Tuesday Treasures and My Son Jesse.....

 Tuesday is probably my favorite day of the week.

Brenda is still on vacation so I decided to go thrifting on my own.

Last week I took Louis Dean with me and he did not even got out of the car except for lunch.

I found a few treasures like these brand new red cushions.

I am wearing a lot of denim now that I cleaned that closet and rediscovered several cool skirts but I needed a pair of boots to complete the look.

Once again - a brand new candle!!

Three holiday red chair covers which will replace the ones Tabitha and Samantha have damaged.

This brand new lamp with shade that was still wrapped in plastic was only $12.

It replaced one that no longer worked and I didn't think it wise to let Louis Dean know about it since he would insist on repairing it which is not a good idea. He used to do a lot of electrical work but that ship has sailed.

My best buy was this Cuisinart air fryer for $8.50.

We have one exactly like this so we will take that one to the ranch and I'll keep this newer one here at home.

I shop Aldi every Tuesday afternoon and the cats are always curious about what's in the bags.

I give them treats from the fridge every day....

a dab of cream cheese or a small piece of shaved ham or sometimes a raw egg.

Jesse was here when I got home and was already opening up the new ceiling fan for our bedroom.

He made short time of it and I was grateful to him for taking the time to do this for me.

My son is so cool!!!

This morning I was coming back to the bedroom after turning my coffee on and heard Tabitha scratching the bed comforter. I yelled, "NO!!!!"

Then I decided to trim her nails since it wasn't her fault I had been putting this off.

We get the biggest kick out her hiding her head when it's time to cut them.

I didn't catch the pic when she looked up and saw me still there and immediately ducked her head again.

Sweet baby girl!!

We are having a gate problem and it's been tough on both of us.

The idea of using an exterior door as a gate was a thought but the opening is five feet wide. so that wouldn't work.

Then he decided to rebuild it and model it after the gate he made on the kitchen side of the house.

I think it was just over a year ago when he did that and he did a fine job of it!

He spent a good amount of time working on it Tuesday afternoon and then this morning he said he couldn't do it and wanted to buy a chain link gate. I have deep feelings about chain link anything and they are not good ones so I researched vinyl gates and was just about to order one when Louis Dean went to check the dimensions again.

He came back and told me he had forgotten that he'd already built it and that he just needed to go to Home Depot for some nuts and bolts and hinges.

I took him to the dentist at 3:00 and then to HD where he bought $60 worth of hardware.

From there I drove to get Subway sandwiches and once I'd parked, Louis Dean said he needed to go back to HD. He had bought bolts that were not long enough!

I went in and got our sandwiches and then back to Home Depot....again.

He didn't return the wrong bolts but spent $25 on more bolts.

Like is always an adventure with Louis Dean and I hope we have many more!

Catching up!

 Louis Dean is a happy man!!

At least most of the time.

He's never unhappy but some days he says it's like he's in a fog.

His room is a therapy for him, a place he can piddle and putter and he can do this all day long and oftentimes does!

The reason I took this photo?

Louis Dean was the one who made the bed up to surprise me!

I think he did a good job!

Friday was our movie night with Ilene.

I had the AC on while I freshened up the den and LD wrapped himself in covers to stay warm.

I stay hot and he stays cold.

It's always nice to watch a good movie.....

Louis Dean and I drove to Richardson on Saturday afternoon to watch Harrison's team play in a tournament.

Kailey took these photos for me.

May I brag a minute?

Harrison was chosen Captain of the Brahmas!

Sunday morning we were up early and managed to get to the rink in Mansfield by 10:00 to watch Trystan play in the Dallas Stas Elite tournament game.

Look who else came to watch!!!

My son and daughter in law!!

Yup! It's official and has been since February 14th although they just made it public recently!

I spent Sunday afternoon putting our dining room back in order after packing all the art things away.

The table is set!

All I need to do now is plan a menu.

The fall season is beginning to wind down and I intend to enjoy every last day.

Once the art was put up, I used the paper plate pumpkin for the table centerpiece.

Sunday night's supper was cheesy scalloped potatoes with ham.

Garlic green beans.

Really good garlic bread.

And a nice garden salad.

Meanwhile back at the Richardson rink....

 Love this pic one of the parents took as Harrison made this goal.....

......and his team members congratulating him!

After making this play, Harrison fell and hurt his wrist and ended up in the ER.

Thankfully it wasn't broke - just strained - so he rested overnight and was back on the ice the next morning.

Look!!

The Brahmas WON the Dallas CCM Championship!!!

Trystan's team made it into the semi finals so there was a lot of celebrating and congratulating going on!

I made a breakfast for lunch today....

It was delicious!

I close tonight's journal entry with pics of Tabitha.

My huge project this weekend was purging and organizing my denim closet.

It was a lot of work but it's done!

I culled half of all the clothing I had in there and will donate it to a shelter Ilene recommended.

In other news, I'm skipping this week's chapter of Children in the Closet and will start posting a chapter every other week.

Eventually this book will be done and after Amber edits it, I'll self publish on Amazon.

I'm already thinking about my next book!

Life With Louis Dean

Now that's going to be a fun one to write!

A String of Busy Days.....

 Tuesday Treasures was minus Brenda this week as she was having a big adventure with Billy, so I took Louis Dean with me.

He was pretty much in a fog all that day and opted to stay in the car wile I went into Texas Thrift alone.

I didn't make a huge haul but I did find some treasures at bargain prices.

I bought a bag of fall garlands - four in all - for $4.

The two satin pumpkins were $4, as well.

I loved this mirrored bling trimmed box and put it in my bathroom to hold my favorite perfumes.

Brand new candles!!

Louis Dean was excited about lunch at Whataburger but only ate a quarter of his hamburger!

I eat more than he does on any given day!

Although he did enjoy a Dr Pepper Blackberry shake and drank the whole thing.

From there we drove through the donation line at Goodwill and unloaded several large bags.

Next stop was Aldi and, once again, Louis Dean didn't feel like going in with me.

He did good to unload the groceries but it took him awhile and then he went to bed for a few hours.

I bought this cake roll and it's really good.

I was concerned about Louis Dean but he seemed better when he got up from his nap - but by then I was ready to go to bed!

He stayed up until after 3:00 in the morning puttering around and sorting through the trash and gathering things up and moving them to other places.

I could track his activities on an app so I wasn't surprised when he slept late....and when he woke up he didn't remember wandering around all night.

Wednesday we lingered out on the kitchen deck watching and listening to the birds and the bees.

It is mesmerizing to watch all the activity as the birds dive in and out of the trumpet vines.

They have shelter as well as the ponds for water and I upgraded our bird seed to better quality that seems to attract more songbirds. 

We spend about an hour outside every morning and then another hour in the evening out on the driveway. We have so many blessings right here in our neighborhood.

I've spent a good amount of time cleaning, organizing, decorating and purging in our bedroom and my bathroom.

At last it's done!

Hard to get photos of my tiny bathroom.

I took everything off the wall and started over.

Still have some tweaking to do but I'm enjoying the new look.

I love my tiny bathroom!

There's a shower to the right of where my necklaces are hanging but a rack is hung over the shower door and holds folded towels. My grands didn't even know I had a shower in there for a long time!

Wednesday afternoon we started cleaning up and getting dressed to attend the fall band concert at the middle school. Louis Dean is using a cane these days when we go out and about.

I drove to Dallas shortly after traffic and shopped Walmart before driving on to the school.

Amber had saved us seats on the front row!!

I love how my daughter loves her father.

She chose him and he made it official....years ago.

Louis Dean is the Bell grands bono fide Granddad!

Kailey is the photographer for the year book so she was taking lots of pictures with a very professional looking camera!

Here we are!

Both sets of grandparents and our daughter, Amber, and Logan and Trystan.

It was daylight when we arrived and parked at the school.....

but dark dark when we left.

As a rule, I do not drive in the dark, but I followed Amber's tail lights until she turned off and then I was good the rest of the way home.

I can drive from my house to Amber's anytime day or night due to the good lighting and I'm so grateful I can do that!

Thursdays have been Art Class day with Shirley for the last month or more.

Last week I served a special potato soup from my librarian friend, Jennifer, and this week Shirley made a homemade tomato basil soup, again from a recipe by Jennifer!

It was absolutely delicious!!! 

We both agreed it could not have been better!

I made some good garlic toast using minced garlic in oil, garlic infused olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic salt and another sprinkle of Italian seasonings and topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Dessert was a slice of the Pumpkin Cake Roll. 

Then we were off to the art table!

It has given me such joy to see how Shirley has loved painting.

She's an extremely talented artist and has an eye for color and composition.

She has always been crafty ever since she was young and has now upped her game by doing an amazing first oil painting!

This was not an easy painting but she nailed it!

We went by a pic from Pinterest but Shirley made it her own.

This is mine and you can tell we have slightly different styles but are happy with our paintings.

Our Santas are done and we will resume Thursday art classes in early 2026.

Shirley chose this as her second painting and I love it!

I want to paint it, too!

We had a snack bowl for Happy Hour on the driveway.

Nothing heavy......

and a glass of white zinfandel - perfect! 

Tabitha is so precious to us!

She finds beds in many different places.

Dean and Sherry are here to spend the night and it did my heart and soul so much good to hear their voices and talk and laugh together. We haven't been to the ranch since July 1st and I'm anxious to get back down there! This is the longest we have been away in years.

I close this journal entry tonight with a reality pic.

This aerosol window cleaner is now a holder for Louis Dean's tools.

It scares me how he does things.

There's no rhyme or reason as to what he does.

This breaks my heart and every morning when I wake up I put my hand on his head and pray for him.

I ask God for wisdom and discernment as to how I can take care of him and be a blessing.

His music room looked more like a lumber yard today.

A shelf fell down and he brought in boards and materials to make a new one.

He used a regular saw instead of a power one but then used several electric drills.

How can one feel sorrow and joy at the very same time?

I'm sorry that the husband I knew is not really here all the time and yet joyful that Louis Dean is still present in my life.

He loves me and I love him and we continue to have a good life together.

It's not easy to see the love of your life fade away bit by bit.

Today, tonight, this moment in time - is still the best part of my life and I would not change one thing since the day we matched on eHarmony back in April of 2005.