The Storm...

Saturday, January 24th, we spent the week preparing for the storm. Laundry was done. Groceries were purchased early to avoid the empty shelves just before the storm. Fresh batteries were purchased and the flashlights moved to the kitchen for easy reach. All the blinds were cold as the temperature promises to be in the single digits and below zero for many days. The original reports said Saturday 8am through Monday 9am for the storm. Well, it now doesn't begin snowing until 1 or 2pm. Hurry up and wait! Actually, we felt off Friday because we were all ready and it still was a day away. It would come. We were ready.

I took these picture to have a 'before the storm' look at the back and front yards of our home from the doors. That will most likely be my vantage point once we have snow on the ground. 

The funny posts were starting to show up on Facebook. I really liked this one and shared with our family.

The prediction this day on my cellphone had this storm warning and these four updates to accumulations through the day and night Saturday and Sunday. 

I liked this map that shows predictions for the amount of snow and ice accumulations for Kentucky. We were hoping for all snow in Georgetown. I talked with a friend who trains thoroughbred horses. She said the horses love the snow. Ice is their enemy. 

I appreciated and loved that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a Ministering program. We are each assigned other families to stay in contact with and help as needed. This doesn't mean you can't help anyone at any time. When things like this upcoming storm are on the horizon, we are all contacting the families we are assigned to be sure they are ready to be shut in for several days. I took a puzzle to one of our families. It is nice to get that contact and know there are others watching out for you. 

Our snow started about 2pm. It was very fine and dry. This was our backyard and then our front yard.

We filled our day with little things. A good shower to start the day in case we lost power or water. Then Blogging and labeling pictures. Lots of texts about whether or not there would be church. It was eventually canceled so all our ministering families were notified.

Claude made bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches for dinner. Yum! Then he baked orange rolls for dessert. Oh My!! 

Andie called and we caught up with each other. We talked about how her kids, Hayden and Bailey are doing with the storm. Hayden is in Chicago and Bailey is in Campbellsville. They sent each of the kids some money to get some food for their apartment or dorm room in case they couldn't get out.

Before the sun set, I took more pictures of what we had for snow accumulation. The forecast was for most of the snow to fall while we slept. 

Facebook continues to be a source of humor when facing these big events. Here are a couple of the funnies I enjoyed most. The second picture was posted by the daughter of one of my cousins in Louisiana. They filled their hot tub with water as they were expecting mostly ice. This water could be used to flush toilets and things like that. Bless their hearts. They are in southern Louisiana. I am a Louisiana girl. Think Mardi Gras and you will see the humor in the second picture. 

Our local news channel posted this picture to show the size of the storm. It goes across the entire county. I believe they named it Fern. There was a front coming down from the north. It had dumped a LOT of snow in Michigan. In Muskegon, the kids had not school all week long because the road were so bad. Our son-in-law said they had 18 inches of snow on their roof. That cold front hit and front coming up from the Gulf of Mexico with a lot of moisture. That is why our forecast was for so much snow or ice. 

We went to bed about midnight. 

Sunday, January 25th, I was up before Claude. I took these pictures of the snowfall during the night. The snow had changed to ice and the ice weighs down the snow it lands on making the depth not look as great as it was. There was ice on the windows. I could only open our front door a little way. 

Church was officially canceled all over Kentucky. Claude made us pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Yum. We watched Music & the Spoken Word. 

I finished crocheting the Christmas ornaments to be given as Relief Society gifts to the sisters at church this coming December. 50 little ornaments. They really are a nice dark red. I will need to put the hangers on them and press them.

Hayden posted his thank you to the people who helped him with filming one of his scripts. Very proud of him and his hard work. 

It appeared the snow was going to stop by the evening. On little boy came to the door to see if he could shovel our driveway and walks. I asked him his price. He said $100 - $175. Yike!! I thanked him and wished him well. In the evening, I started putting out feelers for someone to help us clear the snow. Finally, I secured the help of Porter and Payton Hale. They would come Monday at Noon. Yeah!

I did not remember to get pictures of the snow before we went to bed on Saturday evening. We went to bed about midnight and there was a light snow falling. 

Monday, January 26th, after a bad night's trying to sleep, I was up before Claude and managed to get these pictures from our back and front door. Now the front door wouldn't open at all. The pictures were taken through the glass of the front door. 

Claude and I went out about 11:45am to try to clear the little walk from the driveway to our front door. It was all ice by the front door. Claude took a heavy flat bladed shovel that he could pound into the ice to break it up. I started on the walk near the driveway. My first shovel full went very easily. The snow was dry and very powdery. However, I noticed that I didn't see concrete after that shovel full. I stepped out on it and my foot cracked the ice and went down to the concrete. We had 6-7 inches of snow. On top of that was about 2+ inches of ice. Then we had another 2-3 inches of snow on top of the ice. My first shovel full was the top layer of snow. I had to walk on the ice to break it up and then could shovel it and toss to the side. I took this picture when I started. It is not great to show the depth though. 

We managed to get that bit of walk done and Claude got all the ice from the concrete in front of the door. Then we went in for something to drink and to take a break. We left the garage door open. I soon heard the 'cavalry' (as Claude calls them). I went back outside and we talked about what we wanted removed. I told them their first priority was to clear the driveway on the Jeep side so we could get it out. Then my side of the drive way. Then, if they had enough steam, do the sidewalk. These young men are machines. They work very, very well together. It took them about an hour to get all that done. Claude paid each of them. We also loaned them the Lord of the Rings DVD's. We were so happy that was done and we could be in our home. 

Next question was garbage collection for this week. I checked with Republic and this was what I got. Fortunately, Claude and I don't generate lots of garbage. We could probably only put out a full can every third or fourth week. I shared this on our neighborhood Facebook page. 

Tuesday, January 27th, we awoke to find the plow came through again during the night. We have a neighbor across the street and down one house who parks a car on our side of the street in front of our next door neighbor's home. We don't own the street so we don't complain. However, the rule for our development is that all cars should be in driveways or garages so that plows can clear the entire street. Well, with this car parked on the street, the plow went around him and shoved the show from the middle of the street all along the end of our driveway and piled up in front of our mailbox. Ugh. I happened to look out the window and they were cleaning the snow off that car to use it. I quickly put on my shoes and went outside to have a chat. It was all very cordial. I assured them their parking on the street was not a problem except when we had snow that required plowing. I told them we had already had someone help us shovel and now we had to shovel again. I shared that we are too old to be doing this multiple times. I asked if they would just move their car to their driveway for snows that require a snow plow. It was all very pleasant and the cleaned and moved their car to the driveway. 

We called our 'cavalry' (the Hale brothers). They said they could come about 1:30pm Wednesday. 

During this storm, I learned a couple of new terms. The first was when Katelyn said their was a prediction for exploding trees in Michigan. Never heard of exploding trees. The second was front quakes. I sent this to our family so they would also be aware of these possibilities. 

Wednesday, January 28th, we started our morning with cinnamon rolls. Yum! Then we spent the morning time we had doing things in Sandiland and the study. 

Around 1:15, Claude and I managed to get a start on the shoveling before Payton and Porter arrived. When they got to the house, they helped us finish it off. Now we should be able to get mail service and the end of the driveway is clear again. Whew!

Yardwork of any kind qualifies as a day to get hamburgers for dinner. We went to Burger King. This was our first day on the roads since our Friday night dinner date. It was nice to get out of the house a bit and to see how the rest of our little community faired with the storm. 

Jessie Carter called me in the evening and we had a nice chat. We spent the evening grateful for a warm home on a very cold day. 

Thursday, January 29th, I had another bad night of sleeping. This was one of the sleep for an hour really well then you body wakes up and is ready to go. Well, maybe your mind wakes up and is ready to go. I do think my body could lay in those flannel sheets when its so cold forever. I spent a couple of hours reading The Book of Enoch. Very interesting read. 

I checked Facebook and learned our weatherman is concerned about another storm this weekend. Winter is here!!

Claude went grocery shopping while I sat to get a final draft of the Relief Society newsletter for February. While I was working on that, Betty Dixon called. We talked for about an hour. 

We decided to go to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. Good to be out again. Even better to be back in our warm home!

Friday, January 30th, this was another in a long line of very cold days. That made it the perfect day to stay inside all day. 

I was happy to accomplish a few things. I got Bailey's birthday card ready to send the next week. I put together an anniversary surprise for Claude. I sent the Relief Society Newsletter out via Facebook and eMail. Then I got the February announcements and lessons to Jennifer Barber for the Sunday bulletin. 

In the evening, I had some messaging time with Paul. Then we decided to order the Castle DVD's. I was able to do the on my cellphone while in my recliner with Walmart. Isn't life grand!

Saturday, January 31st, I awoke and for some reason determined this was a down day. I would stay inside and warm and, without any regret or feelings of guilt, simply do nothing. Turns out, this was a good choice. 

My sister-in-law sent me a text concerned about us and the snow. I went to the back door and took this picture of a chuck of snow and ice on the patio by our 1/2 bourbon barrel flower pot. If you understand the snow came on Sunday and it was still this large a chuck, you get a feel for the cold that will not let the snow melt. The chuck is about the size of a 1/2 a copy paper box. 

Snowstorm Fern is gone. But she left a lot of snow and ice and frigid temperatures. More snow forecast for our future. It is January after all!

A Calm Week Before the Storm...

Monday, January 19th, began a quiet week. A winter storm is on the way. Lots of buzz about that but I will make a separate post about the storm. I only had one appointment for me the entire week. That would be Wednesday. I set in for a week of accomplishing a couple of goals each day. 

Monday's goals were completing the Blog and labeling the picture for the previous week, getting the February Relief Society birthday cards ready, getting a great start of the February Relief Society newsletter, and posting and announcement about the upcoming Sunday Relief Society lesson on Facebook and via eMail. 

I had a lovely conversation with Katelyn. They have had so much snow in Muskegon that she did not have school for her work or her kids. This would continue through the week. Lots of snow. Later in the week, I would text with Todd, our son-in-law. I asked how much snow they had in Holton, Michigan. He said they had 18-inches on their roof. Uhg!!

I did my treadmill and crocheted three more Christmas ornaments.

Tuesday, January 20th, my poor hubby spent the day at dentist offices. He had to have a root canal. That dentist was in Lexington, Dr. Kelly. He came home and napped a bit. Then went to see Dr. Hollen, our dentist, to get the permanent filling in the hole. 

I made some Jello for Claude so he would have something soft to eat. I walked my treadmill. Then I crochet ornaments so that I only had 10 left to crochet. Whew!

Wednesday, January 21st, we had snow in the week small hours of the morning. The snow is a bit of a concern but the ice on top of the snow was the real problem. We had NO traffic on Paynes Depot by our development. There is usually always some traffic. The only traffic I heard was a siren on an emergency vehicle. Ugh!! Schools were closed because of the ice. I was concerned about this as my medical appointment was in Lexington at the St. Joseph Neurology. I called them to see if they were open. I had no desire to drive to Lexington and find them closed. They were open. Claude went with me. Once we were out of our development and headed toward I-64, the roads had been cleared and it was easy going to the medical office. After my appointment, we went to Firehouse Subs for our big meal-of-the-day. Claude had his first French Dip sandwich from the place. This is a sandwich he loves and he pronounced this one the best of anywhere he usually gets them. Yeah!!

After lunch, we went back the Kroger and Georgetown and cleared our grocery list to be ready for the coming storm. 

We had a quiet evening. Claude found an interesting video about being in your 70's. How your perspective changes. Before you are trying to get ahead in life with your work and family. In your 70's it is okay to have a slower pace. Not to fight every battle but to find the peace in the little niceties in your life. 

A person who lives in Sadieville posted this picture of the old farm that was purchased and turned into the housing development where we lived, Eagle Bend. This first picture shows the old farmhouse. The second picture shows the old barn that was just barely standing when we moved into this neighborhood. Ours was the 13th home built there. It was a lovely place to live and we truly enjoyed living there.

Thursday, January 22nd, I ordered the extended version DVD's of the Lord of the Rings series. They arrived. I took this picture and sent it to Hayden. His response was, "Do you think ya'll can sit and watch all three one right after the other?" I told him we would need to be sure we each had a charging cable for our devices but I was sure we could do it.

This was Raelyn's birthday. I posted this on our family Facebook page: "On this day 10 years ago, Miss Raelyn Jay Roper made her appearance. Our 1st great grandmonster. Wow!! She is a bundle of energy. Curious about all life has to offer. And hoping to be a police officer when she grows up. Look out world!! Raelyn is another year older! Happy Birthday and We Love Ya Bunches!!

Katelyn posted this picture of Raelyn's birthday cake. That lime green color of icing is Katelyn's favorite color. 

We sent Raelyn roller skates. Katelyn sent this video of her opening her skates. Very happy girl!

Claude had an ophthalmologist appointment in the afternoon. I went along and we plotted one more dinner out before the storm. That was at Applebee's. Then we stopped by Dairy Queen to pick up some sugar-free (well, sugar reduced) Dilly Bars.

I got three more ornaments crocheted in the evening. 

Friday, January 23rd, we awoke to a sunny but cold day. I looked out the window and marveled that years ago they didn't have weather radar so you could see the approach of a major storm. Looking out at the beautiful January day, I wondered how would they ever know to prepared for crippling travel weather when they started out with such a gorgeous day. Cold should be expected in January. 

Claude said, "Let's do one more biscuit run before the storm comes." I heartily agreed. The Jeep warmed quickly and we enjoyed our biscuit run tradition. 

Back home I started the laundry, cleaned our bathroom and walked the treadmill. 

Bailey called in the evening. She is at college in Campbellsville, Kentucky. They will probably get more ice than snow. Not good. She has stocked up on some food items in case she is stuck in her dorm for a while. They have already canceled their Monday classes and have hinted at canceling Tuesday and Wednesday. Bailey's roommate is a local and has gone home to weather the storm with her family. Bailey was invited but declined. There are many students who are not local and will have to weather the storm in their dorms. Bailey felt she should be there also. There may be several more talks with out girl this weekend. I suggested to her that she be our weather girl as the storm will hit her first and she can share with her parents and Claude and me the progress of it. 

This Facebook funny gave me a chuckle. I talk to myself all the time. I encourage myself, correct myself, all the feelings. Claude doesn't hear well, even with his heating aids. I truly don't think he is even aware I talk to myself so much. When I read this Facebook funny, it did give me a very big chuckle.

We are ready for the storm. Hopefully we won't lose power. We had lots of food and other necessities. Next post...The Storm.

Lord of the Rings Extended Edition...

Monday, January 12th, I awoke not feeling on my game. Felt like I was getting the flu. Achy. No fever but felt feverish. Decided I was not going to give in but try and accomplish some things as I could. By days end, I felt a bit better. 

I was able to get my Blog done and all the pictures taken care of. I also went to the Church website and set up to receive reimbursements directly to our bank account. 

Claude and I sat and decided about roadside assistance with our insurance. I have had it with OnStar and pay a huge annual premium for this benefit. However, I have only used it once and that was on my previous car. It felt like a lot of expense for very little benefit. We looked into how roadside assistance is for Claude and he is using some little thing with ATT attached to his cell phone. We see our future as more road trips and less over the big pond trips. We decided to put both cars on our car insurance for roadside assistance and not renew OnStar. Little decisions but it feels good to both agree on a course of action and take that course. 

Tuesday, January 13th, I awoke with a purposeful day in mind. I started with little things like filling my pill box for the next week, making the bed in the guest bedroom and walking the treadmill. 

Claude started his day with an early visit to our dentist. He had a tooth that was bothering him. Dr. Hollin took x-rays and determined she would refer him to Dr. Kelly in Lexington. Dr. Kelly would see him in the afternoon. Dr. Kelly would diagnose the need for a root canal. Ugh. Poor guy. He already has a post implanted and waiting for his February appointment to proceed with that implant. 

In between his dental visits, Claude took a nap. I used that time to watch some of my documentaries and delete them from the DVR. 

While Claude was in Lexington, I finished reading The Screwtape Letter by C.S. Lewis. It is an interesting book to read. It is told from the point of Screwtape writing to his nephew. Screwtape and his nephew are both followers of Satan and their employment and joy in life is messing up the lives to mortals. Screwtape is the senior in the effort and his letters are direction and criticism of this nephew and how he is handling the man who is his target. It was difficult for me to get started in this book again (I read it many years ago) because it is from the point of evil. I tend to read from the perspective of good. It seemed to end very abruptly. However, in the years since the book was first published, Lewis had written a epilogue. That setting is a banquet and Screwtape is the guest speaker. It is his final council to all the young tempters. I found that epilogue to be very interesting. 

Then I started The Book of Enoch. This is one of the apocryphal writings and is attributed to Enoch of the Old Testament. I did preface this reading by reading my scriptural accounts in the Old Testament and Pearl of Great Price. I also ready the Institute manuals on these chapters. I had this 'flash of intellect' that I will be okay reading The Book of Enoch if I look at it as reading The Iliad or The Odyssey by Homer with my background of knowledge about Enoch himself. 

I also started some chair yoga. 

Wednesday, January 14th, was another purposeful day. I started with a walk on the treadmill followed by chair yoga. 

Claude had a visit with his audiologist. The audiologist basically told Claude as he aged his hearing would not get any better. Very uplifting, don't you think!?

I spent time crocheting ornaments for 2026 Christmas gifts to the Relief Society sisters.

In the evening we started watching Psych.

My cousin, Sue, in Louisiana, posted a picture that sent me on a family history post for our family. I found a picture of a water pump and added it to Sue's picture of a child dipping water from a bucket and posted this for our family.

Family history lesson for today.

Mimi's parents lived in the country in southern Louisiana. They did not have running water or electricity. They did have a well in their back yard with a pump you had to 'prime' to get it to bring water up to the spout. Then you pumped as the water came up and filled your bucket. A bucket of fresh well water stayed on the back porch with a dipper. Everyone wanting a drink used the same dipper from the bucket to get their drink. Water was always delicious. If you needed water to cook or bathe with, you had to prime the pump and pump buckets of water depending on your need. Thought this water bottle generation might enjoy this bit of history.

Katelyn posted this cute interchange with Kennedi.

"Mommy Daddy wake me up and eat pepperoni. He didn't listen me. I used potty okay momma." 

"Momma I used potty and dadda not leave me alone."

"Momma dadda not leave me alone he wake me up."

Love this little nugget.

Yes her face is messy and honestly it's bath day so we will clean her up later right now I am enjoying snuggles and the conversation.

Thursday, January 15th, I did laundry and walked the treadmill. Then I crocheted. 

In the afternoon, we had a visit set with the Carter family. Laura is my BFF and her family is precious to us. Laura us recuperating from breast cancer. I was amazed she fixed us taco salads for a meal (Howard helped). It was so good to sit and visit with them. Howard is refurbishing a school bus for them to travel in. He had amazing plans he had created to do this. Jessie was very happy to share her visits with Bill Mecke, a meteorologist in Lexington and also the drum she got for Christmas. 

We came home to a warm house that felt especially good. It was a super cold day for Kentucky. I told Laura it was warm at her home and our home but in between it was brutal. She had been out for PT that morning and heartily agreed.

Friday, January 16th, I walked my treadmill while Claude went to his ophthalmologist appointment. Well, he tried to go to his appointment but they didn't have him on their records. They scheduled it for the next week. Ugh! So Claude went grocery shopping instead. 

This was the beginning of our three dates in a row. Georgetown Cinema was showing Lord of the Rings, extended edition. We purchased tickets for the first weekend they were doing this for all three days. The first movie "The Fellowship of the Rings" was set for 7pm. We had dinner at 5 Guys and then headed to the theater. The movies was 3 hours and 45 minutes long. 

Peter Jackson, the director, gave and introduction to the film. He shared that Viggo Mortensen went surfing before the filming of the scenes in the mines. He was hit in the eye by his surfboard. His left eye was swollen. He had to shoot all of that with the right side of Viggo's face. 

Peter also told that they filmed all three movies at once. Sometimes they had one day they were filming one movie and another day they were filming scenes from a different movie. They were very unsure about the way these movies would be received. They would all come out different years. They would have to remember that a scene they shot might not go public for 4 years. In the midst of this uncertainty, they were asked to provide a 30-minute finished clip of the movie for Cannes. The piece they shot was the mines scene. It got rave reviews and made them more confident in their efforts and the success of the finished product. 

Please note that Peter Jackson filmed an intro for each of the three films. I noted that in each intro he wore a Hawaiian print shirt over a t-shirt. 

We very much enjoyed the extended edition. Our grandson, Hayden, has been after us to watch the extended edition for years. We have owned the theatrical cut of these movies for years. It is our New Year's Eve tradition watching all three back to back. Hayden kept telling us we should watch the extended edition. We felt spending that money was a silly move as we were happy with our current situation. After watching this first movie, Claude sent Hayden a text apologizing for nor listening to him sooner and to let him know we were looking at ways to rectify the situation. Lesson learned: Sometimes grandmonsters know best!!

Saturday, January 17th, in the morning I walked my treadmill, did my ironing, scanned the returned Relief Society birthday cards and some picture Christmas cards. 

We had a 2pm viewing of the second Lord of the Rings movie: The Two Towers. Since the movie was early, we determined we would have dinner after and it would be a Chipotle. 

Peter Jackson did an introduction for this movie. He spoke of Christopher Lee and his death scene at the end of this film. It was determined it would not be a part of the theatrical cut. Christopher Lee was extremely upset about this and had harsh words for Peter Jackson. However, they made amends and ended up as great friends. The death scene is a part of the extended edition. The other thing he touched on was his love of war scenes. He was hands on with the Battle for Helm's Deep. 

You are not supposed to video this movie. Not an issue. However, I really wanted a picture for this blog. I tried at the beginning to get the title in a picture. However, the title is not displayed as it is on our theatrical cuts with which I am familiar. I missed the picture at the beginning of the film. I did manage to get this nice one at the end of the film. Note the Nazgul flying in the middle of the picture. Cool.

The extended version of the movie was 3 hours and 55 minutes long. 

Sunday, January 18th, we attended church in the morning. Parker Risher gave his return talk after finishing his mission to Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was one of the best return home talks I have heard. He talked about how the Lord had changed him through certain principles in his life: peace, love, humility. 

We had a 2pm showing of the last Lord of the Rings movie. We got a biscuit before church as our meeting starts at 10:30am for 2026. This would tide us over till dinner after the movie. That would be chili from Wendy's. Great on another very cold day. 

Peter Jackson gave his final introduction for these films. He took time this time to pay tribute to the actors and people he worked with who have passed away since the making of the movies. 

We are both very happy we did this together. The extended version are a lot longer but they clarify a lot of the story, especially if you haven't read the books, or, if you are like me, and have read the book but can't remember all the detail. Claude had not read the books and he totally appreciated the extra length of the film. Clarified a lot. This film was 4 hours and 23 minutes.