The First Week of December 2025

 This week started off with a challenge but all is well.

I'll be taking Louis Dean to his primary care doctor in January and he will be more than ready, I'm sure.

He may have torn a muscle since it's been hurting for so long.

There's always something to brighten any and every single day and the photo of Amber and Mike's Bauer after he literally climbed up the Christmas tree!

And on Tuesday I had a beautiful Face Time visit with my sister Deanie and Charlie. 

We talked and laughed and had such a good time just being together again.

Our conversation started while Louis Dean was still asleep and then he woke up, dressed and joined us in the living room. Deanie was so excited when she saw LD!

Those two bonded bigtime when the Bell quads were born and that bond stands true to this day.

A day or two later I called my brother, Lonnie and we had another great visit. My heart was filled with  joy in hearing and seeing my siblings' faces and voices.

We have so many beautiful memories of Thanksgiving days and Christmas mornings and Sibling Trips together. I'm ever so grateful that we did what we did when we could.

Our sibling connections shaped our lives and we all had happy endings.

Nita had the love of her life with Mike and Lonnie is happy with his beautiful bride, Michele.

I found true love with Louis Dean so God blessed all four of us.

We find a lot of joy with Samantha and Tabitha.....

Speaking of Tabitha!

We had to do a deep dive in the den closet looking for Louis Dean's winter coast and sweaters.

From there we went to the front porch to take down all the fall 'debris' down so I could start from scratch with new Christmas decorations.

It took most of Friday afternoon working out there but my plan was beginning to come together.

This was Thursday evening.

By Friday evening I had made a good start on the porch.

We moved the heavy bench to the driveway and I put the glider Amber and Mike had gifted me several years ago in its place. I needed a white bedspread to use as a cover so I went in and opened up the den closet again - and out jumped Tabitha!!!

This wasn't the first time she had locked herself in somewhere!

You would think she would make noise and moan like she does when we are driving down to the ranch. But no. She just stayed in there all quiet like!

However, she was in there long enough to necessitate washing a duvet cover and a warming throw!

All in all, it's been a good week.

Most days have been spent at home cleaning and decorating and I've loved every bit of it.

I decorate differently every year.

So far I have the biggest part of the house pretty much decorated and done!

The den, the kitchen, laundry room, living room, foyer, and now the front porch - all DONE!

Or nearly so. 

No big trees to deal with but I am using some of my treasured ornaments to embellish wreathes which Louis Dean has removed old debris from them.

My laptop has officially died and I will be meeting my son, Jesse, on Wednesday afternoon to buy a new one.

Right now I am using one of Louis Dean's really old laptops and it takes a lot of extra work to do a journal entry and I appreciate Louis Dean loaning his computer to me.

So, I am hoping to be able to retrieve my data from the old one to the new one I will be buying soon.

My book, spreadsheets, finances, so much was on that one and I did not use the Cloud.

I never understood it but it may be time to learn.

But for now, I will be putting future chapters of Children in the Closet on hold until I can get a handle on what's going on.

In other family news.....

Harrison shot his first buck at 13!

It was last minute and a perfect shot with a perfect buck.

Mike is a man among men and field dressed it on the spot.

They will have the head mounted and it will be treasured.

Mike's first buck hangs in the foyer of their home.

Love they have such a father/son bond and great experiences together.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

I've been addressing cards and I went to the post office on Friday and sent off the Christmas Santa and my sister, Rita's, birthday box.

Hopefully I will get all the cards in the mail by Monday.

Please let me know if there's been a change of address or if you would like to send me your address so I can get a card off to you.

I usually write personal messages on a recycled Christmas card and I will still do that but life has changed so if you don't receive a personal message from me, please know I would if I could.

And the Winner is......

 Carol Talbot Smith!

Congratulations!

I'm sorry to be so late in posting but this has been a crazy day!

My laptop died and I had to take it to Best Buy to see if it can be redeemed.

Jesse came over and worked on it and then advised me to take it back where I had purchased it for diagnostics.

Three of the four tires on my car showed low tire pressure and Amber came over to check that out and it was determined to be because of the cold weather.

I guess they weren't used to it but all is well now.

Then I took Louis Dean to the orthopedic doctor and we were in the waiting room for a solid two hours and that's when we were informed it would be at least 45 more minutes and then an hour after that for the appointment by which time it would be dark.

Instead of rescheduling, I will take Louis Dean to his January appointment with his primary care doctor.

We managed to do an errand or two and arrived home slightly after dark.

Louis Dean loaned me his computer so I could post this journal entry!

All is well that ends well!

Tomorrow I plan to mail off the Santa painting and buy my Christmas stamps....

if all goes well.

Our Weekend

 We have enjoyed this last weekend of November.

Ilene came for movie and dinner Saturday and we wiped out the last of the leftovers.

Even our possums had a Thanksgiving Feast this year!

It's been a cold winter type day here and we spent much of it in front of the fireplace watching football.

I'm working on Christmas cards and still decorating.

I did get the kitchen all clean and dressed up and will finish the laundry room tonight.

We came home with a gallon bag full of mac and cheese from Thanksgiving and I embellish it a bit with extra cheese and peppers.

Louis Dean asked me if I would make cornbread for him and I had a plastic bag with all the dry ingredients for a double batch and it's in the oven now.

I'll put some beans in to soak and cook them tomorrow.

Good cold weather comfort food!

I'll draw the winner for this year's Santa painting tomorrow afternoon when we get back from the doctor appointment for Louis Dean and I will get it in the mail as soon as I can!

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving 2025

My son Jesse invited us to spend Thanksgiving with him and Rachel and her family.

My handsome first born son!!

I had spent the morning and early afternoon cleaning and decorating the kitchen for Christmas.

But we arrived early enough to watch the Dallas Cowboys game.

Louis Dean was all smiles!

Jesse's house lends itself to THE perfect place to party and entertain.

Rachel and her mom, Margaret, and Rachel's brother, Mario.

The amazing thing about this is that Rachel babysat Leah, Nita's daughter and Margaret and Mario worked for Nita at Haynie's Grocery Store when she was married to Bob.

They all knew Mike and when Jesse heard them talking one day about Mike, Leah and Nita....he said, "I think you may be talking about my aunt and cousin."

Jesse met Rachel in an online dating app and who knew how our families would come together?

We had the best time visiting and watching football.

The Cowboys win was a bonus!

I am from Kansas City and if it's possible, I was rooting for both teams.

It would have been a Win! WIN!! for me either way.

Rachel's nephew, Jacob, is a chef at the Fort Worth Country Club and he brings a Thanksgiving dinner to a whole other level! Instead of turkey, Jacob's choice is chickens...

And they were perfect and delicious.

And then Jacob does his famous mashed potatoes.

This, too, is carried to a upper level!

I watched him carefully as he cooked and riced the potatoes.

His secret ingredients were the rosemary sprigs and garlic cloves he added.

Jacob has a degree from Texas A&M in physics and that is a huge part of his culinary success.

Case in point - controlling the fat in the mashed potatoes.

Heating the milk and adding the butter is a work of art.

Who knew mashed potatoes would be so amazing?

The chickens were as good as they looked.

What an amazing feast!!

Jacob's salad featured his own Ranch Dressing recipe.

And a spread of desserts!

We contributed a pecan pie using the pecans recently harvested from our own trees.

Jacob's wife, Taylor, made us tequila old fashions.

They were so good!

Football, family, food, fellowship and love all around.

A truly beautiful Thanksgiving Day and I am so grateful for every moment!

Louis Dean and I spent the night there - Jesse invited us since it would be dark by the time the evening was over. What a blessing that was  to us. This early darkness really impacts our life.

Friday morning with Rachel and Jesse!

Jesse is a connoisseur of all things coffee!

I love his coffee bar setup!!

And this was an AMAZING  cup of coffee!!

Coffee is a real experience when Jesse makes it!

Louis Dean loved his Americano coffee in Jesse's hiking cup.

Jesse and Rachel sent us home with enough food to last us this weekend!

A super salad supper on Friday night hit the spot!!

It's 2:01 as I close this journal entry but I am counting it as a  Saturday post.

I will do another post tomorrow and then draw the winning number for this year's Santa on Monday, December first.

  I am sending out Christmas cards starting on the first of December...

Thank you all, my dear friends, for all your love, support, prayers and comments.

You have no idea how much they mean to me.....

A Beautiful Sunday.....

 It was a wonderful Sunday from start to finish!

Coffee and Fellowship Church online after which I set Louis Dean up with football while I worked on dressing the kitchen for Christmas!

We drove over to the Bells and rode with Amber and the girls to Logan and Kailey's hockey game.

Sweet girls - all three!!!

We enjoyed watching Logan and Kailey in action on the ice and we loved our special time visiting one on one with Trystan.

And most of all getting to spend time with my precious Amber!

Kailey is 91!

And here is Logan in action!

From the ice rink,  Amber drove us to Babe's in Farmer's Branch for dinner!

Love the Christmas decorations!

AND the FOOD!!!!

I ate way too much but enjoyed every single bite!

We all left in a food coma!

Full, relaxed and ready to go to bed!

Which is exactly what I did!

Monday was a good day to stay home and continue my decorating and cleaning.

The kitchen may take all week!

The reason Sunday was with Amber and the girls was that Harrison and Mike were and are in Fargo, North Dakota. Blizzard kind of weather has delayed their flight home tonight.

Thanksgiving is coming and I baked a pecan pie for Brenda....

I went through the pecan meats twice to make sure no shells sneaked in.

I learned to do that the hard way!

I trusted Louis Dean to check them but found he doesn't see as well as I do.

My Christmas cards arrived this evening and I will start addressing them on December 1st!

For those of you who do not receive them - just send your address to Artlady1948@gmail.com.

I ordered 200 cards and hope YOU receive one.

And for the Christmas painting drawing - if you comment as anonymous - please leave your name.

RHill,Tx - I appreciate your friendship and encouragement and would love to send you a Christmas card!

Again...Jodi W....you sent me the very first Christmas card for this year along with your new address.

Alas I lost that card and hope you will send me a note with your updated information.

While I have been working on tonight's journal entry, I was also watching the new 2025 film

Champagne Problems. I chose it for the scenery but it was a good film.

Louis Dean woke up this morning with pain in his right shoulder - so much so that he asked me to make an appointment with a doctor.

He fell in his room back in the late spring and landed on his shoulder.

He's been refusing to go to a doctor but today he cried uncle and asked me to make an appointment.

I jumped right on it and used the patient portal to his primary care and then jumped to the orthopedic

office I use.

He has an appointment on Monday afternoon and I am just so ashamed that I haven't scheduled an appointment earlier. He could already be well by now. 

I make him do so many things so I think twice about forcing him to do what he doesn't want to do. I made a mistake in not moving forward with a doctor appointment way back in May but I will be more diligent moving forward.

As I finish up this journal entry, I put on the film Oklahoma!

Louis Dean loves that one!

Earlier today we watched Cheaper by the Dozen.

We are actually reading the book - for the third time.

It's the little things that make life better.

A good movie.

A good meal.

A good conversation.

A good visit with family and friends.

Because the little things are really big things!