Tuesday's Treasures and a Chocolate Chip Pound Cake.....

 I got up early enough to get my cake in the oven before Kevin the plumber arrived.

I nearly hugged him when I opened the front door.

It was MY Kevin who came and unstopped the kitchen line back last year when Louis Dean was taking up the deck and digging in the yard thinking that was the way to get the drain cleared!

He recognized me as well and I immediately relaxed!

Kevin would get the job done!

And he did!

He is a calm guy who works steady and was just who we needed!

Louis Dean stayed in his music room while he was here - until the last when we sat all together in the living room as I paid him. $195 with the senior discount and worth every dollar!

I sent him home with three big slices of the chocolate chip pound cake and he seemed happy about that! I told him that I knew he was coming so I baked a cake!

I was so relieved to get my bathroom back!

I had been using the portable potty Summer got me - a Home Depot  bucket with a toilet seat type of lid. Monday morning I took it out side and washed it out to set it up again - and I left it out to sit in the sun and dry. When I went back to put it together with white trash bag liners and kitty litter - it was GONE!! I found it in Louis Dean's music room - with a bunch of stuff in it! Tools and rubber hoses!

It's funny now - but it wasn't then. My nerves were pretty much stressed to the max that day.

So Tuesday I was finally able to flush my commode and I just LOVE that sound!!!

I decided it would be a good thing for both of us if I got out of the house for a little while so I met up with Brenda at the thrift store.

Here lately I have been reading a lot and I was happy to buy all these books for under $0.75!

I got 30% off of that but I'm not good at math!.

I found a pair of brand new pajama bottoms for Louis Dean with the $38 price tag from Belk still on them. I wore the Santa sweater today as it got down in the 30's last night.

It's fun to wear Christmas clothes!

Brenda and I finished our time with tea at Whataburger.

I admit to being in the Mulley grubs but Brenda was really sweet and I felt better by the time I got home.

I finished decorating the living room tree and Louis Dean put the star on top!

It has a Victorian look to it and I am loving it!

We are both finally relaxing after all the stress of the plumbing problems.

He still can't use his bathroom - at least not the toilet.

But he was a happy man when he took a nice long hot bath last night!

This morning I was up and had my coffee in hand when my sister Rita called me.

We had been planning on a phone chat and were looking forward to catching up with each other.

We talked for nearly an hour and our visit together did my heart so much good.

I love my Kansas City siblings and thank God for Rita and Buster!

I took today nice and slow and even had a two hour nap this afternoon.

The only thing I 'cooked' today was a jazzed up Suddenly Salad.

We took a Christmas movie break while we ate.

Sometimes the simplest things just taste so GOOD - like

Jello and canned sliced peaches!

Louis Dean had bought a gallon can of them and I was determined not to waste any - and I didn't.

My decorating continues and I am working in the dining room now.

I still have the den to do - and it looks really scary in there right now!

Also the sewing room, front porch and gazebo need to be cleaned and dressed for Christmas.

I missed my goal of having ot all done by the first of December but I am hoping to be done by Sunday.

Every morning I am writing some of my Christmas cards.

Yesterday I mailed all my Santas and my sister Rita's birthday gift - her birthday is on the 8th of December. Plus I bought stamps!

I'm sending out 300 Christmas cards this year as I ran out last year.

In 2021 I started at the beginning of my address book.

This year I am working my way from the back forward.

I've decided not to host a big Christmas Tea this year but I am thinking about a smaller one.

Maybe a Christmas Tea/Luncheon for a few ladies.....

Summer is having surgery on her other hand in the morning....

Sabrina is taking her so I will be home praying.

She is slowly regaining her health little by little and I am so thankful for all the prayers prayed for my daughter. Thank you!

Hockey Champions!!!

 Our plumbing woes continue but we took the opportunity to see the girls play in the final game of the hockey tournament on Saturday evening. The game was at 7:45 so it would be dark driving there and back and it was in Richardson, Texas - very close to the hospital Leah was in for her recent surgery.

Amber graciously invited us to come over early and ride with them to the game!

YES! And THANK YOU!!!

Amber and her girls!

She is a great hockey mom to all four of her children.

It felt good to get out of the house and be around so much youthful energy!!!!

The girls were playing against each other.

Mike is the coach of the Artic Blazers - they are in white.

Trystan is on the Lucky pucks team in blue.

Trystan is #62 and she played her heart out at both the tournament and championship games!

Can you spy Logan?

There she is!

My darling daughter and super cute grandson cheering the all girl tournament on!!!

It was such a close game on Saturday and both teams had already qualified for the play off.

It looked like Trystan's team would win but in the end it was Kailey and Logan's.

SUCH a great game!!!

3-2!

The Championship game was at 9:00 Sunday morning and we stayed home waiting for a plumber but I was glued to my phone and watched it like I was looking at the ice rink as Amber gave me updates on the game.

It was even MORE exciting than the one on Saturday!

They tied 2 - 2!

They went on 5 minutes overtime and were still tied!

It was a nail biter of a game as they did a shootout! 

But at the last it was Arctic Blaze who won!!!

3-2!

Kailey!!!

Logan!!!

That's the team Mike coaches so the trophy came home with him!

It is in a place of honor in the Bell's foyer!

In other news - our sweet Tabitha has been exceptionally affectionate lately.

She dearly loves Louis Dean and she's always around when I'm decorating.

I may never have another dog - and I have had several in the past - but I think I love cats best of all.

Especially this one.

Sometimes I call her July - that was Amber's favorite cat and she lived for over 20 years.

I hope Tabitha does, too.

After the hockey game and excitement on Sunday was over, I looked forward to the plumber from Mr. Rooter to arrive. Two of them did but it did not go well.

They would not even touch the job - not even pull up the toilet. They gave me a price of $8,500 and said they had an interest free payment plan for 18 months.

You see, there is a problem with our toilet flange in Louis Dean's bathroom.

I won't bore you with the details but I escorted them to the door while I was crying.

Louis Dean went into a frenzy of working on unstopping the line and took the toilet up and did all manner of things to get it to work - but nothing he could do did.

I developed a terrible headache and neckache and went to bed in the guest room while he wore himself out. Finally, I asked him to clean up the incredible mess he'd made and then just STOP!

This was beyond him and we should regroup and call another plumber.

I was pretty upset and crying still - it didn't help that I had forgot to take my meds that morning.

I calmed down and went next door to Stephanie's who is away right now and she gave me permission to 'hide out' at her house.

I called my brother in law Charlie - who is a retired master plumber.

He calmed me down and assured me the problem COULD be fixed and it would NOT involve tunneling underneath the bathroom as the Mr. Rooter guy recommended.

Praise God for angels like Charlie!

I calmed down and that in turn calmed Louis Dean down and we were back to our normal selves!

We took showers at Stephanie's and watched football and went to bed.

This morning I planned to call Roto Rooter who cleaned the sewer this time last year - and as I was talking to Charlie - he said I needed to find a good local plumber - a REAL one!

That's when I remembered RWD Plumbing - the one Stephanie uses and the one I used when my kitchen drains were clogged!

I called them and Carol scheduled Kevin to come out this afternoon! 

I have been so distraught lately that I haven't really made a decent meal since Thanksgiving.

I 'cleaned the fridge out' and we ate mid afternoon and watched a Christmas movie on Lifetime.

Kevin did come out but it was late afternoon and he will need to go on the roof to use the vent to clean out the sewer - as we don't know where the clean out is!

SO - he is coming back in the morning!

Then we will get my bathroom back and and Louis Dean can use his bathtub.

As far as his toilet is concerned  - we are on the schedule for the middle of December to have the flange repair done by a master plumber.

Being without Louis Dean's toilet is only a minor inconvenience to what we have already had!

And I am praising God that our kitchen and laundry room has not been affected!

It could have been so much worse!!

I'm feeling better today and took my medicine the moment I got up!

I made stuffed bell peppers for dinner tonight and we used up all the veggies in the fridge.

I'll make 'new food' tomorrow!!!

I love my Facebook memories......

especially the ones of Nita.

They are all happy memoires and what a blessing and testimony to her that they are.

She especially loved Benjamin and would invite him to Thanksgiving MONTHS early!!!

I'll close tonight's journal entry with this photo of our problem flange.

There are no bolts to hold the toilet down.

Last year Louis Dean did a 'fix' for it that lasted until now - but it must be repaired right this time.

I am praising God tonight for PLUMBERS!!! 

Mainly for Charlie who gave me such good advice and for Mark and Kevin at RWO!

And for sweet Carol who assured me they could take care of this.

I'm going to get up in the morning and bake a chocolate chip pound cake to share with them!!

Kevin will be here between 9:30 - 10:30!

It should be in the oven by then!

Thanksgiving 2022....

 It was a cold rainy drive over to Charlie and Deanie's home in Benbrook both coming and going.

I tried to be there on time - noon - but the driving took longer with the weather.

There were flashing signs on the highway saying:

RAIN POUNDING ON ROAD WAY

SLOW DOWN

I didn't have to read that twice!

Still - I was only a very minutes past noon in arriving.

Summer was already there and had made two of these delicious charcuterie boards.....

as in she even made the BOARDS herself!

They are from special Cypress wood. She is learning to do so many things at the Bar-J Ranch.

The shirt she's wearing was made special just for her!

Deanie is looking so beautiful! I love her hair!! And her dimples! And HER!

Andie is home from Texas A&M and is getting into the grove of college life!

A&M is not that far from Mart so I hope to get over there to see you sometime soon.

We all gathered joining hands for prayer.

Charlie had asked me if I would like to lead us and I said yes!

I had dreamed about saying a prayer of Thanksgiving for Nita the night before and that's what I did.

Charlie and Deanie had set up tables for everyone could sit down and eat.

Places for all 30!

Charlie is one of the most thoughtful people I know!

He took my camera and snapped some pics so I would be in them!

Wasn't that sweet?

That's Charlie sitting with the kids....people did a lot of table hopping!

Deanie's grands.....the oldest of the three boys is now 20!!

This is Charlie's bunch - half of them here.....

and the other half here!

It was a fun day with lots of smiles and laughter.

I admit early on several of us shed a few tears as well.

Can you guess what these three are looking at???

Kailey brought her granddad a HUGE piece of pecan pie WITH a dollop of whipped cream!!

Oh, my!

Everyone lingered and visited and a few of us played games and the boys went out in the back yard to throw the football for a bit.

Of course we had football games on!!!

We all love Trish and her quirky sense of humor!

She is SO much fun....

We were missing a few people this year.

Nita, of course, and Mike spent the day with his sister and mother.

We also missed Lonnie being with us.

Still, I believe there were 30 people there.

Leah is recovering nicely from her serious back surgery just last week.

She is one amazing lady!

She even brought a dish!

This was the very first Fort Worth Thanksgiving with all four of my children there.

Between Deanie and Charlie, they have a full  crew!

One granddaughter had to leave before we did these family photos.

As did Jesse.....

It was a truly blessed Thanksgiving and I am so grateful to Deanie and Charlie for the gift they gave all of us in hosting. This first Thanksgiving without Nita  meant we all needed to be together even more than so than in years past.

You never know when it's the last time we may see each other.

I remember the last time I saw Nita before she got sick.

It was at Andie's graduation and party.

I treasure those memories of that day and have replayed them over and over in my mind.

I drove us home in the pouring rain and was so relieved to get here.

We changed clothes, lit a fire log and settled down to watch the Cowboys game.

It was such a good day but I was so exhausted that I was in bed by 9:00.

And it was noon before I got out of bed.

Louis Dean was up first and brought me coffee in bed and then got his and sat in the corner chair and had coffee with me. We talked and reflected over Thanksgiving Day and ended up drinking TWO cups before he helped me make up the bed and going to the living room for one last cup as we did our Bible reading.

We are having some plumbing problems - as in our toilets aren't working - and Louis Dean insisted on trying to fix it himself. That didn't work and only made a bigger mess so we got all the water up and I will call the plumber tomorrow. I should have done it right away but you know how men are!

Summer and Rayne came over for a visit and she brought me a Port-a-Potty!

Bless her heart!

Plus my neighbor Stephanie is out of town and said to feel free to visit her bathroom!

Thankfully, the bathroom sinks still drain and the kitchen and laundry room seem unaffected.

Summer also brought Taco Casa and .....

....because they brought Sunshine and thought she would be more comfortable outside....

we all joined her!

Rayne is a grown up twelve now!

She is still as sweet as she ever was and it was so fun to visit with her.

She has an amazing life and will leaving tomorrow to go on a hunting trip.

She's been on several already in her young life!

All too soon, they had to go!

I have been working in the kitchen today and I'm going to quit saying a room is 'done' because I keep finding things to add here and there.

It's amazing to me how a room slowly seems to develop a mind of its own as the decorations go up.

It's all coming together and I hope to start the den tomorrow.

We decided not to go to the camper after all.

The heavy rain here happened down there, too, and it's no fun in the mud.

I'm thinking it will be nice to go down for the Christmas pot luck for the bee meeting in December.

Plus we need to get our bathrooms up and working!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's been fun to visit a few blogs this evening and see all the happy times.

 

"In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

I Thessalonians 5:18