2019 A Recap

Hi there everyone and a Happy New Year 2020. I am making this post the last one of 2019. Can't believe this year has passed by so quickly. Now I know why my mother always said to me, "don't wish your life away, Louise, it will go fast enough!" Now I know what she meant.

Following are some pictures from 2019. You will have to forgive me, for in 2019 I didn't take a whole lot of pictures. Once you see one snow picture, you've pretty much seen them all, unless you are in a different place. For Louise, that was not the case. We stayed pretty much put in one place, home. 

So go grab a cup of coffee, tea, or pepsi, cause this will be a long post.

 So I guess there was snow in January and February (didn't mark on my calendar or take pictures.) Along with the snow came a lot of changes, as you can see with the butterfly above. Butterflies change from the cocoon to beautiful butterflies....maybe we do too.

January brought financial assistance in the way of food from the Salvation Army and Energy Assistance. Along with disconnections of AT&T Phone/internet and TV. It was costing way too much. House taxes were due too. Signed up with Spectrum, what a hassle between the two companies, honestly.

February started out with a bang....our car would not start. Battery died and there was lots of snow. The one glimmer of fun I had was watching my Chicago Blackhawks on TV and the internet. And, making my cards.

March seemed to be going well, things were calm and quiet (as my mother would always say). Then Kylie got sick and I took her to the Vet. Xrays and blood work. She had a mass and they didn't give her good news. Just love her and keep her happy with lots of walks, hugs and kisses. Then the car broke down.....again!!!

 April brought Dr's appointments for JP and I. Tax refund and Co-pays and bills due. Does it ever end? Nope, not till we die or get raptured. The water was shut off a couple of times during April so the City could rip up our street for sewers and laterals. The street will be a mess like this in 2020 also. In the mean time, we have a bill of $1500 to pay up in the next 5 years that will be added to our house taxes for this mess.

 May brought more Dr's appointments again....never ending when we get older. Netflex got cancelled...which now I find is actually a blessing. Saving $$ for one thing, and also not so much time watching movies...oh because there is hockey till June at least. Got a couple of Aflac refunds for our Dr's bills. That helped a lot.

 June brought vegetable and flower seed plantings. Vitamin B-12 shots for Louise and a mammogram and the last grooming for Kylie. My favorite store closed....Shopko.

July, my eyes started itching, took some allergy pills, least the mosquito's did now bite me to death. That very sad day arrived on the 12th, we had to put Kylie down. I lost my best little friend. A very hard day, it got so bad, I had to carry her outside to go tinkle and potty, and carry her back in. Kylie was blind and partially hard of hearing. The treats stopped a couple of days before she died, she wasn't interested in them any more and she had a couple of seizures. The last seizure was that day....it lasted much too long and she did not know where she was. Broke my heart. The hardest thing was calling the Vet and taking her in.  We buried her in the back yard.....it's been 5 1/2 months now, and I still miss her.

August, tending to flowers and vegetables. Sort of just going through the motions of living. Kylie's death knocked the stuffing out of me...still miss her terribly. JP and I celebrated 46 years of marriage. We did nothing special.

September. This beautiful Fall Clematis starts blooming, it looks like a blanket of snow. There were a couple of Dr. appointments for both of us. I ordered a Blackhawk hat and JP's brother and SIL came for a visit and brought me a Chicago Blackhawk flag. 

October, The Hawks started their season October 4th. Let the games begin!!! Mary and I started working on getting a cookbook put together. The two below were books I put together in '84 for the church I was going to. In '95 another cookbook for the Salvation Army. So I said to Mary, why don't we put a Fundcraft Cookbook together to raise funds for Josh's Scholarship Fund and off we went. When it is all said and done, we should have raised $2500 profit for the fund. She collected recipes from friends and family and friends of Josh's. I started typing, typing and more typing into the programs that Fundcraft had set up. Oh and also along the way, I was making cards for Hospice. So between typing, card making, watching the Blackhawks....was very busy.

November, Birthday month....yep, turned 73 and had to get my license renewed for another 7 years. I will be 80, will I make it to that age....I don't know. Dr. appointment for my A1C...too low, 6.2, Dr. wants me to go back up to 7.0, so he cut down one pill. Colored my hair and cut it too. Yeah, I do that every now and then. The grey was getting TOO GREY!!! We never did get all the leaves raked up because we had a snow storm, going to be a mess in the spring. Hockey games through out November and I still miss my Kylie.

December, here we are, the last month of the year. Put up the Christmas tree, ornaments and village. $60 came in the mail from Aflac...bonus from all our Dr. appointments. Hospice at Denny's and they bought us card makers breakfast. Lots of Hockey games...Hawks aren't doing so good, but I have high hopes for the last half of the season....they just could make it to the playoffs, b/c we have two great goalies. We will see, time will tell. I signed up for Energy Assistance again, 2 months will be paid, hopefully January and February, 2020. That will help. Still typing recipes and getting the book organized. We will probably send the book in the end of January, I should be done with recipes and organizing and such. We will have about 275 recipes, give or take.

So, today is the 31st. Nothing is planned. I will put some herring, cheese and crackers out, maybe some pickles and salami too. There is a hockey game at 8pm Blackhawks and Calgary tonight…..so you know what I will be doing. After the game I will watch the New Year come in New York and watch the ball come down.

Time to close this post....if you are still with me, I applaud you, such a good friend. You have a great new year. May 2020 be your best year yet. May you live with Jesus on your mind and in your heart. Keep looking up, better days are coming. 
Cheers and blessings ~ Louise  

PS...this post will take 17 minutes to read, give or take a few. That's how long it took me read and do a few corrections. See ya!!!

14 Days Into 2019

Hi there everyone....14 days into this new year and it has been hectic and frustrating!!! Without going into too much detail, as I look at my desk calendar....everyday has something going and I am already POOPED!!!!

The last day of 2018, we had to call the plumber AGAIN. A leak under the sink and water dripping on the floor. The pipes were plugged to the tune of $264 and we still owe $40 from the last visit....the toilet was leaking down in the basement. A drip, drip, drip, every time the toilet flushed and oh did the basement smell. I thought we were in the clear for awhile and then the leak under the sink started the last week of 2018.

JP has had quite a few days off from work...the last week of December which meant a very small check for this month. We barely had enough $$$ to pay the mortgage. Not sure what next month will bring...but we will see.

I signed up for food help once a month at the Salvation Army. Yep....that took a lot for me to do. 17 years ago I worked at the Salvation Army and was helping people with getting food....now I need the help...it is quite humbling, that is for sure. So Friday I signed up and was taken into the warehouse and walked through the aisles. My cart was full and weighed out at 112 lbs of food. Guess I will not have to go shopping for a while, except for medication, paper products and Kylie's food.


Saturday, I had Spectrum come and set up the tv, internet and phone. I am cancelling At&t and Directv. Cost wise, I was paying $225 a month. Spectrum will be $75 dollars cheaper. Now I have to get used to the new numbers. Just looking for ways to save money. Tuesday I will be signing up for Energy assistance....will see how that goes. Hopefully I can get a few months paid, and that will help. Hopefully....by the end of the month I will have enough $$$ to pay our house taxes. Since JP went part-time it has been really tough making ends meet.

Maybe this is why I have not been blogging a whole lot....just have not felt like it as there is nothing exciting to write about or take pictures of.
 
 I got a new used stove last month....so it has been a joy to cook again. I made some 30 Minute Dinner Rolls, that were really good. Following is the recipe: Hope you can read it.

Last week I made "IHOP" copycat Buttermilk pancakes. Oh my gosh.....were they delicious. I am going to make more, but I will have to use regular milk and add a little bit of vinegar to make the milk sour....that should work.

My only enjoyment has been watching the Chicago Blackhawks on TV and computer....only wish they would start winning more. But I am getting into the other teams and only hope the other teams don't beat the Blackhawks....it's been an interesting season though.

Card making has been at a minimum lately....Valentines and St. Patrick cards....cleaned out my stash so there are lots of cards for those two holidays. Just have to put inserts inside the cards. BUT my printer is not working, so I may not have enough inserts to put in the cards.....I tell you, there is always something to hinder me from doing what I need to get done.

Health wise....we are still plugging along. JP still gets his arm pains, people who don't know him think he is having a heart attack. Then he tells them he has been getting these attacks for 8 years and has been to 5 specialist, none of them could point the finger at the problem. So, we live with it. 

Kylie still deals with her blindness and hard of hearing, but she seems to be doing better and loves to eat, go outside, sleep and walk around the house bumping into things. When it is not cold, we go for walks, but since she can't see that well, we never quite make it down to the corner because she is already heading back the other direction. Funny how a dog's life can change so radically.

As for me, I am still on the Keto diet (part-time), it works for me. I want to lose another 20 lbs this year. That is doable. My Doctor will be happy with me. My A1C is 6.2....next appointment is May, so I need to keep working on that. I still deal with a sciatic nerve problem on the left side of the butt. Gosh, it hurts when I get up in the morning and can barely walk....after an hour or so it gets better. Guess I am stuck with that pain for the rest of my life.

Well, now that I have completely bored you to death with all my problems, I shall close here for now. No telling when the next time I will be here. But I will keep you updated now and then. So until then, keep looking up because I am very sure, better days are coming soon and very soon. Cheers ~ Louise

Blah ~ Blah ~ Blah

Hi there everyone. Do you ever feel like this some days.....stick your tongue out at everything??? Yeah, that's the way I have felt for these last couple of weeks. Only thing I can think is, POLITICS??? I am so tired of all the lying on both sides. The news media keeps lying about everything too...all wanting their 15 minutes of fame.

I know who I am voting for, just hope that person gets in as President....it will definitely be more easier to pray for that person. Yeah, blah, blah, blah!!!!

I have been looking at different cards on the Internet......getting ideas for Christmas cards. I saw this little gem yesterday and totally fell in love with it......isn't he cute??? Need to find this stamp.

I ordered this new stamp, an addition to my collection of many. A woman I knew years ago, borrowed me this stamp and I made a few cards with it. I had to return it and so naturally, I have looked high and low for this stamp.

Found it on the Internet, someone had made a card with this Great Blue Heron.....where did they get that stamp????? So I followed her link and found it at Repeat Impressions in Maine. I can hardly wait to start making cards with this Great Blue Heron. Hopefully I have the backing to start making a few cards for Hospice.

So today, we had the Electric and Gas Co. put in a new meter, no charge to us.....they change up their gas meters every 25 years.....we have lived in this house 25 years. The gas man found 3 gas leaks and fixed them temporarily, the fix will last 6-12 months, then we should get the furnace guy here for fix it further. Maybe after winter, we might have a little bit more money then, I hope.

Today I returned At&t's 2 receivers and cords and 3 remotes to UPS. UPS packs and sends the product back to AT&T for free and if I did not return them by November 4th......BAM! I would get charged $300.00!!!!  

Next week, Friday, JP has to have a biopsy of the prostrate. He is not looking forward to it. It seems the Doctor thinks he has cancer. I guess we will find out then what the outcome will be. If you think about it, prayer would be appreciated for him and me.

Looks like in the next few days I will be raking leaves, our tree is really shedding, leaves all over the place. And it is time to get my ceramic critters in the shed....no, I still have not done that yet.

Time to close here....you all have a great night and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

OH ~ NO How Can it be???

Hi there everyone....OH NO.....Christmas cards in the making. How do you like them...they actually are last years models. I bought the stamps and dies last year but never found the time to use them and was already making other Christmas card ideas.

So, I decided these will be my cards for this year. I don't have a lot made...this is just a start...but hey this is only October and I am already ahead of the game. I have about 35-40 people on my card list and I want to make at least 20-30 cards for Hospice using these cards.....so, I have maybe 70 or so cards to make????? With a few left over for just in cases. OH and then there is Etsy at least 10 cards each there (90 cards....hope I don't get board....maybe I will change them around a bit.) Guess that is why I need a head start for this year. Lol!!!

Between these two cards which one do you like the best....the top with 3 trees in blue, then stamped with black? I was trying a technique I saw last year and really liked it......helped a lot more using my "Misti" My thoughts? I like this card better, does not seem so busy with all the trees.

Or this card with 6 blue trees and not stamped in black??? Maybe if I made this card in the "landscape" position it would not look so busy. I shall try that idea tonight in my card making session. Doesn't hurt to try different things and ideas.

So here is a picture of the cards all stacked together....yeah, guess I have been busy lately.

I really need to get outside and winterize the house and put things away. I guess by this weekend we will be having some frost....so I better get my tomatoes in so they don't freeze.

Ceramic animals need to go into hibernation in the shed, and we need to cut things down and oh, oh the leaves are starting to fall....I will leave you with that one thought....it's a sure sign that winter is right around the corner.

In this card, are the die cuts I bought last year and never used.....I really like this card....but can't decide if I want to leave the top part white or color the sky in....still trying to decide.

I kinda like the top card, looks a bit more cleaner to me.

Here are all the cards together....fun to make, I rather like die cutting, it's like 1,2,3, and it is all done. Sequins, speckles and gems always add to the card.

So yesterday I had the "DirectTV" man at our house for about 4 hours. I changed from Uverse to Direct. Now we have a big Dish on our house......but hey, maybe I won't have to call At&t 3-4 times a hear to have them fix something and then get someone from a foreign country whom I cannot understand!!!!!

So now I have a phone number to call direct to "DirectTV" and skip the person I can't understand. So far so good....I even found a channel that has all day Hockey....now if that isn't fun, I really like hockey, maybe even more then football. At least one thing is for sure....hockey players stand for the National Anthem and if they don't, they can't play hockey that night. HA!!! take that Kapernack!!!

After getting DirectTV installed, I am supposed to get a $300 gift card from Sam's Club....that will be neat, maybe I will get a new TV or an Ipad or something I would never buy for myself.....or maybe use it to get food for a couple of months....have not decided yet. Whatever I get, it will help lots.

I have started a couple of other posts but have not finished them as yet. Sunday I went to a Stampin'Up Camp and need to finish that post and the third post I started but did not finish....just may not get finished....I was in a slump of sorts and am finally climbing out of whatever it was, must be the change in weather that effects me. I know my eyes were itching a lot....so I must have had allergies or something.

Well, time to close, need to walk Kylie around the block and for sure tonight I need to ride my stationary bike for 4-5 miles tonight. I missed last night, so I need to make up some time.

You all have a great couple of days and I will see you then, keep looking up, cause better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Last Day Of September???????

Hi there everyone.....OH NO it's the last day of September!!!!! Where did the summer go????? Now I definitely know what my mother meant when I would say as a child, "I can hardly wait for Christmas, my birthday, summer, vacation, watermelon, etc." My mother would say, "Don't wish your life away....it will come fast enough!"

So yeah....don't blink, or hold your breath, time flies by so-so fast!

I have been diligently working on my cards.....the last couple of days has been Christmas cards.....yeah, it is that time again to get some cards made for Christmas. They are turning out pretty nice, but I still have not switched gears yet. Maybe when the snow flies, will I get in the mood. I will get some pictures taken in the next few days so you can see what I have been up to.

Sunday I am going to a Stampin'up camp to make 4 cards and see the new Christmas catalog. I might order some die cuts....not sure yet, we shall see. So my next post I will show you the cards I made AND if by chance I won a door prize, a picture of what I won.

So today I went to Sam's club to pay my bill and I got stopped by an At&t sales person. They asked if I was happy with my service and would I like to pay less then what I am paying.....why YES I WOULD!!!! She asked me what programs I liked to watch...I mentioned the Chicago Black Hawks and the other guy said......Go Hawks, turns out he is from Chicago and has been in this area for 4 months....naturally he asked how long we have been in WI....."since 1976" I said. Yep.....40 years we have been in WI. We have been here longer then in Illinois...there is nothing I miss about Illinois, but I do miss watching my Blackhawks.

So anyways....I think I got a good deal. My bill will be lowered $60.00, I get a $300.00 gift card from Sam's Club, At&t will come out to my house to set me up with a NEW recording box and remote. They give you refurbished equipment which means they break down and need to be replaced. All because I am a Sam's Club member. Yay....I did something right. At first I was not going to give them the time of day....but when they said my bill could be lowered, who does not want that to happen...it sure would help in these days....that is for sure.

So now my gas and electric bill has been lowered $27.00 and my At&t bill has been lowered $66.00. That's $93.00 more in my pocket....not bad huh?? I need a good deal now and then....this will be a money saving deal.

October 12th the Blackhawks start their season.....can hardly wait to watch them. I might have a few more channels in this deal....so maybe I will be able to catch a few more games. After watching the Hockey World Cup games....I do think I might be able to watch the other teams too....this will be a fun winter of hockey!!!! BUT you must fear the Feathers.....cause the Blackhawks shall win the season and get the Stanley Cup.....yep you heard it 1st from me.....lol!!!!!

Well, time to close here till OCTOBER. Hopefully I will be a bit more diligent in posting on my blog....guess I am leading a boring life. Have a great day and keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Yep...I have been missing again!

Hi there everyone.....yep...as my title says, I have been missing again. Mostly because, for the past week my computer and TV has been acting up. OH I have tried EVERYTHING, pulling plugs, cleaning files and cookies, optimized, checking this plug and that plug. FINALLY I analyzed that it had to be AT&T and something in their system. MY COMPUTER WAS CLEAN!!!!! The TV is old but it kept freezing up and then would give me a message of what I had to do. So finally I called AT&T....a call I dread. BUT they fixed the problem and everything is working again. FOR NOW. I tell ya...the trouble one must go through to get things to work again!!!!

Well, on to nicer things. tomatoes growing....oh yum I can hardly wait for those BLT's!!!!!

This is a meal I made for JP last week.....I was getting silly and this looked so much like the jolly green giant....had to embellish him with some eyes and mouth.

For our 43rd wedding anniversary.......I bought a dozen red roses for $2.98......yep that is right, not a bad price huh????

This is the wonderful chocolate cream pie I bought from Schwans....swoonnnnnnnn. I shall order this again. We ate it while frozen, so it was like eating ice cream.

Saturday's special lunch for JP was Lox, bagels, cream cheese, onions and tomatoes oh and vegies and dip. Lox and bagels is one of his favorite meals.

Here is the card I made for JP.....a light house.......Jesus is the light of the world!!

Today we had our teeth cleaned....I had a clean bill of health and JP needs 3 teeth filled. We are still waiting to hear when JP's appointment for a biopsy of the prostrate is. I will be having a mammogram this month also....yeah I thought we could be done with Doctors for awhile...but no, not this month.

Well, time to close here....have to go ride my bike for a couple of miles. Have a great day and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Exercise, I Won a Misti and a Garden Walk

Hi there everyone, how have you all been doing. I guess I have been MIA again for a week, again.

Had Internet and U-Verse problems these last 5 days. Finally broke down and called At&t and talked to some foreign person that is so very hard to understand. (Gosh.....I hate having to do that). But the problem is fixed and you know "what I have to do??" Each day I have to pull the plug on the modem....can you believe that??? I struggled for 5 days. I would be on the Internet and the TV would freeze up then give me a message that U-Verse signal has been lost and I had to jump through 5 hoops to get things working again.....nope, not gonna do that. But then to top that off, every time I would try to do something on the Internet I would get the message "oops we can't find that page". Boy I was getting VERY frustrated.

First I thought it was my computer and I had to take it in to get cleaned and that there was some kind of virus. But then, when the TV would freeze up, I decided it was an At&t problem. So I finally called tonight and explained the situation to the first guy....we got cut off. Then I called back and got a second guy and had to explain everything a 2nd time (geez, getting a little upset by now) and I was not sure he could really figure it out.

Suddenly he said...."I know what  the problem is and he said I had to unplug the modem for 2 seconds every day" "yeah, sure, I said, we'll see" Okay....everything is working so far..................

So I really didn't start a new exercise routine....I have been thinking about it though....hahhahaha!!

I am soooooo excited!!! I won a mini misti from here. A misti was being given away everyday for the Month of May. All I had to do was leave a comment on the blog that was giving away the misti for that day here's that blog. Today I found out I won one......don't usually win things...but today was my "lucky day"!!! When my misti comes in the mail I will show you how it works....it's a great tool for a stamper/scrapbooker.

I took a picture of my Purple balls (their names fail me).....the first year I had one ball. The second year 3 balls. This year....6 balls! They are multiplying. (there was another one, but it fell on the ground....so it happily made it's way into the house as a bouquet. (maybe I should take a picture of it)

This is the Garden Walk....my neighbor Kathy...which I just met a few weeks ago has a wonderful back yard that I was just biting at the bit to see. Finally one day I gathered the nerve to ask her about a plant I had in my front yard....I did not know if it was a weed or a flower. She did not know what it was.....today she said it was "Phlox" I guess I will let it keep growing.

This is her Lupine.....pretty purple....love, love.

A beautiful Clementius.

Some pretty pink Lupine.

Ummmmm....I forgot what she called these pretty flowers. Kathy said she would let me know when more flowers were blooming in June...that will be fun. June is also the Master Gardeners Garden walk....I might go to that too. Never know what kind of ideas one can come up with. Course I have so many ideas going....I may not be able to keep up with myself.

Well, time to close here, I have to get another Father's day card up on Etsy tonight. Now, as long as things are working right....PTL!!

Have a great night and a good Saturday and keep looking up, things do get better....just ask me!!!

Cheers ~ Louise

"Fear The Feathers" Nope....No Fear

Hi there everyone.......how was your day today???  I was kind of busy today. Tearing the bed apart and washing bed blankets and linen, making cards and cooking. After the game I shall have to put the bed back together again....uge, one of my unfavorite jobs, remaking the bed, but oh so nice and comfy to get into a cozy bed at the end of the night.

I am so looking forward to this last game of the series with the St. Louis Blues tonight.....game 7, it will tell if the Hawks or Blues go on to round 2 of the next series with whoever wins. The score is tied 2-2 in the 2nd period.

"Fear The Feathers" I got this poster from my SIL's facebook, not sure where she got it, but I shall pass it along to you. One thing I miss living in Chicago, or near Chicago is seeing the Blackhawks play. I used to go to the Blackhawk games, season tickets back in the day when they still played at the old Chicago Stadium, those were the days!!!

So we moved to Wisconsin in 1976 and had the Green Bay Packers to root for, but my heart was still with the Chicago Blackhawks. I would rather watch a hockey game then a football game, maybe because I understand it more. I was told to "always follow the puck" and that I do.....the football? Hard to follow!!!!

When we moved up to Ladysmith Wisconsin, for 10 years, we did not have a TV.....I know, how I managed, I do not know. But I lost touch with the Hawks and what they were doing. It wasn't till two years ago I could get them on TV again and was able to get a few games again. AT&T has allowed me to watch more games this year......so I feel more complete, knowing I have the Hawks and hockey to watch again and any team is fine with me. I am from the old school, when there was just the original 6 teams, now there is 30 teams....hard to keep them all straight.

Well, we are going into the 3rd period and the score is still 2-2......oh boy, I think I need some coffee and popcorn!!!!!

Oh my gosh.....what a game.......I am so nervous!!! The announcer just said whoever wins this round will play the Dallas Stars......oh-oh St. Louis just scored 3-2!!! Okay Hawks lets go!!!!! I am sad.....I don't think the Hawks will win this one....okay 1:20 left. I can't look!!!

HAWKS........LOST!!!!!! BUMMERS....end of the story.

Well.....cheers anyways ~ Louise

MONDAY!!!!!!!

Hi everyone.....bawhahahahahahah....What a funny face on the little pooch. Found him on Pinterest and could not resist!

Hope you had a great weekend and celebrated Resurrection Sunday with family and friends. We went out to eat....have not done that in a long time, it was fun. Cause I didn't have to do dishes afterwards. A small buffet with chicken, potatoes, dressing, eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, toast, salads and desserts....oh yum, I was full. We didn't do much today except just relax. I still have the paper to look over.

We watched Jimmy Swaggart on the computer today....usually we can get  him on the TV but the connection was not working. Someone from AT&T is coming out tomorrow to fix the problem, I hope. I had to call and talk to someone in Manila, Philippine's....oh geez I really dislike having to jump through these hoops to get something done right...this whole thing is unacceptable, to say the least!!!

Well, time to close, I am getting tired and it's almost 2:00 am, time to hit the pillows....so I am not grumpy when the AT&T guy is here.

Cheers to you all ~ Louise