Perennially Yours

@jeangenie wrote: When our daughter was learnng to read she saw '1 amaryllis' on the side of the box and carefully sounded out 'I am a ryllis'!

That's the cutest thing.

Pam, my dad had his thyroid removed as the biopsy stated suspicious for Cancer. During the removal he had tumors connected to his vocal chords. The Dr had a very rough time in removal. He's on synthetic Thyroid. Generally he's just cold all the time. However, all he wants to do is watch Tv and nap. It doesn't help that his congnition is impaired. It started prior to surgery. He forgets a lot and doesn't always remember our names. It's tough on Mom.

NM -- Anesthesia does affect his cognition after surgery too; I've heard.  Feel for mom as she has to do the remembering and it becomes a strain.  Being in charge all the time wears you down as I'm sure you are well aware.

Never did get in a nap yesterday.  Took some items over to my son's in prep for Christmas.  I was so organized for Thanksgiving and less so this time around.  I still have items I need to take over.  Will do tonight and get the bonus of seeing my DGDaugher & Dog.  Haha

Breakfast with the hikers today; last minute grocery shopping for me and probably mom.  The grocery store will be a mad house and I will phone her to see if I can pick up things vs. with her.  She is doing better with the motorcart but with all the people....not so sure.  

Hope she has signed all the checks and sent the ones to MS.  I just realized when I was making out my envelopes that my youngest's address had changed since I updated the list.  Crap.  My family isn't that huge but keeping up with informing everyone else is a duty I try to keep current.  Oh well.  

It is cold enough to freeze the lake and ice fishing is on the horizon.  Perhaps even some ice skating this year....soon before a snow & melt ruins the smooth ice.  I got my skates down as a reminder I want to see if my feet still fit and actually do this year.  If not, I'll either donate them or keep them for my DGD's use.  

Looks like no sledding while she is here unless we get a good amount of snow.  Not that she has asked.  She wants to go shopping which I had in mind anyway.  Just do not want to take away from my DS's time with her.  I have to find out his work routine while she is here and work around it.  Might mean getting her up earlier than she'll like.  haha

Ice skating on a real lake must be amazing. I hope conditions are right and your skates fit, please do a lap for me.

I have only ever ice skated on a rink, maybe two or three times ever. Roller skating I enjoyed a lot as a kid.

@jeangenie wrote:I think it will be amaryllis. In our house they are called 'ryllis'. When our daughter was learnng to read she saw '1 amaryllis' on the side of the box and carefully sounded out 'I am a ryllis'!

So cute!
They are beautiful when in flower. Paperwhites in the landscape must look wonderful.
Yea, caretakers of our folks is not for the faint of heart. Patience (of which I've a short supply) and love (of which is bottomless) gets us through.

I’ve skating on a lake sounds wonderful. I’ve only ever been on a rink.

Hope things went well at Moms today with checks and all

The aged moms...mine has terrible arthritis in her shoulders (well, everywhere) and can't wear a heavy coat - she swans about in the icy cold in a light fleece jacket. I worry!

Merry Christmas Pam.

Merry Christmas!

May you shuttle into the new year in great style.

Wishing you the merriest of holidays, Pam.  You are fabulous with all your adventures while taking care of mom duties.

Thanks to all who visited with holiday greetings.  Appreciated.  

Michigan got dumped on and snow removal was at the top of the list  before leaving to pick up mom on Christmas Day.  Oh, and roof raking.  

The day went well but I can tell she just does not enjoy it much.  Even though her hearing is bad she winces with loudness and that happens alot with my loud DS---whose voice is hard on me too.  I do not think I wince though.  

Food was good.  Enough for a little left overs for everyone which was nice.  At this point the little turkey I took home is gone.  My youngest got the carcass this time.  He'll make some soup.  

Yesterday was determined to be my day with my DGDaughter.  We shopped and found the boots she had already researched.  Sephora was involved as were a couple of other stores in the mall.  

The main idea for me was visiting the Natural History Museum where she could be reacquainted with the dinosaurs her great, great grandfather dug and assembled there.  Not to be.  After paying for parking and walking in the deep freeze....the museum was closed.  I swore I looked up the hours, etc. but today when I was going to call and complain...with the use of the website it clearly stated the museum was closed.  Google apparently was not informed.  I may end up doing the run today as I want to see before they close for 2 years and move to the new building.  

When we got back to her dad's house we cut snowflakes like we used to do. She used the huge paper I got some time back and made a beautiful one. I am not folding correctly as I am getting 8 points vs. 6. I remembered last night how to fold properly and may do some new snowflakes for home.

We are under a deep freeze for the next few days.  Unfortunately my DGD did not bring boots, a hat or gloves.  What was her mother thinking---Not.  Greensprout, your temps must be much worse!

I need to bring in the items that were taken over to my sons for the dinner yesterday and I am not jumping at the task.  

Need to finalize the menu for NY Eve day when my mom's favorite family is coming from WI to visit.  I heard a story on NPR on Christmas morning, wish I would have written down the woman speaking who spoke of anger coming from pain.  I believe mine is now.  You can bet that mom will be all attentive come Sunday.  

Yes, resentful.  It has gotten worse this year for me for some reason.  I am embarrassed to admit but my family will not be reading these entries and some folks probably understand.  

Have veggie and fruit remnants for the chickens.  I doubt they will venture out to eat so I'll put them right next to their exit door.  Poor girls.

Almost forgot, donating blood today in honor of a neighborhood friend of my children whose son passed away some years back. She always hosts a donation in his honor. Last time I tried. This time I am holding off on the coffee in hopes that my blood will flow much better. We'll see.

We share the same weather. We also got a fair amount of snow and, Man, it's cold here this week.

Don't feel bad for venting about family. IME they are some of the hardest people to keep one's tongue around. We all have that one family member......

The connection with the dinosaur is so fascinating, I hope the visit succeeds on the next attempt.  

It is better to vent here than to bottle up your feelings.

Hope you and your DGD stay warm, I cannot even imagine temps like yours or Greensprout's.

Pam I totally get the family and the resentment. The stories I could tell. However, best left alone for now.

Cold here too, colder than normal and with my weight loss last year, I’m struggling with dealing with it.

So cool with the dinosaur connection to your family. Hope you get to see them befor they move.

I hope to stop by the museum today while in town shopping for food supplies for the WI family gathering on Sunday.  That way I can begin making items over the next few days and still have some down time.  

-14F here at 4:30 a.m.  Nothing like GreenSprout.  Happy that there has been no snow fall to deal with in these temps for sure.  

Did the blood drive yesterday and the donation went in record time for me:  5 min.  I stayed off the morning coffee and iced tea.  I almost had an aspirin to help with any headache but I do not have aspirin in my medicine chest.  Good thing as that would have stopped me from giving.  Something new I just learned from that long sheet of items to read.  

Then I went to a movie; one my DGD wanted to see.  I had not seen any previous Pitch Perfect movies so I did not know what to expect.  Glad my DGD was not with me.  I thought it was PG13 but do not know now.  Too much older jokes for a 15 yo me thinks.  Thankfully the day we were to go had too long of a wait prior to the movie start.  

Sleeping longer....don't know why but am grateful.

All sounds positive - must be the sleeping! Hope it carries on.

The Natural History Museum is closing while construction is ongoing for its contents. For 2 years the contents will be packed, stored and reassembled in the new building. That meant a quick visit to see my grandpa's dinosaur displays and visit other areas. Unfortunately his Edmontosaurus (Montana) was damaged as they were disassembling. Of course it was the first item I always looked for/at. The good news is that I found the dinosaur named for my grandpa: Buettneria, an amphibian (Texas). Was a bittersweet day. Glad I went. The building is still beautiful and I will miss the circular penny spiral and the giant clam shell.

Addition:  The Edmontosaurus was the first dinosaur skeleton displayed in Michigan in 1938.  It took the team, including grandpa, two months to excavate, wrap and pack the rocks containing the fossils.  4 tons of rock was shipped to AA.  The skeleton was incomplete.  Missing most of its ribs, parts of the legs and tail.  Preparer:  William Buettner spent 3 years assembling the skeleton for display and fashioned the missing bones in plaster.  

A photo at the dig site shows the crew, their horses hard at work removing fossil-bearing rock.  Wagon and horses were the transportation medium.  The photo shows 4 men; two of which appear shirtless.  Who is who?  Does not say.  

I barely knew my grandpa.  I was 8-9 when he passed.

Cool story Pam. Thanks for sharing. No wonder you're such an adventurer.

Any relation to the Blue Zones Dan Buettner?

LB---I forgot about him! I have no idea if there is a connection. In my efforts to find lineage, I have failed or given up. I do have a friend who could assist me but I prefer to look into my grandpa's life. Although my father made sure we went to the museum there was little talk about his parents. Same with my mom.

Today is meal prep day. The food was purchased yesterday. Ham, potato salad, coleslaw, shrimp cocktail, veggie tray along with olives, pickles and many other items will be prepped.

I should drop off the bad foods tomorrow....breads, chips, dips, desserts.

I have never had a spiraled ham as I am not a ham fan. It comes precooked. Do not know if that means I still should warm. Need to research that.

Other then that, today is mine and I will have some me time too.

My DGD is getting her hair highlighted again. Her Christmas present from her father.

I found out on the townie site that the museum was open the day I went with my DGD! In mind that day I thought that I should have tried the door myself instead of going with the info the woman said to me. The reason? Those doors are extremely heavy! I'm bummed as who knows if I will be able to get my DGD to go in two years when the new museum will be open. Will she still be visiting her father at 18 yo when a trip from NC to MI is over 10+ hours? Hope so.

My breast cancer friend celebrated her last chemo treatment yesterday. The patient gets ring a bell and staff help them celebrate. She mentioned that she was surprised by the emotion she felt. I am not.

Now the wait until mid-January for the next steps and scheduling surgery. Her dr. is on vacation until then.

Her DH is failing fairly rapidly from his Parkinsons. He sleeps alot. He has good and bad days.

Hey Pam, have you looked at the avatars in the gallery? Under misc(ellaneous) (scroll all the way down) are several beautiful water images that you'd probably like too. Can't beat Pedi's, but some come pretty close.

One of my grandfathers died while my mom was pregnant with me (her dad), the other one when I was 17, months before their 50th wedding anniversary...

To think of having to travel 10 hours to see your dad and the rest of that side of the family... ouch. No wonder you're so excited she's there. Enjoy that precious time together. Not that you need me to tell you that.

I have never had a spiraled ham as I am not a ham fan. It comes precooked. Do not know if that means I still should warm. Need to research that.

That would depend on how you're gonna serve it, obviously. Glazing requires oven heat.

LB - cold was my thought; sandwiches for most.

I have put off the avatar thing...procrastinator. Guess I should get busy on that one soon. Thanks for the push.