The Last Decoration

 

Tommy tied the wreath onto the mailbox. I could find no wire, so a piece of red and white yarn did the job. Then, somehow he tied on a huge red bow. Nice!

There was a Santa hat lying around. So, I had him get a small container of oatmeal and dress it with the hat. He put a plastic, disposal cup on top of the round, tall box of oats, so the hat stood up with only the white furry top bent to the side a bit. It is so cute, right in the spirit. I think I will add a pretty red ornament and a sprig of fake greenery.

When it is dark, we will go for a ride in front of the house...lol. I won't stumble around in the dark in the front yard to see the Santa and reindeer projection. Cleaner never called. I don't expect her to call Christmas Eve.

Tommy just carried food to neighbor--chicken, potatoes, carrots, Brussels sprouts. 

The ot just left a while ago. I hate ot activity. It hurts! And, I am exhausted. I moaned and groaned and apologized for doing so. I did reassure her I wanted to continue. She said she hears moaning all day long. As she counted, she answered Jeopardy questions. It was fun. Not the exercise. 

Tommy washed sweet potatoes this evening. I trimmed and oiled them, using parchment paper on the pan. They are whole in the oven. Now, he is putting six eggs on to boil. Next, we will make Jello and put bananas in them if they are not rotten. That leaves making Stove Top tonight. Tomorrow, he can brown the gravy. He hates doing that, so I won't mention that until I am ready for him to do it. Maybe that will keep him from being in a grumpy mood for a bit. It is a bit like taking the dog to the vet; surprise him. Chicken breast is ready for gravy, cooked and waiting.

Christmas Eve, I will make Tommy an Apple pie and some pumpkin pies. 

Tommy was going to take about ten items back to the store. I did not want to go inside because I would have had to shop...lol. I told him to leave if the line was long--there were12 or more, so he immediately came right back out. I told him he would not want to go back into the numerous return lines in there for at least ten days or two weeks. 

So, this is Christmas.

I tasted the dressing just now, and it is making me so hungry. I predict dinner will be soon. We will thaw a turkey breast to bake next week. 

Are things going well this eve before Christmas Eve?

She Called

 

I had to take a nap due to sleep problem. I left my phone with Tommy and told him to answer when cleaner called. She did and Tommy can remember nothing she said except one thing. She asked to speak to me. Then, she must have said something else because he told her he did not know my schedule. She said she would call later. It was a 32 second call. No, she has not called back. 

Tomorrow, the ot comes, so no time for cleaner. 

Today, I went to the Pig and Ace. Manager in charge of Ace today, could not help a woman with a battery for a remote. So, I did. He is not much of an employee. 

I repaired the mailbox decoration. Tommy will put it back on tomorrow. The deer light up about 2 pm and shut off at 10 pm or earlier. Tommy will reprogram that tomorrow. 

Tonight, we baked three small packages of chicken--4 drumsticks, 4 filets of breast, and two huge bscb; part will be for Christmas Day. We cooked with the chicken : potatoes, pound of carrots, and 2 lbs. of Brussels sprouts. One had a worm in it which I found before cooking, thankfully. 

The last two nights have been a true test of the king-sized wool blanket. I felt not one breeze like I did before. I slept with king wool blanket, military wool blanket, cheap quilt and flannel sheets. It was heaven. 

Plus, the injection site of the covid vaccine is terribly sore. It is in left arm, not my preferred arm for injections. I sleep on my left side, so I always get injections in my right arm because I won't sleep on that side. NOW, The lump and pain keep me up. It throbs. Tommy said his was very painful, too. It has been four days, and there is a larger lump each day and more pain. His hurt much worse after he carried in four cases of Dasani. Does a vaccine cause lump, pain, and raised temp in your arm?

When the leg therapy is used on me, it sometimes squeezes my toes together really tight. Last night, I almost cried. Later, my toe hurt so that I kept getting up, trying to care for it. It was 8 am before I managed to stop most of the pain and finally sleep. Late today, I finally quit limping! 

Bubble lights for the tree are one of my fondest memories of my early childhood. Do you love them? 

What is a fond memory of a Christmas decoration? 

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

 As luck would have it, on Friday we were offered a free plate of food. We took it, parked and ate most of it. Then, there was enough for dinner. There was enough turkey on one plate for a meal. Then, there was beef and rice enough for two people. Vegetables--broccoli, brussels sprouts, fresh uncut green beans, zucchini, butternut squash. There was a massive amount of food. 

As we accepted the plates of food, two rolls of wrapping paper were pressed on us as we assured the people we had plenty. They were desperate to give it all away. So, we took the two rolls.

I never buy birthday wrapping paper. One roll could be used for a man's birthday gift. It was a black and green plaid. Stripes and polka dots work well for women's gifts. So, sales or giveaways of women papers happens often, but not for men. 

So, several wins for me. 

We woke early to get things done away from house to be back for cleaner at 3pm. Her daughter called after 2:30 to say her mother was sick, throwing up since early this morning. Someone prompted her to say "diarrhea" too. She said she could come Monday probably. I wished her well. No, she will not be coming. This was the last large bit to do to get the living room ready and for it to be entirely empty before Christmas. She knew this. If I have to do this, there will be nothing cooked and I will be too tired to even enjoy Christmas. I knew she would do this and still want to come back only to get her cash Christmas gift. 

She texts the whole time she is here. If I ask her to take something to the bedroom, she walks very slowly down and back, texting all the time. If I ask Tommy something and he is answering me, she sits and texts the whole time. She holds her phone almost all the time she is here. 

Other than her refusal to come and lying, this day has been sunny and pleasant. I took a few catnaps during the day. 

I did something good for me. Special K with Red Berries will be my breakfast this week. It is too expensive to eat all the time! It is rarely on sale. I almost had a bowl after dinner but showed a bit of restraint. 

We have been listening to Christmas songs and watching Christmas movies nonstop. I have not yet heard "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas."

Bing Videos Click and Enjoy

The Last Decoration

 I found two items I bought on sale last year. Tommy will install one tomorrow, Saturday. This is the little stake in the yard with a projector that puts scenes on the house. We only have room for one. It is Santa and a sleigh that will run across the brick front of the house. The other is a blue sparkly globe that we will save until another year. 

Today, we had been out. I sat or a bit and maybe snoozed a bit when we came home. We were going out again. I raised the chair and looked for my shoes. I only have one pair of shoes in the living room. So, it should be easy to spot shoes. Tommy was walking by as I said, "Tommy, Tommy, where are my shoes? Do you see my shoes? Help me! Are they under the chair?" He said something as he walked by, and I asked him what he said. 

He said, "I see shoes on your feet."

Usually, I take my shoes off because they are too tight. Today, my shoes were so loose that I could not feel them on my feet. Okay, so I was half asleep, too. However, I am thrilled my feet are not so swollen anymore, even after riding in the car. Maybe I am losing my mind not being able to see shoes on my feet. 

The wind is biting, brisk today. The prediction for Christmas is mud. Really, the weather forecaster said so.

Christmas is Near

 We got lots done today. Of course, police, insurance, car rental and attorney made no contact as promised. 

Cleaner came today. She helped by getting junk from living room, threw away sweet potatoes. We store them in decorative boxes in living room, the best temp for storing sweet potatoes. 

Last summer, I had neighbor cut a Christmas wreath in half. My intentions were to put the pieces on the red mailbox. Cleaner fluffed the two pieces. I just stuck them on mailbox, hoping they would stay at least until morning. It looks beautiful! I have made a bow to go on top. I thought I needed more greenery, too, but after fluffing, it looks great. 

Tommy wrapped three tomato cages with a hundred-strand string of lights each. He got them hooked up to the electric with deers. Now, they look great. All we need to do now is clear off a couple of tables.

At 7:30 tonight, I received a call from nurse wanting to come by about 1:30 on Friday. I told her we had to be somewhere at 1 pm.  acted like I was being uncooperative. Really, I don't know how this company decides to make an appointment the night before. We actually do have things to do. She said she would call next week for an appointment. They won't make an appointment now before we get things lined up on our calendar. When I called nurse to talk about this, she has been a week without responding. I am puzzled. 

I refused to worry about this or deal with it.

Today, I decided I had better get cards addressed.  The few I got addressed just need a stamp. So, there.

The living room looks so much brighter after dusting! 

I keep remembering things I have for Christmas decorations that I cannot find. I tell her to stay on the lookout for these things. She does. She found two new phones, never out of the package. I told her last week I had them and sort of wanted to sell them and thought this would be a good time, so she wants to know price. Hopefully, they sell. I will charge half of price they were. 

She is also good at finding boxes I need to toss. She even goes out and breaks them down. Of course, I do pay her for helping. 

Christmas Day is near. It makes me happy.  However, the weather is not Christmas weather, warmer than most Southern Christmas Days. 

I still need to find my postage stamps! Is there any little thing you need to do or find that could become a big deal?

Chicken al Pastor

 I thought about Christmas meal and had no idea. We will have to thaw turkey breast or eat some of the chicken we are thawing. I will make the green bean casserole that he loves and baked sweet potatoes. There is Stove Top Stuffing and canned cranberry sauce and maybe some I cooked from fresh cranberries. 

So far, the attorney, car rental, police and insurance do not respond to repeated calls. This is very demeaning. And, I am still sick! 

One night, we had chicken al pastor. It was too hot for me, but I scraped off lots of the coating. I will finish it tonight but will never have it again. It helped that I ate it along with a salad. It was frozen chicken nuggets/chunks. I need to read labels better. Have you ever had chicken al pastor? What is your opinion? 

-We got ads and a few groceries. The Kleenex was on back of list and not gotten. We really need those! We only creep around in this car close to home.

Tonight, we are having the rest of chicken al pastor, salad, and baked sweet potato. We will share one huge sweet potato with neighbor and keep two for us. They surely weigh a pound each. I would love sweet potato casserole, but Tommy likes plain sweet potatoes. So, I won't make it. 

That's it.

It is so close to Christmas Day. How are things going for your plans?

Pool Noodle Lollipops

 I had plans. But, the heat this summer, pain in my hands, all sorts of excuses slowed me down. So, it did not happen. Maybe the next year will see if I get it accomplished. 

It was a good idea. In the past I had some sort of project going all the time. I rarely failed to succeed. For outdoor decorations we have--three deer, three trees from tomato cages, wreath, mailbox wreath. Plus, mailbox is painted red. 

Missed cardio appt, party will be missed. I wonder if we will have a car in time to make the other dr appointment. 

We picked up accident report by creeping along in car, hoping we won't make it worse by driving it. The accident report is wrong. And, the police can no longer arrest anyone who is a hit-and-run. Since when?

I have contacted attorney.