Prepping For Carpet, Doctor Visits and Tuesday Treasures!

 Monday! Monday!!!

Amber normally shops for her weekly groceries at Target on Monday.

This is not really a dreaded chore for her - although I have to tell you it IS a huge undertaking to shop for groceries and all other household needs for her family of six!

She, however, has made that her own personal time to BE!

She enjoys shopping and is a genius with her Target app getting the very best buys possible on her everyday needs.

However, she did her shopping on Sunday afternoon so she could come over here and help me pack up the living room in preparation for the carpet which is coming  TOMORROW!

'Tomorrow' being Thursday, May 19th!

The dining room was the hardest.

All the China, crystal and and every drawer and cupboard had to be emptied.

I carried most of it out load by load and armful by armful to the deck box outside the kitchen French doors. Louis Dean carried out the six or seven FULL tubs of heavy things.

The living room wasn't hard but it was not a one woman job.

Louis Dean's huge doll collection had to be handled carefully and packed accordingly.

I had already moved all the debris out from the tables and under the tables.

The dining room is a done deal and it feels NAKED in there!!

Amber and I work together good as a team and when we were done, she gave me a lesson on how to access the Firestick on the TV enabling us to watch Paramount +, Netflix and more.

How exciting!!!

And Jesse is hooking us up to a thing that will extend out Internet to all parts of the house!

This is going to be so nice!!

Sometimes I want to do my journal entry in the den to keep Louis Dean company - but the signal drops and I have to  go back to the sewing room where our router is,

Once Jesse does this for us - we can have quality reception for the Internet all the way from the sidewalk in front of the house to the back fence behind the house and all the rooms in between! 

Just as we finished the doll cases - my sweet neighbor, Tamara, dropped off three fresh burger patties and four hot dogs + potato salad and coleslaw! And buns!!

I went right out and put them on the grill!

Win! WIN!!!

It was perfect timing!!

Thank you, Tamara and Jim!!

We ate and visited, and Amber left and I took a little nap.

My stomach has been upset lately for no good reason.

I rallied around and freshened up my hair and makeup and drove over to pick June up for this month's Eat Love Pray meeting at First Christian Church.

Normally, I am in the country at this time of the month but, due to doctor appointments, I was able to attend!

June looked especially pretty and I loved catching up with all my friends - but I did not get my head in the game and take any pictures. Not even ONE!

What is WRONG with me?

I blame it on my stomachache.

It was a salad supper and the food looked amazing and I had a fleeting thought to take a pic - but then I started talking to a friend...... 

I will share this one I snagged off of Pastor Deb's Facebook page.

She and her husband, James, celebrate 50 years of marriage this week and the church surprised them with a party after church on Sunday!

I'm just sorry I didn't know about it or I would have been there applauding their love and commitment to one another.

Deb is as beautiful inside as she is here in her stunning black and white dress with the red top!

Last time I took June to an Eat Love Pray meeting, it was winter and the night was dark and my friend, Virginia, drove her home.

She was so pleased that I not only picked her up - but I took her home, too.

We sat long in her driveway talking after we got there.

She wears a cochlear implant but still stills has a hard time hearing - so I told her all about the prayer requests of the evening.

I love that the Eat Love Pray gatherings focus on the needs we ladies have.

the prayer requests are typically not for others - but for ourselves. Lady to lady - we pray for one another. Pastor Deb led out in the share time and a few others followed, voicing their personal requests. There was maybe 5 who shared out of the more than 20 in attendance. 

You know how we are.....we keep quiet and for whatever reason .....we keep our needs to ourselves. I was doing the very same thing.

 Just as Deb was about to close up - I jerked my hand up and said, "Okay!! I do have a request....."

Maybe I feel a little bit shy in asking for prayer since I am not a member of this group. 

But I do love these ladies and I know they love me......

Last time I was there I asked prayer that I would be the wife Louis Dean needs.

That proved to be a good request as I have needed prayers and I do believe those prayers were answered,

This night I asked prayer that I would have the wisdom I need to be a parent to my grown children. My oldest son and daughter. Jesse and Summer.

Some of you may have read between the lines of my journal posts and discerned that Jesse is in the middle of some important life changes.

I have been there and done that myself.

I had a life threatening event happen to me that prompted me to take a serious look at myself and where I was and where I was heading.

The same kind of thing happened to Jesse.

I try not to tell anything but my own story so I'll not say more but I do desire prayers that I can be a support and comfort to him.

And Summer is 58 years old and still my little girl.

I am naturally concerned about her - her life, her health, her welfare......

I don't know of many books written on how to parent adult children.

I think - bottom line - I need to love them, accept them and their decisions, listen to them, comfort and support them in whatever manner I can....and above all ....pray for them.

I came home feeling so much better than when I left!

Louis Dean wanted me to come out and see the moon.

We missed the eclipse the night before but granddaughter Chandy sent us some great pics! 

We sat out for an hour or more enjoying the time together.

And every time we sit at this table - we thank the Lord and ask him to bless Dean and Lynn.

They are the friends who gifted us this great outdoor living set when they moved to Florida.

They could have sold it for hundreds of dollars - and yet they gave it to us.

Someday I hope to gift someone with something special like they did for us.

Tuesday morning we had our quiet time in the gazebo.

The living room is not comfortable and the den is crowded with all the debris brought in so we are hanging out more and more in the gazebo these days.

This plant is called cow parsley and I could not bring myself to pull it up!

It's so pretty! 

Louis Dean had an appointment with his cardiologist Tuesday afternoon and I took him

I am just now wrapping my mind around the fact that I am a caretaker.

He often gets lost these days even when he's going someplace he frequents.

And he can't remember what the doctor tells him so it's just best for me to take him and go in with him. Here we are waiting ....

I have next to NO hair so I am trying out all kinds of hairpieces - 

this one has a honeycomb base that you pull your own hair through.

I'm so thankful for all the things available - from makeup to hair pieces to joint replacements to clothes to dental care to you name it! Growing old gracefully requires a certain amount of research and work!

It was 3:30 when we got back from his cardiologist.

 He got a fairly good report. His heart is beating slow.....so slow that Dr. Uppalapatti was concerned and has scheduled him to wear a heart monitor. We will do that on June first.

I dropped him off and headed up to the thrift store to meet Brenda.

I told her for two seconds I considered not going. Then I decided that in order to be a good caretaker of Louis Dean, I need to take care of myself.

So off I went and I had such a good time visiting, shopping and having tea with Brenda!

She's my best friend and we have known each other for such a long time.

She and Billy love me and they love Louis Dean. Even when he's stubborn and irritable.

They still love us after our Alaskan cruise together where I'm not sure we got more than a couple of pictures of Louis Dean smiling!

So here are my Tuesday Treasures!

This is a housewarming gift for me son, Jesse.

 He will be in his new apartment in June and will be needing lots of basics.

You can tell this was never used!

AND it was half price! Green tags were the 50% off color that day!

Everyone needs a mixer and this is a vintage Sunbeam Mixmaster!

Chrome with brown trim and I just could not pass it up!

Will be perfect for Jesse!

So will this Rachel Ray olive oil ceramic thing.

Now for my favorite treasure of the day!!!

Talk about shabby chic!!!

I LOVE this!!!

You want to know a secret?

It was a 2X....but I am supposing it must have shrunk!

My friend, Teresa, and her mom are attending the opening of the new Downton Abbey movie tonight and if I lived closer to them, I would wear this and go with them!

Brenda is my own personal shopper!

As she is looking for her jeans and pants - she finds some for me as well!!

Books for $0.75 less the senior discount.

I love the distressed marble coasters! $1 each - less the discount!

I'm a sucker for signage! 

This is hanging in our bedroom where I can see it as soon as I open my eyes in the mornings.

Speaking of mornings......

I was up early this Wednesday morning for my primary care check up!

I got a good report and and the lab results so far have been good with no flags.

Still waiting on the results from one more.

I had one of those TIA strokes back in February and I told the doctor about it.

I remember exactly where and when it was.....

02-22-@ 2:22

I recovered within hours after it happened so that was good.

Dr. Abraham has ordered a test to make sure my carotid artery is not blocked.

I do that tomorrow at 4:15.

Perfect timing since the carpet people are coming in the morning and they will be done by then!

I came home to find Louis Dean working in the back yard!

He's got this water fountain all fixed up and added blue and green coloring to the water!

This is his new project and we are both so excited about it!

That 'box' was where I had a spa back in the day.

Then we turned it into a sandbox.

Soon it will be a flower box. Or a shrub box. It's semi shade so I will figure it out.

This area has not been pretty in over 20 years!

But that's about to change!

Louis Dean has a plan and you know how much he loves a good project!

I love it when Louis Dean can go outside and play in the dirt!!