Full House.

Yup...that's right.  Full house with lots of fun stuff all the time.  3/13 card game...watching grand kids and talking a bunch.  Projects...We had those as well.  The biggie...new hinges on all the kitchen cabinets.  Woo...JB and Kimmy and Eric and I...the kitchen couldn't hold any more people, working in every corner of the room.  Eric and I took all of the kitchen cabinet handles off and then on again. and I scrubbed them clean and shinny.  Washed the doors and used furniture polish on all.   Kimmy and JB worked on hinges even making spacers that the hinges needed.  Woo...those cabinets spring shut again and all look as  new as they are.  That was a Sat. job.  New toilet seats!!!  and more projects planned for the summer.  Hoping for some floating shelves and new door knobs all over the house.  Church Sunday again and then lunch at Frazoli's.  That's always a hit.  Seems that the Mich. restaurant closed so it a must do here.  Kids left at 1:30.  This morning I went through cabinets in the kitchen filling two huge garbage bags with stuff I haven't used for years and are in the recycle bin at neighbor Judy's house...Our bin is full.  I can find things in the cupboards again.  The excess is gone. Then it was on to the sewing room with tubs gone through and more throw out!  Need to stop until the garbage truck comes Thursday.  Have some troublesome looking sores on my back along with an ache that is receiving heat from my rice bags.  Doesn't feel so good.  Doc. appointment Fri. 7:40 am!
Watching an afternoon Pacer's game.  I'm out of energy so it's a take it easy day.  I'll be in bed early...Happy New Year to all of you folks.   

Thank goodness.

Lots to be thankful for!  Church was stunning Xmas Eve.  5 pm...the children sang Silent night in German while lighting their candles.  So touching.  Andrew did a wonderful job with his part in the Xmas play written by church member  Denise Caraher.  She does this every year.  This year it was about angels and being aware that angels can be all around us and we should treat each other as such.  Andrew was Gabriel The church was full to the balcony.  7 pm...communion service and I pinched hit for someone not there serving communion.  Not so many folks.  10:30...music, music, music.  So much to sing and so beautiful.  Once again more people than 7 but the 5 pm service seems to be the most popular, planned and expedited by the youth/children of the church. 

We did a new visual thing in adding candles to the altar area with more being added each service until the last one with probably 75 candles lit across the front of the sanctuary.  Really magical and stunning were comments.   Humm...wonder if we'll do this next year!  It was work!   We were in bed by 2:am.  Woo..Christmas day was a dud day trying to regenerate ourselves.  So happy to sit and not think!! ! Sorry family...it was my day alone.  We had supper with Kat and Eric and Kat's mother and brother as well.  Thankful for that for sure.  Today...better, better.  I'm alive again!  Did some grocery shopping...ran the sweeper and finished filling the stockings. 

Tomorrow is soup kitchen in the morning.  Kids are coming to stay with Doug and then hope to see the Michigan family sometime in the evening.  Fri. and Sat. will be with FAMILY!  I have some cooking done already!  I just love to sit and watch everything happening.   Hard to wait for the excitement. 

Better.

On the up swing.  Head a little thick but today, Sunday went well.  And...No big flubs at church.  Friday I took the new candles to church and got the space ready for Sunday.  I mentioned that the candles went into the freezer to promote release.  It worked.  I'm not happy with the color of one but I probably am the only one who fussed about it.  In the process of retrieving the candle from the freezer, one slipped out of my hands and landed on my foot.  OUCH. 10 pounds!!!  I was afraid I broke a bone but the only evidence now is that my foot had a very dark tone to it. Tennis shoes were the shoe of the day.  I would say it only adds to the advent candle adventure that has occurred over the last 20 or so years.  After church today the children rehearsed for the 5 pm service tomorrow evening and Ray H. and I prepared the sanctuary for that first service with lots and lots of candles.  Tomorrow evening will be busy with something to do in all three services.  I told Doug there is no place for dementia to settle in my head.  It stays way to busy with demands.  Took my usual nap this afternoon.  Watch the colts win.  Woo, woo.  Did some gift wrapping which is finished now with the exception of the stockings.  I'm in great shape.  We'll celebrate next weekend. 

Candle pour

Purple candles...One out of the mold...two are in the freezer.  They don't want to move from the mold.  Putting them in a cold place has helped in the past.  Woo...And...what else happened?  I have the biggest head cold and infection.  Slept about 1 1/2 hr last night.  Not pleasant and today...still hard to breath.  I lost all the immunity that I grew when working at school living with all second grade germs.  I think last Sunday I burned the candle at both ends with arriving at church at 7 am and not leaving till 7 pm. Helped with three big events.  Skipping choir tonight.  That's the first skipped rehearsal that I can ever remember.  No gain in listening and spreading the cold.  So...today..it was sit...sleep...sit...and pour candles.  That's enough.  I might be able to be in bed tonight but the chair wasn't half bad.  Watched lots of reruns.  Tomorrow the kids come.  I need to go to the grocery for a few things.  It's soup from a can tonight!!! 

Not relaxed.

Woo...that didn't last very long.  And accident at church left me with the job of pouring 3 10 lb. advent candle.  Seems the preacher brushed the candles and they took a fall.  So...Big job coming.  This morning I bought 30 pounds of wax, candle release, votives to go into the top of the candles,  2 2ft. pvc pipes for molds and ordered the purple dye color on line which should be here Wed.  So...with a little bit of luck church will have three new purple candles to go with the pink one that wasn't broken.  I hope to pour 2 on wed.  and the third on Fri.  So...Sunday we'll be back in business.  We do have a set of blue candles but purple would be better for this year.  Not the first time this happened but it has been at least 10 years.  So...life happens. 

Relaxed.

A new thing this year.  I think all the shopping is finished and the gifts are wrapped.  Well...the wrap means that I made cloth bags this year out of all the xmas fabric I had given to me.  That means that wrapping paper purchases for this house is over.  And...I feel like I don't have a thing that is pushing me on to another job.  Woo...what a gift.  Speaking of gifts...Our choir singing is such a gift to me. Hard to explain but such great memories of Xmas and times past when I hear the music.  Weather remains warm.  Cookies are not baked...Who cares!  This afternoon is the memorial service of a great North Church member...Karen Kay Leonard.  What a woman who had declining health for so many hears of her life.  Jack and K K. kids grew up with our kids.  Karen taught us how to live.  Great memories will be honored today.  Tomorrow the men are singing in church.  And then the bigger push for great music at our 10:30 Xmas eve service.  I will be one busy lady arriving at church at 4:45 to see Andrew and Noah participating in the 5 pm service...At 7:30 I have communion duties and then the midnight service.  I think we missed one year when Doug was sick...So that means 50 mid night services at North.  Just can't miss. Xmas day..We're just hanging out with good memories of a whole bunch of things. 

Knitting and sitting.

What fun...This morning I went to Meijers and bought a few groceries and then some how a bit of yarn got in the basket.  Not much but just a little.  Boys came today and I decided to CLEAN!  Woo...Must be feeling better.  So...Living room and dining room are dusted, swept and mess is gone.  Noah did a wonderful job on the stairs and took care of a lot of spiderwebs.  He told me he sees at least one spider every time he comes.  I can't say he is wrong.   I got out the Santa figures...So many different ones.  Found the plastic ribbon and decorated the mailboxes.  All the stockings are hung.  I might even bake come cookies next week.  And then...maybe not.  Watched the funeral for GHWBush Wed.  And tonight...Government stuff.  Where is this going to go?  I thought this was a Nixon thing when it started.  We'll see.  My schedule has been pretty quiet this week.  I'm lovin' feeding the birds...drinking coffee,.. knitting...and then doing it all over again.  STill playing a lot of 3 13 after supper.  I'm winning.  Scores are crazy. 

I made it!!!!!

Yes...the Forum sale is over...Not such a bad experience after all the work putting it together was finished.  And I lived through the last 17 days of a whirl wind of activities.   I am looking forward to a better week of not doing much of anything.  Home all day today.  Tonight a little Umoja meeting about the dinner on Nov. 17th where we had raising about $20,000 for the children's program in western Kenya.  All good work for a great cause  Last night spent a couple of hours at the 2018 Advent Festival at church.  Great food and great company.  Tomorrow...NOTHING on the calendar.  What a gift.  I'm trying to finish decorating here at home.  Seems sort of strange to do it so early in Dec.  Thanksgiving was early so all is moved forward a bit.  No tree...No room!!!  But enough stuff is out to make the house look different.  Got to find the manger stuff.  And the house could use a dusting.  Should have done that before getting out the Christmas stuff.  Lights to put up outside yet.  And then I'm calling it finished...done...completed!!!   So...time to knit and sit!!!!