Monday, December 30th, we started our morning with a biscuit run. Time to get ready for New Year's Day. Nothing quite like a good biscuit to have a conversation about what must happen and being sure we are ready. This was followed by a Kroger grocery run for the final fresh items, then to Walmart for a couple of errands, then to CVS to pick up prescriptions for Claude and then back to our little cottage. We had time to finish off things on our laptops that needed to be done before company.
We left for LaGrange in the afternoon. We would pick up Hayden to bring him to our home for our annual New Year's Eve moviefest. Michael also wanted my Frank Lloyd Wright puzzle. We took Hayden's Christmas presents so he wouldn't have to haul them around. One present was a new cane. Now he can have one at school and one in Kentucky.
We planned to stop at Zaxby's in Frankfort for our dinner with Hayden. Claude missed the exit so we drove on to Georgetown and got our meal at the drive-thru window of the Georgetown Zaxby's. We would dine at home with our grandson and finish our evening with some more Psyche episodes.
Tuesday, December 31st, was New Year's Eve. Hayden sleeps very late when on a break. I got up and headed to office PT. They increased the weight size on several of my exercises. My are would be a bit more sore after this. But, a good kind of sore.
By a little after 3pm, we were all in our places, food at the ready for whenever anyone wanted to eat anything, and it was time to begin our Lord of the Rings marathon. Oh how I love these movies. We watched them with a brief break between each to freshen our treats. At midnight, Hayden alerted us to the fact it WAS midnight. We were right at the end of The Return of the King. I love the scene as the ship leaves the harbor for the Undying Land. Such a nice ending for the movies.
Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Happy New Year!!
Hayden slept in REALLY late. I was able to get more laptop work accomplished and took down the interior decorations. Claude had taken the exterior decorations down while I was office PT on Tuesday. They were in the garage being sure they were dried out before boxing them up. I was able to get all the decoration boxes out to the shed including the ornaments, garlands and lights from the tree. I had the tree taken apart but not squished back for storage in the boxes.
Hayden woke, had a bit to eat and we left for LaGrange at 4pm. Andie and Michael invited us to dinner. Michael made some great air-fryer chicken and Andie made double backed potatoes. Excellent meal. Afterward, I cut Andie's hair before she goes back to school. After a nice visit, we headed back to Georgetown.
Thursday, January 2nd, I started my day with office PT. Then it was home to be sure we were all ready for the forecast of a major storm over Kentucky. Claude treated us to ham and bean soup in an effort to get more of the leftover ham used up. Yum.
Friday, January 3rd, we took some men's coats to The Gathering Place in Georgetown. This is a men's shelter. They will be sorely needed as the big storm approaches.
Claude and I worked together to get all the Christmas decorations into the shed. Whew, that felt good. Well, a little bad. I find myself still wanted to touch my toe to the power strip to turn on the Christmas tree lights. Alas, there is no tree, or lights, or power strip. Funny how that little habit is so quickly ingrained.
With things in order in our home, I curled up to begin reading a book Andie gave to me entitled "West with Giraffes". It is a true story of the first giraffes to cross the United States from the east coast to San Diego to be in a zoo run by the first female Zoo Director. These elephants were actually in a ship that was in a storm at sea and barely made it alive to the United States. Good story.
Through the afternoon, I sent and received text from Hayden as he road the bus back to Chicago from he quick break home.
Saturday, January 4th, everyone and everything is abuzz with the winter storm due to hit Kentucky Sunday morning. I decided to get my laundry all done just in case there is a problem. This was the final touch on being prepared for the storm. I contacted my ministering sisters to be sure they were prepared for the storm. Then I sat at my laptop to clean off files so I can do a good backup for the first of the year.
I will share four of my favorite artist paintings by Thomas Cole. They are titled "The Voyage of Life". They each are about a phase of life. The first is Childhood, the second is Youth, the third is Manhood and the fourth is Old Age. When living in Maryland, we went to the National Museum of Art and I saw the paintings for the first time. The each fill an entire wall. Looking at them like that, you can see much more detail than in these little pictures. I was so smitten with them, I purchased copies of each one and they hang in our living room now over the loveseat. The river represents life flowing along. The boat carries the person at different stages of their life. As you look at the other items in each painting, it gives you a feel for that stage of life. Notice how the current is different. Also look for the angels watching over the person in the boat, eventually, in the Old Age one, those angels are guiding him home to his Father in Heaven.
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