Christmas remembered

What a wonderful Christmas holiday. Hosting the Elijah family for Christmas dinner and getting to play games with Ron's children while the men slept or as they said watched the football game. Having my kids and their families here Christmas night with tons of packages to open and getting to see Caleb for the first time in a year. Hosting the Fehling Christmas on the 26th with all but 6 members here, we missed Cheryl & Jim, Caitlin, Jason & Julie and Vanessa. A feast brought by everyone, the living room filled with people and gifts to open, watching Dallas, Emily, Charley and Noelle, talking with Jason & Julie on Skype courtesy of Ashley, the snow that made the landscape beautiful--a few of the blessings that were mine this Christmas season.

Car is stuck

My car is stuck in the snow--not on the road, not in the ditch, but down east of the barn! I could not get it in the garage yesterday afternoon when I got home from school, wound up crossways in the driveway. Bill tried; but ended up down by the barn and the final resting place is in a snowbank down there. Now this morning Bil is throwing up so it doesn't look like he is going out to clean the driveway or get the car unstuck. Maybe his brother will have to take his mother to her dr. appt. this afternoon. Sure don't want her to get the flu. I don't have to go anywhere today. But it sure would be nice to have the yard etc cleaned up by the time we have company on Saturday and Sunday!

We had a nice Evening Circle Christmas party at the 3-30 Club last night. Food was great and I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas trivia Joy and I did. We had questions about Christmas songs and for everyone you got correct you got a "La" and if you were wrong you go at "Fa". At the end we had them sing the Fa's and La's to a familiar tune. We didn't stay long because when we went to town there were large drifts on the north/south road that blew up over the hood of the pickup and there were more drifts on the way home.

School was delayed 2 hours this morning but I got a full day in yesterday. Seemed everyone wanted help. Did vocabulary words with the first graders. Am always amazed at the words they know already.

Bedroom update

Neal was here two days last week to put the skim coat on the bedroom walls so Mike could come and paint. As you all know, you just can't do one thing without it leading to another. Now Neal has to put new drywall up in the ceiling of the closets. He wants heat upstairs. I can't sleep in the heat. I sleep downstairs on the sofa bed. It stinks upstairs. I can't sleep when it stinks. I sleep downstairs on the sofa bed. My clothes are down in the other bedroom, Bill's clothes are in the storage room. Some of our clothes are in the dresser in the bedroom probably getting moldy! When will this get done? Then we can move it all again when the carpet gets put in which is all I wanted to begin with!

Some Christmas gifts are bought; none are wrapped. More gifts to buy. Need to go shopping again. Sue and I went Friday; I purchased a sofa, loveseat and chair. Anybody want the sofa bed and matching recliner that is in the back room? Let me know soon because it is gone when they deliver the new, possibly this week.

It snowed!

We had over 6 inches of snow this past weekend. It looks so pretty out, even if it is only 4 degrees outside! And even though I got the car stuck--on my own yard--Saturday morning. I just couldn't get it to go in the garage, I slid backwards, sideways, finally ended up down by the barn and called Bill! Of course he drove it right up to the house and asked if I didn't know how to drive. I did notice our neighbors had cleaned out their driveways before their wives went away, but I didn't say anything.

Joy and I went to a piano concert Sunday afternoon after eating lunch at church served by the Senior High Fellowship. We went to the Adler Theater in Davenport to see Jim McDonough's "Holiday Grande 2010" concert. He can really play and sing. One interesting part of the concert is when he takes requests from the audience and then plays them one after another (maybe just a line or two) without skipping a beat. I don't know how that's done, you would have to think of the song, what key to play in etc. A good concert to see and it benefits Camp Courageous.

Since I was volunteering yesterday at school I got to see the matinee performance of the Lowden elementary school Christmas concert. The music teacher did a great job and the students used percussion instruments in a lot of the songs. They performed again last night. Today the music teacher will do it all over again at the Mechanicsville school.

Stay warm everyone.

Smells

This has been the week of smells! Last Wednesday night as I was ready to go to Thanksgiving Eve service at church and was set to open the porch door, I saw a skunk. It was right there in front of me by the light pole. I didn't know what to do, if I opened the door and went out would it be scared and spray me? Bill kept saying if I shoot it, it will smell. Know what? It did. He shot it by standing on the porch just inside the door. After the 3rd shot, it lay dead--well the first shot missed but he got it finally with the other two. I left for church; the inside of the car smelling like skunk. Even when I left church to go home. Bill didn't want to carry the skunk away so it layed there until we got home from Thanksgiving dinner. The smell didn't come into the house, but the minute you opened the door--yuk! Finally I convined him he had to get rid of it. The sidewalk where he died smelled until Sunday. Phew!

Today it is the smell of fresh paint that I noticed when I got up. Mike Elijah and his painting partner came yesterday and painted the bathroom and kitchen. Only took a few hours, I guess. I was at school and when I got home it was all done. Now I have the curtains washed and ironed, floor mopped, all the woodwork was washed prior to painting. Now if it would just stay clean!

Cheryl

This past week has been a busy, fun one. Cheryl came Tuesday evening; Bill, Grandma and I got to meet her at the airport. Hopefully she has had a good time while here and saw and did everything she wanted to. Tomorrow morning, very early, she leaves again. The week goes so fast.

Plans for painting the kitchen and bathroom are going well. Mike said he could paint the Monday after Thanksgiving so I've been busy removing things from walls and washing walls. I can't wait for that to get done. The bedroom will have to wait until it can get a couple skim coats. But like Neal says, who cares if the bedroom is painted, you sleep with your eyes closed!

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. We do have a lot to be thankful for. I hope everyone has looked a Vanessa's face book page and seen the video of Caleb graduating from sniper school.

Wallpaper

I've been taking wallpaper off my bedroom this past week. I will NEVER EVER put wallpaper on any wall. The top layer of the paper came off fairly easy, mainly because the seams have been loose for years anyway. The bottom layer came off ok with a squirt of fabric softner in water. That was on my old plaster walls. But the wallpaper on the closet walls which we built years ago didn't want to come off. Bill's nephew Mike is going to paint for me and he recommended DIF. You spray that on after scoring the wallpaper. Well, there is some wallboard missing now too. The plaster walls are rough--Neal says he can put a couple coats of skim (whatever?) on the walls, do you suppose that works on wallboard too? Otherwise I have a mess! Mike is a professional painter and I want the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom painted before Christmas. He thought he could get it done. I hope so. At least the bathroom and kitchen. Nobody is going to see the bedroom anyway.

Yesterday the search committee hosted a potluck after church to get the congregation's opinion on some of the questions on our church profile. We had almost 60 people stay for the question and answer session and we consider it a success. Next meeting Thursday night.