All gone….

My company has started home.  It was a very nice weekend.  I didn’t wear myself out cooking like I normally do.  Kentucky fried chicken for lunch and Papa Murphy pizza for supper.  Toast and orange juice for breakfast.

I am doing laundry this morning and when I get done with that I am going to sit down and relax for the rest of the day.

The above photos were taken last Friday while I was visiting the Cancer Clinic for my regular appointment.  At those visits I see my oncologist and my ENT surgeon.  The grounds and garden there is so beautiful.  I purchased a T-shirt while I was there.

\

The T is black.  I love the saying on the front.  The printing is white embroidery  and the ribbon is colored beads.

Have a peaceful Sunday!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Wonderful Day…

My brother Bill and his wife Karen came to see me yesterday.  We had lunch at Applebee’s and I was able to enjoy my meal.  They brought me a small early birthday cake and a lovely card with money in it.  I am ready for a real splurge on Amazon now as my sister  sent me birthday money too.

Beth and my brother Bill

Beth and my sister in law Karen on the right

Click on pictures to enlarge them.

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I just spoke to my sis in WV this morning.  She is making good progress.

I am not doing much today.  Just getting caught up with resting.  I hope you all have a pleasant day.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Tired but…

happy.  Yesterday was a very nice day for me.  My son came for a short visit and my daughter and SIL were here to.  I had rallied around and we had potato salad, baked beans, mandarin orange salad and chicken tenders.   My daughter brought over a banana cream pie.  I did my cooking in stages so it wasn't  too exhausting.

Then after they had all gone home Jim’s nephew and his wife from Wisconsin stopped by with their granddaughter for a visit.  They were on their way to Bloomington to visit friends.  My daughter and son in law came back over for a visit.  I was very tired last night.


                                                                 Celeste Addie and Mike

Addie is adorable.  She is 2 and 1/2 years old but is so well behaved.  It was so nice to see everyone yesterday.

My brother and sister in law are coming to see me today.  We are going out to lunch so I won’t have to do anything  today except rest.

Have a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!

Beth

Frosty morning…

here in the heart of central Illinois.  The temp is a sunny 35 right now and to get in the mid 60s today.  There was patchy frost here this morning but no hard freeze like was predicted.  The furnace has been running this morning and it is warm in the house.

I have been invited to go with my daughter and son in law to my SIL’s brothers home to eat on Easter Sunday.  That will be fun to watch the little kids hunt the Easter treats.  I will be taking macaroni and cheese and some other unknown thing (yet to be decided) with me.

I haven’t decided yet what I want to do today.  There are 14 garage sales listed in the Pekin paper today.  I don’t know the city well enough to go out hunting them. I do know my way around well enough now to find my way home if I get lost.  When I first moved here I got lost a lot. 

Easter Sunday(April 8) is my son’s birthday. We had his celebration last week when he came home.  I will miss seeing him on his birthday.

I hope you all have a nice day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

44

days to go on the countdown to Spring.  It is beyond gorgeous out today with bright sunshine and 37 degrees.  Just a lovely day to be alive.  I have been out in the sunshine and ventured to the 24 hour Walgreens where they are always busy and call me Mrs. D.

There is hardly any breeze right now and if that continues to be so I am taking a walk in the cemetery after lunch.  I have been asked so many times if it bothers me, living across from a cemetery.  The answer is NO, not at all.  We need to be aware of the living, the dead can’t hurt us.  It is so peaceful walking there.  It is a huge cemetery and I have only covered a small portion of it.  Some of the stones are awesome and some of them tell a sad story.

This is Super Bowl Sunday.  I am not into football.  Jim tried many times through the years to educate me.  lol  He was such a football fan as he played football and lettered in it all 4 years in high school.  I understand nothing about it.  I do watch part of it for the commercials and I will admit some of the players are hunks.  I will be cheering for Boston Boy’s team.  I hope that doesn’t jinx them.

Not much on the agenda today.  No family cooking as I have to watch what I eat for today and tomorrow until I have the stress test done on Tuesday.  Then Wednesday is a dental appointment.  YUCK!!!

I hope you are all having a good day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day Thirty…

and it is 45 degrees and raining steadily this morning.  Oh goody!  Just what I like to go out in.  No choice this morning though.

Back to pictures of my daughter and her cousin Tim.  Below is a picture taken when they were only a few weeks old.  that is me on the left with my daughter and her cousin on the right with his mom.

I am back from my appointment and lab.  While there I had an ultrasound done too.  Only 1 more day left in this year and I hope there are no  more anything at all to do with doctors till next year.

This is all for today as I am worn out already.  Got up at 6 and I feel like I have been up for hours.

See you all tomorrow.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day Twenty Nine…

and it is overcast and 36 degrees.  There may be some rain later on today but, hey, that is OK.  No freezing rain or snow would suit me fine for the rest of the winter.

I am in the middle of laundry again. the same old story.  Brings me back to my same old whine, I wish I still had my washer and dryer.  But then, no, I will not whine about that anymore and any one of you feel free to reprimand me if I do.  LOL

I am going to make my final grocery store run of 2011 this morning.  At least I think it will be my final run as you never really know.  Tomorrow is appointment and lab so I probably won’t get a chance to post till later in the day.  I will make it though as I only have 2 more days to go in the month of December.

I would like to share another cute picture of my daughter and her cousin.  In the back holding on to the wagon is Tim’s dad.

Aren’t they cute?  I love that look on Tim’s face.  Mike De (Tim’s brother) I hope you are reading this post.  Maybe not though as he and his wife left the day after Christmas to spend the winter in Arizona.  They won’t be back in Wisconsin till May.

Gotta go check the laundry then it is off to the store.  You all stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day Nineteen…

on my quest to post every day for one whole month.  I used to post each day when I was on WLS.  For some reason it is harder now.

I had a very nice visit with family yesterday.  My two nieces (my sister Ebby’s daughters), my great niece and great great niece.

My great niece and her daughter (my great great niece, Genna).  For  some reason  Genna loves my exercise bike.

My niece Katie opened her gift and from the looks on her face I think she liked it.

Genna eating a cookie that Aunt Beth made.  Take note of my antique bookcase put together with pegs that I mentioned in a previous post.

Have a really good week you all.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I will try to get a quick post on here.  My internet service has been up and down all day yesterday.  I had my modem reset 4 times yesterday and when I turned the computer off last night the internet was down again.  I am having a service call tomorrow evening.  Very aggravating.

I was reading in the paper this morning the many things that readers had written in that they were thankful for.  Really made me feel small when I read some of them.  I have many things to be thankful for!

I am thankful for my family, for the love and devotion they show me.  I am especially thankful for my sis Rae and her husband who will stay on the telephone for however long it takes to get me cheered up.  I am thankful for each new day that the good Lord grants me.  I am thankful for all of you, my blogging family, all around the world who support me in thought and prayer.  Bless you all and a special thanks to my Twin who has been my friend for over 6 years now. 

xoxxo

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.

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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

What??

You just told me it was Wednesday.  I guess I have to believe you although I hate too.  Precious life is slipping away.  The days blend, one right into the other.

The reason I lost track of time was because yesterday I cleaned all day long.  I started after breakfast and finished up at suppertime.  One reason it takes so long is my back that hollers at me to sit down and take a rest every few minutes.  I moved everything around in the kitchen and mopped.  That is no small chore as the table and chairs are very heavy.  Hey, I will put that on my list of things along with a washer and dryer and a garage.  I would like a dining room and maid service.  Now. mind you, I don’t want maid service like my Tennessee Twin had.  Tennessee Twin, hey, I like the sound of that; I think there is the making of a good old country song in that title. 

Then from the kitchen I moved on through the house, taking time out at 11AM to watch my fave, The Young and the Restless.  That show is so mixed up now.  I don’t think the writers have a clue where they are going with the story.  To make a long story short; I finally finished cleaning.

This morning I am getting my hair cut and doing a little shopping.  Then I don’t plan on doing anything the rest of the day.

I am still in the sorting of old pictures.  I started this 3 years ago and I am not finished yet.  I go in spurts and then I fizzle out.

I have lots of newly discovered first cousins in Missouri and an undiscovered (until recently) aunt in Michigan.  You see my daddy’s younger brother was married 5 times and there are children from each marriage, plus I am finding out all about the rest of my dad’s family too.  This all started from my putting my dad’s full name in Google.  There on a genealogical site I found a relative searching for info on my grandfather on my dad’s side.  The aunt in Michigan is my dad’s step-sister.  Her name is Marie and I was always told as a child that I was named after my dad’s sister.  Thanks to my cousin Bryce for getting me updated.

This is my Aunt Marie.  In the picture with her is her granddaughter and her husband.  Aunt Marie is 90 years old and in a nursing home in Michigan.  We have been corresponding the old fashioned snail way and she sent me this lovely picture in a letter.

Gotta run now as my hair appointment is early and I haven’t had breakfast yet.  You all stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Sing before 7…

cry before 11.  This is an old superstition that I have heard since I was a small child.  Believe me that was a fairly long time ago.  I don’t consider myself a superstitious person but I absolutely will not break into song before 7AM.  I am not afraid of walking under a ladder (not unless someone is standing on the ladder painting something) and I have been known to let a black cat cross my path without screeching at the top of my lungs.  Lucky for all of you that you can’t hear me sing because I can’t carry a tune in a bushel basket.  I am pretty good at whistling God Bless America though.  Long time readers of my blog will know exactly what I am talking about.  If you don’t know what I am talking about, ask me and I will explain.  Do you have any superstitions?

I love talking to my  sis, Rae, when we get to reminiscing about our younger days.  Lots of good laughs and memories there.  Of course some things are better not remembered so we won’t go there.  We were talking this morning about going to Centennial Jr. High in a central Illinois city.  I was in the 9th grade and Rae was in the 7th grade.  I was remembering this guy whose name was Frankie O. (no relation to your Frankie, Chip).  He had this tremendous crush on me and boy it was a heady feeling.  He followed me around in school like a puppy dog.  He was cute as can be with reddish hair.  I kind of had a thing for red hair until I met my Jim, then it was curly black hair.  Anyway Frankie O, if you are Polish and still living in this central Illinois city, I often wondered what happened to you.  LOL  A few months ago I thought I would look up an old friend only to find out through Google that he had passed away last October.  See!!  I told ya, you can never go home again.

Rae and me in our younger days.

It is a lovely cool morning right now, checking in at 61 degrees.  It is supposed to get up to the upper 80s today and then in the 90s later in the week.  This morning makes me think of Autumn and after the long hot summer we have had, I am more than ready. 

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

  Beth

I have this burning…

need to know why all actors, whether in commercials on television or in movies think they look more appealing with a couple of days growth of beard?  OK for the younger actors but the older actors look like scruffy old men to me.  One actor in particular  looks extra scruffy.  It is the actor who plays the lead role on House on the Fox Network.  His name is Hugh Laurie.  You can check out photos of him on the links.

~ Hugh Laurie ~

No reason for needing to know this, the thought just crossed my mind as I was reading something about George Clooney on the Net.  He didn’t look so bad 10 years ago with a couple of days growth of beard but now he looks like a scruffy old man.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love old guys but I think they need to shave every day.

I just bet you have figured by now that I had a boring day.  Not really so.  My brother and his wife from the St Louis area had been on a short trip to Iowa this week and they stopped by to see me on their way home.  We had a meal together at Dennys and a nice short visit.  It was very good to see them.  Other than that it has been a boring day.  I think I need to get out and do something exciting tomorrow.  Not sure what but if I think hard enough something will surely come to mind.

I have decided I don’t need a new car right now.  However if I do need one I definitely will go back to the dealer where that nice Tom works…and that guy was clean shaven.  LOL

One of my blogging friends from England told me that there are no pockets in shrouds and if I want a new car I should get it.  That is not a familiar expression in the US but I take it to mean that you can’t take it with you.  Thanks Arlene and if you are reading this and you are able to make it to America next year I will be expecting you to stop by and visit me!!

  Beth

'Cut the city in half': Death toll rises to 89 in Missouri tornado

This is heartbreaking news and the death toll will undoubtedly rise as the search is continuing.  http://www.htrnews.com/article/20110523/MAN0101/305240013/Update-89-killed-Joplin-Mo-tornado?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE  This really makes me feel small this morning.  My worries seem like nothing compared to this disaster.  Nancy, I know that you are in northern MO.  Please let us know that you guys are OK.  I do have a niece that lives at Kansas City and various relatives in south central MO.  Bryce, I hope you guys are all OK.

We got thunderstorms and just a small amount of rain yesterday.  We were under a tornado warning for about an hour yesterday, the worst storm being north of us.  No damage or loss of life, thank God!   This morning it is sunny and 68 degrees right now.

My smoke/carbon monoxide detector is acting up.  I am going to have to call maintenance at 9 AM to have them come and check it again.  I really hate that.  Why does this happen on a Saturday night? 


I still can’t access Blogger dashboard through IE.  I am having no problem accessing it through Firefox or Chrome.  If any of you are having trouble with dashboard you might want to try Firefox or Chrome.

And now I need to get busy and do a bit of cleaning.  I hope you all have a great week.

  Beth

Miss you mom…

A picture of my mom with her family.  My mom is the beautiful lady on the far right.

  Beth

Happy Birthday to my dad and my sister, Chris…

Today would have been the birthdays  of my dad  and my next to the oldest sister Chris.  They both have been gone a long time but I still miss them both.  Daddy was fun most of the time.  I can remember that he also knew how to give a good whack on the rear end too.  I knew that because even as a small child I was prone to put my foot in my mouth.  He called me Boogie.  Daddy is the only one who ever called me that.  I always thought when I was a little girl that Chris looked a lot like Lana Turner.  She is the one who took care of me when I was small as mom had her hands full with 8 kids.  I remember the day that Chris left home to get married.  I cried a lot and had nightmares for a long time.
I have been looking for some pictures of Chris when she was young and I can’t find any.  You have all seen a pic of my dad but in case you haven’t, here is one with my mom, Rae on the left, me next to Rae and Ebby on the far right.  Taken on mom and dad’s anniversary in 1969.



Happy Birthday Chris and Daddy.

  Beth

Would you?

go back in time if you could?  I mean back to a time in your life when everything was bright and you were really happy.  Well, I have had a lot of happiness in my life and quite a bit of sadness too.  So yes, just for a little while I would like to go back…  Have any of you seen the movie ‘Peggy Sue Got Married?’  I have the DVD and I have watched that movie so many times.  Every time I run across it on TV I stop and watch it again. 

Movie trailer…

What time in your life would you choose?  I would choose the year that my daughter was ten and my son was seven years old.  Jim and I were so happy.  I worked most of my married life but at this particular time I wasn’t working.  Jim was working a full time job at an AFB and working part time at the local Firestone store.  I so much enjoyed cooking and baking, even cleaning.  In those days I made everything from scratch.  Box mixes were rare although even at that time there was Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner in the blue box.  I am not the least bit embarrassed to say that to this day I still like the stuff even though homemade is lots better.

So here I am back in the real world and my children are grown and Jim is gone.  I still try to have a positive outlook on life and live one day at a time.

You all stay safe and be happy!!
  Beth

Happy Birthday to my son…

Here are some memories for you Jim.  I enjoyed your visit so much on Sunday.

Just click on the picture to make it larger.
  Mom

The day after the day after not winning the lotto…

and yesterday was a very nice day.  It was very warm and windy reaching 82 degrees in the afternoon.  We were under a tornado watch all night but it has been lifted now.  My sis wanted me to take some blankets and a pillow and bed down in the hallway for over night.  I was so tired I went to bed at a little after 9 in my bed.  We didn’t even get a thunderstorm which was OK by me.

My son’s visit was very nice.  My daughter and son in law came over to eat with us.  There were lots of leftovers for everyone to take home with them.  I kept enough for lunch for today as my niece is coming for lunch.

The cleaning craze has struck me and tomorrow I am going to start in on curtains and walls I think.  I am thinking about buying a carpet cleaner but I don’t know where I would put it if I did.  Maybe I will just see about renting one.

This is just a short update.  I hope you all have a good week.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Memories are made of this

Sweet, sweet memories you gave-a me
you can't beat the memories you gave-a me

Take one fresh and tender kiss
Add one stolen night of bliss
One girl, one boy
Some grief, some joy
Memories are made of this

Don't forget a small moonbeam
Fold it lightly with a dream
Your lips and mine
Two sips of wine
Memories are made of this

Then add the wedding bells
One house where lovers dwell
Three little kids for the flavor
Stir carefully through the days
See how the flavor stays
These are the dreams you will savor

With His blessings from above
Serve it generously with love
One man, one wife
One love through life
Memories are made of this
Memories are made of this

Songwriters: Richard Dehr, Frank Miller, Terry Gilkyson

Three years ago on Mother’s Day I put my mom’s maiden name in Google.  What a surprise to find a photo of my mom as a baby being held in the arms of my grandfather and grandmother.  A cousin had traced the roots on my mom’s side clear back to the early 1600s in the Netherlands.  You will find the picture on the left side of my blog.

Knowing hardly anything about what had happened to my dad’s side of the family I put my dad’s full name into Google a few days ago.  There on a genealogical site I found someone searching for information about my grandfather on dad’s side.  A few emails later I had some family pictures and some new cousins that I knew nothing about in South Central Missouri.  Rae and I have always said that if we could locate all of our cousins that we could all hold hands and stretch all of the way across Route 66.

The words to the song posted above don’t have much to do with my post.  I just like that song and I have it playing here on my blog.

The countdown to Spring as I am typing this is 19 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes and 35 seconds.

Time to go and fix breakfast.  I will catch you all later.

  Beth