76th Birthday in Nashville...

Monday, July 27, Claude started his day by cutting the grass. Rain was expected that night and/or the next day. 

Sandiland was my place to be for the daytime. I finished the August Relief Society newsletter and sent it to Jenessa Dymock, our president, for approval. Then I eMail the announcements and lessons for Relief Society in August to Jennifer Barber for the Sunday bulletins. I found a quilt square pattern and figured the amount of fabric needed to make to pieces for each of our recliner headrests. I also watched an episode of Northern Disclosure. The guest this time was a huge fan of the show who lives in the Seattle area. It turns out they have an annual Moose Fest for Northern Exposure buffs e/ach year in Roslyn, Washington. Cool! 

Claude did yard work so that meant burgers for dinner. I suggested 5 Guys and Claude was thinking the same thing. It is always good when we are one the same page. 

We finished our evening quietly with viewing Castle. We finished the 8th and final season. Now we have to figure what our next evening viewing will be.

Tuesday, July 28, Jenessa approved the newsletter with one little correction. I dispersed the newsletter. Then I swept the floors and vacuumed the rugs. I cleaned two bathrooms. I also cleared the DVR of some of the shows.

Claude got a card ready for Kalli. This is his niece who son committed suicide. 

We left our home to drop mailing into the post office and to go to CVS to pick up my prescription. The line for the CVS drive-thru was ridiculously long. I hopped out of the car and Claude went to find a place to park. I would go to the counter with one prescription to pick up, I thought. We get a text message when a prescription is ready. Most of our prescriptions are set to automatically be filled. I had a text for one prescription. I opened the bar code received in my text to make it easy for them to find my filled prescription. The clerk could see what I scanned on his monitor by the monitor on my side wasn't showing they had my information. While the clerk went to pick up that prescription, I continued to try to manually get it to find my prescription on my side of the counter. It finally showed I actually had another prescription ready for pickup. I told the clerk what was on my monitor. He looked at me and asked if I wanted to pick that one up as well. What a silly question! Of course picking it up while I am standing here is what I should do. Would anyone say, "No, I want to go home and wait for you to send me another text. Then I will come back and we can do this again." So silly. 

Claude fixed spaghetti for dinner. I would spend my evening trying to get my puzzle to work on my Kindle. I am a jigsaw puzzle addict. I have a game named Jigsaw Puzzle Epic by Kristanik. I have had it on my Kindle for each of the four Kindles I have owned. Everyday I get one free puzzle and, since I have been doing this sooooo long, I get a bonus free puzzle. My habit each morning is to download these two puzzles by doing the edge of the puzzle. Then it stays on my Kindle until I have the right time to play it. I need Wi-Fi to download the puzzles. Once downloaded, I can wait days till I make the puzzles. A few days previous, I was made the outline of the puzzle and the screen froze. I couldn't move any of the pieces. I left it and went to something else. When I came back, nothing was saved as it usually would have been. I had to start over. After a couple of days of this, I found a way to send a message to the manufacturer about the problem. I did have one day where I made four of the puzzles that were waiting to be finished. The fifth one froze. Ugh!! I tried reloading the software. That didn't seem to fix the situation either. I found another puzzle software and downloaded it. It was different in that it had a bar across the bottom with the pieces and you scrolled through the bar to get your puzzle piece. It also only went to 64 pieces. I usually use 100 pieces. I finally decided this Tuesday evening that my puzzle was out-of-date with my current Kindle software. I searched for Kristanik Jigsaws and found what appeared to be a newer version. I downloaded it. I works like my older version but it only works with a portrait screen. The older version was a landscape screen. As with so many software things, you get used to a certain thing and a change is not fun. I will learn to enjoy the portrait version as much as the landscape version. I was very happy I got all my collections of puzzles I had with the older version. This occupies me well on those long overseas flights. However, everyone of the multitudinous puzzles had to be download and played before the really were there on the Kindle. I reset my game to 16 pieces with no rotation for making a puzzle and began the process of doing each of these puzzles. It would take several sittings but I now have all my choices. Sometimes the great grandmonsters will play with my puzzles. I set it on the number of pieces without rotation that they are capable of playing and they can pick from all those collections. Feels good enough to have my jigsaw puzzle software working on my Kindle. Good enough that I deleted the older version. 

Wednesday, July 29, was the beginning of my birthday trip. We didn't have to leave until the afternoon. We slept in, packed and then loaded the car for our journey. This night out destination was Cave City, Kentucky.

Wigwam Village #2 would be our home for the evening. There were two of these along our Route 66 drive and timing was not such that we could stay at either. We knew there was one in Kentucky and didn't worry as we could check this bucket list item off at a later date. This was the later date. We were headed to Nashville and drove right past Cave City on the way. 

We arrived and found the place to check in. The owner, Keith Stone, greeted us. He gave us a little history of Wigwam Villages and suggested some places nearby we might have dinner. He also made sure we were invited to the campfire that evening. 

We would stay in Unit 15. Claude is standing in the doorway of the second picture to give a bit of reference to the size. 

The Wigwam Village was built in 1937. It is located on U.S. Hwy 31 which was the main highway from Mackinac City, Michigan to Mobile, Alabama before there was an I-65 running north and south. I-65 really bypasses Cave City. There are exits to get into Cave City. Interstates have been the doom of many place that were on our Route 66 drive a couple of years ago. When Keith and Megan purchased it, the previous owners had been renting spaces but Keith assured us they should not have. He and Megan closed it for a couple of month to bring it up to their standards for renting. They plan to restore it to its original 1937 standard with improvements to meet current traveler demands. For instance, in 1937 there was no air-conditioning. Guests would check in and then spend their evening on the open space. All the guests got to know each other around a campfire. There were no cell phones or other electronic devices. You talked to each other face-to-face. Keith makes a campfire every evening if the weather is good. You can bring marshmallows if you want to roast them. He will provide the sticks to put them on. We didn't make it to the campfire. I had a bad back ache and Claude doesn't really care for that mixing and mingling thing.  

I was fascinated with the little structure we were staying in. This picture on the wall shows the drawing for the construction. They were built as a franchise. You could purchase the plans and then build one. There were seven of these Wigwam Villages across the United States. This was the second one built, hence #2. Keith and Megan have added a window air-conditioner in each unit and a big ceiling fan. We stayed very comfortably cool on a very hot night. There is also Wi-Fi in each unit. There is one numbered parking space for each unit beside the unit.  

Our room had a double bed in it. We are used to a queen-sized bed but we did fine in this double for one night. The furniture is original. You are asked not to move it around. Keith was happy they still had the original furniture but was quick to add they had replaced the mattresses! Claude thanked him for that. 

Each unit had its own bathroom. They are tiny. Original tile floor. 

I took these next to picture to show the slant of the walls to accommodate that wigwam structure. The ceiling actually has 16 sides to it. The mirror over the bathroom sink is at a slant. This was a little strange for Claude to deal with. 

I got a kick out of this bottle on the tray on the top of the toilet. It is called Poo-Pouri!! It says Shake, Spray, and Go. Cracked me up!

Keith's gave us several suggestions for dinner. We opted for Five Broke Girls Cafe. I opted for Kickin' Chicken Salad and Claude at the Big Texas Burger. It was made on Texas Toast. These five ladies came up from Texas and started this cafe. Food was good and plentiful. 

Thursday, July 30, we had to be out of Wigwam Village by 10am. We drove through McDonald's to get Claude something to eat with his morning meds. Then we drove on to Nashville. I had tickets for us to go to the Planetarium for a 2:15pm show. This meant when we arrived in Nashville, we would have two hours to kill before getting to the Planetarium show. As we found where the Planetarium was located, I noted a Burger King. After finding the Planetarium, we drove back to the Burger King to wait out our two hours. 

The Sudekum Planetarium is located inside the Adventure Science Center. You must buy tickets for the Science Center to get to the Planetarium. The exception is the last show of the day. Our tickets were for the last show of the day. I chose one that specifically shows the sky over Nashville at night. The show runs about 35 minutes. The theater is a 64-foot dome which houses the GOTO Chiron optical star projector, which fills the dome with more than 6.5 million stars. This breathtakingly realistic night sky is paired with a 7K Digistar 7 full dome system that projects images and animations of the wonders of the universe from horizon to horizon. The show was amazing. We totally enjoyed this adventure. 

We checked into our hotel. We stayed in this hotel last December when we came to Nashville to see Amy Grant and Vince Gill's Christmas show. 

We left in time to have dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. I enjoy the interior decor in Margaritaville's. This had a guitar covering for one booth area. Very appropriate for Nashville. I enjoyed Coconut Shrimp for my birthday dinner. Claude had a Cajun Shrimp Platter. 

After dinner we took a walk around the block that the Ryman sits on. Claude posed for a picture with Elvis. Poor Elvis was missing several fingers on the hand Claude is holding. We figured Papa would be chuckling at this or rolling over in his grave. He loved Elvis' voice and talent but never forgave him for ruining the Louisiana Hayride that was in Shreveport for year. Lots of original country music stars performed here until Elvis performed. From then on, it was screaming teenage girls and rock and roll. Mimi and Papa went once and that was it. The Louisiana Hayride was no more. Now that Municipal Auditorium has a museum to recognize Elvis. It is still and operating venue. 

We walked to the original side of the Ryman Auditorium. The steps were calling us. We sat and waited until 7pm when we could go inside for the reason for our visit to Nashville. Vince Gil was performing. He is one of my very favorite performers. Vince's show would begin at 7:30pm and end at 11pm. NO intermission. It was great. The couple seated next to us were from Frankfort, Kentucky. It was a great evening. 

Vince is acknowledging and celebrating his 50 year career with 50 Years From Home. He is curating a series of EPs to be released over the course of a year, thematically titled 50 Years From Home. Gill has culled from over 100 songs he has written, either by himself or in collaboration with others, over the past few years. One of the songs he wrote was about his mother. Maggie Rose came to sing just this one son with Vince as she helped him write it. 

I hope this works. I read a great review of the show. This is the link: Vince Gill Review

What a great way to celebrate my first day of my 76th year!

During the day I received a text message from Hayden. He is always first with his message. A Happy Birthday song from Nissa. A text message and picture of Soot from Jake and Soot. A phone call from my sister, Junie, whom I learned is booked on the same tour Claude and I are for 2027 in India and Nepal. A phone call from Katelyn who also sang Happy Birthday to me. 

Friday, July 31, we slept until almost check-out time. Well, Claude slept. I was awake and playing on my cellphone earlier than him. It was time to point the Buick homeward. We made a quick grocery stop before going home for bread and milk. We unpacked and rested a bit. Then we went to Burger King for dinner. In the evening we watched Music and the Spoke Word and then started the Harry Potter movies. we enjoyed popcorn for the first time in a very long time. 

Saturday, August 1, was a quiet day at home. Once again the forecast was for rain through the day. 

A friend from Shreveport posted this picture. This was the meetinghouse where I attended church from age seven until 18. You entered the front door and there was a bishops office on the left side. There were stairs to get up in the steeple. In that part of the building was a mimeograph machine. Janie Anderson and I would create the Ward Newsletter. We would climb up there to run off copies. The left side of the building is where the chapel was. I played the piano and the organ for everything in there. The right side was the cultural hall with a stage at the end. Under the stage was the baptismal font where I was baptized by my father at 8-years of age. Along the back left to right was the Relief Society room, women's bathroom, kitchen with the back door, men's bathroom, and three Primary rooms. So many memories in this building. Attending early morning seminary. Relief Society Bazaar's. Ward dances. A magician coming and me being his assistant. Meeting Claude. Being in a play with him where the line spoken was "I love you 200 because that is all the love there is." And, the list goes on. 

I finished reading Little Women. I worked on my Blog and my pictures. In the evening, I crocheted.

Sunday, August 2, was very low-key. I felt out of kilter. Saturday I kept feeling dizzy and feverish. Sunday I was not dizzy or feverish but definitely not on my game. 

I had a meeting during Sunday School with Brad Manwaring and Luella Alcorn. The Relief Society presidency was invited as well as the Elder's Quorum presidency. Jenessa Dymock, our president was in attendance. However both of her counselors were out of town. As secretary, I attended in their place. It was a good meeting.

Claude and I got Jimmy John's for lunch. Claude took a nap and I slept a bit while my documentaries were watched. I had watched them before so sleeping was not an issue. 

I tried to crochet. I got to the end of the afghan and needed to crochet the border around it. This was new instructions and I tried several times with the television going and couldn't get it. I would put it aside until Monday. 

We enjoyed two more Harry Potter movies and I would text with Hayden during that time. 

Graves, Comedy, Neurology, Turtles, Temple, Puzzle Trouble...

Sunday, July 19th, in the afternoon we left for Elizabethtown, Kentucky. On the way we stopped in Frankfort at Sunset Memorial Gardens where my parents reside. I put new flowers on their graves. This is such a pleasant place. This time they have added what amounts to a street sign for the plots. A metal disc had been placed in the ground several years ago to mark the place of plots. Now they have installed a short metal sign with this information. I am sure it will be much easier for someone looking for a plot to visit a family member or friend to find the location of their plot. It simply amused me that my parents are now under a beautiful big old tree with a street sign by their plots. 

The we hustled down the road to Elizabethtown to The State. This is an old theater that has become a performing venue. Claude watches posts on Facebook by Jeff Allen. He is a comedian that is 70 years old. His humor is clean and age appropriate. As in, all the attendees were in our age bracket. His humor is about life at this age. He had been married 40 years and alludes to how marriage works after 40 years together. It is all very real and everyone had a grand time laughing at him and ourselves at the same time. It was quite an enjoyable time.  

Monday, July 20th, was a wonderful at-home kinda day. Our air-conditioner was not working correctly. Claude called for a person to come and check it. Amazingly, they came the same afternoon as he called! 

I got the Relief Society birthday cards for August ready to mail. I also got birthday cards for my the sisters I minister to and with prepared and a birthday card for Michael and an anniversary card for the Ropers. Then I set to work of Relief Society newsletters for August, September & October. We will be doing some traveling and I wanted a head start on all of that. I also read all the missionary eMails. 

Aubrey Anne, who prefers to be called Bre, our grandmonster posted this picture. She is such a pretty thing. She always takes her selfies at an angle. I am no good a selfies so I marvel at those who can do that and have a knack for it. 

Claude made us chili for dinner out of left over roast beef. It was soooo good. Katelyn called to talk about the Denise experiences. Denise is Drew's mother. She is really not well at all. Liver is failing. She is in and out of the emergency room. She has had to be taken to Grand Rapids for medical care. It is a lot to deal with and sometimes, when you are a caregiver, you just need someone to listen to what you feel. 

Tuesday, July 21st, I had a neurology appointment regarding my feet. The forecast was for severe storms. Claude decided he would go with me as I promised to buy him Schlotzsky's for lunch after. It never rained on us until we were almost home and then just a mist. While several tornados touched down in Kentucky and the storm was severe, it seemed to not care about our home. That is a good thing. My neurology appointment went well. I will return in six months for another check. My feet are more numb than six months previous visit. I continue to put the compound cream on every night and take the alpha lipoic acid capsule every morning. The compound cream treats the symptoms and the alpha lipoic acid very, very, very slowly heals those tiny nerves. The loss of feeling causes me to lose my balance more easily. I truly do not want to fall every again in my lifetime. 

In the afternoon I did laundry and cleared the DVR while Claude napped. Katelyn would call again, love her heart. 

In the evening as we watched Castle, I crocheted and got a craving for a Hershey chocolate bar. I have not had one of these in a good while with my intermittent fasting. Claude was happy to get me one from the stash he keeps for me. It was delicious. It is amazing how much better food tastes when you aren't eating all the time!

Wednesday, July 22nd, was a purposeful day. I had a bit of ironing to do. I don't do this as much as I did before my shoulder surgery, but on occasion I do have a bit that needs ironing. I worked on the Relief Society lesson spreadsheet. I had been creating a single file for each six-month period of lessons. I wanted to have all of these on one Excel spreadsheet for easy reference. I combined new tabs of each of these to the current spreadsheet. Now we have a good history of what lessons we have had. I also prepared the spreadsheet for the next six-month period which will begin in November. I cleared out eMails. I keep eMails as a 'tickler' file to remind me something is still out there to be done. I cleared some more off the DVR. 

I received a package from Nissa and Todd. My birthday is coming up and they sent me a gift. It is a turtle made of Yooper Stone. I never heard of Yooper Stone. So much more to learn about Michigan. If you shine a black light on this stone, then orange is visible that you can't see without the black light. The stone had been carved into a turtle. I LOVE turtles and collect them. Nissa and Todd were at a craft fair in Mackinac City and Todd saw the turtle and knew it needed to come to me. It is so cool!!

In the evening, I had a Google Meets Relief Society presidency meeting. It was very productive.

Thursday, July 23rd, was an off day. I had a hard time sleeping at night. I got up and read several chapters in "Little Women". Then I slept in a bit in the morning. When Claude was up and about, I suggested this was a smoothie kind of day. Bless his heart, he always says yes. I spent my day reading "Little Women" and did not finish it. I am a slow reader. But I get there. We paused around noon and went to Tropical Cafe for our smoothies. Yum!! 

In the evening, Claude made baked potatoes for dinner and we watched Castle.

Friday, July 24th, was a temple day for me. Our July Relief Society activity was a temple trip. We had two sessions to pick from this time. I chose to go at 11:30. I met Karen Raulston and her carload coming from Versailles in Frankfort. We had a wonderful time together. This picture is our carload: Diana Tincher, me, Debra Hatchett, Karen Raulston, and Sandra Sexton. 

The other session was at 7:30pm. These are the ladies attending that session: Jenessa Dymock, Rita Thorn, Raina Dunford, Lindsey Claflin, Jennifer Barber, and Whitney Garrett. 

I did not get home until 3pm. Claude and I agreed it would be dinner out. He suggested McCallister's. Always a good choice. Then we spent our evening watching Castle.

Saturday, July 25th, I started my day posting the Trivial Pursuit question for our family, check my eMail and Facebook, check the weather for the day. Input my weight for that morning. Then I get my puzzles downloaded for that day. Two free puzzles each day. I am an addict when it comes to jigsaw puzzles. I love the game on my phone as it gives me a daily dose of Jigsaw puzzling with spending the entire day. After downloading each of the two puzzles, I make the boarder of them and then leave them until I have time to play. This time, the puzzles froze and I couldn't move pieces. I went to something else and when I came back all the progress I had made was gone as though I had not done anything with them. I tried several times to make the edges and then some of the inside only to have the puzzle freeze each time. I went to the store and downloaded the game again. It worked and I was able to complete four of the puzzles I had started. The fifth one froze. I left them and went to something else. When I returned, all of the four puzzles I started were back as though I had not touched them. Ugh!! I found a way to report the issue to the creator of the jigsaw puzzles. If it continues, I will have to uninstall the game and install it again. Then see if that works. I didn't find anyway to update the game. I truly hope it has not ages out. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

I completed the preparations for the Relief Society lesson I was to teach on Sunday. 

Then, Claude loaded me in my car and we went to the car wash. They were giving way car washes to celebrate an upgrade to their facility. I changed into going out clothes instead of around the house grubbies. I looked at my little pile of clothes in front of my dresser and started to laugh. I cracked myself up. I was sure it looked like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz when they poured water on her. I took this picture and posted it on our family Facebook page with the comment: "I melted!" More chuckles from the family.

Then Claude filled my car with gasoline. We had our meal-O'-the-day at the Chinese buffet. We have not dined there in years and it was fun to go back. Claude said we need to get this one into our mix of restaurants we go to.

When we got home, I posted the pictures from our Temple trip via eMail and Facebook. While I was doing that, I received a call from Kris. She is married to Cordell, Claude's brother. She had only difficult news to share. It seems that Cordell's grandson, Taygen, had committed suicide. It happened that morning. In addition, Cordell, who has Parkinson's, has reached the stage where he can't w

alk, even with help at PT. Kris has something causing a nerve in her tongue to hurt. They didn't get snow this winter so there is an enormous drought. It is a lot. We had a good chat. Then I went to share all this news with Claude. 

We spent a quiet evening at home.

Sunday, July 26th, was a busy day at church. I took roll for Relief Society and then I taught the Relief Society lesson. 

After church, we headed to Arby's for BLT's on their delicious market fresh bread for our meal-O'-the-day. Yum. Claude took his nap. I cleared the DVR. There was a new Josh Gates Expedition Unknown. It was about a group of people in Central American that receded all the Mayan, Olmec, etc. civilizations that I know about. Very interesting. They crawled into a cave that had a hole so tiny I couldn't believe 6' 2" body into. It was amazing and very interesting. 

I tried again to fix my jigsaw puzzle game. It really isn't going well. 

We spent our evening watching Castle. We are on season 8, which is the final season. Claude wants to finish it before we go on our trip to Nashville. 

Birthday, Temple, Mary Poppins, Oldham County Days Band, Flowers...

Monday, July 13th, was Katelyn's birthday. I posted this to our family Facebook page: "It is hard to believe that 34 years ago Claude and I became grandparents for the first time. I flew out to Utah the day Katelyn Roper was born. I had requested time off work and she came the first day of that time! Claude would go out later to give her a name & blessing. We call her mother, Nissa Tyler, our test monkey. I believe KT would be our test monkey in the grandmonster part of our lives. Please join Claude and me in wishing KT Nichols a very Happy Birthday!! We love ya bunches!! Blampa & Blamma

Another bad night of sleep proceeded this day. Ugh. I got up during the night and read some more in Little Women. Then eventually went back to bed sleeping until 10am. This simply ruins the day. I did manage to get my Blog entry for the previous week completed and all the pictures labeled and in their proper place. I also made sure we had temple names for our visit to the temple. Claude gave me pictures from his history of his father in the horsehair coat he inherited. I scanned those for Claude's use. 

Tuesday, July 14th, while this night's sleep was better than the previous, I awoke at 6:30am with a grand hot flash. It went on, and on, and on, and on! There was no relief. I realized I was not wide awake. So, I got up and headed to the living room to read another chapter or two in Little Women. 

I received family file names for Claude and me to take to the temple. I printed those and made sure all were correct. This should get us through our temple trips for the next few months. 

Claude and I stopped at Bojangles before driving to Louisville to attend the temple. As we drove, we passed a car that brought back a flood of memories for Claude. I took this picture of it and shared it with our family on our Facebook page: "Driving to the temple this morning. Claude was pleased to see this 1962 Ford Falcon. He says it's a straight 6 banger. What is that??? Claude's first car was like this only white with 4 doors. It had bench seats. Blast from his past.  Do you think he dated Connie in this?"

Claude's sister, Lynette Drysdale, responded: "Haha, I'm sure he did. I do remember my Easter basket was hidden in it one year." It is always fun to share past memories with kids and grandkids. 

After our temple visit, we had a nice meal at Taziki's.

Once home, Claude went to get light bulbs for the Jeep. One of the tail lights was out. He bought two and replaced both the next day. 

Wednesday, July 15th, it is simply HOT in Kentucky. Summer is definitely making itself known. I started my day weeding in the front and side flower beds. Claude would get the mowing, edging and blowing done on the front yard. That was more than enough as the heat rose during the morning. 

Then I went to Sandiland. I made reservations for us at a Detroit hotel for August, I purchased tickets to see the Celtic Singers in December, I created a one page document of all we were to see and do on our Nashville trip for my birthday, I practiced the hymns I would lead in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, I watched two episodes of Northern Disclosure and made my reservation for the Relief Society temple trip in July. I also got that annual mammogram appointment set up. 

Since we worked outside, that meant burgers for our meal. We drove through Burger King and took it home to eat. 

While we watched television in the evening, I confirmed my playdate with Michelle Hale for the next night, downloaded a QR Code Reader to my phone, and confirmed with Jake the day we could treat him to lunch when we went to Detroit. Then I crocheted a few rows on Raelyn's Christmas afghan. 

Thursday, July 16th, we started our day in the back yard. I did the weeding and cut the grass away from the stepping stones across the top of the back yard. Claude cut the grass, edged and blew the grass and leaves off the patio. The back yard looked so good. It was very, very hot again this day. We headed inside to rehydrate and cool off. 

I purchased tickets to Mary Poppins for myself and Michelle Hale. I am the ministering sister for Camille Klein. Camille and her daughter, Vienna, were both in the play. This was a fun production and Michelle and I enjoyed it tremendously. After, we got a couple of pictures. Don't you just love Vienna's smile. Such a wonderful thing for a mother to do with a daughter. What memories they will share. 

Claude had a steak and watch guy TV.

Friday, July 17th, we determined we would run a few errands together. We started at Bojangles, of course, then on to CVS to pick up a prescription. Then we drove to Walmart. On the way to Walmart, we passed Dairy Queen. It appears they were installing a new sign. You can really tell how big that sign is if you look closely at the top of the crane inside the bottom of the DQ logo. There is a man standing there working. Wow!

I made a list of the things we were to get in Walmart. We reviewed the list and decided to divide and conquer. As I found the items I was to get, I suddenly started to feel very bad. I made it through the Walmart run and then told Claude we should head home, quickly! Very sad as our plan was to end our outings at Tropical Cafe for a smoothie. We haven't had one of those in over a year. It was not in the cards and I got home just in time. After a round in the bathroom that included hurling my biscuit breakfast, I settled down in front the the television to watch my documentaries while Claude got a nap. I eventually sipped a Mello Yello while nibbling on Ritz crackers. 

It would rain in the afternoon. Andie called and we plotted our Saturday in LaGrange and caught up a bit. When Claude woke up, I cut his hair. Claude made hot dogs for dinner with a corn on the cob. We would watch Castle and I stayed down for the rest of the evening. 

Saturday, July 18th, was a day to visit LaGrange, Kentucky. During her summer break, Bailey participated with the Oldham County Community Band. It is directed by her high school band teacher from her senior year, Mr. Klipper. They would perform at Oldham County Days, an annual festival held in LaGrange by the Courthouse. We attended this every year when Hayden and Bailey were in Old County High School band. They always marched in the parade. When Bailey graduated, we were pretty sure Oldham County Days was over for us. Alas, it was not. They band was excellent. The focused on some patriotic music. I loved that they started with the version of the National Anthem that Oldham County High School band always played. It is my favorite. The last number was music from the Music Man. As they played "76 Trombones" for the last number, the train came through downtown LaGrange. The train tracks go right through the middle of downtown. The train has to blow its whistle as it does this. I was quite neat to hear the band playing and the train chugging and blowing its whistle. 

As we left downtown Lagrange, I got a message for Nelson, our great grandson. He wanted to video chat but it wasn't a good time. I also ordered Jake a pizza for his lunch in Chelsea. 

Michael had Andie call ahead and order lunch to go from Cracker Barrel. Bailey joined us and we had a wonderful meal of boneless chicken breasts, biscuits, macaroni and cheese and hashbrown casserole. Yum! Michael even had some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. 

Andie drove Bailey to her pool party with friends. When she returned we watched "Project Hail Mary". It was a cute movie. I got a lot of crocheting done of Raelyn's Christmas afghan. I then cut Andie's hair before we headed home. 

As we were driving home, I looked over at Claude driving the Jeep. His knees were sunburned. Bless his heart...or knees! 

We got home in time for some down time before heading to bed. A good day with lots of family interaction. 

Sunday, July 19th, has been a good day. I lead the music in Sacrament meeting. We skipped Sunday School. We picked up Claude's prescription commenting to each other that we spent a lot of time in the pickup line a CVS Drug. Then we got sandwiches from Jimmy John's. The car in front of us could have probably made their life a little easier had they pulled a little closer to the drive-thru window. Maybe that works for them. Not sure.

When we arrived home, I realized my dinner plate Hibiscus was in full bloom. Isn't it magnificent?

Earlier in the week, when it started to bloom. I took these pictures of the blossoms coming out. The last one reminds me of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors because of its shape. 

We are home for a couple of hours this afternoon. Then we will drive to Elizabethtown. Claude has been following an older guy who is a comedian. His name is Jeff Allen. Claude shared a clip with me and indicated he would like to see him in person some time. I quickly checked and learned he was going to be in Elizabethtown for one night. That is only 1 1/2 hours from our home. So, this afternoon, we will drive to Frankfort and stop at the cemetery to put fresh silk flowers on my parents grave. Then we will go on to Elizabethtown to wash Jeff Allen.