What a Week!!!!!

The only concern about writing a review of this week is where to start!  So I'll begin with last Sunday.

Had a great experience at church only made greater by having lunch with the Louisville Kirkland gang!  WOW!  Reed has grown so much and MH is so beautiful...and a runner!  She has just finished running her second 5K and finished in 43 minutes!!!!  And her running mate is her grandmother!!!!  Is that exciting or what????

First thing Monday morning, I went to a new dentist.  It's so hard to change doctors and since my former dentist was no longer practicing but teaching, I had to start over!  On the recommendation of Handsome fella', I met Dr. David Schaefer and his able Hygienist, Missy.  Great office and great people.  Mark that off my list!  

Monday I was also determined to complete my office area.  Found the perfect shelves and got them into my car then into the house!  Not an easy task.  They had to be assembled but the box said no tools needed!  (In the past four years I have discovered that anytime the assembly instructions are written in four languages there's probably gonna' be an error or two!  Yes, that applies to these shelves!)  The first giant task was getting them out of the box.  Now I'm a reasonably intelligent person with a reasonable amount of strength.  Good grief!  I finally got one set out of the box and completed the first step.  After that it was an uphill battle.  I finally gave up and decided to wait until tomorrow so I could mentally prepare for what appeared was going to be a super frustration for me.  Wait...someone's knocking on my front door.  Knight in shining armor arrives...AKA Handsome fella'!!!!!  So Monday ended much, much better than I expected.  Bookshelves assembled and placed in office!  My hero!!!

Tuesday began with organizing my office with the new shelves.  Got that done in short order and moved onto my next task, emptying and organizing 6 trunk/tubs of winter clothes, boots, coats and personal stuff!  Got all that hung in the guest room walk-in closet and moved the empty tubs to the garage.  Which brings me to my next task...organizing the garage.  You'd think if a person moved three times in four years they would be able to manage their personal belongings.  I swear that stuff reproduces during the night.  After downsizing, dividing (TR Baker into his own home), giving away, throwing away, and moving from 5 bedrooms to two, there was a huge amount of stuff I didn't even move.  And some of the stuff I did move was for my sisters and daughter Libby.  So how come, after moving into this town home did I still have too much stuff????  The garage was full of furniture and boxes I simply could not fit inside.  And I wanted to be able to put my car in the garage.  I did a pretty good job of labeling my boxes so I was primarily looking for a blender, two small lamps, a few more pots and pans, framed photos, book ends, and the ever-popular toaster.  I found it all, emptied several boxes and consolidated several more, moved a few things around and still not room for my car!  I took empty boxes to the dumpster/compactor and kept stacking until all I was left with was two dining room chairs (cannot fit them into the dining room!).  So I hammered a few nails into the garage wall and hung the chairs.  Also, since HC Baker died, I have moved financial/tax records from as far back as 2006 and I was tired of it.  I looked on-line and the IRS said keeping 4-5 years of "stuff" was sufficient.  BTW, the IRS keeps seven years so why should I?  Did you know you could take this kind of stuff to the FedEx (sorry TR Baker) store, pay them 79 cents a pound and they will shred it?  So I loaded the car with 2006/7/8/9 tax, etc. records, plus two additional boxes labeled HC's miscellaneous files and took them to the shredder.  I should tell you that was an incredible "freeing" experience for me.  I started to go through each box before I took them but decided NO!  I'm done with them.  The car is in the garage!!!!!  Go Me!  

Now, what should have taken me a few hours became two days.  I did not go through the tax and file boxes but I did come across two other boxes I have moved three times in the past four years.  Both boxes were not cardboard like the bankers boxes but leather and felt lined.  One box contained all the cards and memories of HC Baker's illnesses and surgeries and the other all the memories of his death.  After quite a few deep breaths, I decided I would read everything one more time then they would be discarded.  And I didn't call my children.  This is not their burden, it's mine.  So I began.  Oh my, what wonderful, fabulous, faithful friends HC Baker had and I have.  So many cards when he was ill...in Louisville and at the Mayo Clinic.  I was able to picture their faces as I read the messages from around the world.  Cards, letters, e-mails, the responses to the on-line updates while at Mayo, pizza boxes signed by all who were in attendance that day, the huge envelope of cards made by the youth.  I remember the day we received that envelope and how HC Baker and I both cried over each fun drawing and comment from those precious teenagers who meant so much to him for so many years.  And I remembered the phone calls to me while we were at Mayo.  So many times I could not talk but cried while those on the other end just held me in their hearts so many miles away.  And then the cards and conversations when we arrived back home.  We'd made it!  So I finished that box and dumped all of it in a bag to be discarded.  Box #2...A.D.  I didn't know if I could do this today but told myself YES I CAN!  It's one more box.  And interesting to note, both dogs sat right at my feet the whole time.  The cards and letters again from around the world from people I knew and loved and people I had no idea who they were.  People HC Baker had met along the way.  Such beautiful messages in cards and letters, dear friends who had Catholic masses said for him, donations made to the HC Baker Children and Youth Memorial fund and Kentucky Habitat for Humanity, and flowers.  I did keep the guest book from the visitation and memorial service, so grateful for all those who came.  Let me say again how grateful I was and continue to be for the staff at St. Matthews Baptist Church who held me and all the details together.  And to Mark at Clifton Pizza for his special gift of the lunch.  It could not have been more perfect.  So many of the cards and memories especially touched my heart as they were sent from dear friends who have since joined HC Baker on the streets paved in gold.  OK, I did it!  Hard work and the physical reminders are gone but the memories will last forever.

The last thing of note on Wednesday was a posting on FB from TR Baker.  Many of you saw it and have expressed to TR Baker and me your joy and support.  TR Baker has had a difficult time in the past four years but he has come through it all and is now seeing the sunshine of life.  About a year ago he met Danielle and when I announced to him I was selling our grey home and moving back to Louisville, he decided to stay up north and begin to share a home with Danielle and her two children, Natalie and Oliver.  I have been so proud of TR Baker and his efforts to make a home for himself and his new family.  He has worked for UPS for 14 years and has been offered a full time position of driving for them.  He leaves today for a week of training.  Please pray for him as "anxiety" is his other middle name!  And then the best news is he and Danielle are expecting a precious baby.  They are both thrilled and on Friday, he heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time.  He said it was awesome!  So I gained two more grandchildren with Natalie and Oliver and now will add another!  That equals 9 grandchildren for me!!!!  How blessed am I?  Can't wait for another baby to hold!

*Note - Did I tell you Libby is getting married on August 30?  So I'm gaining a new son-in-law too and his name is Tim!  Blessings continue!

OK, it's Thursday now.  Spent most of the day completing the tasks I began earlier this week.  And then got ready to attend the St. Matthews Baptist Church Women's Summer Pot Luck Supper.  I love "pot luck" meals.  You can taste some amazing things!  Fabulous salads, delicious corn pudding, enchilada pie, CANDY BAR CAKE!!!!!, fresh blackberry cobbler and on and on!  YUMMY!  A cookbook is being prepared with all the recipes.  And the best part was seeing so many friends I had not had the opportunity to be with in some time.  I saw Madeline and her incredible daughter Sam.  Sat next to new friend Pat and a friend of many years, Debbie and her wonderful daughter Amanda!  Missed all of them so much!  Fabulous evening!  Thank you to Cinda and her great team!  I love you all!        

(I know this is long, but it was a very "releasing" and "revealing" week!)

Friday morning - Oh my!  Went downstairs and stepped on carpet that squished under my feet!  Not a good start!  Called the maintenance number immediately and 5 minutes later someone is knocking at my door.  (This happened once before right after I moved in and it was the furnace/ac unit with a clogged pipe.)  This squishy carpet is on the other side of the dining room, far away from the furnace/ac unit.  What now???????  BTW, I'm not happy!  It appears the townhouse next door had a water line break and it came over to my place.  Whatever...JUST FIX IT!!!!!  So it began with the removal of the carpet padding, mopping up, water extraction from carpet, and huge fan under the carpet to dry it all.  I hate messes and just when I was about to have everything in order!  And I have Handsome fella' coming for dinner.  It is what it is!  They will be back Monday morning to complete the task.  So, since I am not happy (that my friends is an understatement!), I asked if the "guys" could make time that day to hang my wall art.  Why yes, we can certainly do that!  (Funny how things happen!)  Anyway, I have this very tall and dimly lit stairwell.  Several weeks ago I asked them to move the dining room light fixture (a brushed nickel drop light that did not allow my dining room table and china cabinet to be placed as I wanted them in the dining room) to the stairwell and move the basic ceiling light from the stairwell to the dining room.  They did that and then I proceeded to create a wall hanging.  The center piece is old fabric from things I've made over the years, pieced together with other "things" that make me smile.  One of my favorite add-ons is two pink rubber breast cancer bracelets to remind me of my dear friends Joyce and Cinda as they prepare for their third 3-day, 60 mile walk this year in Philadelphia.  I think and pray for them each time I go up and down the stairs!  On each side of this fabric collage is a sari HC Baker brought me from India.  So the maintenance guys brought one of those very cool ladders that allow you to make the legs adjust to the height you need, and they proceeded to hang the rod to hold my wall art.  They got everything up and hanging and OH MY GOODNESS, it looks FABULOUS!  I wish all of you could see it!  I'm very happy and it made me forget my dining room looked like crap!  So my dinner was successful and Handsome fella' enjoyed it!  (Fresh tomato and cottage cheese, country ham, lima beans, new potatoes, fresh peach cobbler and peach ice cream!  Delicious!)

So now it's Saturday!  You're gonna' love this day!  Handsome fella' calls and asks what are my plans for the day.  I don't really have any so I'm open to suggestions.  He asks if I'd like to go to the Forecastle Music Festival.  I've heard so much about it over the years and never attended so yes, I'd like to go.  (He'd never been either.)  So off we went.  I'm smiling as I write this because I have NEVER in my life seen so many "sights".  There were very creative costumes, some really old hippies and really young teenagers, body parts that would have been better covered, clothes or lack thereof, tiny babies carried on daddys' backs, barefooted folks (oh my!), and anything else you could possibly imagine.  OH and I used a porta-potty and sat on the ground!  Quite something for me!  My list of the most viewed wardrobe pieces and accessories include boots - any kind from muck boots to combat boots, hair bands of ribbons, flowers, kerchiefs, etc., worn wrapped around the head "hippie" style, anything that could reveal too much skin, hats, and TATTOOS!  Lots of tattoos!  Huge tattoos!  Arms covered in tattoos, backs covered in tattoos, legs and ankles covered in tattoos, and the list goes on!  The "people watching" was worth the price of admission!  And it's VERY expensive to go (glad I wasn't paying!)  I'm still smiling because we had a great time!  Laughing is one of the things that makes your heart happy and Handsome fella' and I always laugh together.  And yesterday was full of laughs.  Oh, and the music was great too.  (Unfortunately, I was not familiar with many of the entertainers but liked the sounds, most of them.  The closing act last night was Jack White and I got excited because I thought it was Jack Black and I knew of him!!!  (My grandchildren just groaned!!!!)

So that was my week!  The good and the bad, the old and the new, the laughter and the tears, remembering the past and making new memories.  At least my life is never boring!

Love to you all for being a part of my life!  xxoo

Prayer requests - Friends Rick and Barbara still battling health issues, friend MG who will have surgery at the end of the month, TR Baker, Danielle, Natalie, Oliver and new baby - lots of new experiences for all of them, friend CH has sold her home and now faces the "where to go" decision, and pray for a great week for yourselves!          

                       

      

Collecting Coupons!!!!

I admit several times over my "home making" years I have tried the "coupon" thing!  One time I even bought a colorful little hand held file for organizing them.  It just never worked out for me.  I'd be at the grocery and the coupons were home OR I'd have them with me, find the appropriate one only to realize at the check-out, my coupon had expired!  Most often I'd just forget.

So here I am now, a poor widow woman on a fixed income!  I was determined to make this "coupon" thing work.  First of all I had no idea you got so many coupons in the mail.  I must get these insert type things several times a week.  Don't believe I got them at my p.o. box up north.  The Postmistress must have "cleansed" my daily deliveries.  Anyway, I decided to go for it all!  I read EVERY piece of paper and cut-out (most often tear a straight edge along the kitchen counter) every coupon that could possibly benefit me.  Not only am I watching for grocery store coupons, but restaurants, oil changes for my car, and waiting hopefully for shoe store coupons!!!!

So last week I find three coupons for various dinner/entree/dollar off deals at Bob Evans.  Well today, Handsome Fella' asked me out for breakfast.  Once we were in the car and on our way, I suggest to him we go to Bob Evans because I have a coupon.  FYI...I checked before I left my place to make sure it had not expired.  It's good until July 31!!!!  I've got this!  The coupon reads buy one entree and get one free!!!!  Handsome Fella' laughs and tells me Bob Evans is fine.  We had a delicious breakfast and as always, great conversation.  Time to pay the bill.  I get the coupon out and am so proud of myself that I actually remembered to bring it!  NOTE - Handsome Fella' has never had any experience with any kind of coupon and has NEVER needed (or wanted) to use a coupon!  He leaves to pay the bill and comes back a few minutes with the coupon.  He points out to me that under the expiration date is a "condition" that this coupon is not to be used on Sundays!!!!  He said it's bad enough he offered the coupon but then to be told they couldn't accept it was a double "wammy"!  Now everyone behind him in line is questioning his intelligence!  I burst out laughing and so did he.

Just when I thought I was so smart, helpful and working hard to watch my budget, I discovered there's more to a coupon than an expiration date!  Doubtful I'll be able to share another coupon "windfall" with Handsome Fella'!!!

Laugh every day!  xxoo