Appointments and Celebrations!

Monday was what I thought would be my cateract surgery. Amber was here to take me and Kailey spent some time with her Granddad.

He was working in the backyard on a project and asked Kailey to go in his room and find a hammer.

She thought, "Now if I were a hammer, where would I be?"

She scanned the room and was surprised to see Tabitha up on a top shelf!

This spot became her favorite resting place for days!

See the lady in the photo?

That's Louis Dean's beloved Ellen....

I am so thankful Louis Dean has a room where he can sort and organize and resort and reorganize to his heart's content!

Back to my appointment - I really had no idea what cateract surgery involved.

I guess you don't just show up and ask, "Can you take this out for me??" 

What was I thinking?

It was an informative visit and I setup my pre op, surgery, post op and the week after appointments.

Pre op was the very next morning and I do not qualify for the premium lens due to my damaged retina and the macular degeneration. I did, however, qualify for the blended lens and am looking forward to the surgery on the 17th.

Tuesday night we celebrated the Bell grands' 14th birthday at Texas Roadhouse.

It's a tradition!

Both sets of grandparents and the grands and their parents.

I wrote personal letters to each one and enclosed some cash.

Granddad decorated the papers so it was a team effort.

Amber's birthday is tomorrow - June 6th - the same day as my mother's.

We do so love all of our sweet grands!

It was fun like a party!

We filled two booths opposite to each other so we could all visit together somewhat.

Trystan sat next to me and....

....Kailey sat beside Granddad.

Dinner was great and Louis Dean was in such a good mood.

First of all, he wolfed down the first basket of rolls - we each took one and he took two.

When the waitress came by, he said, "They brought me an empty basket!!"

He played out that routine more than twice!

When we ordered our steaks, he was asked, "Would you like mushrooms, onions and peppers with that?" He insisted he did even when she told him the peppers were really HOT!!

When, in due time, our food arrived but she forgot the peppers. Louis Dean had already forgot he'd ordered them so when she brought them to him, he was confused!

Kailey rminded him that he insisted on the peppers when he ordered his steak.

He replied back to her, "In what language??"

Our sweet Kailey has such patience with her Gramddad.

All four Bell grands do!

Harrison is nearly as tall as Louis Dean!

It was a lovely evening celebrating their birthday.

Thanks to Lynn and Jim (the other grandparents) for picking us up and taking us home!

Wednesday was my yearly check up with Dr. Abraham.

She and I go way back to when she first started her practice.

She's seen me through lots of drama and trauma over the years and I have loved her and prayed for her as she faced life challenges herself.

What a blessing she has been to me.

She gave me some good advice as in making sure I get some alone time plus adjusted my medication.

I still have a UTI as I knew I did. I think I have carried one ever since Christmas.

A good doctor who knows you and listens to you is priceless.

As we ended our visit with a hug, I realized how blessed I am.

To my surprise, that very night Jesse and Rachel called me!

He said he would come over and work from here so I could get some time away.

I had just mentioned to Amber that I was going to ask him if he could do that once a month - and here he was suggesting it! For the next day!

He arrived early and was deep into his work at the den table.

We don't get up early - sleep is another escape tool for me  - and I didn't leave untill 12:30. I left Louis Dean to piddle in his room.

My first stop was Race Track to fill the gas tank and I bought a fancy tea from their new automatic drink system. Black mango tea with artificial sweetner and heavy on the lemon.

Delicious!

Next up - Lovely nails for a deluxe one hour pedicure!

Heaven!

I dropped off a load at Goodwill and thought I would run in and see what I could see.

I'm so glad I did!

These pretty bling sandals were made in Italy with Italian leather and brand new!

$7!

Last stop was at Whataburger and I sat and read a little bit.

It was 3:30 when I got home all happy and feeling so much better!

Here are my treasures!

I paid $3.99 for a bag of four brand new hair combs from a boutique with the price tags still on!

The larger piece was marked $59 and one of the smaller ones was $29.

Win! WIN!!

Brand new eucalpptus candles!

Love the sunflower container which I will use for my tea bags.

I fell in love with this huge painting at Texas Thrift on Tuesday and it was only $5 with my senior discount!

I could not NOT buy it! I had no idea where I would even put it!

No problem! I redid the hall gallery wall!

In other news....

We have baby possums and they are adorable.

I sat my art table up in the dining room a few weeks ago and my dear frieind, Shirley, has been painting with me on Fridays. She chose a soft pastel English garden with a small house and tin roof.

She's painting an 8X10 and I'm doing a 9X12.

We will finish it up next week and the glaze it with Liquin the followig week.

I've chosen the Santa painting she and I will paint together and we will start that in August after school starts. Over the summer I hope to paint the pink Santa from BJ's Christmas canvas she bought last year.

I will close tonight's journal entry with this painting of Charlie - Brenda and Billy's beloved dog who died last month.

She bought the canvas at the thrift store and asked if I could make it look more like Charlie.

I think I did!!

I'm working on it!!

Memorial Day Weekend and Other Days....

 I'm back to preparing meals and for our Saturday dinner and movie night I used a Pioneer Woman recipe.

Peach-Whiskey Chicken which I served with company mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon/mint/feta cheese and it was all SO good!

For Sunday I made a tomato/egg/cheese/spinach  bake.....

And  that was really good, too.

Remembering Memorial Day and I am proud to be married to Louis Dean who served in the US Army as did his younger brother, Ray.

Their mother, Jewel, is ithe middle.

Sadly, Ray was killed in a hunting accident some years later.

Monday afternoon Amber brought the girls over to spend the day with us and it was an absolutely WONDERUL day!!!

There's always plenty of things to here and each did something different.

All three girls love to cook and Trystan asked if I needed help.

She baked the blueberry muffins for me and then asked, "Anything else?"

I had already planned to make oatmeal cookies so she made those for me!

Win! WIN!!!

I lovingly call Trystan 'Polly Perfect!'

She goes exactly by the recipe and that must be why they turned out so delicious!

Our Kaily girl took Home Economics at school so she was in the mood to sew!

A denim pillow was a perfect project and did it all herself!

Logan is a gifted artist and can draw anything.

Brenda lost her sweet Charlie dog a few weeks ago and I'm working on a canvas she bought at the thrift store because it looked like him.

Logan is sketching in the details that will make him look more like Charlie!

We set up an appetizer tray while we cooked dinner....

For lunch we all made good sandwiches and the girls loved the sour dough bread!

I absolutely LOVE this series but it was waaaaaay too slow for the girls.

That was a bust!

Dinner was good and we opted to play NUTS after instead of a movie.

It was such a fun day and night!

Goodbye traditions continue!

Louis Dean was fine on Monday but woke up Tuesday barely able to walk.

His knee was hurting so I put linement on it and a knee brace.

I told Brenda I couldn't meet up with her as Louis Dean was having to use a walker to get around even in the house.

I decided we needed to get out of the house for a little while and finally got him in the car.

It was good for us, but as I did errands, Louis Dean stayed in the car.

I bought not one but two walkers!

We already had one that we will leave in the car.

The second one I bought has a seat and brakes and will be good to use outside.

I asked LD if he needed me to look for anything and he said a coffee pot!

Lo, and behold, I found one!

$8

This bowl matches one I already had and they are the perfect size for cereal.

I'm a sucker for faux flowers.

Amen!

This hangs in the hall now.

I wish you could smell this fragrant candle!

I love this purse!

Not that I needed another one....but I bought it anyway.

We stopped at Dickies BBQ for some take out and our last errand was Aldi.

By evening Louis Dean was feeling better, thanl the Lord.

He's able to take the soaking baths he loves.

Wednesday he was doing okay but I was not.

I stayed in bed until noon and just piddled all day.

I guess we take turns being up or down.

Our cats are loving being able to spend time outside every day.

They can get on top of the house and they can get off, as well!

We love watching them....

I had special guests stop by Wednesday afternoon!

This is Mary Jo....she was my backyard neighbor for 20 years and I love her and her family dearly!

I don't know how time gets away from me but it does.

I plan to do more than I ever get around to doing but I'm learning to roll with it and not stress out about it. That is one of the reasons I let the cats go outside. The stress of always watching when we go in and out was just wearing me out. I am doing my best to avoid anything I can to make life easier.