Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays too

It's Christmas Day.  Just went for a walk with Bailee and our neighborhood is quiet.  It must have been party time last night instead of 7:15 this morning.  Bob and I went to Mass last night for 2 hours.  Relaxed, listened to the early choir and took it all in.  It was very nice, with extra time to pray.  We celebrated with all of our family LAST weekend and I can't even begin to say how wonderful that was. 

This was the year of Double Twelve DOMINOES with our friends.  Learned to play dominoes correctly for the first time in our long lives.  Never thought I'd like the game, but it's addicting and of course we have a friend who added money to make the game more interesting (thank you Bill Malek, what would we do without you and you should patent this idea!)  We all have money containers, poker bags, or whatever you want to call them.  They go with us to most of our get-togethers.  Anyway...I received a set of Dominoes from Liz for Christmas, she had my name.  Also other wonderful gifts, like a Packer beach towel, beautiful earrings, a small red berry colander and a lightweight backpack for trekking or as my purse on the plane.  Thank you Liz!

Well, now it's the 26th and I just ran to Kohls for 50-70% off Christmas items.  Needed gift bags and stick on to/from tags.  Success!  Then over to Walmart  for some long needed minor items.  Ran into 2 people I knew - Tracey's son Christopher who was so nice to say hello to me in the pet row as I was pondering some treats for Bailee.  Then in the checkout row a retired lady who used to work at the hospital said hello and it was great to see her - hugs.  Turns out she has 59 grandchildren, what?  Did I hear that right?  I don't know and am doubting myself now.  Will check on this at work on Monday just to verify it.  Amazing if so.  Stay tuned.  Turns out that it's not so bad going to Walmart after all.

43. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (loved this book from beginning to end although a sad story - one of my favorites of 2015!!)

And these two books are both 3/4 finished, and I promise they'll be legally on this list by the end of the year:

44. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (Too many books, too little time, so far behind)

45. Thirteen Reasons by Jay Asher (spellbinding, kind of like a Podcast)

That's it, no more books this year.  Didn't make my goal of 52.  Oh well, "there's always next year" as the Cub's fans say EVERY year.

November

So here come the holidays...heavy hanging over me.  I've been going to physical therapy for my leg, 6 times so far, and I've seen progress!  So many thoughts in my mind.  So, so many.

• People don't look you in the eyes if you are in a wheel chair.
• Even though public bathrooms say they are wheelchair accessible, some doors don't open and close easy enough for a person to do on their own.
• Not all restaurants are wheel chair accessible, even though Bob said they are supposed to be.  But maybe we frequent too many "dives".
• I'm missing all the Badger games in Madison this year, sad to say.
• I'm watching the TV shows Scandal and Parenthood on Netflix from the very beginning.  I love them both.  
• Have heard from so many wonderful friends and family members during my "green cast" event and I thank them all for their concern, greeting cards, calls, e-mails, food, visits, laughs, gifts, prayers and for understanding when I cancelled so many things. 
• I'm back to work after 2 months off; Bob drove me my first 4 days, and now the doc has given me permission to drive if I take the boot off in the car while driving, but then put it right back on to walk outside.  It's amazing folks, the wonder of being independent in the car, on your own, breathing your own air, listening to a book on tape, going where you want~~~~amazing!
• Even more physical therapy after starting this.  No more boot, wheel chair was picked up and the walker is back in the basement.  Ankle and knee are giving me pains, but not the leg.
• Covet...stay tuned
• Bachelor trailer...stay tuned
• Trips in 2016...stay tuned

40. Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos
41. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (recommended by Greg, first in a trilogy).  Very WELL WRITTEN!! Will now get the 2nd book "Home".
42. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud (odd and spellbinding)

I will not make it to 52 this year.

Long Overdue - written in September 2015, not posted until November 2015

WAY overdue.  It's been hard lately.  So I shall just ramble as that's all I can manage to honestly (without lying) accomplish these days.

Found out Bob wished supper was ready THE MINUTE he walked in the door from work, all these years.  So he had to wait sometimes, especially on days when I worked and didn't arrive home until 5:15 pm.  Makes me want to cry as I know for sure we always had supper by at least 45 minutes after he arrived home and on days when I did not work, it truly was ready within 10 minutes of his arrival.

I made his lunch every day while he worked up to 98% of the time, honestly, for 45 years.  No more...no more sandwiches, fruit or raw veggie crunchy something and a granola bar.  No more.

He has retired.  Granted, I was home in a cast the minute he retired, so he has yet to feel the full power and joy of retirement.  Also it came on suddenly, so our ducks are not in a row yet.  I fear we will never eat steak again, never go to Paris, let alone the Grand Canyon, out West, or anywhere, never do many things.  Again, ooops another tear dropped.  He has lost track of what day it is (the wonder of retirement does that to a person, which is very fun) and he has to be reminded each mid-week and ask what is going on the coming weekend.  He has gone fishing with friends.  He has worked in the yard, when he felt like it, and he has gone for long walks, which he is loving, and he has lost weight too!

He has been menu planning, grocery shopping and cooking.  He has been an excellent chauffeur for me and I couldn't be more thankful.  He has carried the walker to different locations in the house for me, and traveled a ways to pick up a 2nd walker to make life easier for me.  He has brought me things a million times and he has learned to make coffee and does the laundry.

OK, this entire blog will be a downer.  Maybe if I get it all out of my system, then my next blog will be upbeat.

We can't get our iPhone calendars to sync no matter what we try.  Geesh  We now have an appointment set up for next week at an Apple store to discuss this and get help.  Of course neither one of us understand the iCloud process either.

Saving now and more later, maybe. I haven't been reading much :-(

39.  The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow (loved this one, a nice read, kind of predictable tho)

MayJuneJulyAugust...ok September

OK, so I broke my leg after wearing a black walking boot for 2 1/2 months for a shin stress fracture.  Yes, my social life has come to a halt, but I'm thankful for the rest.  Maybe I should have been blogging these last 4 months instead of doing anything else.  These are the books I've read since May.

More later folks when I'm in a better mood.

21. The Survivor by Gregg Hurwitz (thriller)
22. Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler
23. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult (too long on and on about elephants, but I still love Jodi's books)
24. Love Anthony by Lisa Genova (a new favorite book!!) and I read it twice this year
25. Wild by Cheryl Strayed - very good
26. Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon (Enjoyed this author a LOT and a wonderful story. Could relate to returning "home" to Ivanhoe or Mundelein)
27. The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane
28. Doll-baby by Lane McNeal
29. Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova
30. Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner (would recommend to Mary& Lori-a good who done it.
31. The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh (I loved it)
32. Our Souls at Night
33. A Young Wife by Pam Lewis
34. The Wind Is Not A River by Brian Payton (I loved, loved this book, but the ending was too vague after a long wait and build-up)
35. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight (A different type of book that really held my interest)
36. We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg (still a favorite author of mine and I was thrilled when it was chosen as a book to read in our "Book Babes" group.)
37. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, a page turner
38. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

April Showers hopefully bring May flowers and Clash of Clans

Flowers are slow to come, BUT, Grandpa Bob is learning to play CLASH OF CLANS and most of his education came from patient grandson Henry!  So here is a text conversation had last night between typists Grandma Barb and Henry's mom, Sarah.  Grandpa and Henry were right there, kind of dictating.  Here we go~~~

Barb:  "Can Henry check grandpa bob's clash of clans?"
Sarah:  "I don't think he can.  He has to have a clan castle first and then he has to join our clan.  IT is called Let's War."
Barb:  "Oh ok.  Sent you a pix to your email of Grandpa's current village."
Sarah:  "See it.  He has a castle so he can find us.  Henry says 'he is good' haha.  what level is his town hall?  So he needs to go to the trophy cup in the orange boxin the upper left area and click on that.  There should be a thing that says search clan and type in Let's War.  He said the code is Let's War too.  Let us know if you do that and I can accept him in."
Barb:  "Thanks maybe later we are at Mars now.  What level is Henry's castle."
Sarah:  "Oh Mars.  haha.  Henry's is level 2.  Mine is level 3."
Barb:  "So how Henry mean that Bob is doing good?"
Sarah:  "Just don't use your gems.  What level is dad's?"
Barb:  "Is his what?"
Sarah:  "Castle.  I think his base looks piddly.  HA!"
Barb:  "It is.  He can't save money.  He's still in the town hall thing.  Greek to me.  He has 217 gems.
Sarah:  "I know he needs 500 to get another builder, that is most important."
Barb:  "Gibberish.  How do you guys get all your money?  I'm just the secretary here."
Sarah:  "Just having as many things that make them and then attacking others and upgrading the mine things so they produce more."

So this morning I discovered that when Bob got the game on his iPhone, it also loaded on my iPad, so I can play too.  So Grandpa started me out and I'm "isobarb" if anyone wants to know.  I'm starting slow and am way at the beginning, so NOTHING to look at yet.  Now I know what's going on when Ed, Sarah, Charley, Henry and Bob hold their phones and look at them with seriousness.  Bob has no clue what he named his.

 Maybe there are some spring flowers in the villages of Clash of Clans!  Happy spring to you all!

16. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Pat told me to read this and I agree, it was good.)
17. What Burns Away by Melissa Falcon Field (I couldn't put it down.  Not a fluff book.)
18. The Mission Song by John LeCarre' (harder for me to read but glad to get through it)
19. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (inspirational)
20. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (She puts so much into her novels!)

Marching right along...

Bob's favorite  .H.O.L.I.D.A.Y.  is St. Patty's Day!

Lots of happy people and no cooking or gifts.

 

First stop, Foley's.

2nd Stop Hogan's Goat and yes, he's wearing a green shirt underneath that blue jacket.  He was teased at Foley's and had to show them that he had green on.

3rd and last stop, Inn Between Bar & Grill

Played many Irish tunes on the juke box here.  When Irish Eyes Were Smiling played, Bob looked at me and said "I like this one" although he didn't really remember that it was the first song we danced to at our wedding.

I love green.

11. Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
12. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
13. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
14. Paper Towns by John Green
15.The Quickie by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

And here comes the end of February ALREADY !!

So Greg, wondering what you've been making in your new cast iron pot?

And Sarah, wondering if you've entered birthdays into your new Erin Condren calendar yet?

Wishing Raina would blog more often, love hearing about (and seeing ) everything and anything in that Roeder household, from Bailee all the way up to Andy!  How's the new little one-to-be treating you Raina?  You should write about your pregnancy somewhere, how it feels, because you will forget and will want to remember someday.  Although I'll never ever forget how it felt when you guys moved inside me before your were born.

Packing for a winter weekend and a short cruise, two types of wardrobes.  Looking forward to both adventures to the max.

9 - Lost & Found by Brooke Davis
10 - The Associate by John Grisham

OK, an 'ol summer memory:  sitting on the back porch eating cinnamon sugared toast, wondering what to do with the rest of my day.  I was skinny back then, if you can believe it.

More...making home made flip flops out of cardboard and yarn to walk on the freshly blacktopped road; eating lunch on wax paper (instead of plates); doing cartwheels in the front yard in the dark with other neighborhood girls; the Busy Beaver Club; planning an early morning bike ride with a friend and leaving before anyone else was up yet; playing with those 8" dolls on the sidewalk;  climbing a tree and eating lunch while sitting up high; pretending to be blind when strangers came to swing at the playground.  OK, that surely is enough of that!

And a Happy 45th anniversary to us!

 

 From a little blue Ford Falcon where we met in Milwaukee, to Des Plaines, to Sheboygan, to Williams Bay, and to places yet unknown...

February ~~ memories and now too

Cabin Fever anyone?  Or instead, cozy thoughts of hunkering down in our caves? 

I am not good at linking to things (in life) but if I click below, I think it brings up another link below to click on and then there I am in "downtown" Mundelein, long ago.  Many memories from this little block which was also about 1 block away from my Great Aunt Alice's and Aunt Betty Ann's house and maybe 3 blocks from my Grandma Kitty and Grandpa Frank's house (not that we went to either often but we sure did frequent the buildings on this street).  Yopps for fresh meats and groceries, Mason's Drug Store on the corner for candy, flavored cokes, and my first banana split, usually after a trip to the library.  The railroad tracks/station were right to the East across the street, trains that went past often and I heard their melody most nights.  It's a peaceful memory.  At the end of a this block was Lad & Helen's bar.  My dad went there often and would see all of his friends and cronies.  He dressed up for Halloween one year, so well disguised that no one ever guessed who he was sitting at the bar, having a tapper.  When I was very young, Dad would let me ride along in the car, he'd run into Lad & Helen's and I'd have to wait in the car.  Sometimes those waits got long as of course we didn't have books, iPads, phones, or anything to keep us occupied in that 'ol 54 green Ford.  Probably did have a box of Milk Duds though.  Pat, what do you remember?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2041345711385&set=gm.10150263863838071&type=1

If one of my kids wants to call me and help me with linking in this blog so I can repair the method I used, please do.

My next books were cool.
6. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer  - interesting people who I felt I knew by the time I finished the book.
7. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo - recommended by Greg, sounds scary but the author assures us there have been no rebounds once it's been done!
8. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (a choice for 2 book clubs and very good - would recommend this to anyone!)

This week my radishes froze in my insulated lunch bag on the way to work.  I had to stop for a 2 hour meeting, and that's all it took to freeze those buggers.  Glad I had my banana in my purse so it did not freeze too.  There are 6 cardinals fighting for spots on the bird feeder right now...it's cold, and Gerald dared to send us a photo of spring flowers that are popping up in California.

On two Saturdays this month I'm doing a movie marathon at the Sheboygan Theater with friends Barb and Sharon.  AMAZING and I love it to the max.  They have beautiful red lounge chairs in all of their theaters and they are very adjustable and roomy!  For the first time in my life I will have seen all of the 8 nominated movies for Oscars.  Last Saturday I saw:  American Sniper, Boyhood, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.  Today I will see:  Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, the Imitation Game and Selma.  Did I say I love this?  I'll be ready for the Oscars on TV Sunday (tomorrow) night.

Had a great birthday this month, but my age is not fun to say, just funny because Bob and I are still recuperating weekly from our weekends...may it never end!

This isn't the actual ship, but was one we were on in 2006.  We are looking forward to a short cruise in March for our 45th wedding anniversary.  Need to get out of Dodge and hope our summer clothes still fit.  Wish us luck. 

Is it cold yet?

So...it's January, are we loving it?  Soups, cozy afghans, books to read, new Things To Do lists, goals, resolutions, movies, comfort foods, trip dreaming, new bosses coming, and football of course.

I'm multi-tasking this morning, trying to get over that habit, but sometimes I just love it and kick my feet up high, listening to Pandora and vowing to get it all done today!  Everything on my list checked off.  So 3 timer beeps just went off and I realize I'm nuts...laundry that needs to be pulled from the dryer, the dishwasher finished, and cookies baking, yep 3 beeps, with music blasting too.  Haven't listened to tunes in a long time because I love to listen to books all the time, in the car and when home alone, but now the player won't work on our computer, so it's music today.

OK, here's a photo of "the knife".

We were married 44 years and 11 months ago.  We received a set of 8 "steak" knives for a wedding gift.  Well, there are only 2 left because this is Bob's favorite tool, I swear.  The rest are lost, or maybe they are out in the garage, in a tool box, in the basement, even in a tackle box maybe.  I think he has done wonders with these knives.  They are dull now and we have other steak knives given to us by our kids, and thank goodness they are in a nice rack and haven't been seen as a tool yet. 

When I left work the other day I had this nostalgic memory and felt 10 to 12 years old when after school we would go ice skating.  It felt like the exact same weather and the memory was so strong.  We would have fun, racing around on what felt like a big pond in our neighborhood and always wondering who else would come and what we would play.  There was one game where we chased each other like tag but we were free if we made it to one of the 4 corners, and of course there was the the thrill of boys against girls.  Why do I also have a memory of being face down on the ice with some kid sitting on top of me?  We came home freezing, wet, and Mom always had some good supper cooking (which we never appreciated at that age) like meatloaf, or chop suey, with a side dish of a pineapple slice with cottage cheese inside it.  We'd have to lay out all of our goofy winter clothes to dry and our cheeks were rosy.  I don't know if we finished our homework those nights.  We carried brief cases, actual brief cases to school, expensive leather things, because Catholic School was generous with their distribution of homework.  Would love my sister to comment on this blog if she ever reads it.

Here's my books this month and loved them all.

1. Love Anthony by Lisa Genova - an absolutely amazing book!  I loved it.
2. The Last Child by John Hart. I loved this thriller too.
3. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  Another good one.  Reminded me of the podcast "Serial" in ways.
4. The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, a book club choice, and this author always has me afraid something bad is going to happen any minute.
5. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

I'm blessed and so lucky to have quiet days to myself at home, like today.  Time to fill the bird feeder in the back yard~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas 2014 with Family

Just my snapshots below show some, just some, of our family Christmas.  It was all great and went way too fast.  The first thing is on Friday morning I woke up and there was Fox's food dish in our kitchen on the proper spot.  What?  They are here, and yep, I looked and the den curtain was pulled so the Schneider-Bateman family had arrived too.  We knew the Wroblewski family was going to pull in late Thursday night, but thought the Schneider-Batemans would arrive Friday morning.  Fun surprise!  We had a soup, salad and bread lunch provided by Greg and Liz, taco supper prepared by Andy and Raina, and then games and hearts tournament that night.  But, before the kids went to bed on Friday night....

Allowed to open ONE gift the night before our Christmas. [Fox is in the picture too]

My Mom, Grandma Dort, always called this "The Big Rip"

The biggest sized gift went to Sydney this year!

A quiet moment, Eli waiting patiently for it all to begin.

These three always settle in comfortably amidst the chaos...

She says "Well......." and then Syd tells us something very important.

Henry just LOVED his new globe.  Lots of turning.  Liz asked him where Lake Superior was.

Was Andy hiding in the kitchen in front of the two cookie trays?

Charley, aged double digits now, so, time for dangerous gifts?

Henry LOVED his Star Wars electric toothbrush.  I wonder if it made it home in one piece or did he eat it?

Mickey Mouse snow globe Emma to Hugh, fascination.  Charley in the background, keyboard from Great Aunt Nancy and Great Uncle Ed Roberts.

Practice

Makes perfect!
Gosh I sure love you kids, each one in a very special way.

Lots going on at one time.

Hugh got up from his nap and everyone watched him open his gifts -- special!

It's not easy to get them all lined up, but it sure is fun to watch!  Half of us were still in our pjs that morning, trying for a family photo "as we were".

Saying goodbye in the front yard after a family photo.

I must admit, I got very sad that night after every one of them left and Bob was snoring on the couch.  It was so quiet, they were all gone, no one was talking or running past me, no supper was being made, ahhhhhh it was all over.  The time was very special, it always goes quickly and it always will.

Happy New Year!