Music, Sickness, Wellness, Reading & Crocheting...

Sunday, May 18th, in the evening, we went to the Lexington Opera House to watch The Black Jacket Symphony perform Jimmy Buffett. This would be our fourth Black Jacket Symphony concert. They have all been great. Once again the performed the entire "Changes in Attitude, Changes in Latitude" album by Jimmy Buffett in the first half of their program. After a 15 minute break, the brought out the beach balls and played other of the Jimmy Buffett classics. Great fun! 

Beach balls all over the Lexington Opera House!

These ladies are pounding the stage to get an encore after the program. They got one!

A very brief video of The Black Jacket Symphony playing Jimmy Buffett.

Monday, May 19th, would be the final performance for Bailey with the Oldham County High School Symphonic Band. This would be bitter sweet. From sixth grade through twelfth grade Bailey had played in a band. She started on the trumpet and changed to the French horn in high school. She has found a love for music and her French horn. It was a delight to watch her perform one last time in the high school theater. 

During one of the numbers, Bailey was the only French horn playing. 

The seniors were recognized at this performance. Bailey is in the center. 

The many faces of our Bailey. Gotta love each of them. 

They would play the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana. This is one of my favorites. I have saved it to my cellphone to listen to when I need an uplift.

The students who participated in extra musical events and activities were asked to stand. Bailey must have stood up six or seven times. She worked hard so that, her senior year, she could do all music with only one subject other than music for a class. 

Final bows at the end of the performances. Our girl got a little misty-eyed. That is to be expected. 

Her parents gave her a towel with her initials and her horn embroidered on it. Horn players of all kinds must pause when not playing and empty saliva from their instrument. These towels Bailey can place on the floor to drain her instrument. Way cool!!

Sandi, Bailey and Claude.

Andie, Bailey and Michael

Bailey and flowers someone gave her.

Then Bailey gave us a present. Campbellsville t-shirts with Gramma and Grampa on them. Now we are ready to attend musical things at Bailey's university. 

Tuesday, May 20th, our big outing was to go to the Temple in the evening. Oh how I love time in the Temple. A storm was on the way and we had a little rain on the drive home. We pulled into our garage just before the bottom fell out over our home. Whew!!

Wednesday, May 21st, my happiest moment was finishing reading The Iliad by Home. I felt like this was a must read before our trip to Greece later this year. It was on my Kindle and it took a long time to wade through. 

• Genealogy was important at this time. Everyone gave their father and sometimes grandfather. They would even stop in battle to declare their pedigree. 
• The characters could go by different names making it tricky to know who the story was speaking about. They had a name like Achilles. Then he would be called son of Peleum (his father) or son of Thetis (his mother) without using his name, Achilles. You need to remember these so you know they are talking about Achilles. Alexandrus was also Paris of Troy. His father was King Priam of Troy so you might just read son of Priam. 
• The gods often went by their Greek name or their Roman name. Jove is really Jupiter. Minerva might be called Pallas Minerva but we know her as the Greek goddess Athena. Ulysses we know as Odysseus, you know, of Odyssey fame. 
• I marveled at how the gods would sit on Olympus and watch the Greeks (Achaeans) and the Trojans (Dardanians) and took sides for one or the other. They were also deceptive to each other. It was very different from how I understand God. 
• Achilles best friend from childhood is killed in the battle. After Achilles gets his body back, the the Greeks can do a proper funeral for him. As part of that funeral they participate in all kinds of games that challenge each other. Things like chariot races, wrestling matches, boxing matches, etc. We don't usually do that at the end of a funeral.
• I wondered why the book is called the Iliad since the city where the battle is fought is Troy. Troy was name Ilius originally. Names after its founder, it became Troy after it became the center of government. 

These are just a few of the things that caught my attention. It took a long while to wade through this book but I did enjoy it and am glad I made that effort. Someday, I will tackle the Odyssey and others of these classics. 

Thursday, May 22nd, well, I did not sleep but maybe 2 hours in spurts through the night. I got up during the night and hurled big time. It was a simply awful night. So, Thursday would be a day to stop and heal. I simply did some laundry and rested the rest of the day.

These pictures of Bailey were posted, I believe, on this day. They had their end-of-the-year band banquet. Bailey received a scholarship toward school. 

Friday, May 23rd, I was still not up to speed. I concluded I must have had a 48-hour virus or something. Claude had no symptoms at all. I would spend my day crocheting. I had 63 more squares to make. I had been crocheting 9 squares, making them into a row and then adding that row to the afghan I am working on. I decided I was going to make stacks of 9 squares. I needed 7 of these stacks to make the final 7 rows for the afghan. I would take a stack of 9 square and add the next row to them in the color needed. I would do this a stack at the time. When done, I will then make the rows and add them to the afghan. I can do this!!

I also started reading Angels and Demons. I purchased the six Dan Brown novels that have Robert Langdon as their main character. Five of these novels are out. The sixth will be out in September. That is on pre-order. It will come to my Kindle when it is available. I now want to read all of the five I have before the 6th one comes out. Angels and Demons is the first one.

Saturday, May 24th, I was feeling better. I would tackle the rest of the weeding in the morning. I also enjoyed more time to read in Angels and Demons. and crocheting another row on the 63 squares for the afghan. 

Sunday, May 25th, we attended church. I love the talk Richard Risher gave. It fit right into the Relief Society lesson I will teach in June. After sacrament meeting, Beth Wooford and I met with Jessie Rayburn to do our ministering interview. Then on to Relief Society for a wonderful lesson taught by Elizabeth Christensen using Pres. Russell M. Nelson's talk from the April General Conference entitled 
"Confidence in the Presence of God". 

Claude and I enjoyed a salad from Panera. Then he took his Sunday nap and I curled up to read Angels and Demons. By the end of the day, I finished my book. Excellent read. A lot of differences between it and the movie. I also got a bit more crocheting done. 

Monday, May 26th, was Memorial Day. These holidays sneak up on Claude and me. Being retired can make these feel different. Have a week where I was sick a few days also skews things. When you work full-time, you look forward to having that extra day off. We used to use these days to paint a room in the house or something that took a good bit of time. How were we going to use this day?

We started with a biscuit run for breakfast. A very good place to start! Then we did a few errands that we wanted to get done. 

I am taking items to include in sandwiches to a family for the Remembrance Service they will have for her mother that day in her home. I knew that Dollar Tree sells plasticware that is like cut glass. I wanted a tray to put these items on. They did have two kinds. 

Then on to Walmart. We purchased the food items for the Linares service on Thursday and windshield wiper blades for the Jeep. 

Then to Lowe's to get some plants for under the front window. Our little azalea bushes did not fare well with the ice we had this winter. We salvaged one. I cut off the dead branches on it and we planted it between the two azalea bushes we have in another flower bed. It seems happy there. We opted for Hostas this time. Hope this works. 

The rest of our day was spent watching Psych and crocheting. We had corn dogs and potato salad for dinner, which felt a little holidayish. 

Tuesday, May 27th, was time for my annual check-up on my right shoulder replacement. X-rays were taken and all seems to be healing correctly. I will no go back for two more annual check-ups before they release me from the doctor's care. To celebrate, we had lunch at BD's Mongolian Grill. Yum!!

The afternoon was spent crocheting. Whew!!

Short & Sweet Week...

Monday, May 12th, all I can say is "I must have been really sleepy." I didn't wake up until 10am. Not like me at all. I finished my weekly Blog. Then watched Amadeus with Claude and crocheted.

Katelyn sent us this picture of Raelyn. She was in the school play. She was Toto. Hence the brown net skirt, nose and ears with her hands (paws) held up. Her part had her crawl across the stage once at the beginning and once at the end. My knees hurt just thinking about that!!

Tuesday, May 13th, marked the anniversary of my reverse right should replacement surgery. One entire year. No big celebration of this event. Simply me being grateful for the movement I have gained back. Grateful for an excellent surgeon and physical therapy group. Grateful for great insurance that covered everything so very well. I feel richly blessed. I did celebrate myself with an extra Mello Yello!!

This day I did laundry and crocheted.

Wednesday, May 14th, we have had some rain. It felt particularly humid. I looked in the backyard and noticed we had mushrooms growing. This is not a usual event. It was like they were marching to the fairy tree.

I would being the PowerPoint of our Italy trip. Claude finally got me his writeup. Not I will, over time, combine his writeup with my pictures and make a PowerPoint of that trip. This is our scrapbook of this trip.

The best was a phone call in the evening from Laura, my sweet Friend who is battling breast cancer. Her pathology tests all showed they removed the cancer. Now to heal and then radiation. She is such a strong, positive example to me. Love this Lady.

Thursday, May 15th, Claude would cut the grass, which seems to be growing very fast this time of year. While he did that, I would crochet. 

In the evening we had our May Relief Society Activity. It was a trip to the Louisville Temple. There were two cars of us and eight sisters attending from the Elkhorn Creek Ward. What a delight. How grateful I am that we have a temple so close.

Juliana Christensen, Diane Tincher, Karen Raulston and Sandra Sexton.

Jennifer Barber, Lisa Adams, Crystal McLeod and Sandi Christensen

Friday, May 16th, was a rainy day so I spent my day crocheting. Thought I might go out and weed but there was too much water. These storms were horrible. We had a period of sunshine in the afternoon. There were tornados. Enough that Andie and Michael called to be sure we were okay. How sweet is that. 

I sent this picture as I crocheted to Laura. By the time I went to bed, I had added two more rows and started crocheting the squares for row eight. Yeah me!!

Saturday, May 17th, after I got up, I went to Facebook to post the Trivial Pursuit questions on our family Facebook page. The first thing on my newsfeed was a drone video of London, Kentucky as the sun was coming up. This city was practically leveled. I read one headline that said there were actually two tornados in one spot. They followed each other. That means the people in the path of these two storms were hit twice!! 

This weekend was Stake Conference. Claude and I would attend Leadership Training from 3pm - 5pm this day. Then attend the Adult Session from 6pm - 8pm. Elder Ahmad S. Corbett would preside. 

These are a few of my favorite phrases from the Saturday Leadership Training and the even Adult Session:

1. Covered in the dust of the Master - An older Jewish phrase was following the the dust of the Rabbi. Literally walking close enough to the Savior that the dust of his feet gets on you. You follow His teachings that closely. I like phrase that paint a mental picture for me. One comment from the audience suggested we take it a step further and think of the dust we are creaCu
2. Counsel for working with the youth was from a quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that went something like: "We underestimate their capacity and we overestimate their experience." As leaders, we need to be the training wheels to their bicycle. Let them do the work and be there so they don't fail. We can accomplish this best by asking questions. What will be the cost of your activity? Who will bring the decorations? etc.
3. Alma 5:15 -- We are taught to Look - Forward - with and eye of Faith - to View/See (the Lord's promises fulfilled). We should imagine ourselves when the Lord's promises are fulfilled. When we look forward with and eye of Faith, we have hope. The Lord's promises being fulfilled are like Pres. Russell M. Nelson's phrase "Think Celestial".

It was a great Saturday Stake Conference experience.

Sunday, May 18th, we had the morning session of Stake Conference. These are a few of my favorite phrases:

1. "There is Peace in Christ" - the Young Women from the stake sang this as a special musical number. I love this phrase.
2. "Join in the Family Business" was a phrase one of the apostles used in an address. We are all children of Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is our Savior and elder brother. We are all the same 'family'. They want us to be in and a part of the 'family business'. Great way to look at our discipleship in the church.
3. Several people over the two days mentioned taking or receiving a 'plate of cookies' to someone. I thought that cookies is a good way to glue us together. 
4. "Let us bear the Savior's cross" gave me pause. I have heard before that our commitment of sin makes us 'crucify the Savior anew'. That seems so negative. Living to help 'bear the Savior's cross' is very uplifting to me. 
5. Conferences are times of revelation. We should go to them ready to receive. We shouldn't put them aside as a week to do other things. We should put other things aside so we can go and receive the revelation we are seeking to our questions and worries. 
6. Alma 5:15, Alma 32:40 & 41. Alma 5:15 was discussed on Saturday regarding 'Looking forward with an eye of Faith to see the Lord's promises fulfilled". That topic was enlarged on Sunday using Alma 32 which gives an excellent description on Faith. We were counseled that 'beginning faith will not be enough in these days and times'. Verse 42 tells us that mature faith will allow us to pluck the fruit that is most precious and feast upon it till we are filled! 
7. We were counseled to 'be humble and with upon the Lord'. It is possible to feel we have received a revelation and misread it based on current condition. That revelation could be given to us and we need to 'wait upon the Lord's timing' for it to be fulfilled. To me, that is why we walk by faith. 
8. Finally, Elder Corbett gave a stirring explanation of Unity and its importance in today's world. He spoke of Satan striking at the very fiber of American causing us to be very divided as a nation. He cautioned that he was NOT given a political speech. The Book of Mormon is replete with the counsel that contention is of the devil. This contention causes disunity and division. That allows Satan to get in. He quoted the phrase "E pluribus unum" which means "out of many, one". This is the United States motto on our money. Unity. That is a good word.

A very good Stake Conference weekend.

We are home for the afternoon. This evening, we will go the Lexington Opera House to watch Black Jacket Symphony perform Jimmy Buffet music. 

It has been a good week. Lots of crochet with lots more to be done. Great spiritual cup-filling moments. A good week.

Music, Dentist, Feeling Poorly, Spring Flowers, New Adventure and Mother's Day...

Monday, May 5th, we spent our morning catching up from our trip. Laundry was done. Groceries were purchased. All was set in order to get back to a normal routine.

In the afternoon, we headed to Comstock Theater on the University of Louisville campus. Bailey was participating with the Oldham County High School Symphonic Band at the State KMEA (Kentucky Music Educators Association) Band Assessment. They qualified for this when the received all 'Distinguished' ratings at the District KMEA Assessment. How happy we were for this for Bailey's final year of high school. They would play three numbers: The Sinfonians, Intermezzo Sinfonico from Cavalieria Rusticano, and Psalm for Band. May favorite was the Intermezzo. After their performance, one of the adjudicators comes in to give the band some tips and compliments. They would once again receive all 'Distinguished' for their performance. What a great way to come to the end of your high school years after playing in band since 6th grade.  

Tuesday, May 6th, we had the morning to do things around our home. I completed my Blog about our Memphis trip, posted some things for my Relief Society calling, and read two more chapters in the Iliad. I will get through that book. I will get through that book. I will get through that book!! 

Claude had a dental appointment in the afternoon and I would take him to this one. He has a crown with a cavity developing under it. The tooth next to it has a root that has cracked. They would pull the old crown off, make a cast for a new crown and fit him with a temporary crown. Dr. Hollen would then pull the tooth with the cracked root. While all this was being done on my hubby, I drove myself to Panera and enjoyed my favorite salad there, Asian Sesame Chicken. Yum. Claude was actually in the dentist office for two hours. Ugh!! When he finished with took him home with instructions for meds and eating and drinking. We curled up in front of the television for the rest of the evening. Claude dozed a bit off and on.

Wednesday, May 7th, I had a bad night which made for a bad day. I was not feeling well at all. This was not a good time for that as I was to take care of Claude for a couple of days after his dental visit. 

Claude would curl up to watch Shogun. He loves this and it takes all day long to watch all of it. I do not like the first part as someone get boiled alive when they arrive in Japan. I would spend that time in Sandiland doing a little laptop work and sitting in my big chair watching my television in Sandiland. 

Later, I would join Claude and watch the last three DVD's of Shogun. We were such a sad pair this day.

Thursday, May 8th, I had another not so great day. Felt a little better than Wednesday, but not really myself. I did manage to get my application in for Global Entry. Yeah me! Not a total washout for this day.

Claude was able to get the grass cut in two bursts of energy. That meant dinner was going to be driving thru for hamburgers for our dinner. I do believe this was a great tradition to start. 

Friday, May 9th, I managed to get about two hours sleep the night before. But I had things that needed to be done this day. I got showered and ready and went to see Dr. Richardson, our ophthalmologist. He said I could continue to wear my readers. My vision is now 20/30. I do have cataracts that qualify for surgery. I can decided when I want to do that surgery. I will go back to see him in six months. Not sure about that surgery. I see fine most of the time. In certain lights my vision is fuzzy. I do need my readers for crocheting and reading. I can't see the writing on the television when I am searching for something the watch. I know my vision is not as good as it has been but I'm not sure about surgery just yet. We'll see what I feel like in six months.

Since my sleep was absolutely awful the night before, I came home from Dr. Richardson's and went to bed for a nice nap. I slept two hours. Yeah Me!

I went outside to check on our flowers. Claude noticed they were blooming when he cut the grass. They are really on the sides of the house and I don't walk there unless I am weeding. What a treat for my eyes.

In the evening, we traveled to LaGrange for Bailey's final Jazz Cafe with the Oldham County High School Jazz Band. It was excellent. This is such a fun format. Other schools do not do this. Everyone brings food to share. It is placed buffet-style. You can get up and get something to eat at anytime during the performance. The band plays for an hour. If someone plays a solo part, you are free to applaud for it. There is a 15-minute break and then they play for another set. It is simply delightful. After the performance, Mr. Klipper, the band teacher, had all the seniors stand. This is his first year at OCHS and he was very appreciative of the kids who love music and play with all their heart. Another fun thing was that Joyce, Michael's stepmother and another Grandmother for Bailey, flew in for this experience. It was fun to see Joyce again. (Good Grief...my pictures posted in reverse order. Please look at the bottom one first. Ugh!)

After the Jazz Cafe, we went to the Marx home so I could give Bailey and Andie haircuts. When we got there, I realized there was a poster in the yard recognizing Bailey, a senior, was living in this home. Cool.

Saturday, May 10th, was a fun day. Claude was ready to be about doing something. I keep links to places of interest in a text thread to myself. I had a place in Kentucky that was supposed to have good food. It was 1 1/2 hours away. We did a few things in the morning. Then we left for Glendale, Kentucky. We found The Whistle Stop Restaurant. They have a small dining space, so we had to wait for a table. Not a problem, there are benches along their Main Street. They use the text systems to alert you when your table is ready. 

We were seated at a booth in a cozy little corner. 

We order a small order of Fried Green Tomatoes. Had to be done at a Whistle Stop. Claude would eat Country Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy. I would have the Veggie Plate. I picked Fried Okra, Broccoli Casserole, and Corn Pudding. We each had something they called Fried Cornbread. It is really a pancake made with some cornmeal in the batter. Each pancake is cut in half. You get four pieces of bread from two pancakes. The food was good old home cookin' Southern food. It was delicious. 

We had no room for dessert. So, we purchased a serving of Blackberry Cobbler and a serving of Peach Cobbler to be heated at home to eat. Each of those servings was big enough for two people. 

We did not shop in all the shops around. Several are antique places. But it would be fun to do that sometime. 

As we drove home, Claude was already plotting what he would order on his next trips to The Whistle Stop. I think he really enjoyed this little outing.

Sunday, May 11th, was Mother's Day. I struggle a bit with this day. As as young wife having babies every two years, I watched several other young wives my age struggle with not being able to have babies. It seems to have left a bit of a scar on me. Don't get me wrong, I think women should be honored and the role of Mother is the most important a woman can hold. I do believe the world fails without good mothers. I also really believe that, if my family didn't treat me well the other 364 days in a year, having only one day to honor would not be right. It is a challenge for my poor hubby who wants to get me a great gift, etc. It is just not important to me. He treats me well all the time. I can purchase as I see fit. It is an interesting day for us.

When I woke up, I checked my phone. The alarm had not gone off yet. I noticed a new text. I quickly looked to be sure about it. It was from Hayden wishing me a Happy Mother's Day. My first Mother's Day greeting was from my Grandson. How cool is that? Very!!

Sacrament Meeting was wonderful. The youth had been asked to be the speakers. It is always fun to turn and watch their parents a bit as they speak of their mothers. The Primary kids sang two songs. Jenny Squires and her daughter, Julianna, played a duet on the piano and cello respectively. The women 18 and over were all given chocolate candy bars from Kentucky Home Chocolates. 

Relief Society would be held in the cultural hall with all the ladies present. The Priesthood would cover their classes so we could all meet together. I got to church early to set up the back of the cultural hall for this. When I arrived at church, I went to the bench in the chapel where we usually sit. I took off my heels and put them on the bench. Then I walked barefoot to the cultural hall to set the room. At one point, Bishop stuck his head in the door to see what we were doing. I grinned and asked him if this was declared 'barefoot Sunday'. He chuckled. I then told him it was Mother's Day so I could choose to go barefoot if I wanted. He agreed with that whole-heartedly. 

We had a great Relief Society. There were 60 chairs set and everyone was full. Amazing. Cassie Zitter brought the right refreshments and we had two seminary tables full of food with pitchers of water. Jenessa Dymock, our Relief Society president conducted. The counseling question this day was to share an experience where a sisters helped you without sharing names. Several responses were shared. We watched a 3 minutes video clip of Pres. Kimball's wife, Camilla, reading his talk as he was not able to attend General Conference that time. He spoke of the importance of women and how important they would be in the future. Then Pres. Russell M. Nelson shared his comments that the day Pres. Kimball was referring to is our day. He stressed how important the role of women is in the family, church and the world. Excellent video. The sisters were then invited to enjoy refreshments and visit with each other. Good Relief Society experience. 

Claude took me to Chipotle's for our meal-of-the-day. I love beans and rice and get really good beans and rice at Chipotle's. Claude gave me chocolate covered strawberries and Lindor Truffles. 

Claude would take a nap and, while he was napping, Jake called and sang Happy Mother's Day to me. This is one tradition I love so very much. It brings tears to my eyes. We had a good conversation. 

Nissa mailed me a gift that arrived on Sunday. It was a crocheted turtle with a little sign on it. I love turtles. What a thoughtful gift. It will sit on the entertainment center in the living room.

In the evening, Andie and Bailey would call and we would have a good chat. I call this a very successful Mother's Day!

In the evening, Claude and I would watch a two episode documentary about The Judd's. Such a sad story.