Wild Card??

Nah!  The Cards are  charging into playoffs.  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/story/2011-09-19/monday-roundup/50472620/1

Any of you who have been reading my blog for the last 6 years know that I am a die hard St Louis Cardinal fan.  Having been born in the great state of Missouri, I feel it is my duty to be a Cardinal fan.  Plus the fact that my daddy was a Cardinal fan and Cardinal baseball is all I heard on the radio in my growing up years.  The Cardinals never fail to amaze me and just when I have given up hope they go and do something reckless and get a chance to be back on top again.



So what can I say but “Go Cards.”

I found out this morning as I was lugging my garbage can through the grass (to miss all of the fresh concrete) that tomorrow we can walk on the new driveway/sidewalks but we can’t park on them until next Thursday. 
Now that you have heard me cheering for the Cardinals and ranting about the new driveways all down my block I do believe it is time for me to be quiet.  I hope you all have a peaceful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Sounds like an earthquake..

in my house.  The driveway project is finally underway.

I will be glad when it is finished.  The noise is tremendous.  No way can I get my car out today so I am stuck inside here.  My daughter is working so I can’t call on her.  Anybody going my way, give me a holler.

It is beautifully sunny right now at 52 degrees, supposed to climb to 70 so I have the furnace turned off.  Next week is to be quite a lot warmer so I may have to turn the air conditioner on again.  And that is Illinois weather, ever changing, ever unpredictable.  Would I live anywhere else, probably not as I am used to it.  Well, maybe if I ever strike it rich.  However, I will not be holding my breath waiting for that.

I think I should probably get busy and do something, anything.  I have a good deal of my Christmas shopping done and I could start wrapping it all

You all stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

The sun is trying..

to come out.  The temperature is 55 degrees, the wind is blowing and the furnace has been running off and on all day. We were supposed to have a new driveway started yesterday but nothing happened.  It did rain most of the day to be fair to the contractor.  No rain so far today and no sign of the contractor.  We have to park in the street until the work is completed and for one week afterwards until it is completely dry.  They will not be using the fast drying cement we were told.  The street is rather crowded and moving the car to go somewhere is iffy as your parking spot is gone when you get back.  Oh well, and so is life, iffy that is.

I am still feeling sluggish from an over indulgence of good food and ice cream cake.  It is a good thing that birthdays only come once a year.

I have been reading about the 14 year old boy (Jamie Rodemeyer) in Buffalo who hung himself.  http://abcnews.go.com/Health/gay-buffalo-teen-commits-suicide-eve-national-bullying/story?id=14571861  He was gay and had been bullied for several years.  This breaks my heart to read this.  Why are some people so cruel?  Do the children learn this  intolerance and hatred of others in their homes?  Sadly many adults are bigoted  and hateful regarding the lifestyles of others.  It would serve everyone well to remember that we are all God’s children.

Jamie Rodemeyer

 

I have done 2 loads of laundry today and that is just about it.  I am thinking about bundling up and going for a walk.  You all stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Over for another year…

My birthday has come and gone and I am one year older.  This morning I feel like it.  The air is so damp that my bones are screaming at me. It is only supposed to get in the mid 50s toady.  It was 69 here in the house.  I turned the furnace on to get some of the dampness out.

I had a very nice birthday, starting with Saturday when my nieces came to visit in the morning.

My great, great niece with her mommy, my great niece.  She is a lovely child and I enjoyed the visit. 

Then in the afternoon my daughter and son in law brought over an ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen.  YUMMMY!!  I still have a lot of that in the freezer.   Then last night my daughter and son in law took me to Boyd’s Steak House on the river boat.  I had chicken Marsala. a huge baked potato with asparagus wrapped with bacon. My daughter had orange roughy with potatoes augratin  and my son in law had a 14 ounce ribeye steak with baked potato.    Then we went on the boat.  I ended up winning $9.  The kids did a little better than that.

And now it is back down to trying to eat a bit healthier. I had lost 2 lbs when I saw the doctor last Friday so that was good.

I am running way late this morning.  I didn’t get out of bed till after 7.  I listened to my iPod through all 3 stages and turned over and went back to sleep.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Birthday Time…

In Missouri some time ago a baby girl was born. Same day  several years later in Virginia a baby girl was born. You would think these two might never meet. The Missouri girl coming from a family with seven siblings, the Virginia girl with three siblings.
 
Thanks to the magic of the internet and the blogging world these two did meet (although not in person) and became good friends. We first met through blogging on MSN Spaces in 2005.
 
Tomorrow (September 25) my birthday twin and I are each celebrating our birthday. I know that she has plans with two of her sons. I saw my son last weekend and for my birthday my daughter and son in law are taking me out for dinner to celebrate.
 
This morning my niece, great niece and great, great niece are coming over to see me.
 
I want to take this opportunity to wish my Tennessee Twin a wonderful birthday.  And for the rest of you, stay safe and be happy!!
 
  Beth

Not much…

to report on the home front today and I am thankful for that.  I was sad that I was unable to go home for my friend’s funeral.  It is too long a trip to go alone.

However, today is sunshiny and beautiful with the promise of brighter days ahead.  It is 52 degrees today, to get up to 65 for the high.  It doesn’t get much better than that for a great fall day.  And this is the first day of Autumn.  I love the fall and the spring of the year.  The winter I can definitely do without.  I guess I really don’t mind snow so much if I can still get out and go.  The February blizzard of this year is still fresh in my mind.  In fact, last winter is still fresh in my mind as it was one of the worst that I can remember in my lifetime.

We are still suffering drought here with less than 3 inches total rainfall for the months of July, August and September.  My marigolds are dead as we had a frost a week or so ago and I didn’t cover them.  I will try again next year.

I miss having my own house and my beautiful flowers.  My friend Sandi told me that she takes long walks through the cemetery at home keeping an eye on Jim’s grave and I know that my friend Jo puts flowers on it too.  I have met some really nice people here but nothing to compare with old friends of many years.  Oh, I am sorry for being so nostalgic.  Probably because of Jim’s birthday yesterday and mine looming ahead.  Nothing like growing a year older to put your thoughts in prospective.

I have a few errands to run.  But first I want to share this picture with you.

My kids, another memory from the past.

  Beth

A better day today…

I had the opportunity to speak to several friends at home yesterday, all saddened by the news of our friend’s passing.  I am so very grateful to you all for the comments left on my blog yesterday.

Sunday was a wonderful day spent with family.  My son and daughter and son in law were here for food and laughter.I sent the leftover food home with my son.  I cleaned out the freezer too and so today I had to go to the store to restock the TV dinners.  My son brought me a box of the homemade chocolates that I love and a card that plays Rock Around the Clock for my birthday which is next Sunday.  The day I celebrate with my Tennessee Twin.

*****************************************************************************

Today would have been Jim’s birthday.  For Jim:

I thought of you today

But that is nothing new.

I thought about you yesterday,

And the days before that too.

I think of you in silence,

I often speak your name.

I know all I have is memories,

And your picture in a frame,

My memory is my keepsake,

With which I will never part,

God has you in His keeping,

I have you in my heart.

Below is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us taken a blue moon ago.  Miss you Jim!!

  Beth

A very sad day for me..

I just received word this morning that my old friend Bill passed away.  I have spoken of him before.  Bill and his wife Annie were good friends that lived just down the street from Jim and me for many years.  He has been battling stage 4 cancer for a couple of years now.  Bill and Jim were best friends.  When Jim died Bill told me it was like he had lost a brother.  Jim and Bill would sit on the back porch for hours discussing the worries of the world, and how they would solve them.  I would carry them a glass of iced tea every now and then and visit for a minute and then leave them to carry on.

Annie, my heart is broken for you and there are tears on my cheeks as I am typing this.  Bill, may you rest in peace.  Annie, take comfort with me in knowing that two great guys are now sitting on a porch in heaven. 

  Beth

Busy, busy, busy…

and I do mean busy.  I hit a bonanza at garage sales yesterday.  I have enough books now to last me all winter.  I take the books to Goodwill as soon as I read them.  Below are my purchases.

 

If you click on the pictures you can see the titles.  Awesome buys.  This one garage sale had over 400 hardbacks for $1 each.  Buy 4, get one free.  I was able to find 6 by John Sandford that I hadn’t read.  

And then I have been in the kitchen again. My son will be here tomorrow and I will be so happy to see him.  I really do miss him.  I am too far away now to see him as often as I did before.  I made his favorite lemon cream cheese bars yesterday.  Today I fixed potato salad and Mandarin orange salad (recipe in my recipe blog) plus chocolate frosted brownies.  We will have KF chicken with that and baked beans.  My daughter and son in law will be over after church to eat with us.

 

My son at age 8.  I found this picture in an old album that I haven’t looked in for many years.  I LOVE this picture.

I have to go now.  For some reason the highlighter won’t quit.  LOL  

  Beth

What did I do??

I must have hit something accidentally to get my iPod alarm to go off at 6AM each morning.  I have my regular alarm clock so I never set the iPod to start playing music at 6AM.  I lay awake this morning just waiting to see what would happen.  The music starts at 6, I shut it off, it comes on again at 6:10 and I shut it off. It comes on a 3rd time at 6:30 so I think to myself, get your bottom end out of bed as this is garage sale day.  Plus I had a load of clothes to wash.  So I am behind schedule already.  Plus my neighbor grabbed me this morning wanting to talk and that set me back.  After we ranted awhile about management here I hurried back to tend to my laundry.  Then a bite of breakfast, put my clothes in the dryer, called my daughter to tell her I would be late and that is how my morning started.  No time this morning for workout.  I will get that walking to the garage sales .  LOL

I have been reconnecting with some of my old classmates through classmates.com.  It is kind of fun.  I even found a few I wish I hadn’t.  It is interesting.  Try it for free sometime and then it has a very low monthly fee.  I just don’t like facebook for some reason.  I never have.

I should run now and check on the clothes in the dryer and as my bro, Boston Boy would say, I’m outta here.  You all stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Haddad’s Market in West Peoria…

burned to the ground on New Year’s Eve 2010.  It has been rebuilt thanks to the support of the community.  The planned reopening date is shortly after Thanksgiving.  37 of the previous employees will resume their previous positions.  A job fair was held on the grounds at Haddad’s on Monday.  Over 450 people responded to fill out applications to fill 10 – 12 positions; 7 full time and the rest part time.

http://www.pjstar.com/video/x1069124346/Haddads-job-fair

This speaks as to how desperate people are for jobs here and all across the country.  One 55 year old man that has been out of work for over 2 years stated that he would do anything, he didn’t care what was involved.  It is so sad the state our economy is in.  I thank God each day that I am blessed to have  a retirement and good health insurance.

The weather has been near perfect the last couple of days although it is supposed to be much colder today.  Temps to fall to upper 30s or lower 40s by Thursday night.

I feel really remiss that I forgot to mention 12 September was the 80th birthday of my favorite classic country singer of all time, George Jones.  For many years I belonged to his fan club.  When Jim became ill was when I let the membership lapse.  Just too many things for me to keep up with.  I have seen Jones in concert many times including his final concert with Tammy Wynette titled ‘One.’ I even have a picture hidden away somewhere of me giving old George a hug.  I have  about 130 of his CDs and lots of autographed pictures of him.  One of these days I am going to list it all on Craig’s List.

This is not a very good picture of George Jones.  It was taken backstage at a concert in Ashland Kentucky.  I was next in line to get my picture taken with George.  I am still looking for that picture.

I need to get a move on.  My tune woke me up this morning at 6 AM.  I went back to sleep till 6:30.  Now it is time for breakfast.  I haven’t had my workout yet either and I need to go to the grocery store.  You all stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Ever drop a Cheerio…

and get down on all fours and crawl around the room searching for that little guy?  Or get ready to take your morning meds and drop the most expensive one on the floor?  You have 10 seconds to find it before it is contaminated.  The 10 second rule I think it is called.  Well, my lone little Cheerio is on the floor along with my med and a few dust bunnies, never to be seen again until Murphy’s law says it is a given that I will step on it.  That is a known fact, the only way to discover anything you drop on the floor is to step on it.

Yesterday my daughter and son in law came over after church and we had the chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans with bacon and onion and cherry pie.  This was a change from my previous menu.  Marie Callendar helped me out with the pie, the rest I fixed with my own two hands.  It was really good!  Next Sunday my son is coming to visit me.  I will be really glad to see him as I haven’t seen him since April.

My sister had an exciting experience on Saturday.  She got to be one of the judges in a beauty pageant.  The different categories were babies to age 12.  She said it was quite an experience which she told me she never wants to repeat again.  The highlight of it all for her was getting to sit next to the weatherman on one of the local TV channels.  She said it was quite a treat getting to meet him and finding that he looks much bigger on TV.  LOL!!  I had an amazing phenomena happen here too concerning the weatherman on my favorite Peoria  TV channel.  Very nice looking young man with a very obvious bald spot on the back of his head which I had observed for the past year.  Amazingly, I noticed recently the bald spot was gone.  What happened????

I have changed the bedding and have my laundry done already this morning.  I am liking the iPod in my bedroom having a mind of its own and deciding to wake me each day at 6 AM with a tune.  This is a new docking station that I got a few weeks ago.  I have an iPod in my living room in a docking station and it it behaving nicely.

It is a lovely morning.  I will be leaving in a few minutes to run some errands.  I hope you all have a great week.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

It’s such a pretty world today..

look at the sunshine.  It is a glorious day for the start of the Marigold Festival here.  As I have noted before, Pekin is the Marigold Capitol of the world.  There all kinds of activities scheduled for today and tomorrow beginning with the parade this morning.  Dozens of tents selling all kinds of crafts and items are set up in the park next to the lagoon.



This is a photo I took of one of the craft tents last year.  Sadly my Cardinals have dropped the ball (pun intended) this year.  http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/standings  They are in second place behind the Milwaukee Brewers.  For my Wisconsin friends, I wish the Brewers well!!

I am busy cooking in the kitchen this morning.  My kids are coming over tomorrow and I am fixing chicken and stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and peach pie.  And then I will be so stuffed I will have to lie down and take a nap.

So, I need to cut this short and get back to the kitchen.  I hope you all have a peaceful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Where did the time go?

My iPod in the bedroom somehow got set to start playing at 6AM.  I am innocent of that, however that is a good time to get up.  I have been busy ever since.  Laundry first thing this morning and then a trip to the pharmacy again to pick up a med prescribed by the doctor yesterday.  It wasn’t ready, not to be in the pharmacy till 3:30 this afternoon.  Well the heck with that so I said I would pick it up in 2 or 3 days.  Not something I wanted to take anyway.

I moved on along to the Aldi store.  They are quite a bit cheaper on most items.  I checked the labels and so many things are manufactured in a foreign country.  Something is wrong with that.  Why can’t we manufacture food items like Nestle’s Quik in America??  Why are we paying big bucks to companies that hire workers (in this case, Mexico) at a low hourly wage.  I am trying more and more to buy things made in America.  It is no wonder the unemployment rate is so high here.

Well, through ranting on that subject, moved on to Kroger and finished shopping.  I did get a nice size whole chicken for 69 cents a pound and I am thinking chicken and stuffing for the weekend.

Then home to watch Y&R and I had my mind made up to bake banana bread this afternoon, which I did.  This place smells good!!

And that is why I have been so busy today.  I am hoping there are some garage sales tomorrow so I can be busy then too.

You all stop by if you’re in the neighborhood; banana bread and a cup of tea is waiting for you.

  Beth

A great day to be alive…

and I am so thankful that I am.  It is blissfully cool here again this morning at 48 degrees to reach the mid 70s.  I had someone say to me once that my blogs were boring, that no one was interested in my weather.  This happens to be my online diary that I have faithfully maintained since 2005, before Jim’s illness, following through his treatment, and  until his death in 2006.  I have made many friends.  Some of them are very special to me and we keep in touch by email and telephone.  In all of my lifetime I have met only one person, a blogging friend, that shares the same birthday as I.  Not the same year, just the same day.

Anyway, to get back to this, my online diary, I was scheduled for a painful test in the spring.  I searched and searched for something to prove I had the same thing done less than two years before.  And, guess what, I found the information I needed in my online diary.  After further checking with the doctor who was to perform the test, he was able to verify the results and so I didn’t have to have this test repeated.  And speaking of doctors, I have an appointment with one this afternoon which I am not looking forward too.

Yesterday was a day of running; to the store, Menards and Wal*Mart.I am pretty well stocked up on groceries.  I feel very sorry for the ones who are having a tough time getting by in this economy.  While I was at the pharmacy on Sunday I saw such a scruffy looking person.  His clothes and shoes were tattered and his person was dirty and unkempt.  He stood at the counter waiting for attention for about 15 minutes while I was sitting down waiting for my scripts.  He had one arm missing.  I wondered if he was living on the streets.  So many of our veterans are coming home from war traumatized and finding no help.  For various reasons many of them are homeless with no family or friends to care about them.  We have swept these men who have defended our country to the far corners of our mind, so that we can happily go on with our lives.  http://www.squidoo.com/homelessveterans

http://veterans4veteransamerica.com/aboutus.aspx

 

Forgive me if I get carried away on this subject!  I had 3 brothers, only one of them still living.  They all served multiple tours in Viet Nam.  My husband served in Korea and I have many relatives who served.  This is a subject very near to my heart.

Sorry to get so serious as I try to keep my blogs uplifting if I can.

Have a wonderful day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Happy Labor Day…

Good morning blogging family.  It is a beautiful chilly day here.  The temperature right now is still only 55.  It was in the 40s overnight.  I am enjoying every minute of it.

You all know from my previous posts through the years that I am a fan of Julie Larson’s ‘The Dinette Set.’  I couldn’t resist this one.  Happens to me every time.  LOL

~ Copyright Julie Larson ~

You all enjoy your day off.  I will be back with more nonsense tomorrow.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Blessed cold front…

Came through right on schedule.  It is blissfully cool here now at 70 degrees to be in the upper 40s tonight.  Air conditioner off and windows open.

As promised below is a picture of the huge oak tree in my front yard taken today.  You can see that it really was denuded.

 

You can see daylight through the tree now.  I really am glad it was trimmed because there were lots of dead branches in the tree and many branches hanging over the top of our buildings.
This has been a lazy day.  I went to the pharmacy to pick up scripts and that is about it.  I finished the leftovers from what I cooked on Friday which even though good, 3 days in a row is a little bit much.

My neighbor is out now washing his windows.  I told him he could do mine next but he changed the subject in a hurry.  LOL  They are a very nice couple, just home from a weekend trip to Las Vegas.  When I asked him if they won anything he said they only went for the shows?????  OK, whatever floats ones boat.

Nothing new here today, just a little update.  Preparing myself for two Mondays this week.  I will have to have my daughter remind of what day is Wednesday this week as I have a doctor appointment that day that I can’t miss.

I hope you all have a superfragilisticexpialidocious week.

  Beth

Bring on the cold front…

it is too darn hot here.  Yesterday topped out with an actual temperature of 99 degrees here.  A strong cold front is supposed to move through here tomorrow and temps on Monday predicted to be in the lower 60s.  I sure hope so, I will fling the doors and windows open and enjoy it.  I might even put on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt on Monday.    Now don’t you all remind me of this statement in another month or two when the snow is flying and the temp is below zero.

Yesterday as I said was HOT!  It was a good thing I was forced to stay inside because the tree trimmers came at 9 AM and didn’t finish till after 2 PM

Click on pictures to make larger.  When they were finished the tree was a lot barer. I will get out after while and take a picture of the finished product.  One thing is for sure, I won’t have as many leaves blowing up and blocking my front door this winter.  Click on pictures to make larger.

My niece came over in the midst of this and had lunch with me and watched Y & R.

I need to go now and check on my laundry.  Have a good one everyone.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Summer…

is hanging on with a vengeance this year and doesn’t want to let go.   Our predicted high for today is 100F actual degrees.  This is the kind of day where I don’t like to go outside, and I probably won’t.  Tomorrow is more of the same but by Monday the high is to be in the low 70s. The nice things about living in Illinois are the bitter cold snowy winters and the high heat and humidity. If you don’t like the weather one day, stick around because it is sure to change soon.

The Canadian geese which are thick here because of the Illinois River have started making a showing in my back yard.  As the days go on the numbers will increase until there are dozens of them.  They hang around until late October.They are pretty to look at but they are actually rather mean when you try to get close to them.

These pictures were taken yesterday morning.  You can see how brown our grass is here.  The total combined rainfall for July and August is less than 1 & 1/2 inches.  Click on pics to make larger.

September is here.  My favorite month of the year.  I love Illinois for the changing seasons.  I don’t like Illinois for the heat and the snow.  But hey, I have lived here most of my life and I doubt that will change any time soon.

I hope you all have lots of plans for the Labor Day weekend.  It is just another Monday holiday for me which I don’t like as it messes with my mind as Tuesday becomes Monday.

Whatever you do, stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth