the day before in my case.  Tomorrow will be my big meal and I have been cooking up a storm.  Still last minute things to fix in the morning.  I have forgotten what work it is to cook a big meal.  If family can’t come right on Christmas Day then I am going to serve Pizza Hut.  No dishes, no leftovers.  :-)

It is gorgeous here today.  Sunshiny and 40 degrees.  When I got up this morning it was low 20s and there was some ice on my back steps frozen from the snrizzle (snow/drizzle) that we had yesterday.

Tonight is the lighting of the Christmas tree at the end of Main Street downtown.  It is a huge tree that snarls traffic and tomorrow afternoon is the Christmas parade.  I doubt if I will attend either one.

I have been to workout this morning and to the post office and the store.  Hardly anyone working out this morning.  I guess they were all shopping black Friday.  There is no way that I will fight the crowds like that to save a few dollars.

I hope you are all geared up for a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth 

and I went out in the rain and went to workout.  My doctor appointment for today was cancelled because the doctor is sick.  It has been rescheduled  for Dec. 11.  Now I have appointments for Dec 1, 10 and 11.

I cleaned the beans up a few days ago and this is the way they look today.

If there will be one good thing to come out of my moving it will be getting away from my lovely bean tree.

A couple of my buddies from the fitness center.  The gal on the right is in her mid 80s.  She had a stroke several months ago and as part of her therapy she walks on the treadmill 30 minutes every day but Sunday.  She is adorable and always has a lovely smile for everyone.  The young man is great guy.

This guy is precious.  He is at the stage of his life where he has so many decisions to make one of them being whether he should get married or not.  Should he finish college or keep looking for the perfect job.  He is one of the workers at the fitness center.  Even at the fitness center I am a mother figure.  You know what, it is kind of nice.

I hope Thanksgiving is a truly blessed day for you.  I will be baking pies tomorrow and eating on Saturday when my kids will be here.

Beth 

Yesterday I spent half an hour talking to my neighbors (Annie and Bill) a few houses down the street from me.  Bill was my husband’s best friend for many years.  He just got out of the hospital a week ago after having surgery for lung cancer.  I called to tell them that I had made a hard decision, that I was putting my house up for sale in the spring and moving to the city my daughter and son in law live in.

This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life.  Just the thought of leaving behind this house that I shared so many years with Jim and that we raised our children in has caused me to shed copious tears.  I will hate to leave my wonderful neighbors.  As I was in the clinic to see a doctor last week I stopped by to say hello to my neighbor (she works there) catty corner across the alley from me.  She told me again that her husband would be over to take care of snow removal for me and not to worry about it.  Even my new neighbors have turned out to be super nice.

Yesterday was a bright sunshiny day.  I made a trip to the big city to Target and to Sam’s Club.  I bought a rotisserie chicken at Sam’s.  They are so good.  I also bought a couple of Christmas presents.  Today is windy and very foggy and I just heard a forecast that we may have snow for Thanksgiving.

Fortunately for me I can take my blogging friends with me when I move.  Thank heaven for that.

I hope you all have an extra special week.

Beth 

copyright ~ Julie Larson

I love this cartoon.  People, people!  Julie Larson is a genius.  I think her cartoons are awesome.

I am just home from workout and I didn’t want to go again today but I forced myself and did the whole workout.  The only thing that I have done differently the past 6 months is work with the fixed weights so the doctor and I agreed that is a factor in my better lab results.  It is truly amazing what exercise can do for your health.  If you can’t do anything else, just get out and walk.

And…guess what?  The sun is shining for the first time in 5 days.  I can’t believe it.  This afternoon I will have to get the rake out and tackle the beans.

I hope you all have a great weekend. 

Beth

just rollin’ along, singin’ a song.  I am just home from my doctor appointment with the good looking kidney specialist.  He kind of smiled today, a bit like Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory (love that show by the way)!  Several of my counts were  abnormal but the really important one had come down 4 points since lab work done last June.  The doctor was happy and so was I.  He is a very thorough doctor and before I left he called me honey and said he would see me in a year!!!!  Now, I have been going to this doctor for over 10 years and he has never smiled once and definitely never called me honey.  Made my day I tell ya! 

I stopped by Meijer and picked up a turkey and the rest of the stuff I need for my Thanksgiving dinner.  We are having it on Saturday after Thanksgiving and I have a ham and a 10 lb turkey.  Of course it is not Thanksgiving without green bean casserole.  I love that stuff and I only have it once a year.  My daughter is bringing pineapple upside down cake, salad and hot rolls.

After Meijer I stopped by Cheddars and had chicken tenders, broccoli cheese casserole and cole slaw.  I brought 5 chicken tenders home.  They were huge today.  I have never had chicken tenders any place else that is as good as Cheddars.

Still raining here today.  I have hopes for a brighter tomorrow.

and it is a good one.  Why in the world do the big, heavy, sweaty guys use the fixed weight machines right before I am ready to use them.  Yuck!!!  I don’t seem to mind so much when the young good looking sweaty guys use the machines right before me.  LOL  I wonder why that is??  One of the mysteries of life. 

I am just home from workout and for some reason today it  pooped me out.  I persevered though and did my full workout like a good little lady.  Then I had several errands to run.  Tomorrow will be a busy day as I have an appointment with my best looking doctor.  Unfortunately he rarely smiles and tends to be a bit on the grouchy side. 

Wishing our friend Toodie a happy birthday.  Toodie, eat a piece of cake for me with lots of frosting and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Never watch the Bucket List on your birthday.  It is too sad.  I remember when I watched it I cried a bucket of tears.

Gotta go now as it is about time for The Young and the Restless.  Only an act of God or a doctor appt make me miss it.  Then I have to watch it on the Soap Channel.

Beth 

and I wish I could be in Hawaii.

I doubt it will happen in this lifetime though so I live vicariously through the photos that Bill and Karen sent me from their trip. Perhaps I will be reincarnated as a bird of paradise pictured below.

I had my raincoat, and shoes on and was all ready to head for the post office and on to the grocery store.  Nuhuh, no way am I going out in that pouring rain.  I have all day long to get to town.  I am hoping it lets up some in a few hours.

Whenever it does clear off I have a solid blanket of beans on the ground.  At least several thousand dollars worth.  I even bought a new rake a few days ago so I have something to look forward to. 

I hope you are all having a great week.  It has been solid rain here for the last 3 days with at least one more day to follow.  I shudder to think how many inches of snow that would have been as we have already had almost 4 inches since Sunday.  Look for the price of all corn and soybean products to go up.

Hugs 

Beth

Yes, life is short and I am trying to psyche (sp?) myself into remembering it.  Many things going on in my life right now. 

I think you might remember my cousin (in Michigan) Audrey’s grandson Nate.  The poor little fellow has had heart problems since birth.   He was due to have a heart cath and it was discovered he had pneumonia.  He is recovering from that and the heart cath has been rescheduled.  Please remember this brave little guy in your prayers.

I have several more doctor appointments facing me this month and next.  I am sure not looking forward to that.  I am praying the weather holds out with no ice or snow.  I 57 is bad enough when the roads are clear.  My last appt this month is the day before Thanksgiving.  How bad do you think the traffic will be that day??  Anyone wanting to come along and go with me is welcome.

It is pouring rain this morning and is very windy with a temp of 42.  I will make myself go out in it after a bit to go to the post office and to workout.  Then I think that will be it outdoors for today, barring an emergency.  Well, I might be persuaded to go to the library if a good book comes in for me. 

Enough gloomy thoughts for today.  So now Ms Toodie, I am looking on the sunny  side of life.

Hugs and

Beth

  Beth

and nothings’ shaking’ but the leaves on the trees (and the beans).  It is windy and very dark outside, maybe some rain today.

I had another profitable run to our little local IGA store:  3 boxes of Chex cereal, 4 packets of Chex seasoning mix, 4 lb bag of sugar, 5 lb bag of flour, 1 box of Betty Crocker potatoes, 3/4 lb bag of pecans, 2 lbs of bananas, 2 lb bag of brown sugar, 2 cans of carnation milk, and  1 can of tuna for a total of $16.41.  I guess you can tell I am stocking up for my holiday baking.  I will be making Chex mix for my son as he loves it.  I also have real butter for it.  Oh shoot, I forgot the pretzels. 

For some reason I am not in the mood to do anything today.  I even skipped my cardio workout for today and the beans are still laying on the ground.  I think I will wait a few more days and get my little friend Annie to come and give me a hand.  I am sure she could use some more Christmas money.

I am still plowing  my way through the book I am reading.  It is getting  better as it moves along.

One bright note for tonight.  This is NCIS night.

Beth 

and I have been out and about already this morning.  First to the post office, then to get my hair cut, then to workout and finally out to pay my water softener bill.  I love having bills that I can pay in town.  This is such a small town that I only live blocks away from everything.

My beautician works out at 6AM every day.  She told me I should start working out then because that is when the fun happens.  One of the doctors in town and one of the lawyers are really wimps when they workout.  Of course they can afford the personal trainer.  She told me that they holler and complain all of the while they are exercising.  Don’tcha just love beauty parlor gossip??  It is always told in fun and never anything malicious.  However, even to see the fun, I have no intention of going to workout at 6 in the morning.

My yard is covered with beans again.  If the bugs aren’t too bad this afternoon I may go out and take care of that, by raking this time as my lawnmower needs gas and I really don’t want to buy anymore to store over the winter.  The squirrels are really enjoying the beans so maybe I should wait a day or two. 

Beth 

the lady bug beetles or whatever they are called are so thick   I didn’t venture outside this afternoon.  It is impossible to keep them out of the house.  The minute you walk outside they are all over you.  We have had  a couple of hard freezes and I thought that would take care of them, but no, every time the sun comes out they come back to life again.  Oh well, I will probably be wishing for this kind of day, lady bugs and all in another month or two.

I had a first happen today.  My new neighbor brought me my lunch, a delicious casserole portion and some French bread.  Usually I am the one giving.  I was really touched.

I can’t seem to get interested in my new book.  I don’t think it is nearly as good as Lisa Jackson’s previous books.  Or maybe I am just getting pickier as the years pass.

My sister is going with my niece Dee and her husband to Johns Hopkins for a follow up appointment regarding the liver transplant that my niece is needing.  They are leaving Tuesday morning.  We welcome all good thoughts and prayers for them for a safe trip and for good news from the doctor visit. 

I hope this new week is a good one for us all. 

I am sitting in my favorite recliner in the living room watching The Young and the Restless in glorious High definition and lo and behold, I hear the sound of a lawnmower.  I wait patiently for the next commercial and then hop up to peek out my front window thinking, oh boy, maybe my new neighbors are mowing.  WRONG!!!  It is my neighbor across the street on the corner who has been a dear friend since my children were small.  She is mowing her granddaughter’s yard next door to me and she also mowed all of my front yard.  I was going to go out and do that this afternoon.  The beans are gone for today anyway, mowed to smithereens by Jo on her gigantic lawn mower that can mow in circles.  Now I have to bake something for her. 

I have been to workout and was face to face with our local celebrity monster truck driver.  He has really slimmed down since he is working out and is a very good looking young man.  Now I have two days off from working out so I guess I had better give my house a workout as it sure needs it.

I have no reason at all to post this picture except I want to because I love it.  It is my grandmother, grandfather, my mother standing and my Aunt Mabel being held.  It just makes me feel good when I look at this picture.

On that happy note I will close till tomorrow or whenever.  Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs and

Beth

sunshiny day…and I have been out and got my running all done for the day.  Post office, no mail, not even junk mail; cable TV office, HBO still not working properly.  Little local grocery store where I ran into Jim’s nephew’s old fiancée that he was was engaged to right after they both graduated from high school.  She was so glad to see me she gave me a big hug.  Don’t you just love small towns. 

Big savings at the grocery store today, Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats (my favorite cereal), a gallon of milk, 2 bags of Halls sugar free cough drops, 2 Healthy Choice TV dinners, 1 lb of butter and Green Giant 4pack single serving veggies all for $10.92 with coupons and senior discount.  And now you ask, what are you going to do with the butter??  LOL  Well it is the time of the year for goodie baking.  Anyone interested in coupons, go to www.coupons.com.  There is always a few coupons there that I can use.

I mowed the beans in my front yard on Sunday afternoon and now the yard is covered with beans again plus leaves from my new neighbors trees.  They have neither mowed or raked since they moved in.  They seem like nice people but not the type that gives a tiddleypoop what their yard looks like.  Sandi was so particular with her yard and her flowers and now nobody cares.  Oh well, that is life.  It does make it harder for me cleaning up after them.

EEK!!  I have done a big rant and this is only Tuesday.

I hope ‘we’ are all having a good week.

and I wanted to take a picture to show you but by the time I got the camera out on my back porch it was cloudy again.

You can tell my neighbors on the corner have a little girl in addition to the 2 mini pins.

Here you can see that the gray squirrels have cross bred with the red squirrel.  I now have red squirrels, grey squirrels and the cross breed, gray with a red stripe down the middle of the back.

They all love to eat my expensive beans but they give me a mess instead of $12 a lb for them.  It is kind of cute how they put their tail up over their back to protect them when it is raining.

And to finish off…

Top 10 signs you’re too old to trick or treat.

• You get winded from knocking on the door.
• You have to have a kid chew the candy for you.
• You ask for high-fiber candy only.
• When someone drops a candy bar in your bag you lose your balance and fall over.
• People say “Great mask” and you are not wearing a mask.
• When the door opens you yell “Trick or…” and can’t remember the rest.
• By the end of the night you have a bag full of restraining orders.
• You have to carefully choose a costume that won’t dislodge your hairpiece.
• You’re the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.
• You avoid going to houses where your ex-wives live.

That said, have a great weekend and don’t overeat on the treats.

Beth

but that didn’t stop me from going out in the pouring rain to the post office and on down to workout.  Workout was not fun this morning.  Maybe because of the rain but the place smelled like old nasty sweat.  Old I mean, not fresh!  I am glad to have a couple of days off from working out!!

I stood on the front porch and took a couple of pictures through the rain.

Not many of the little leaves left on the tree but still lots of beans left.  Hard to see through the rain.

I noticed that the beans are scattered all up and down the street.  I like to share my wealth with my neighbors.

And this is the only thing left in my front yard that has any leaves left on it.  Last year a few days after Christmas my daughter and son in law were here and cleaned up the rest of the beans from my yard.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

but at least I am not fighting the beetles while the rain is coming down.  According to the local paper, they are actually called Asian lady bugs,  They are in varying shades of orange and yellow, although the ones that have been hanging out with me are the yellow ones.  They are nasty bugs and they really stink when you squish them.

I had some of you ask if I knew  what had happened to our friend Nanci.  I was in touch with her today.  She has decided to take a leave from blogging for awhile.  I asked her if it was OK for me to mention this in my blog and she agreed.  We miss you Nanci.    I hope that you will soon feel like posting again.

This weather is not conducive to good sprits.  I have several things that I still need to do outdoors to get ready for winter.  I did get out before the rain started on Wednesday and with hood drawn up on a sweatshirt (to protect me from the lady bugs) mow the lawn.  That is the first time that I have mowed this season and I had forgotten how much I enjoy mowing.  So if the good Lord is willing and the creeks don’t rise, I will mow my own lawn next year.

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