Wednesday, September 3rd, we started this day off slow. Tired from our quick Michigan run, we slept in till our bodies said to wakeup. Then we had a quiet morning until Claude had his PT at 12:30. Then, it was time to prepare for our next trip which would be a biggie.
We would leave to Greece in less than a week. While we had been doing little things long the way to prep, it was now time to be earnest in our endeavors. To facilitate this, I went to my default position, I wrote a list of the things I would like to accomplish before we left. This included things to do in our home to leave it safe and clean for when we returned as well as things I needed to do in preparation for overseas travel. Then I took a little tablet and put the day at the top of each page. I went through my list of items and put them each on an appropriate day. Now, I had my 'to do' list in a manageable form so no day would be too strenuous and all could possibly be accomplished. As with all lists, things we come up each day that needed to be done that were not on the list. There was good wiggle room for these things.
I purchased some Christmas gifts while in Michigan, so all those presents were wrapped and labeled and my 2025 Christmas Gift List was created. I keep that on my Google Drive so I can quickly see who I need to purchase for in case I see things while out and about. That felt good to get going. The rest of this year is so very full and it felt good to get a good start on Christmas.
Thursday, September 4th, this morning was a bit tense. Claude and I have created an annual Christmas tradition of seeing Tran Siberian Orchestra (TSO) as one of our Christmas dates if they are close to Lexington. These tickets sell out very, very, very quickly. I joined their fan club a few years back. This gives me a heads up on the early sale of tickets. I received an eMail from TSO several days before that said they were changing their website platform and I needed to check in to that so they kept me on their fan club list. I did that. Then on Wednesday, I received another eMail saying the tickets would go on the presale to Legacy Members on Thursday at 10am. Yike!! I was really happy about this because their first eMail said their tickets would go on sale while we were out of the country. Now I could purchase tickets before we left. This year we would be in Las Vegas when they were going to be in Lexington, so I needed to find another city we didn't mind traveling to. I sat at my laptop ready to go at 10am. I clicked the purchase tickets button and even in the second I was like 10,000th in line! Goodness. I had to stay online like that and watch the counter so from 40 minute wait until my turn came up. I was able to get us tickets in Cincinnati in November in just the spot we like to sit in. Yeah!! It will be an early Christmas date, but it will get done.
I had one of those precious moments in life this day. I decided I needed a bit to eat. I opted out of breakfast that morning and it was about 12:30. I went to the kitchen and sliced an apple. I had a nice bowl of apple slices and met Claude in the hallway. He had been busy on his own personal to do list for the trip. I asked if he was ready for a break. He assured me he was. I invited my Big Guy to join me on the sofa in the study to share my apple with me. We each took our respective ends of the very comfortable seat and read and at our apple. When I was younger, I don't know if I would have truly appreciated taking a few moments to enjoy each other's company. You are so busy with little ones, work, keeping up a home, church callings, kids outside activities, that you don't often get these moments. It is one of the joys of being retired and having reached this stage of life. I loved sitting there with Claude and enjoying an apple together. Sweet.
Bailey called to talk. She is sooooo happy at Campbellsville University. She was fairly bubbling. We were happy that one of her classes is piano lessons. It is required of all music majors. How cool is that!! After our conversation, she sent me these pictures from her dorm room. It touched my heart. They are my parents in my father's favorite picture of them. The large picture was taken right after they were married. My father had hair!! The smaller picture was taken when at my niece's wedding in Ogden, Utah. And the dog is Tiny. She was my mother's dog and became Papa's faithful companion after Mimi passed. If you look at the top of the first picture, you can see a quilt on Bailey's bed. That was made by my mother for Bailey. It really meant a lot of me that, of all the things Bailey could choose to take in that little dorm room, she made place for these items. Family is important to her.
Friday, September 5th, while Claude was at PT, I went shopping by myself. When at Cabela's on our way home from Michigan, I purchased a floral cotton jumper with spaghetti straps. I needed a white t-shirt to wear under it. I shopped at Walmart first for some other things but they didn't have a white t-shirt. I went to Kohl's and found my t-shirt. Yeah!!
I managed to come home and sweep and vacuum the floors, clean the bathrooms and get the Relief Society announcements out.
Jessie Carter called and we had a fun conversation. She is a sweetheart.
Saturday, September 6th, was laundry day. I didn't have a full day to do this as we had plans in the evening. While I did that, I cleared some things off the DVR so it had lots of room while we would be gone. I also cut Claude's hair so he was ready for the trip. He is wearing it a bit longer these days.
Andie posted pictures of her and Michael. They have set a Saturday morning tradition of going for bagels. There are lots of places in the Louisville area and she had a list of them. They are going to try them all out. She posted this fun picture of the two of them learning to be just the two of them again now that both kids are away at college. Don't they look like they are having fun?!
Sunday, September 7th, has been a good day so far. It was an early start for Claude Zoom Stake Council meeting. He was up at 6am. We had a nice Fast and Testimony meeting for Sacrament Meeting.
During the sacrament, I was reading Ephesians. We will see Ephesus ruins on one of our shore excursions. I have been trying to refresh my memories of Paul, his journeys and teachings. In Chapter 1, Verse 5, Paul uses the phrase "adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself". I taught early morning seminary for 8 years. These manuals had wonderful explanations of words and phrases. For this particular phrase the New Testament Student Manual gave this explanation: "Jesus Christ is God's only rightful heir. Therefore, to receive eternal life, we must be adopted through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ in order to become 'heirs of God, and joint-heirs of with Christ (Romans 8:17)". It always amazes me when I already know something, then I read it and suddenly it sinks deep into my heart. Jesus Christ is God's only rightful heir. When you study the Bible, you learn that the first-born son was the rightful heir in any family. He received a double portion as his birthright. I was so he could continue to support and sustain his mother and the family if and when the father passed. Again, Jesus Christ is God's only rightful heir. However, because of the Savior's love of each of us and for his willingness to obey Heavenly Father, he endured the Atonement so we could also be 'rightful heirs' with him in all His Father has. What an amazing understanding we have. How grateful I am for the strength that covenants and a testimony give to me of all of this. It was a tender moment for me during the sacrament.
This afternoon, while Claude naps, I will get my little things done in Sandiland. Then we will pack for our trip. The evening will be quiet. Claude has another Zoom meeting regarding the Stake's Disaster Preparedness Plan.
Monday, September 8th, I will write this as if it has happened. We will do the final little things. Water plants, stop the mail, etc. In the afternoon we will head to the Cincinnati Airport (which is really in Kentucky) and begin our LONG journey to Athens. We are feeling a bit of trepidation about this trip. In 2024 when we went to Italy, we both fell. Claude broke and sprained his ankle in a very bad way. I fell and trashed my right shoulder requiring reverse shoulder replacement. Both of the injuries will have long term effects on our abilities as we age. Needless to say, we don't want a repeat of that in Greece. The terrain there lends itself to lots of possibilities for falling. We will take our time and enjoy all we can. We have traveled for many years and not had the falling problem. Hope all goes well. Greece...here we come, ready or not!
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