th, we each went to our laptops to get things done on them before the trip. I stopped the mail, cleared up the prescriptions with the pharmacy and my doctor, checked for International calling while we are gone, made sure my American Express card was ready to be used, updated my Blog, and tried to get the final participate for our Easter party in April.
This day was Aubrey's birthday. We would be gone during the other three birthdays in March. I decided how I would post this on Facebook. This year I am only posting on our family Facebook page. This is how I posted for the four March birthdays:
March Birthdays...
Our family has 4 birthdays in March. Today is Aubrey's birthday. Friday, the 17th, is Andie's birthday. Nissa is Sunday, March 26th and Paul follows his mom on Monday, March 27th.
Since Claude and I fly away tomorrow for the rest of March, I decided to post a Happy Birthday wish on this day for each of them. With this post I am including 4 baby pictures. You may comment as to who each baby picture is. Then wish them a Happy Birthday on their special day because I might not have cell service!
Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 Nissa Tyler, Andie Christensen Marx, Paul Thompson, and Bre Thompson!!!
Love Ya Bunches!!
Then I posted four more times with these baby pictures of our March birthdays. They are in order: Nissa (March 26th), Andie (March 17th), Paul (March 27th) and Aubrey (March 14th).
In the evening we went to LaGrange to hear the Mini's in their Oldham County Symphonic High School Band Concert. This is the preview of what they will play for the KMEA competition. I have always gone to this. It will take place while we travel. Grateful they do this preview so we can hear them play. This will be Hayden's final preview concert. The concert was excellent. The first piece was professional level and had 3 movement. The first movement is a prelude with bells getting everyone up and to the church. The 2nd movement is the mass at the church. The 3rd movement is the fiesta. The second piece is a rousing march and great fun.
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