Weather

Today much be a "high" weather day. Little pain, and little medication. I just forgot about meds because when I got up this a.m. I started right in with housework and by the time I remembered that I had forgotten to take my pills, it was almost noon. So, I took the blood pressure med and the joint medicine and that was it.

And then I went to the farmer's market. This is becoming a Saturday thing with me. I get over there around noon-thirty and get some veggies and fruits, walk around to pick up my produce, then head over to my favorite bakery and get some fresh bread to use to dunk in my tomato salad juice and then I head home again. Today I even picked up some onion soup for dinner to go with the bread and tomato salad.

I then stopped at the Dollar Store -- the first time for me to do that since before last Christmas -- but I didn't buy anything. I know, I know, you're saying: "How can you go into a Dollar Store and not buy anything?" Well, I did, and I didn't.

I was thinking about that and decided that since I really haven't done any shopping at all except at the farmer's market since before Christmas last year, I guess maybe I'm out of the "habit" and don't know how to do that any more. It certainly wasn't for lack of funds that I didn't buy anything, because I do have a couple of dollars available for my use.

Oops. I just recalled that I had stopped at McD's and gotten a sweet tea. I left it on the elevator. So I just retrieved it and it's warm, of course. I tasted it, and it tasted okay, even though it was diluted a bit. So, I just put it in the fridge for tomorrow. I do love McD's sweet tea. I think they make it best.

It's the end of another week. I can't believe it. Another week closer to Christmas 2009. The first decade of the 21st century is almost over, can you believe that? Wasn't it just yesterday that we were all worried about Y2K and storing up beans and rice because everything was going to crash and burn? It seems like just yesterday, anyway. I wonder, if I'm still around in 2019, if I'll feel the same way about the first decade and say, well, it seems like just yesterday that I was doing this or that.

I recall that this past decade has seen the passing of my father, many of my neighbors, and the births of most of my grandchildren. The comings and goings of life. God is good.

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It's almost back to school time

I guess you are all wondering what a picture of my hunky grandson has to do with almost back to school time. Well, I keep in touch minimally with my family via Facebook. And Shandon (that's him) has been bored most of the summer, except when the family was in Florida. And so I asked him a couple of days ago when school started, and he told me, today, August 20. This summer has flown by.

It seems like yesterday was Memorial Day and the children were just getting out of school for the summer. My son was relieved of his 10-year job at the school district where his children attend school, and now it's time for school to start again, and my son is hoping, yes praying, that he has a job in a new school district by the time school starts. I understand, again from Facebook, that he had a good interview the other day, but nothing definitive yet, as far as I know. So, I keep praying that God will intervene and even though there are many others out there without jobs, God will pour his mercy and grace on Phil and his family and provide a job for him real soon , like today!

Last year at this time, or rather earlier in the summer, I posted a rant about the fact that it was getting dark and that the light was disappearing. Well, I did notice that tonight for the first time. I really haven't kept up with the light and dark this year, I guess because we've had such a nice summer and I've been able to enjoy the outdoors so much more than the last couple of very hot summers. They're telling us to expect warmer temperatures for the next few days before we go back down into the low 80s again. Two days of heat? I think I can take that.

You'll recall that I went to the pool yesterday, but didn't go in? Well, today, I didn't go in either. In fact, I didn't even go to the pool. I was on my way, but I met up with one of my dear neighbors who has been very, very ill this whole summer, and she was outdoors watering her plants. It was good to see her again. Her name has been second on my prayer list since early June, just below my son's name. I won't remove her from the list because she's still pretty weak and not feeling 100 percent, but she is, at least, able to get out on her porch and have some time to perk up her plants with a drink. Then, as I scooted along I met another neighbor, and, of course, I had to stop and chat for a while. Well, by the time I got to the pool, it was time to get home and make Alan's lunch, so there went my pool visit for the day, but that's okay.

This afternoon, after lunch and my travel around the neighborhood, I sat on the porch/lanai/deck/patio/veranda and it was wonderful. There was a breeze and I was able to make a few phone calls out there before the lawn crew got close to the lanai/porch/veranda/deck/patio and I couldn't hear anything. Then, I moved indoors again. But I have to tell you, I loved being out in that nice cool air. There were a few children at the pool and they were screaming everytime they went into the water, so I assume the water is still very cold.

Enough rambling. I just love that picture of Shandon, and wanted to post it, so I did.

My big news of the day is that we have finalized our cruise plans -- we paid for a cruise/resort vacation last year and still haven't taken either part of the vacation, so I finally did it. I booked us on a Thanksgiving cruise. Our families tend to be apart on Thanksgiving leaving Alan and me to fend for ourselves, and so this year, we're fending on a cruise to the Bahamas. I'm renting scooters, so we'll be able to see a lot of the Island with our scooters which I know will do fine in Nassau and Freeport.

I'm already starting to pray around that trip. Praying that we'll both be physically able to do it and enjoy it. I'm also thinking, Thanksgiving day, on the ocean, "high-tea" at 3:30 p.m., then Thanksgiving dinner, a dress-up affair at 8:00. Nice day. Can't wait.

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I went to the pool today

This is a picture of my granddaughter Grace at the pool. She is IN the pool. I did NOT go IN the pool, I just went TO the pool. And I have to add that this picture wasn't taken today, but I couldn't find my "pool" pictures, so I had to improvise.

Yes, I went to the pool today. I got up early, got showered, took my pills and waited. When I was able to walk fairly well, I headed down to the garage and got on the scooter and went to the pool. Since today was the first nice day for almost a week, I thought there would be a lot of people down there.

I used to be able to see if there was a crowd, or even a few people there from my lanai/porch/deck/patio, but the trees have grown in the last 8 years and now my view of the pool is mildly obstructed.

When I got there I found that there were several people sitting around, and it was good to see folks again. It was only the second time I've been to the pool all summer. Of course, this is vacation month for many of our folk, so there were only five others there, but the conversation was swift. We didn't talk much about our aches and pains, as we usually do, nor did the conversation about which new restaurant was the best to visit. We basically caught up on our families' comings and goings. What a nice neighborhood, to know each other's families -- those living off-campus, so to speak.

As I mentioned I did NOT go into the pool. Two reasons. One, the water, as I was warned, was very, very cold. Reason number two is that when I get in, I have difficulty getting out. I can get up the lower three steps, but the top step is a bit steeper, and usually the railing is slippery from use by people who have slathered themselves with sun blocking lotion, and when I grab hold, I usually tend to fall or slippery slide, at least I have the last few times.

So, today, while I took with me a small cloth to use when I got out of the pool which would prevent the slippery effect from hindering me from making that top step, the water was just too cold.

Maybe I'll try tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice again, and the water surely warmed up some today because it seemed to me to get pretty hot out there today.

I apologize again to my Texas readers. 80 degrees is hot for us this summer!

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I printed out some of RR today

Well, I printed out the first three months of Runnemede Remembered from two years ago, and basically wore out our laser printer. It ran out of ink. But, it gives me something to read and has given me some new reminders of what I skipped the first time around.

My niece Lori put a video of my brother talking to her about his second "love" -- baseball cards -- on YouTube today. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLEq2V5GLww. If you want a little bit of a laugh, go ahead and watch it. It cuts off in the middle of their conversation, but you will get the drift.

Alan FINALLY read my BLOG (Runnemede Remembered) -- well the part that I printed out -- well, part of the part that I printed out. His remark? "I don't know how you could remember all that stuff." My remark to him? "I didn't. I made it all up." Ha ha.

I think he might be getting into my blogging pages now. Well, after two years, and I spending more time with my laptop than with him, I guess he figures it's time for him to find out what all the fuss if about, since it certainly isn't him. Poor guy.

My dad used to say that a lot: "The poor guy." And we'd all laugh. Usually it was during the Red Skelton Show, or during some movie when the man was being rapped on. I guess you just had to be there.

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I couldn't sleep this morning

I did try, though. I woke up around 8 am and said to myself, "It's too early to get up." It was a rainy morning again, and perfect for sleeping in. Then I had a thought that popped me right out of bed.

I had posted a sign on the door of the clubhouse on Monday telling people who wanted to scrapbook to come to my house -- thus moving the neighborhood scrapbooking from the clubhouse to my house.

Well, yesterday it completely left me that I had posted that sign and it needed to be removed on Tuesday. Around midnight I remembered it. I was not about to go down there at midnight, and I told Alan to make sure I took the sign down in the morning. He didn't remind me and he was up and dressed and working at his desk by the time I "popped" up. But I did go down there on the scooter in the rain/mist and got the sign down. It -- the sign -- was actually dry. The rain didn't hit it. I guess the wind doesn't blow that way.

I mean we had almost 3 inches of rain yesterday, maybe more. Lots of wind as well. Right now it looks like the sun is TRYING to get out. But they're still saying it's gonna rain again today. I noticed that the pool water is almost to the top of the rim rather than the six or seven inches below the rim it normally sits at, so we much have had quite a bit of rain.

I mean, just because I looked out the windows and all day it was pouring rain, didn't mean that we really had several inches of rain, but we did.

It's really been a non-global warming summer here. I know you folks in Texas can't relate, but we've actually had very few hot days. Mostly we've been in the 70s and low 80s all summer. Yesterday, I don't think it even got into the 70s, it was more like spring. And I'm really enjoying it. I've been able to sit out on my porch and read and do crossword puzzles almost the whole summer, even on rainy days, because it hasn't been too hot. God is good.

So, it's early in the day and other than my normal early a.m. pain and hobbling around, I'm doing fine. Alan is still trying to work through a cold, and sometimes fever, but he certainly got up early today, which indicates something -- either he couldn't sleep because of his cold, or he had some energy and wanted to get to work. Right now, he's hacking away. Sneezing. Moaning. Hey, he sounds like me -- the moaning part, that is.

From the elderly home of the Hahn's I bid you all adieu.

TTFN

Beautiful day

I know most people would not think today was a beautiful day, but I did. I love thunder storms when they aren't right over my head. Today we had storms for most of the day and only a few of the boomers were close. It was just a wonderful, stormy summer day. I loved it. Did I say that already?

My dear cleaning person came today and did a super job. I went into the bathroom and thought I had lost my eyesight for a minute there. The clean room was so bright it nearly blinded me. And it smelled to nice and clean. I love the smell of a clean house!

Then I went into the kitchen. Her daughter had been working in there most of the morning, and wow!!!! That's all I have to say. My stove hasn't looked as good as it looks now since the day it purchased it. I had to call her and ask her what she used on it. "Nothing new," she tells me, "just that stove-top cleaning thingy you bought several weeks ago." Well, it never looked that good before. It was so nice-looking that I decided to just cook an oven meal and not get the stove top dirty. Oh, yeah, I have a flat top stove, which I really don't have a problem cleaning, but she got it so shiny! And the oven meal? Well, let's just say that next week, she'll be cleaning the oven!!!

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I used to love Mondays

When I was working I loved Mondays. I loved working - at least the last two jobs I had, I loved. No, make that three jobs. I didn't mind getting up early on Monday and I was glad to do my job.

Well, today was not one of those Mondays that I enjoyed. First, I had to take Alan to the eye doctor. Which isn't a problem except that I get so bored while he is getting his eyes checked. Fortunately, today's appointment only lasted one hour. Short for this particular doctor.

Then Alan and I went to TGIF for lunch. It was a good lunch. He got a burger, and I got the cajun shrimp and chicken, which I thought was excellent, and I told the waitress to tell the chef.

Then when I got home I had to prepare for a scrapbook meet at my house. Normally, we meet at the clubhouse, but I had received a box of new products and didn't feel like hauling them to the clubhouse, so I moved it to my house. Creative Memory has come out with some really, really nice new things. I'm so pleased.

I had quit getting the "sample" set for a few months, but then decided to start up again with that program and I'm glad I did. The samples I got were really different from what they've sent in the past. There was some new paper patterns, but there were other things as well. You'll just have to check out my website to see what's new from Creative Memories right now. I can't wait to get an order in.

I'm always ready to quit, then something happens, and people start wanting items again, and so I stay in. I'm glad you all can't see my home. It's ground zero and looks like it. Ugh. A lot of cleaning for me to do tomorrow. I can't let my cleaning person do that work.

Right now I'm so tired I'm seeing three of everything. Been a busy, busy day. So, I think I'll go to bed. But if you want to know about Creative Memories you can find out on my website which is:

http://www.mycmsite.com/judihahn1

My ID #, which you might need is: CM ID #92624539. That doesn't mean you can charge anything on MY account, but some things can't be purchased wtih the ID of the creative memories consultant from whom you are making the purchase.

Hope you have fun seeing what's new from CM for the fall. I thinks there's lots of nice new stuff.

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