Mom's off to Georgia!

 I drove Mom to Las Vegas to catch her plane for Georgia today. I hope she has a Merry Christmas!!!

I snapped this photo on the way home (bad driver!). A shuttle driver one pointed it out and said it was Lincoln's head. A profile, like on our penny. Kind of cool.

Mom gave me this little ceramic Santa Scene that Laura made. She ( Mom) didn't have anyplace to set it up in her itty bitty apartment, so I'm using it for now. It's quite cute.

Mom's window is lit up like a Christmas tree! 

I made some ornaments-- one for each of Mom's grandchildren. From Dad's flannel shirts.

Lastly, I stitched this up for Mom. A money pillow from one of Dad's shirts.

Hazards of Old Age - "Lost" Wallet

 Mike was kind enough to do some errands for me and mailed a package yesterday. He had to make two trips to the UPS store. The first trip, he bought the padded envelope and brought it home to make sure it would fit. And then I addressed it for him, and then I left for the afternoon. (I was covering a shift for April Curtis at the Cedar City temple. I have known April for 45 years! So hard to believe.)

But then, Mike had to take the addressed and sealed package back to the UPS store and mail it. Later on that day, he was on the computer at home purchasing some of his supplements. But when he went to get his credit card from his wallet to make the purchase, his wallet was not there in his pocket! He had such a panic attack. Understandably so. He rushed back to the UPS store because that was the last place he had used it to mail that package. They had not seen a wallet. Of course, at first he hunted all through the house, all through the vehicle, everywhere he could think of. But it was nowhere to be found.  He was fit to be tied! When it wasn't at the UPS store, he was so despondent. So worried. But then he reached in his back pocket, and there it was! Surprise. 

He has been keeping his wallet in his front pants pocket for the better part of this year. His chiropractor suggested that he do that to help his back. And it worked! So front pocket it has been. We don't know how it ended up in his back pocket, but he did find it. And he is glad. We're both relieved. But we're both feeling a little old and stupid.

 It happens to the best of us, right?

Oh. One more thing. Mike was baking brownies one day. We do love brownies, and he's really good at those boxed mixes-- with add- ins! He pre-heated the oven, put them in, set a timer. When he came back to check on them, they were not cooked. As in still raw batter. Well, he had put the pan in the wrong oven. NOT the pre-heated one, the cold one. Haha. He did get them baked, and they were yummy. But he was pretty disgusted when he realized what he'd done.  

Ditto, above...it happens to the best of us AND the rest of us.

;-)

Ward Party, Christmas 2022

 

 

I knew the Santa and Mrs. Claus, so I had someone snap a photo of us.  Former co-workers and Santa is one of our Bishop's co-workers in the IT department. It was fun to visit with Trecia for a bit.

Robert came to Cedar (Robert and Janet) to visit during the weekend before his and Dad's birthdays. He got some nice, bright Christmas lights up in Mom's window so it looks like a festive Christmas tree. She loves it!  It lights up her living room like a good, big nightlight at night time, too.

And Mom and I have been working on these, made from Dad's shirts. Christmas gifts for her grandchildren.

Texas, Day Four

 

Here's me and Sandy Long Newton from High School. I love it when you can sit down, catch up, and it's like you were never apart. And yet it's been ages and ages. I love having friends like that, truly.

David and I checked out of our New Boston Hotel. Then we went to Sacrament meeting there in New Boston. Knew nobody, talked to few, and left. Headed to Texarkana to attend the second hour of meetings. Why not? Well, we didn't know many people, though we did see Henry and Lavina Platt. And a Benton whose parents were from Cedar City.

The best part of the day was lunch with Dandy, though so fun. We really should talk and visit more.

Funeral-ing, Day Two

 

Uncle Jake passed away in 1987. I didn't look at Duane's headstone, but he died in 1975. He was killed in a gas station robbery.  So long ago. Cousin John passed away I think around 1980.  He was at college and accidentally strangled in his sleep in bed. They lost two young adult sons. So sad. They are all buried there in the cemetery in Texarkana. And there is room for Theresa ( single, never married), and Richard, too. Divorced, single.

All the services were nice. They had the first one in New Boston. Then the next in Texarkana for the burial. 

Then back to New Boston for a lovely luncheon. It was very nice.  The church ladies there in New Boston did a nice job. We were very full and had lots  and lots to eat.

We got a lot of visiting in, too. We exchanged addresses. We said our goodbyes...

I tried to find Bonnie Thrapp, but we really struggled. She's sick with the flu, but we did drop off a pretty poinsettia and some chocolates. Waved from the driveway. Went away. 

Then David and I drove to Texarkana and dropped in on Aunt Mary Jane Autrey. She's in a Brookdale facility, just like Mom and Dad were. Now it's "Our House", but it still looks the same. Assisted Living. 

It was a fun little visit.

She's 97! And misses Uncle Dodd who also died in June of this year like Dad. Dodd was 100.

We accidentally parked in the "Future Resident Parking" spot instead of "Visitor Parking" spot. Ack!! Back out quickly, Dave! We are NOT moving in here! Ha ha.

Then, we drove back to New Boston. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Dave and I went to Uncle Mike's hotel to visit a bit more, as he's leaving on Sunday morning. He flew into Shreveport, LA and drove a rental car to New Boston.

Aunt Sue, Hooks, etc.

 I flew to Dallas on Thursday morning from Cedar City, arriving around 5:30 pm. Poor David had to drive in the dark, thru rush hour traffic to get back to Springtown with us. I won't ask him to do that again! Night, traffic, stress. Not a good mix, poor guy.

But Friday was a bit better. Still another trip to DFW. But it was in daylight, and not during rush hour. He forgot what time my flight arrived, so that's why there needed to be two trips to the airport-- once for me, again for a rental car. So we got up, fed, dressed and ready, headed to the DFW airport, got a car, parked HIS in the remote lot and headed for New Boston, TX. Lunch along the way was at Boston Market in Grapevine. And another rest stop... Trial and error to find express ways...more traffic, accidents...

But we had time to spare in East Texas, so we found the places we'd need to be in New Boston later and tomorrow, grabbed an early dinner at a greasy spoon. Still had more time, do we toodled around in Hooks for a bit and dropped in on Dave's friend, Steven Lin, to say hi, drop off a couple of books. Then around the High School. Then past Aunt Sue's house... Past the street where I used to live, Down Garden Road. Absolutely NOTHING looked familiar. No-thing. Zippo. Nada.

We drove to New Boston for a 6 p.m. Rosary Mass at the funeral home. I did not recognize Theresa. Neither did David. But we re- introduced each other. Others came. I'm friends on Facebook with most. And Uncle Mike came from back east! It was nice to see him. Aunt Karen is staying with Chris and Liz in MD. Aunt Karen has shirt term memory loss and doesn't do well with change. Or travel.

There were lovely flowers and plants, many of her church friends, square dance friends, and family. A LOT of happy visiting was going on. It was noisy and happy. And it should have been! She was a happy woman, she had a lovely long life. 

The Rosary Mass was interesting. Lots and lots of "Hail Mary's". Lots and lots. We counted close to seventy. But we got a lot more visiting done after that, too. 

Pretty flowers and plants. The standing spray on right is what Donna ordered from the Martin and Marilyn Autrey family.

In Hooks, in front of the HS basketball gym.

Floral arrangement.

Informal visiting.

Aunt Sue's four remaining children, left to right, Eileen, Theresa, Richard, Michael.

Michael's wife, Toni (center). My Uncle Mike on Left.

Michael and Toni's grandchild, Noah. Three days before, he was in a pediatric ICU. He's a little miracle baby. Prayers are answered.

Richard and David. Richard and my brother, Robert, are the same age. Richard had heart surgery and has been trying to live healthily, according to Michael Jaixen. 

Cousins.

And with Uncle Mike.

Michael and his grandson

 They accidentally wore matching outfits. Cute. Noah's 16 months.

See? We really did enjoy our visits.

My attempt at a cousin selfie with Richard

Eileen, Theresa, me, Uncle Mike.

David thought I needed to experience "Dukes," which is a gas station along I-30. It's big, nice, but doesn't compare to Buckee's. NOTHING compares with Buckee's, haha.

Temple worker party

 Time for Christmas parties and gatherings!

Tonight's was for Service Missionaries and paid clerical staff. I never even knew there WAS paid staff in temples. But there are a few. 

We all had the opportunity to attend an endowment session at 4 pm, then gather at a nearby chapel for a potluck dinner and program. We got to hear our old neighbor, Marijeanne and her daughter, Mari, sing to us. We knew many of the folks there, but met some new friends. Mike and I only work 8 hours a week there, but the Temple is open many more hours with many more staff. 

We had to wait a while for the food. Ham from Lin's market and shrimp. Yum!

Lots of lovely breads and sides and salads. I made a big pan of funeral potatoes. There were lots of leftovers, so I took some. And so did lots of other folks. I won't have to cook for a while.

We had to fill out name tags that had HINTS for our name. A rhyme, or a description, or something. Mike's name tag has two beautiful hearts. Because his name is LIEBHARDT which is Germans for LOVE (heart) hard. Two hearts. Clever. Someone else drew the hearts for him 

My name "Rhymes with Brenda"  and in Spanish "Means 'pretty'".

One task on a game was to take a picture with someone. So I did and she texted it to me. Kari Jensen, Office Worker. Cute back drops were provided. I was one of only two people there wearing holiday attire (there are sparkly snowflakes on my red shirt), so I signed a LOT of papers for others. We were collecting signatures. 

Here's a cute snowman container of GODIVA chocolate and Utah Truffles, and Lindt chocolate. 

Marijeanne Carter. My old neighbor!  And her daughter, Mari. Also old neighbor. We miss having them and their talent in our Ward.

Leftovers! Potato casserole and jello salads.

Funny thing about the food assignments. There were between 60 and 70 people there, maybe. We were asked to bring food assignments according to last names. A thru G, breads; H thru M, green or other salads or other side like potatoes; M thru S, desserts.

We saw only ONE dessert! I mean, the jello salads were like dessert, but my friend Janet SEEGMILLER,  who brought a frozen raspberry dessert, and I looked around and could find only one person there who had a last name beginning with S. And that was her. Hmm. Strange that it didn't balance out better, huh?

I'm really glad I worked hard at filling out my game sheet with names in order to win a prize. I got my candy/ chocolate fix for the night.

Sparkly snowflakes on my shirt by glow of Christmas tree lights.

I do have my tree up now.

Oh, and Mike and I came home to Veronica Loch in the basement,  prepping for a Cedar City Drag Show. (Eric's performing tonight in town.)

You can see the resemblance, right?

Caroline is assisting with Eric's wig.

Gee, Mom...at least let me get my wig on!