COLD: DAY & NIGHT. New Microwave!

During the weekend, Debbie sent this photo of Isabella and her charity endeavor.  Isabella is Rocco's niece.  She did a fund raiser to make these bears to give to the children at Children's Hospital on Valentine's Day. 

BEARS TO BE DONATED
 TO THE PATIENTS @ CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
ON VALENTINE'S DAY



 

MONDAY:
A beautiful bright morning that turned into rain in the afternoon then high winds by supper time.  The doors are moving in the suction for gosh sake.  The fireplace chimney is very noisy.  Well, we are all most half way through winter so bear with it, I guess.

While doing the washing, I paid two bills and allocated some debits in Quicken.  I kept real busy while Bob looked up and made the memorial donations for our camping friend. 
It was soon lunch time and after while I kept the wash going, we watched a couple more episodes of DOWNTON ABBEY.  We have 4 more to go in season 2.  Ya just get so engrossed.  The doorbell ran and Bob put the TV on pause.  It was our son, David.  We had a brief visit with him and heard about his weekend at the Orvis sponsored fishing gathering with movies.  He won a brand new pole worth lots of money. 

DAVID SHARED HIS NEW FLY TYPING EQUIPMENT.
  MY FISHERMEN ARE SERIOUS!

Betsy came in from work and laughed at us as we were still watching Downton Abbey.  Since nothing was ready for supper; she went in the kitchen and made a turkey sandwich.  We did take a break to eat. 

During supper I noticed that the light blew out in our microwave.  Bob looked at it quickly and told me it never had a light.  Yes it did, how do you think I could see to clean it....yada. yada, yada.   Okay Bob.  Later he discovered the light and the bulb is all melted, he is afraid to touch it.  (I wonder if that's what was burning in the kitchen a couple weeks ago when I stayed up all night)  He pulled the microwave file from the warranty file to check it out.  The manual was printed in 1984, it's old but we couldn't have had it that long.

When he came in from his office (he has a table in front of heater and TV in the garage) he told me that he found the instruction book to our microwave for the motor home.  I have been looking for that for 3 years, whoda thought to look in the file drawer in the house. 
TUESDAY:
I did it again, I had a good book and couldn't stop reading last night.  So I didn't get up to early this morning.  It was noon by the time I was ready to go downtown for a couple errands.  I went to the bank, the dry cleaners and Wal*Mart.  It was nasty cold, my hands were freezing putting the bags in the truck.  Spring please hurry. 

Once back home, my friend Mo stopped to pick up her "fix it" projects.  She didn't have time for a cup of java.  After her departure, we watched some more of Downton Abbey.  I think we are finished with Season 2 now. 

When Betsy came home, she asked if we had heard the news.  No, what news?   We must have had the TV to loud as I missed a text coming in from Annalynn.  She was accepted at Univ. of Rochester in the Epidemiology Program for her PHD.  I mentioned that she had interviews a week or so back; actually she was interviewed by 10 different people and it was a long day for her.  (Like 8-8:00)   We are so proud of her.  The entire family sent her a text of Congratulations.  Now she wants to wait and hear from the other schools that she sent applications to before accepting.   She made our day.

Bob is watching his stories before the President comes on.   I  dislike him so much that I don't care to watch.  We will probably acquire Season 3 of Downton Abbey for the rest of the evening. 
WEDNESDAY:
The first day of lent, I have already been told-"fish now."  Hay, we are over 72 years of age and it doesn't apply to us now.  But Bob likes fish so I'm sunk!  I refuse to cook it in the house, it stinks!   Shrimp isn't too bad but it has to be battered and fried.  The best part of it is, we order out and I don't  have to cook!

I went to Lockport for a hair appointment today, Bob went fishing with his pals.   Still no fish on!  

ICE CHUNKS ON THE WATER

 

 About a week ago, Debbie and I was searching for a dress on line that I might like for Annalynn's wedding.  Deb found one that I liked better than the ones I had discovered.  I ordered it and it came last week. 

After my haircut I went to Deb's for coffee and to show her the dress.  Annalynn had returned from work by then so she saw it too.  They both liked it!  Hooray!  The shopping is over!   Amen!  



Back at home, I showed Bob the Rindo milk bottle that was posted on Face Book.  Someone who is a friend of our Florida relatives posted it on Face Book.  This is one of the 1/2 pint bottles that was used to bottle Orange Drink by Bob's Dad.  He had a dairy bottling plant in Albion, Pa., for many years.    Once Bob had his licenses, he peddled milk to houses and schools.  Ya, the dark ages!  They also made cottage cheese, buttermilk, creams, ice cream and butter.  Bob still holds the aka of "Milkman." 

RINDO'S
ALBION, PA.

Bob is now searching on E-Bay to see if he can find the listing and who may have posted it. 

 

Time now to watch some more of Downton Abbey. 

 

THURSDAY:

 A blur!  I didn't write and now it's too late.  All I remember is going to exercise class and then out to supper as Betsy wasn't going to be home.  The flower is from my Valentine. 
FRIDAY: 
Back to the microwave; Bob decided that we needed a new one.  He was pretty sure the megathron was burned up as it cooked on one side more than the other.  He wasn't going to monkey with it.  We went to Sears and Home Depot and settled on the one at Sears.  Microwave/Convection for the counter top are in short supply; when this new one wears out we will probably be limited to one that must be installed which for us would mean a complete kitchen redo. 
I wanted one exactly like the one in our motor home which has convection.  Since it's 10 years old, it wasn't to be found.  Sears did have one model on display with convection, and it was offered with $100.00 off.  That is now ours.  Now the kids won't have to run out to the motor home to fetch the ham for Christmas dinner.  My house oven is small and is usually full with the veggies. 

While at Sears, I picked out a dishwasher.  They have a sale coming up March 10th.  Now I have to convince the household that I really need a new one.  I've already pulled the warranty file and can prove that ours is 18 years old come April 22.  NOTHING is made to last that long now!  The saleslady said 10-15 years is good.  Bob painted the rusted racks a year of so ago, that should help persuade the cause.   And there will go another slush fund. 
SATURDAY:
We all chased the "dust bunnies" around.  It has been a while since our house cleaning was done. 

Spending all that time watching Downton Abbey, I felt like I wasted a week.  But it was so good, we have seen all of season 3 now.  

Bob is now working on income tax again.  His last needed print out came in the mail today.  I'm working on the computer to finish up a letter. 

We want to watch a "trailer" of the castle that was used to make Downton Abbey yet tonight. 

It's snowing hard tonight, the ground is covered.  It's pretty because it's nice and clean but who needs it?

SUNDAY:
Still snowing.  We had about 4" this morning when we got up.
Bob and I went thru closets and threw out some old things.  He didn't feel to good so we quit sorting and watched a movie.  
I have been waiting since October for the movie "Alex Cross" to be on Netflex.  Last night we spotted it, so this afternoon  we watched it.  It was adapted from a James Patterson book which I have read and I didn't think it stuck to the story.  I'm glad we didn't pay to see it at the movies. 

Betsy made a delicious chicken parm dinner for us. 
 
Nothing to exciting here so guess I'll post now.   I hope this cold weather doesn't last to long.  I don't like it cold; day and night.

Thanks for clicking in, have a good week.

GOLDEN GRAM
 

ROMAN NUMERALS, THE TUX AND DRAMA

MONDAY:
So did everyone enjoy the super bowl?  So happy for the Ravens!  I didn't think the commericals were to hot this year, except for the Budweiser one.  Love those Clydesdale's.   Talk about getting old; I sat there trying to remember my Roman numerals...so guess I'll look them up
for a refresher. 

Symbol	Value
I	1
V	5
X	10
L	50
C	100
D	500
M	1,000

So  to write the 47th Super Bowl they had XLVII.
X + L (L-X)+VII.  Is that right?  

In this system, a letter placed after another of greater value adds (thus XVI or xvi is 16), whereas a letter placed before another of greater value subtracts (thus XC or xc is 90).

Today we went to Le Roy to sign up for exercise classes.  Silver Sneakers; they must have a Grandma's Crawl.  Gotta move this "dun lap" around.  We have an appointment for orientation tomorrow.  Hope I can do some of it as I sit here shoving chocolate in my mouth.  Oh hay, I'm enjoying it before Lent starts next Wednesday.  Easter is real early this year on March 31st. 

Our requested travel plans from AAA for our trip to Washington, DC. has arrived.  We are going to watch the girls in the marathon race.  Yeah, move that bus!  Annalynn showed us the route they will be on last Sunday. I also want to go to the "money house",  to see the money being made.   

TUESDAY:
What a belly buster!  In more ways than one.  During the morning I folded clothes and put them away.  We then had a small late breakfast and prepared to go to the Le Roy fitness center for our exercise orientation.  We had a very friendly young girl who showed us the ropes.  We each did a couple exercises on each machine.  Then when we attend again; we can just go on our own.  I was excited as they did have the bikes with the extended peddles (more frontwards) as I still can't bend the stainless steel knee to ride a regular bike.  That's just the way it is folks.  Having changed insurance plans my fee was paid in full for the year-Silver Sneakers.  Bob still  has Univera Insurance and he had to pay $25.00 for the year.  No comparison to what I paid for physical therapy last year at $35.00 a pop co pay. 
We were there for better than an hour and as we left we went straight to Burger King.  We had a special and it was way to much food.  I don't need a full size whopper. 

Then we went to get our groceries.  Again, we bought to much bread and goodies; we won't get any where exercising with the way we shop for food.
That was bad enough but Bob wanted Country Fried Chicken for supper.  Oh my gosh,  I'm stuffed.  The belly is busting!  

Before supper, I made a quick call to California to check on my scrap booking order.  The attendant told me again, "we should have it ready to ship tomorrow."   I promptly told her that was said last week when I called.  I asked the reason for the delay and was told "they must have been waiting on a shipment."  The last few days I had began to think there was a problem with that company;  I wondered if they were expanding to fast to cause a money flow problem and they couldn't order their supplies.  What's it called-floating?  Being worried and frustrated I told the lady to cancel my order.  She  promised to do that without hesitation.  Now to wait and see if I get a credit. 

WEDNESDAY:
Bob was invited to breakfast this morning with his fishing friends.  I was just getting up as he left.  After coffee and toast, I had my shower and
proceeded to do the hum drum household activities. I putzed around till Bob came home.  I had lunch as he wasn't hungry.  He went to take a nap and couldn't sleep as he was miserable with a stomach ache.  Wonder how big a breakfast he had? 

We went to the fitness center and ran thru our program.  We didn't do the full program planned for us as to be honest, we were scared to get to sore.  They wanted 30 reps on each machine and we started with 10 reps each machine.  I had told Betsy the night before if we did it all she would probably have to leave work to drive us home.  It's tough when one hasn't exercised in months and months.   I had pain in my new knee on the bike again, the muscles are all tightened up again.   I sure hope that improves with time.

THURSDAY:
We are going to the Apple School again today.  Right away this morning, I fixed the crock pot with a meal.  Tops had the chuck roast to buy with the freebies on the side. They gave us a bag of carrots, bag of baby onions, rolls to bake, one container of pepsi, and chocolate cake.   I'm not to fond of chuck roast but it sure was wonderful to come home to a ready meal. 

At the Apple school we had two sessions.  (A bit much)  Both of the teachers were very good.  During the first session Bob had requested instructions on the icons tool bar at the bottom of screen.

Then we left for an hour and went to the Tux shop to pick up Bob's Tux. 

LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY COLORS

PANTS NEEDED MEASURED AND  HEMMED

AND THE SLEEVES

 

Doesn't he follow the attendant into her back room sewing area and take pictures.  He is sooooo curious, wonder she didn't shoo him out of there. 

ONE OF THEIR SEWING MACHINES

THE HEM MACHINE

If you know Bob, you know he talked long enough to get two free hankies for his pocket.   (Navy and White; the girl folded them so the navy was in front of the white and showed up nicely against the black suit)  She also gave him a new pair of suspenders  which he can use with his dress suit. 

Back at the Apple School, I had wanted some instructions on the Ipad but since we didn't finish the first request we continued with the icons and covered more on e-mail, calendars, and Favorites Bar.  We did add the Blogger icon to the Ipad so I can work on it if necessary.

 Since we have been home, we  organized our Favorite Bar with folders.  Many items that were added so long ago and are not being used were deleted.  It's so neat now.  It would be nice to organize all the files but I can't image how many hours that would take. 

FRIDAY:
We had the funeral for our friend, John, who passed away last Saturday.  Mass was at 11:15 in downtown Kenmore.  (suburb of Buffalo)  We drove first in hard rain which turned to snow and it was slushy.  It snowed harder and most cars were crawling. 
We made it in time and we sat with our other camping friends.  The priest was very hard to understand and he spoke so softly that it was a shame.

A very nice addition was a request by John when John's son in law sang a song by the Righteous Brothers.  I can't remember the name of the song but it was beautiful. The son in law is a professional music teacher and he has a band. 
Ya know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, well this young man had a pony tail down to his elbows, and everyone was wondering?   When he started singing we were all aghast.  Just like the discovery of Susan Boyles on TV. 

A luncheon was served following mass.  We crawled home on Route 5.  It was a long drive; an hour and forty five minutes, in the pretty white stuff.  Not!  We were exhausted after looking out for the other guy on the roads, so we took a nap.  Had supper late and vegged the night away. 

Today is Cinderella's birthday and she didn't even get a cake.  She is now 12 years old.  She has a few tumors but she is going strong.  Very happy to greet us as we return home each time. 

SATURDAY:
Another gray morning.  Betsy has been up and snow blowed the driveway already. 
Today was all about Income Tax.  I do the mundane research and print the pages for medical, medical transportation, and charities.  Bob puts it all on the forms.  He will probably figure it with deductions and standard.  He will go over it a hundred times then send it to Rocco's office accountant. 

Sometime after supper, Bob hit the couch-blurry eyed.  TV was lousy, so he purchased the  PBS Masterpiece theater series of DOWNTON ABBEY; series one and two.  It's great!  I love the old fashioned dresses that the ladies wear.  We thought we could watch from the beginning and be caught up in the story before series three airs Sunday night on PBS.  Not!  We sat up until 1:30 and was only on episode three.   If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it.  A great British period drama. 

SUNDAY:
A bright beautiful morning!  We have a bit of a TV hangover.  We probably won't do much today.

I put chicken soup together in the crock pot so I wouldn't have to be in the kitchen all day. 

We have watched Downton Abbey all afternoon.  I'm hooked.  Taking a little break now so I can post this Blog.

I hope everyone has a good week, enjoying Fat Tuesday and then into Lent.
I wonder if they will broadcast any of the Mardi Gras parades.

Nuf now.  Thanks for clicking in.

GOLDEN GRAM

SCRAPBOOKING TOYS, OR NOT!

MONDAY:
This past week I checked Blogger and found out that they corrected their site and put the browse button back in for photo search.  Yeah!  So I did my Blog there again.  Thanks to my friend, the Judge,  who gave me "Chrome" to work in until Blogger was fixed. Ya know, I just couldn't remember that name; I had "acid" in mind all the time.  Old Age.

Nothing but gray skies all day, with some rain.  Our snow is almost gone now.  But the darkness is like a big black cloud hanging over our house.

I whipped through the washing as fast as I could go so that I'd be free to play with my new scrapping toys-when they are delivered.  They didn't come Saturday so I could show the girls so I thought they would be here first thing today.  It didn't happen.  I checked the garage again several times.  Nothing!  I'm disappointed and have to find something else to work on.  I ordered on the 16th so it's two weeks since.  Guess I'll check on it tomorrow.
TUESDAY:
We went up to Galleria Mall in Buffalo again.  It rained both ways but it was warm out. 

 Bob had a group session at the Apple Store and I used the 90 minutes to go to look for formal wear.  When I returned to the Apple store Bob was still talking...yak yak...Okay Bob let's go. 

The Tux place was just down a bit towards Sears so we went there to check out the sale listed on the Diamond Ball invitation.  Bob will look very handsome in his new tux.   It was cheaper to buy than renting one twice.   We have three weddings this year.

BOB'S SCRAP BOOKING TOYS
  HA!

While up there Bob went to Harbor Freight. (he still had a Christmas gift exchange and I thought we were done with returns) He came out with some kinda sand blaster machine, and promptly said "scrap booking toys".  Okay Bob have your say.  

Then he drove me to Joann Fabric.  Next stop was for our 4:00 o'clock coffee and then home. 

There wasn't a package at the door so I was revved!  As soon as I took my coat off, I pulled my order blank to Scrapping-made-simple and called California!!!!!  They haven't even shipped my order yet.  I had a couple words for them but withheld them.  Now more waiting...see if I order from them again.  

We didn't feel like eating because we had a donut with our coffee so we waited till later and had cereal. 

The rest of the evening I pulled old records and ground them up.  There the frustration is gone! 

WEDNESDAY:
I was the last person up today so I had to make the bed.  Bob and Joe had left bright and early for the fishing hole.  I have the day to myself!   I had a new You Tube video on SMS to watch,  plus I checked Face Book. 

There was this beautiful picture of chocolate covered strawberries made to look like a football so I clicked on it for the recipe.  Ha, no recipe.  It was a web site called Sharis Berries and you could buy the strawberries all done. 

12 for $44.99 or 24 for $25.00 more.  How many are you going to order for Super Bowl?

At 11:00 am, Bob calls, "open the garage door."  What your home already?
No, they were on their way.  Oh crap!  Right then my day starts to decay!   The creeks/streams were running to fast,  to high, and too dirty.  Just my luck.  I made lunch for both of us. 

Bob laid down and I had my shower and then did some scrap booking.   I made ham and sweet potatoes for supper and we both ate like little piggy's.  Not good!

Bob had ordered a trickle charge to put in the motor home.  The parts came today and he went out while it was warm to install it.  He has also ordered the up date for our Garmin.  (These aren't scrapping toys either)  

We put the garbage out for pick up in the morning.  Bob had been over to the neighbors before supper and he brought home several wooden boxes that the neighbor was throwing out.  He spent the evening hammering them apart for fire wood. 

David stopped for a brief visit on his way home from a sales meeting up North in Saratoga. 
THURSDAY:
I should be starting my grocery list for First Tuesday next week when we get 6% off for the older generation.  yak!  I read in the Pennysaver that many women are not cutting coupons if they aren't at least a $1.00.  They say it doesn't pay to have .25 off when the store brand is cheaper.  How many times I have stood there figuring the cheapest price.  (Even if the coupon is doubled at check out) They say, force the brand name manufactures to make their coupons more valuable.  They have a good point. 

Since it was so cold, we both worked on our computers today.  I had some posting to do and I wanted to order a dress for the wedding.  Debbie found it on line last night.  After a little back and forth in that web site; I finally figured out the free shipping coupon.  Boy some sites are confusing. 

I made ham salad for lunch and homemade beef-barley soup and pot pies for supper.  Beef soup is not one of Bob's favorites; about a year ago he announced that I never  need to make that again, after making it (57 years) our whole married life.  Okay Bob, now you tell me.  Too bad sweet patotie, I like it. 
FRIDAY:
More eating, more sitting at the computer!  It's a cold, cold day.  Snow flurries off and on but not much accumulation. 

My friend, Mo, stopped for a visit.  She brought several "fix it" projects for Bob.  She had three different broken things for Bob to glue.

When Betsy came home from work and opened her mail we had some excitement...she had received Sarah 's diploma from Bryant University for completing her Masters degree.  Our first grandchild to receive her Masters! 

CONGRATULATIONS SARAH!  VERY PROUD OF YOU!

Also today, Annalynn was interviewing at U of R for acceptance into a PHD program.  She will finish her Master's this spring.  Very career driven students. 

SATURDAY:

As soon as I got up and had my coffee, I headed downstairs to the computer to see if Punxsutaney Phil saw his shadow which means 6 more weeks of winter.   Face book was not working but WGRZ and MSN was and Phil's prediction is an early spring!  We all needed to hear that-say it again!  An early spring!  Yeah!

We have a dinner tonight at a famous beef house near here, the Red Osier.  Bob and our friend, Bob J. arranged the evening for our camping group.  Well, for the campers that haven't gone South.  Bob prepared a memo and called that the Polar Bear Dinner. 

GOOD PRIME RIB AND STEAKS

Before leaving for dinner, we received news that one of our close camper friends had passed away.  It was a shock as he had just made it thru a serious surgery.  He will be sadly missed within our group; as he was a ball breaker who kept things lively.  
Even with the bad weather to the North of us, we had ten people attend.  Our dinners were very good and we had a nice social evening, even with the sad circumstances. 

BOB & CAROL 
LOBSTER IN BUTTER SAUCE
BEING SERVED

THE BEEF! 

JONI & SCOTT
NATIONAL DIRECTORS 
REGION I  

We were home by 7:30 and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

SUNDAY:
Boy, it's hustle and bustle to Lockport for an 11:00 am birthday breakfast.  Annalynn's birthday and she is 27 years old now.  (well on the 5th)  Debbie and Rocco had a big spread with egg & cheese dishes, donuts, croissants, breakfast pizza, and birthday cake.  We had a great time visiting and catching up on the latest news and events.  The ladies are all in training for the Leukemia marathon race April 28th in Washington, DC.  More power to em!

BEST WISHES BIRTHDAY GIRL!

MARK'S BIRTHDAY IS NEXT
SO HE RETRIVED THE KNIFE! 

Back home by 2:30 pm, and getting ready for the super bowl.  Neither teams are my favorite but I read on FB (great nephew's posting) that if the Niners win; that will tie them with the Steelers' super bowl wins....we don't want that...so root and toot for the Ravens.  (If I don't have this right, Betsy will threaten me with the Nursing Home, ha!) 

So till next week, hope you all enjoy the game and then have a good week.  Thanks for clicking in.
 

I'm anxious to post to watch the game!
Golden Gram

WHEN IT'S COLD, STAY IN AND SCRAPBOOK!

MONDAY:
At home day.  We watched the weather reports and was very happy that the snow didn't come here.  It went North and South of us.  

I tried to get a look at Michelle Obama's dress for the inauguration as the commenter's didn't think it was a good choice.  However, I wasn't willing to give up the time to sit thru the speech.  The two daughters looked very nice.  
TUESDAY:
Boy, I have been busy all day.  I finally caught up on some of my personal card writing,  paid a couple bills and  did a little computer work.
I had other plans to go shopping but not with the temp at 10 degrees.  Bob did go out for a haircut.  

I'm still working on organizing my scrapbook area.  So I shot some photos of my  new scraping organizers.

MY NEW CUBBIE FOR GLITTER & MISC.

MY PAGES AND PROTECTORS ARE SORTED NOW.  THERE ARE TWO SIZES. 

STICKER BOOK; I HAD TWO AND I SPENT SEVERAL HOURS COMBINING THEM TO ONE BOOK.

MY NEW ORGANIZER FOR PENS, SCISSORS, & TAPE. 

 

WEDNESDAY:
Happy mid week day breakers!  It's another frigid morning out there!  What's the mercury reading where your at?  I have my coffee and I'm trying to wake up.  I can hear Bob in the kitchen, he is emptying the dish washer.  I'll just stay here for a while till he finishes, I'm not to fond of that job either.
We have a trip to Rochester this morning, to see the new dermatologist.  I have excuses to go to Macy's and A.C. Moore again.  One return and coupons!  

I need to find stuff to put in a get well basket for my friend who has completed 6 weeks of radiation.  Maybe I should say, a recovery basket; even thou it's not surgery, it's still a complete invasive procedure.  She's lost all her hair this time and she is not to perky!

We arrived home just minutes before Betsy came in from work.  She helped me with supper.  Well, she mandated somewhat.  I intended to make pancakes and she wanted macaroni and cheese.  So we nixed the pancakes and waited till she made mac & cheese from scratch and cooked hot dogs.   Hoa! Hoa! 
I finished 2 scrap pages and started a third one after supper.  I had a book to finish so I didn't work long before going to bed.
THURSDAY:
I did alot of research on the computer this morning.  What did we do without computers?   Bob did about four errands for me. 

I gave up on the idea of a get well basket as I didn't find enough stuff.  So I hunted for a pretty little bag that was cheery.  I called my friend, Mickey and we went to visit her.   She is wearing a turban and looks a lot better than I expected.  We had a good visit with lots of laughs, but the guys talked so loud it was hard to hear Mickey.  She has low volume now.

After we drove to Le Roy just to check out an exercise place.  My friend, Mo says come and try it.  We had a short orientation tour and pick up info and came home. 

I wrapped a baby gift for a soon to be grandma that wouldn't take money for a purchase that she made for me.  Kinda a thank you,   They are expecting a boy and I found the cutest boy outfits in Macy's on Wednesday. 

I didn't feel up to par so I watched TV with Bob for an hour then went to bed.  I didn't even read, very unlike me.  I slept like a log.  That's a first in a long, long time. 

FRIDAY:
I was gun hoe to go for groceries early.  I hate coming home in late afternoon and then have to fix supper there after.    So, I plopped my Steeler's hat on my head and away we went.  I can shower later.  I saw a few people snickering at me.  Who cares. 

We put all  the groceries away and then had a delicious "lunch meat party".  So good to have fresh grub!   After I wanted to read my new scraping magazine and Bob wanted to put his feet up for awhile so we relaxed.  I fell asleep before the 6th page!  (Too big of a lunch, maybe)    My coffee friend stopped and left a book and I never heard her at the door.   About 3:00pm I did hear Bob call the dog as he was taking her to vets to have her nails trimmed.  Yesterday she got her nails caught in the bathroom rug and Betsy had a hard time getting her loose. 
As we watched Gold Rush the story continues with break downs but they are finding more gold than ever, all accept Parker Schnabel.   He is now starting a new mine on a very treacherous mountain.
SATURDAY:
I was up early so I did some more reading on the stuff from the doctor and I wrote some notes down.  Trying to stay quite. My feet got cold so  I went back to bed and slept until 10 ish,  When I awoke and went in the kitchen,
Bob had the whole oven tore apart and he had sprayed it with cleaner.  Well, that put my plans on hold.  I couldn't even see the stove top or sink.  So I dusted the furniture and ran the sweeper.  I wanted to clean after I baked and made soup, but be flexible.  I'm just glad he looked at it, I hadn't asked him to clean it. I was ready to tear the oven out and go for a new one.
I use it almost every day in the winter and it's aggravating when it doesn't work right. 

 Bob did notice that we had one of the face plates to the oven in backwards, maybe that made the temp so irregular.  He has been teasing for pineapple cookies for a couple weeks and I hadn't made them.  They take along time to bake...yuk!  When he finished I made the cookies and  Yum Yum coffee cake.  The oven worked somewhat better but one side of cookie pan still burnt.

Our evening was all about the dog, Cinderella.  She was acting strange and it looked like she may have hurt her back leg.   Bob gave her a baby aspirin.  We checked her out only to find a big ball of poop on her hiny; what a mess.  She needs a haircut so that doesn't happen but it's been to cold.  Well, like it or not, she got a bath. 
SUNDAY:
Our morning went fast with trying to get things ready for the girls to come scrap booking.  Bob hauled another table into my room and had that all set up.  Then he ran some lights as the room doesn't have a ceiling light. 
We had lunch and waited a little more and then the girls called that they had just left Lockport.  So I watched a video until they came. 
(GD) Annalynn worked on scrapping her engagement  and the engagement party photos.  I continued to work on my 2012 Christmas photos.  
For supper, we had pizza and wings, then cake that Annalynn brought.  Bob called (GS) Alex on Face Time out in OK.  and we all sang Happy Birthday to him.  

ANNALYNN IS A FAST SCRAPPER,
SHE HAD TWICE AS MANY PAGES DONE AS I DID.



DEBBIE & BETSY ON THEIR PHONES. 
THEY ARE GOGGLING WEDDING IDEAS.
 

CINDERELLA JOINED US. 
SHE WASN'T ABOUT TO BE LEFT OUT OF THE CONVERSATION.

Way to soon it was time for the girls to leave.  We had a wonderful day.  It always lifts my spirits to see them and enjoy their company.    We made some plans to attend their LLS race in Washington, DC., in April.  Also, made some decisions on the "tux" rental or purchase for the Black Tie event and the wedding. 

Now it's Blog time and I have to get this done and posted before everyone goes to bed. 

We are looking forward to warmer weather coming this week but first we have tonight with rain/sleet promised during the night.  It will be a unpleasant morning drive for those having to work. 

Hope you all have a good week.  Thanks for clicking in. 

GOLDEN GRAM

MONDAY:
We had a big change in temperature today.  Hard to take after all the nice days and it being warmer.  Most of the snow melted away which is good; as we had big snow piles and it was hard to see if you wanted to pull out onto the highways.
 Bob did go out to order his new pair of glasses.  I had a couple doctors referred to me by friends and I made an appointment with one of them.  (for my feet and the creeping crud)  I tried to cancel out with Dr. Metha but they weren't open Mondays.  I found out in the new insurance book that her language is Hindi, no wonder I had a hard time understanding her.  
Kinda a mundane day, just plugging along on some of the same old  things. 

TIME TO CHANGE BUNNY'S DRESS.  OFF WITH CHRISTMAS AND ON TO VALENTINE'S

TUESDAY: 
We were off gallivanting today.  Bob went for his one on one lesson on photos at the Apple store and I went shopping.  I figure he is the "photo man" and he can still answer my requests when needed.   He had a return to make at Orvis (fishing store) so we drove from Galleria to Eastern Hills to make that exchange.  

FISHING HEADQUARTERS 

BOB WANTED A VEST INSTEAD OF THE SLING PACK 

Then to Boulevard Mall to hit a different Macy's and AC Moore.  We had a sandwich at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger and then I went to the Joann Fabric store.  I'm telling you right now, I was crawling by then but as long as you were there do it, on the same tank of gas.  It was a fun day.  

CHEESEBURGER, CHEESEBURGER
DECORATED IN 50'S STUFF

As we came in the house, Betsy said, "she had something to show me."  She had made the cutest baby tricycle out of diapers, receiving blankets, socks, and bibs.  She has a shower to attend the end of this month.

IT'S FOR A BOY!  THE HEADLIGHT IS A SIPPY CUP.

THE FENDER IS A BIB, HANDLE BARS ARE THE RECEIVING BLANKETS.  BETSY IS SO TALENTED.

WEDNESDAY:
A nice quite day, no driving any where.  I spent a good deal of time looking at all the scrapping You Tube videos again, to make sure what I wanted to order.  After checking at the local stores to find they didn't have all the parts, then I finally made the order on line.  The web site  (scraping-made-simple) that I was working on was confusing (to me) but once I was beyond their multiply requests to sign up for e-mails, everything went A-okay.  I can get my photos sorted now and be ready for the "new toys" to be delivered. 

Ah man, every time I sit down at this computer, the dog wants out!  Bob and I fight over who's turn it is to get up and let her out.

In the afternoon, I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup.  And, the cook with cupboards bursting with products didn't have a pack of noodles anywhere.   Bob offered to pick some up when he went out to get his new glasses at Wal*Mart.  He's a life saver!

After supper my energy started to run down a little bit and my back was hurting from all the sitting, I guess.  So Cinder and I laid on the blanket on the floor and we shared a couple word puzzle games.  She plops on my extra sheet of paper and wants her back rubbed.    
She doesn't spell to good  either!  Ha.  
I went to bed early and intended to read but the bedroom was so cold, I was wishing I had mittens.  We still are not adjusted to those new thermostats, we are always punching them up or down.  
THURSDAY:  
Tuesday when we were up to Buffalo, I went in J. C. Penny's and stopped at the beauty salon for shampoo.  I wanted shampoo in a pump container but no such animal in my brand.  The beautician recommended that I use a silver product to get rid of the mousy yellow color.  Being the "soft" sell that I am, I bought it.  She said I could return it if not satisfied.  I have used it twice.  The first time was a shock as it's black.  I can't tell if there is a color change but Bob thought there was,  okay Bob. 

In the evening, GD Sarah sent some photos from her training location in Texas.  Everything was included: meals, snacks, exercise room, sports, and required evening social events. She completed a week of training in New York City last week; and it didn't compare to this trip.  The place looks very nice and it must have been a treat for her.

DELOITTE UNIVERSITY  (all inclusive)

COMFORTS OF HOME

FRIDAY:
WOW,  it's cold, 13 degrees this morning.  Bob scheduled another class at Apple for photos that we have to get ready to attend.  I had made an appointment at "Bare Minerals"  for a facial so I tagged along.  

As much as I hate to cook, I walked thru the kitchen store called Williams-Sonoma.  Just looking and it costs me $40.00.  I found a couple little things that I just couldn't live without.  They had a big sale but things were still expensive.  

When Bob was finished, I asked if he would mind if I buzzed thru  Macy's.  I whipped thru looking for formal wear.  Debbie and Rocco invited us to the  Diamond Ball sponsored by Leukemia which is a "Black Tie Dinner."  It's a charity event in which they give away a real diamond.   We went thru Tim Horton's for a cup of coffee and headed home.  

After warm ups again for supper, we both relaxed and wanted to watch a movie.  But first we have to check our computers since we were gone all day.  Amazing how computers are such a big part of our lives now. 
SATURDAY:
Today was warmer.  But windy.  I made chocolate chip cookies as we were hungry for good cookies.  Bob assisted me with the oven temp.  We have a thermometer in the oven, and Bob kept checking the temps.  Something funny has happened and it is about 25 degrees less than I set it.  Now last baking, I burned up brownies as it was too hot.  That oven is not that old either, so it's upsetting me.  Having had cookies and milk to eat checked our appetites for supper so we went over to BJ's for some supplies.   Once home and everything was put away, we munched and then we tried to find a movie on Net Flex but we didn't know of any good ones and so Bob settled on "Flicka!  Ha, that's a horse story as old as the hills!  What did I care, I was busy with my word puzzles.  
SUNDAY:
So windy.  The solar panels for heating the pool on the porch roof are just a flapping away.  More maintenance.  
I have phone calls to make today to visit with family so best I get to it.   I also picked out a fist full of greeting cards at BJ's to send out.  

Bob lost a flash key so that changed my plans.  We dug thru jackets, suitcases, all around the computer counter and every place we could think of to look.  Never found it but I now have a nice clean counter all around me but I still have the cards to do.
I thought we might get started on income tax today but not!  Oh, Betsy came home one night this week all upset, after trading her old truck that she drove for almost 3 hundred thousand miles, she heard that she can't claim the sales tax on her new car purchase.  That has been changed.  Is that true?  Is it just New York state?  

Well, everyone bundle up for our approaching cold spell.  It's predicted to go below zero.  I hate it!  

Have a good week and thanks for clicking in.  
GOLDEN GRAM 

COMPUTER SCHOOL AND SCRAPBOOKING

MONDAY:
No washing today as we have a class at the Apple store.  So the morning was getting ready for that; repacking the Apple computer and the Dell lap top to take with us.  We had lunch at Five Guys before our lesson.  Bob had wanted them to down load the files from the Dell.  We arrived 15 minutes early and was greeted at the door.  We were ushered to a table for set up.  There we sat, waiting for 25 minutes.  Several other owners came to our table to set up for a group lesson.  We thought that was strange.  Finally an instructor showed up and he wanted us to move to a different counter, so pack up and move again.  He was very good and let Bob run the key board.  Bob kept asking me - did you get that?  Yes.  Then on to something else.  Bob asked, did you get that?  Yes.  Bob had a large list of questions.  When our hour was up, we signed up for another lesson, our heads were spinning.  So much so fast.  
We drove over to Michael's craft store and I went in to shop for a couple things.  Then we picked up coffee and headed home.  On the way, we talked about our lesson.  So much had escaped us already. We need to try everything to impress it on the old gray haired memory!!!  
We arrived back home about 5:00 pm and then we had left overs for supper.  Bob started getting his fishing tackle together and I checked return addresses off the received Christmas cards.  Not too ambitious to do much else for the day.
TUESDAY:
Bob had an invitation to go fishing with his dentist, Dr. Joe.  Joe picked him up at 8:30 am and they drove around the Oatka Creek area until noon, fishing here and there, and then went for lunch.  They had toured the Caledonia fish hatchery and a few other places, arriving home about 3:00 pm.  At the fish hatchery they wanted to feed the fish but neither of them had a quarter between them for the food dispenser.  Bob was full of stories, he had such a good time.  He took a couple pretty scenery pictures of the creek.

OATKA CREEK
 THE BANKS ARE PRETTY WITH THE SNOW

SPRING CREEK
ABOVE FISH HATCHERY

After dinner, Bob was pooped from his fishing trip during the day and he headed for the couch.  Bob was so tired he fell asleep and missed his favorite story on TV. 
 I turned on the Apple computer to see if I could do anything on it; without help.  I had worked on my Dell computer all day paying bills etc. so I really should do something else more physical.   But I was anxious to see what I remembered from the lesson.  I found the mail and the contact icons so I preceded to do a couple e mails to our kids.  I was so proud of myself; I signed the bottom of the e mail with this:  Sent from my Apple!  (All by myself)  Just like you see on e mails sent by those fancy Smart phones.  
When Bob woke up and wanted the computer, I  went in my craft room and worked on a couple scrap pages to finish off the evening.

CHRISTMAS PAGE OF CINDER
SHE PULLED THE TREE SKIRT OUT FOR A BLANKET.

CINDER FINALLY FOUND AN EMPTY CHAIR.

WEDNESDAY:
Wow! The middle of the week already and I still don't have time to start the washing.  THE SKY WILL FALL!  Well, Bobbie can just wear his gutchies another day.   I picked up a few things around the house and made a brownie mix.   We had plans to go to lunch at the Miss Batavia diner with our camping friends.  We were to meet them there at 12:45pm.  Bonnie had previously heard me mentioned that they make a good Pittsburgh salad and she and I ordered that.  (salad, chicken or beef, french fries and a mustard dressing, umm!)   We all drove over to our house as Bob J. offered to help us with the Apple computer and to see if he could fix the problem that I had on the Blog.  (the browse button to bring in photos had disappeared)  The guys worked on the computers while Bonnie and I visited and I showed her my scrap room.  We had a wonderful visit and later had our 4:00 coffee and brownies alamode.  Bonnie just retired this past summer from a nursing career and she has plans to go to Africa as a medical volunteer to help the poor for eight weeks.  Bob is a retired FBI employee and he is currently a judge.  My Bob was curious if he wore a robe at court.  Judge Bob answered "yes, it's real court!"   "Everybody rise, the Honorable Judge Jae."

Judge Jae (in the robe) at swearing in ceremony.

BOB, BONNIE AND ME!
BROWNIES ALAMODE!

Our intent for the day was to plan a winter dinner meeting of all our camping members that are still up here in the chilly North.  Maybe at the dinner, we can come up with a name for our group seeing as Snow Birds is used for the ones who have gone South.  

THURSDAY: What a beautiful morning!  It's 45 degrees on the porch already.  Nice!  Bob was out taking down the rest of the outdoor Christmas lights.  He had the car backed out of the garage so he could work on installing the rest of his shop lights.   Once he had the electric installed, it was really bright in there.  You are the light of my life! 

Finally, I sorted the  washing and had that started.  I played on the computer, looking up Scrappin' sites.  I saw a new tape gun and a new Sizzix machine (Big Shot) on the You Tube videos that I want and I was pricing them.  I printed out the details of the machine to see what came with it and what was needed that is extra.  I have also checked at Michael's and AC Moore.  If I can get free shipping it's cheaper on line, unless a 50% coupon appears.  The machine will cut decals and embossed them.  

This is the tape gun.  It holds 1/4" tape.  There is also another model which holds 1/4" and 1/2" inch.  The video girls whip that machine down the sides of paper so fast, zip, zip.  I see it, I need it!   And, you can bet that once I purchase these, it will go in the budget figures as groceries so I don't hear a loud comment again as to how much I spend on Scrappin' when Bob makes the budget print out.  He was probably thinking there goes a tank of gas for my motor home.  He doesn't watch very closely, just my luck recently.  
In the evening while fixing supper I started to take my glass ornaments off my dinning room Christmas tree.  I am not washing them this year, I did it last year and they still sparkle.  
FRIDAY:
After breakfast we packed up the computer.  This time we put it in my Creative Memories suitcase with wheels and then Bob didn't have to struggle with the big box all thur the Galleria Mall.  We had a 3:15 pm appointment for a "group" lesson.  We left early to have  lunch and stop at Michael's again for a brief shopping spree.  I needed a new ribbon for my calculator so I sent Bob to Office Depot.  
In the mall, Bob went to Best Buy to check the price on some back up thingie while I waited on a bench.  The Apple store was so busy again.  Don't these people work?  Our greeter showed us to a table and sent a teacher to our area.  There was 4 of us in the group but each had a project to work on so there wasn't any chit chatting.  The teacher (Rachel) was excellent.  She put up with Bob's interruptions and came back at him with some good one liners!  

We studied mostly e-mail and photos.    She also fixed the screen so all previous used applications didn't come back up automatically.  Our Mouse was working backwards so she showed us how to fix that and it's much better now.  I like to look at a bigger screen to check punctuation and she told me to tap twice on the mouse (lightly) and it enlarged the screen.  A Nice surprise.  We were able to keep our thoughts straight and try all the new stuff while she worked with the others.  It was really great and our 90 minutes went to fast.  Bob purchased the back up thingie there.
Before leaving, I sent a text to Donna to see if they could join us for dinner.  They were home and they did meet up with us at Olive Gardens.  So it was a fun day and evening.  The drive home was dark, and raining or just plain nasty!  At bed time we set the alarms for an early rise, Bob and the boys were going fishing again.   Come on, enough of this early bird stuff.
SATURDAY:
Bob and Joe left about 8:00 am to meet David up at Oak Orchard creek.  Cinder and I thought about going back to bed.  But I had breakfast and started finishing taking down the tree.  It took 4 hours, as I have so much on that tree, plus the packing away.
Betsy asked me if I wanted to go shopping and I declined as I had, had it!  I went downstairs and turned on the TV to watch more scraping videos and promptly fell asleep.  Nice nappie!
The guys returned around 3:00 pm, none of them had caught anything.  They were disappointed but they had a very warm day.  
Betsy had made us meatballs for subs so we had that for supper and then watched Net Flex the rest of the evening.  
SUNDAY:
We are enjoying this nice weather, 62 degrees out.  Bob carted stuff out to the shed without a coat.  Too bad it won't last, cold on the way.  He packed my tree away.
I spent my day in the craft room trying to organize it better.  It's turned into a nightmare!  I've been working out of one of my Creative Memories suitcases which was a hassle so I bought a couple organizer units at Michael's.  They were 40% off so now I will have the items from the suitcase handy.   That kinda work is fun if you can spend a little money to do it right!  Ha, groceries in the budget figures coming up!

So it's back to the job.  Hope you all have a good week  and make the most of your days.  Thanks for clicking in.  

PS: I ran the spell checker but for some reason a few words are still underlined.  Another computer miracle!

GOLDEN GRAM