More Rambling

Here it is almost Christmas Day and I see I haven't posted since before Thanksgiving. Guess I am just too busy, doing what I don't have a clue. I hope anyone reading this will have the Merriest of Christmases ever. Again, I am cooking dinner for the immediate family that lives in this area. My stepson in San Antonio and his family will be absent this year. I really can't say that I blame them for not making a trip - with two little girls just 13 months old. I do hope to see them soon.

I did start doing volunteer work at my church one afternoon a week. I answer the phone to relieve the girl that normally does that. The past two weeks I have been working on the church directory; last week did some proof reading which is tedious, but someone has to do it, so I guess it might as well be me. After the directory is finished I don't know what they will have for me to do, but I bet they will think of something.

One of my elderly friends is in Hospice Hospital and is refusing any kind of medication, plus she has been unable to eat for several months - has been being fed through a feeding tube directly to the stomach, and she is now refusing that. She is ready to die. It is a sad time, but I fully understand her decision. She has Parkinson's and is unable to walk, eat, or talk, and has just about lost the use of her hands. She has no way to communicate, although her mind is great. She was taken to the hospital Friday afternoon because she was having trouble breathing, and is just tired. Fortunately, she is a strong Christian woman and is ready to go to her heavenly home. Some of the time she responds, but a lot of the time she doesn't. I don't know if she doesn't know us, or if she is just too tired to acknowledge us.

On a happier note, all my family is doing well, as am I.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Rambling

Hello, anyone out there that might be reading this. It has been so long since I've posted anything that I had almost forgotten how! Guess that tells you that I don't have a lot going on that is worth writing down. I am still doing my thing with Meals on Wheels and have made some wonderful friends there. Right now I am considering volunteering to work in our church office one afternoon each week - staff there is short handed and there's a lot of work to be done. I am to talk to someone about it next week.

I just got back from a wonderful visit with my friend Pat, who lives in Pleasanton, Tx. I was down there for a week and as usual we played cards a lot. When Pat was here in August I introduced her to Skip-Bo. She went back to Pleasanton with a brand new deck of cards and proceeded to teach the game to anyone that will sit still long enough to play. Needless to say, she won a lot more games that I did! I did beat her in the one game of Gin that we played!

Also, since my last post I had some remodeling done on the house, actually just one wall taken out between the dining room and living room. That made the area seem so much larger - amazing. Also had some wood (laminate) floors installed in the dining area and halls. I think it looks great. I am in the midst of redecorating right now - which is taking a little longer than I would like, but I'll get there - soon, I hope.

A great big Happy Thanksgiving to everyone reading this.

Tagged

Ok, I've been tagged!

Four places I've lived:
1. The first place I remember is Grassbur, Texas (does anyone know where that is?)
2. Fisk, Texas (refer to note on No. 1)
3. Midland, Texas
4. Ozona, Texas

Four foods I enjoy:
1. Ribeye steak
2. Turkado sandwich from Murray's
3. Oysters on the half shell
4. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich
Talk about boring!

Four vacation spots:
1. Vallcito Lake, Colorado (my very favorite of all times)
2. Las Vegas, Nevada
3. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
4. Branson, Missouri

Four places I had rather be:
I honestly cannot think of anywhere else I would rather be than right here where I am.

I loved living in Ozona, but that was before my husband passed away, and I would not like living there without him.

That's it, folks!

Blooms

The peppermint zinnias are blooming and they are beautiful! There are a few blooms open and several buds, so I can enjoy them for a while.

All lined up........

...with some place to go! This is Meals on Wheels, food containers lined up on the shelves, blue for cold food, red for hot food; cars lined up in front ready to deliver meals to approximately 500 homebound residents on 34 routes in Midland. This happens 5 days a week. There is another program called Share A Meal that delivers food on Saturday, with a frozen meal for Sunday. There are not as many clients in this program and I am assuming those that are do not have anyone to provide meals for them any day.

Almost two years ago I started delivering food twice a month with another lady named Nelda. We met at an open house at an Edward Jones office because I had heard people saying my name, but no one was speaking to me. I also heard someone ask this other Nelda if she was still delivering food for Meals on Wheels. Her response was that she was, but her partner had moved away so she was delivering alone. I later introduced myself to her and in our conversation I asked her if she would like to have another partner for Meals on Wheels. This other Nelda has become a very special person to me - so chalk one up for MOW!

After a few weeks I mentioned to the volunteer coordinator that if she should need assistance in the office I was available - on a volunteer basis. I told her I was pretty good on a computer and I could stuff envelopes, etc. Guess what! The very next day she called and said she had a project for me!

The project is to take a monthly list of drivers with the number of trips they made each month, multiply that by $3.75 and round up to the nearest $5.00, then to give each driver gift cards for that amount. Once a month I take my list, which I have broken down by days of the week, and I go to the Meals on Wheels facility each day for a week and hand out gift cards. I am a very popular lady that week!

The gift cards are for purchases at HEB, and are provided by a Midland philanthropic foundation to offset the cost of gasoline for the drivers. There are some drivers that deliver food 5 days a week. Some have regular routes for each day of the week and others drive where ever and when ever needed as substitutes.

I have met wonderful caring people involved with Meals on Wheels and am so blessed to know them.

Bud

Look! A bud on one of the zinnias planted August 6! I can hardly wait until the bloom opens - I've never seen a peppermint zinnia, so this will be a new experience for me.

Whirley Gig

This whirley gig was a gift to me from Pat's husband, Jim. He has a wonderful wood working shop and is very good in wood craft. He has made some beautiful pieces of furniture which they have in their home. Jim has made two extremely nice medicine cabinets for me - for the last two houses I have lived in. The one I have now is mounted on the wall in such a way that I can take it with me next time I move - which is a good thing because he is probably tired of building medicine cabinets for me! I think the whirley gig is a nice addition to my patio and I enjoy watching it spin when the wind blows, even just a little. I admire his work, and know if Jim makes it, it will be to perfection.

Butterfly

Today while Pat, a friend from Pleasanton, Texas, visiting me for a few days, and I were in the back yard we saw this beautiful butterfly feeding from the zinnias. Fortunately for me, Pat had her camera out there and I was able to use it and get this picture of the butterfly. I know someone out there will be able to tell me what kind of butterfly it is, so please do. This particular zinnia is labeled Yellow Blaze. The bloom goes from a very bright pink in the center to orange, then yellow. These are from seeds from last years zinnias. Interestingly, both butterflies and hummingbirds are attacted to these zinnias, even though there are other zinnias and other blooms all around.

Pat has been here for the past several days and we are having a wonderful visit. I will miss her when she goes home next week.

Emerging Life

In my last post (Monday, 8/6), I mentioned that I had planted some zinnia seed. Wednesday the little plants emerged, and I found it very exciting. I don't do much seed planting - mostly I buy plants, so I had just about forgotten how exciting it is to see new life springing up. Now, I am eager to see the plants in full bloom! (I'm pretty sure the little plant on the left end is a weed!)

Monster Mum

I call this my "monster mum". Last fall I planted several small mum plants for some fall color in the flower beds. Surprisingly, they did not freeze during the winter and we had some very cold weather with sustaining below freezing temperatures more than once. I also have been surprised that the mums have bloomed in the spring. These mums are not placed exactly as I would have placed them had I know they were going to stay alive and grow so big, in fact, they have sort of unbalanced the flower beds, but they are pretty, so I hesitate to dig them up while they are in bloom. A white one bloomed very early and after the blooms died, it wasn't very attractive anymore, so I dug it up and will probably do so with the others. I just planted some Peppermint Zinnia seed, (sent to me by mred) and am excited about them and hopeful for a late frost so I can enjoy the blooms late summer and into the fall.

Double Beauty

These darlings are the next newest members of my family. Alex and Halie were born right after Thanksgiving last year and in this picture they are three months old. My family has been growing this past year, wouldn't you say. Three beautiful little girls! Don't you just know they will have a great time growing up together?

Peppermint Geranium

When shopping for plants this spring I came across this peppermint stripe geranium and think it is very pretty. It sits on my patio and gets lots of TLC.

One of my passions is working in the back yard. For some reason, I don't enjoy working in the front yard, only do what needs to be done there - like trimming hedges, mowing, and watering. Jeff, one of my grandsons, mows for me most of the time (for pay, of course) and I pay a young man that lives across the street from me to edge the front lawn each week. I'm just not ready to turn Jeff loose with a weed-eater because I have injured myself a couple times with one. But, I do love working in the back yard and find it to be very relaxing, even if the work is hard. It's my therapy - which I seem to need quite a lot of some days. So, lots of days I can be found in the back yard "digging in the dirt".

Precious in Pink

Meet the newest member of my family, Kallyn. My friend Debi has encouraged (and, I use the word loosely) me to start a blog, so I decided to start with something new. Hopefully, I will be able to post things of interest along the way. Wish me luck as I learn!