Sickness, Cold, Groundhog Day, Family & a Great Movie Date...

Sunday, February 1st, and the cold air stays in place. This has been a long brutal time in Kentucky with the big snow and it stays because the temperatures never seem to go higher than the 20's during the day and single digits in the nights. 

I spent Saturday night getting more and more ill. I went to be fine and slept for about an hour. Then my body did what it often does. It wakes and thinks I have had a great nap and should now get up and get busy. I tried to lay very still and relax all of my body for a long time but that didn't work. I got up to go read. As I sat in my recliner, I had a headache come on. I don't get lots of headaches. This kept getting more and more intense. I thought I about going to the bedroom and getting Tylenol but I didn't want to wake Claude. After a while, I really wanted to lay down but I had a strong impression to go to the guest room and let Claude sleep. I followed that impression and it was a good one. My tummy started to feel worse and worse. I felt an impression to get to the bathroom quickly. I did get there just in time to hurl any cookie I ever ate in my life. On my goodness. I stayed until I was sure that was finished. My body was very weak by now. I went back to the guest bedroom and tried to lay down and get comfortable. I was there about 45 minutes until I felt the urge to run back to the bathroom. Again I cleaned out my poor body. Once I felt there was nothing left, I made my way back to the guest bedroom. My alarm was set to wake Claude at 6:30 for a 7am Zoom meeting. When the alarm went off, I went and found Claude sitting at his desk. I told him I would not be going to Church as I was really sick. He had not slept well either. Ugh! 

Claude did his meeting, I sent text messages to the three ladies I was to meet with at church that day alerting them I would not be there. I went back to bed. Claude checked on me after the Zoom meeting. I checked my cellphone. It seems the parking lot at the church was plowed but just between the parking lanes. None of the parking spaces were cleared. We have two congregations meeting in this building. One begins at 9am and ours begins at 10:30am. We were told to get the word out that we would start at 11:30am and only have sacrament meeting. This would work better for people parking. I sent messages to all our ministering families and then headed to bed again. 

Sunday was definitely a down day for me. We wondered if I may have had food poisoning. However, Claude was not ill and we ate the same food during the day. We wondered if it might be Covid. I took a covid test and it was negative. I had a Mello Yello after I woke up and sipped on it throughout the day. When I got hungry, I opened a small package of Ritz crackers and ate them. In the evening, I really needed something. Claude fixed me one of the Lipton soups with the tiny noodles in it. I love that soup and it tasted delicious. I held all of this down. It was a rough day but I was very grateful for Claude, for my recliner, for having things on hand to eat and drink, for feeling a bit better at the end of the day. 

Monday, February 2nd, I would stay down another day. I did start my day with a good shower to get rid of whatever germ was causing me issues. Then I curled up and read some more in The Book of Enoch. I cleared things from the DVR. By dinner time, I was ready to try real food. We went to the Jimmy John's drive-thru and sandwiches. Then back home to eat and have a quiet evening. 

This was Ground Hog Day. We did not watch the movie. I am sure it was on lots of channels. I did find humor in these two items from Facebook. 

Tuesday, February 3rd, I was ready to try doing things that were normal. I had prepared Bailey a birthday card. I needed to go in the mail. I decided it would be fun to put a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in a box with the card. I got that ready. Then Claude and I dropped the box at the post office.

Cute interchange here. I sent Bailey a text letting her know the birthday box went in the mail and to keep and eye out for it. I told her they could ship it express mail for $35 or I could do first class for $9.20 and it might be there before Sunday. I opted for the $9.20 cost. I shared that with my Bailey Girl in the text. She replied, "That is understandable Grandma, I'd do the same!" Love this girl. 

Claude had a bit of banking to do. Then we drove thru Bojangles for a biscuit breakfast. After that, we made a quick run through the grocery store. 

When we got home, I set to work on the Relief Society lesson I would teach on Sunday. 

Claude came back to Sandiland and informed me the plow had come on our street and we had now piled at the end of the driveway he was going to go out and shovel. Let's face, we are neither in condition to do lots of shoveling. This snow is now heavier with ice from melting and refreezing. I put on my warm clothing and Duck boots and joined him. We got the work done in short order. Of course, working in the yard means a burger for dinner. Claude picked Arby's and we each had a nice sandwich at home for dinner. 

In the evening, I age two dates. I had been thinking about dates. Not sure why. My mother used to buy them every now and then when I was a kid. I liked them then. Jake sent me a text with a picture of the hot sauce he bought with his Christmas gift card. It was Coffee Date flavored. He said the date taste was evident in it and he liked it. I decided that was my cue to buy me some dates. Oh my, they were as good as I remembered. I read about them and they have great nutritional value. I have decided to have two dates each evening. Yum!!

Katelyn posted the fun picture of Joel, her son, and Ramon, their exchange student from Spain. This is what Katelyn said, "We weren’t planning to host this year. We were done. Life was full and busy, and our house already felt complete. Then a last-minute situation came up. A student needed a home or they wouldn’t be able to experience American high school. We had a few options, but Ramón stood out right away. He has siblings close in age to our kids. He plays soccer like our oldest, loves video games like our middle two, and understands what it means to be a big brother. I’m so thankful we decided to host. Joel absolutely loves having a big brother. When we asked him tonight if he’d want another someday, he didn’t even think before saying yes. The girls say they want a sister, but honestly, moments like this are pretty special. Rae and Millie have Julia. Joel and Kennedi have Ramón. 💙

This little fact came up on Facebook. I love these little things I might not notice on my own but that I would definitely find interesting. The information reads: "It’s a “perfect” February 🗓️ With just 28 days, February is the only month that can form a perfect calendar grid. In 2026, it starts on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday—four perfectly aligned weeks. This rare setup won’t happen again until 2037." So cool.

Wednesday, February 4th, we woke up to more snow over night. Not a lot. Maybe and inch. The concern it the temperatures. That is enough snow that, if it melts and freezes overnight, we will have a driveway that is a sheet of ice. We had packages being delivered and didn't want any broken bones. We donned our warm clothing and headed out to do the shoveling...once again. When we finished, I took a pictures of the snow piled in front of our home. The first picture below was taken on Monday, January 26th after the first big shoveling. The second picture was taken Wednesday, February 4th, over one week later. This is proof of the cold we have had. Not very much melting at all. Winter is still on us.

We did yardwork which means burgers for dinner. I had an eMail from Jimmy John's that I got what I thought was a free heated sub. We decided to try that out. I tried to order it online as we drove over. I couldn't get it to work. I cleared the order twice and re-entered the information. It kept telling me I had to enter something else. What every it was, I couldn't find it. Finally, I told Claude I would have to go in and have them help me get it right. I walked into Jimmy John's hand held my cellphone up and said, "Help!!" No one else was in the store but the workers. One girl came over and we went through. It turned out turns out the sandwich was $4 off, not free. Okay. We got it to work and we ate dinner at Jimmy John's. I am NOT a fan of the Jimmy John's app. Worst app of any I choose to use. 

Katelyn posted this cute picture of our our Emelia on our family Facebook page. This was Katelyn's comment, "Somebody lost her 1st and 2nd tooth in school today .... Then lost them on the bus.... Thankfully they were found and our driver has them safe." How cute it that?!

Thursday, February 5th, was a very normal kind of day. I cleaned the guest bedroom linens. I updated my Blog and pictures. The Castle DVD's arrived. Yeah!! I did some texting with Jake and he was happy to have me order him a pizza on Saturday. 

In the evening we had chicken pot pies for dinner with a little salad. When I was grocery shopping with Claude earlier in the week, I saw them as we passed the frozen meal section. I stopped and picked out two for us to eat. I loved these when we were newlyweds and food budget was small. It was really fun to have them again. Food can bring back good memories. 

Friday, February 6th, was laundry day. I also spoke with Katelyn on the telephone. 

In the afternoon, we went to Georgetown Cinema to see "Solo Mio". This is an Angels film production. I read what the story was about and it sounded like it might be a good movie to go see. It turned out to be exceptional. We were delighted and surprised the Andrea Bocelli figures in the movie. What a treat. Kevin James did a masterful job with his role. He is set to be married in Rome, Italy. His bride does not show for their wedding. The story is his journey to accept and make peace with this situation. It take place in Rome and in Tuscany. Delightful and highly recommend this movie. We enjoyed 5 Guys burgers after. 

Drew took Emelia to a "Special Persons Dance". Katelyn told us Raelyn did her little sisters make-up. How cute is that?

Bailey Marx was attending the The National Association for Music Education with other Campbellsville University students at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville. She posted this picture of finding high school friends and catching up. She knows kids from all of Kentucky from all her musical participations.

Saturday, February 7th, was an indoor day. Still very cold. 

I finished my preparation to teach the Relief Society lesson on Sunday. I ordered Jake his pizza. He was very happy. He was spending his time that morning before work writing and the pizza allowed him not to have to stop to cook. Win for both of us. I finished reading the first part of the Book of Enoch. He is actually three books in one. Two more to go. In the evening, I started a baby Afghan. 

Claude tried a new steak and noodle recipe for or evening meal. I love that he does this. This one quite tasty. It was a keeper for sure. 

Sunday, February 8th, the Georgetown Ward only has Sacrament meeting. The snow has not melted enough to allow lap over parking between when the two wards meet. We arrived and Claude found a spot by the door. Yeah!! 

I taught the Relief Society lesson. It was the October General Conference talk by Elder Kevin G. Brown entitle "The Eternal Gift of Testimony". I gave each sister a card and a pen. I started with the slide explains how Elder Brown started his talk. He would use these three foundational principles on that guided him on his journey to a Sure Witness. Love that phrase. 1) God is our Loving Heavenly Father, 2) Agency is the Gift to Choose and Act for Ourselves and 3) Our testimony comes through the Power of the Holy Ghost. I asked the sisters to be aware of these three principles all the way through Elder Brown's talk.

After this introduction, I told the sisters I was going to do something that I do not recommend for a lesson but that I was strongly impressed at the first listening to this talk as the way to share this lesson. I would begin by playing the entire talk given by Elder Brown. I asked the sisters to use their pens and cards to write words or thoughts that they had as the watched this talk. After we listened to the talk, I would then have them share their insights and that would be our lesson. 

The sisters shared and we had a good discussion. Some of the things I highlighted were:

• It is in God's nature to bless us.
• Agency is a sacred gift. The ultimate price for the privilege of agency was paid by Jesus Christ with His precious blood. 
• A witness from the Holy Ghost is great than sight. (I am a believer of walking by faith. This confirms that belief.) What greater witness can you have than from God?
• A testimony is meant to be eternal. The gift from our loving Heavenly Father is meant to be eternal because the giver is eternal. 
• Elder Brown said difficult days of testing and persecution helped him get to the place where he now knows. 
• In whatever way a testimony is given, it still requires a choice to receive this precious gift.
• Choosing to believe is a wise and powerful way to use our agency. 
• Pres. Russell M. Nelson: "I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth." Elder Brown said these action words sound to him like an agent being given stewardship over something precious and important. 
• Elder Brown promises us that our testimony will be:
• your testimony will be a “well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.” 
• It will be an anchor and a motivator.
• It will sustain you through difficult times. 
• It will enable you to develop spiritual gifts. 
• It will help you in your personal ministry and service. 
• It will be a weapon against Satan and your adversaries. 
• Your testimony will be a joy as you see it replicated in your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and in those you love and serve. 
• It will be powerful when you share it and use it to testify.
• If you know, you know. I know and I know that I know. 

Such a powerful talk. Such a powerful message. I am so grateful I have a testimony and a feel the strength that knowledge and understanding give to me each day of my life.

We picked up lunch from Panera and headed for home. Claude go his Sunday nap. I curled up in my recliner for the remainder of the day. 

This day was Bailey's 19th birthday. I posted this on our family Facebook page: "On this day 19 years ago, our Bailey burst into our lives. She has grown into an amazing young woman. She loves her horn and her music. We are very grateful B came to our family. Please join me in wishing Bailey Marx a very Happy Birthday!! Love Ya Bunches!!"

It was a good Sabbath Day and a good week. 

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!