Saturday, July 26, 2025

 Last Sunday, I helped one of my neighbors with his MN state renters return forms that we had originally done back in April. He got a letter from the state telling him that he owed them money rather than getting a refund. It was a very simple solution, resulting from an omission that he made on the forms that I did for him and he ended up getting almost twice as much back as what they were saying that he owed.  

He is not the first who came to me for help after not following instructions or not including the correct forms.  I thought I was helping people out but have decided that I will not offer my services next year. It has been a bit of a pain.

I met with the Stampin Up group on Monday and that was a pleasant afternoon. We made a couple of pretty complicated cards - one even has a magnetic opening.  Diane was hostess and brought a yummy lemon pie.  I will have to come up with an idea for next month, as I will be hostess then. 

My problem with these crafts these days is the jitteriness that I am having from the meds that I am taking.  It is difficult to do intricate and fine movements.  I keep trying to write my signature to get it looking more normal, and sometimes it’s not bad but most of the time it’s very difficult to make out.

I bought two new houseplants this week and I think they are so cute - I even drove about 20 miles each to get them.  On the left is String of Turtles and the right is String of Pearls. I now need to get some nice pots and keep them alive.

I hadn’t seen the girls for a while, so I went over there yesterday to hang out and took them to Wendy’s for a Frosty.  Their idea of hanging out is going to a mall, a pool, or Scheel’s to climb on the climbing wall.  And then if you do go to the mall, they want very expensive stuff, so I’m not doing that - especially Mall of America.  It’s not my thing. Instead, we did a painting project . 

A few hours is enough, as there is a lot of sibling rivalry going on with them, always someone saying something mean or hitting or causing problems of some kind.  I never thought I would see that in my little ‘angels’ but like my Mom used to say ‘kids are kids’ or they are ‘angels with black wings’.  I feel kind of bad for Ben and he is at home working (or trying to work) and dealing with this too.

Saturday, July 19, 2025

 Ben and I went to the World Street Kitchen for dinner and then to the Uptown VFW to see Dale Watson on Thursday night and the show was good but not as good as those I have seen in the past.  My impression was that he was drinking too much, telling too many stories, and not playing as much music.  He does this thing during his show with a little lick and and an advertisement for Lone Star Beer and that leads to someone buying the band a round of tequila. There were several of those plus who knows what before the show.  Regardless, I was glad that Ben was willing to go with me.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

 Monday this week was a kind of chill day, although I did get some nice walks in - in between the rain.  We have sure been getting some good soakers around here lately. Deb and I had a nice walk that evening and I had a nice chat with Elaine in the afternoon.

Jill’s Dad is in a care center adjacent to the hospital after having a T-cell treatment for his cancer. I had planned to go visit them on Tuesday and thought maybe Charlotte would be interested in joining me. Yay - she was! So I went and picked her up and I couldn't believe how much she had grown since I last saw her - seems like at least 2". We drove to the University of MN Medical Center downtown Minneapolis - talk about some crazy construction and traffic conditions and finding the parking lot to that place.  Since Charlotte has been to various camps over the previous three weeks, it had been some time since she had seen Granny and Papa and we had a really nice visit and heard all about her experience at the Boundary Waters and previous camp (?).  She is such a good sport! I heard her say "love you, Grandma" many times while we were together and she always has plenty of hugs for me. 

When Dennis got tired, we left and headed to my place and stopped for a DQ blizzard along the way and then Ben came to pick her up when he got off work.  I was exhausted by then, but I’m so glad that Charlotte was willing to hang out with me. We didn’t get any photos - darn!

Yesterday started with dropping my car off at the repair shop. It has some small engine leaks, so had to have the oil drained, engine cleaned, oil with dye put in and then I drive it for 100 miles and take it back so they can see where the leaks are coming from.  Fingers crossed that it isn’t anything too serious and costly.

Back home, I helped out with food shelf and we ended up having lots of volunteers this time and a pretty good selection of foods. 

It poured and poured most of the day - 3 of our 4 walks were wet ones and even the last one, we walked in some drizzle.  Some areas nearby got up to 3".  There have been rivers and streams flooding for weeks. The Guadalupe River near Kerrville, TX flooded and has killed 134 people.

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Every day gets a little better with how I am feeling, gaining back strength, and getting good sleep.  I had to get two HEP-B vaccines this week and a Covid vaccine last week before I can start my infusion therapy that is now scheduled for August 28.  I will have another a second infusion on September 10 and then every 6 months after that. I sure hope it keeps my immune system healthy.

I also had an appointment with the speech therapist and learned that my brain and memory are working in the normal range for a gal with my education and my age.  Now, to get working on the occupational a bit more - hand/eye coordination, writing, steadiness, etc.

My brother Randy and I were reminiscing about our brothers who have passed on this week and I couldn’t help but chuckle when I spotted this at the grocery store.  I’m glad they keep sending us little reminders.

Talk about tomatoes, the fresh fruits and vegetables that are available to us right now are so yummy.  I had mouth-watering sweet corn, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, strawberries, onions, potato, and green beans this week.  I’ve been eating as much as I can and can’t seem to get enough.  I guess my body is telling me that I need all of those good vitamins.

We have had some real stormy weather this week. My friend Deb, who usually walks about the time that the sun comes up sent me this photo the other morning.

 

Saturday, July 5, 2025

 I’ve been doing some driving each day, after a nap to be sure I am rested and alert. I drove to the airport on Monday night to pick up Pat & AJ and he drove back to my place, they spent the night and then I took them to the Amtrak station the next morning.  

I did get involved with helping with food shelf on Wednesday and that went well.  One of our residents passed away that morning, a friendly guy named Tim who always had a smile on his face and the thing I will remember about him most is the sign on his walker that said "I’m Fine"  That’s what we have to look forward to, folks.  

There is a Vietnamese lady named Haung who lives here and is always very friendly to me.  I wish I could understand her better but I did understand that she was telling me that she was cooking on the weekend and she wanted to share some food with me. I just finished an egg roll that she delivered and it was delicious. 

4th of July was not a big deal to me this year, mostly because of what is going on with our government.  DT signed his ‘Big Beautiful Bill" that is going to benefit the rich and take away from the poor, once again.  They are adding to the wall between the US and Mexico that was started during his previous administration and building huge holding facilities for immigrants that look like prisons.  I just don’t understand how anyone could vote for some bratty privileged child still acts like one and couldn’t come close to understanding how the majority of Americans grew up.

I did have a nice conversation with my friend Leslie, we celebrated  the 4th of July together for many years out at ‘The Land" in Richland Center. It was always tent city with lots of adults and kids and dogs running around everywhere, chicken and corn roasts, beer, chats around the fire pit and fireworks.  Lots of good memories.