Yes, I know it is after Christmas, but I hope you all had a wonderful day (and season) I know I did.
For the past several years, Christmas has not meant much to me, but for some reason this year it turned out very nice. I wonder if maybe it was because I didn't expect much. Of course having moved just a month before, left me kind of wondering just what would happen. But, I have been truly blessed. It has been just wonderful.
Special occassions often lead to traditions, and such has been the case with my family and Christmas. From the time I was a little girl, Christmas always meant spending Christmas with my Dad's mother, Grandma Arcand, and that side of the family. We often spent most of Christmas day with my Mother's Mom and Sister who lived in the bay area. After that part stopped for some reason, we continued to spend Christmas Eve with Grandma A, until she passed away in 1947, and then it was still Christmas Eve with my Aunt & Uncle. My uncle died in the 50's, but my Aunt continued with Christmas Eve. The last one we had was in 1971. She passed away the next week in Alaska. Then the Christmas tradition kind of went by the wayside. Then in about 1989, after HRR and I had seperated, we stated trying the get the family together again, but the older girls were married and having families of their own, so there was much conflect for Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day. So, we started getting the family together on the Sunday before Christmas. This we did for years, even when I was living in an apartment in Woodland for two seasons. When I moved into the Senior Aparttments in Yuba City, and could no longer host such a group, the family took over. Michael had us for a couple of years, Becky had it one year, Judy had it one year, and then we had it at the Odd Fellows hall in Yuba City one or two years. We had stopped exchanging gifts, for a number of reasons, and somehow, it just lost a lot of the feeling, at least to me. I think the fact that I was no longer working, and could not afford to "gift" the way I had, probably had a lot to do with sppoiling Christmas for me. So this year, even after the invitations had been sent out, it was decided not to have the "family" gethering again. Of course, I was sad to see it happen, but I had been expecting it for a couple of years. And, on my part, I think it turned out better, even doing it this way. All of the sisters did not get to spend Christmas together, but that wouldn't have happened anyway; one was in Texas with part of her family; another lives in Nevada; so they would not have all been together anyway. But by doing it this way, I spent Christmas Eve with one daughter and her family (eleven out of a possible 16), Then I went over to a granddaughter's to spend the night and have Christmas morning with her family - 7 of us here, and then we went to another daughter for Christmas day - 24 here. We really got to visit with each other much better, without trying to have all of us together at one place. Later in the evening, the daughter I had spent the day with brought me home. All in all it was a wonderful Christmas for me!!
And really, that wasn't all. Three different times during the week before Christmas, friends from church had taken me out to see the lighted houses. This is something I have always enjoyed, and man, they really do it up right down here. Although I was told, things were not as decorated as they have sometimes been - good old "economy" you know. There is one section in Rocklin where there are about five or six blocks where every house is really lit up. And, all with themes - "Precious Mements", "Popeye", "Snoopy" and just about every children's story you can think of. They had music playing, and there were people walking up and down the street. It was very imprssive, and a beautiful night to do it. Oh, yes, we also had a very nice Christmas party for the OASIS group of the church. We have about one hundred people who are considered "members" of this group and there were between 40 &50 there. Members of the church had prepared a Prime Rib dinner. Very good. It was a dreee-up party and really had a holiday atmosphere. We exchanged gifts (each person brought an ornament to exchange) and it was just a very nice evening.
So, it has been a very pleasant Christmas for me. I hope each of you have some special memories to keep about this year, too. And may your New Year be the best you have had. Right now, things are pretty tough for a lot of people, maybe even one of you. My prayer is that this next year will be a very good one for each of you, and as I said, may you keep many good memories with you. God Bless you all.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
I've moved, cont'd
I was just rereading my post from the other day, and I cannot believe the errors in it. I must not have proofed it before I posted it. But, I hope you understood what I was saying. There didn't seem to be anything that changed the context or meaning of the phrase or word.
I mentioned that I was still having some problems with my computer, but I think they are all worked out now. It is so good to be playing my games again.
Artymae is a lady a little bit younger than myself, with many physical problems. Actually, she is probably more able to do things than I am, but she has a multitude of health problems. She has the normal old-age problems of high blood presure, and a couple others, but she has leukemia, a heart condition, a disease called Hashimoto's (have no idea what it is), and I don't know what else. She almost independently supports a pharmacy. Her daughter, Diane, and her husband, Larry help. Last summer Artymae took a very nasty fall at Target, hurting herself badly. She has not fully recovered from that, and it is one of the reasons they were glad to have an opportunity to have someone with her. I try not to make any more work for her, because I can do so little to help. I do most of my own cooking, take care of my own room, unload the dishwasher, etc. , but most of the normal housework, she does. As she says, "I would be doing it any way, and you are not adding to the work". She has a couple of granddaughters who help her out quite a bit. And her daughter and son-in-law provide most of her transportation, (and mine).
The house is in a Del Webb senior development. It is really very nice - much nicer than any I have ever lived in. She has it so nicely furnished, and it is very comfortable. She has this adorable little dog whose name is Foxy Duncan. We just call him Duncan. He is a Chihuahua/Pomeranian cross, about 10 years old. And we are such good friends. He is really sweet. Being designed as a senior retirement home, it has only two bedrooms (mine is the spare, and that is why it is quite small), but hers is very large. The living area is almost like a great room. It has a lovely kitchen. The range has gas burners, but an electric oven. And I have never liked gas to cook with. I was told yesterday that there is another room which is supposed to be a third beroom, but it doesn't really fit that description. She has it set up as a computer room, and she has a futon in there, so she does have an extra bed if she needs it. It has a nice front yard, with a courtyard just outside the front door. The back yard is fairly large, with a wrought iron fence all around, nice lawn and beautiful patio. The view out the back yard is very nice. There is a ravine right behind the house, and by looking off to the southwest, you can see over a very large area, and this will never be blocked by other buildings, by the way the land lays. This is southeast of Lincoln, in the foothills. It is nice to sit out on the patio in the evening and see the lights and watch planes land at a local airport. We saw a small bear in the ravine a few days ago. I didn't realize it was a bear at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that is what it was. Last night I sat in my room, and I could hear an owl. First one I have heard in years. Last week we had SNOW. They tell me that doesn't happen very often. But, it was so neat to wake up to about 2 inches of snow on the ground. It fell during the night and was all gone by about ll am. But it was so pretty.
I think this is about enough for now - catch you later.
I mentioned that I was still having some problems with my computer, but I think they are all worked out now. It is so good to be playing my games again.
Artymae is a lady a little bit younger than myself, with many physical problems. Actually, she is probably more able to do things than I am, but she has a multitude of health problems. She has the normal old-age problems of high blood presure, and a couple others, but she has leukemia, a heart condition, a disease called Hashimoto's (have no idea what it is), and I don't know what else. She almost independently supports a pharmacy. Her daughter, Diane, and her husband, Larry help. Last summer Artymae took a very nasty fall at Target, hurting herself badly. She has not fully recovered from that, and it is one of the reasons they were glad to have an opportunity to have someone with her. I try not to make any more work for her, because I can do so little to help. I do most of my own cooking, take care of my own room, unload the dishwasher, etc. , but most of the normal housework, she does. As she says, "I would be doing it any way, and you are not adding to the work". She has a couple of granddaughters who help her out quite a bit. And her daughter and son-in-law provide most of her transportation, (and mine).
The house is in a Del Webb senior development. It is really very nice - much nicer than any I have ever lived in. She has it so nicely furnished, and it is very comfortable. She has this adorable little dog whose name is Foxy Duncan. We just call him Duncan. He is a Chihuahua/Pomeranian cross, about 10 years old. And we are such good friends. He is really sweet. Being designed as a senior retirement home, it has only two bedrooms (mine is the spare, and that is why it is quite small), but hers is very large. The living area is almost like a great room. It has a lovely kitchen. The range has gas burners, but an electric oven. And I have never liked gas to cook with. I was told yesterday that there is another room which is supposed to be a third beroom, but it doesn't really fit that description. She has it set up as a computer room, and she has a futon in there, so she does have an extra bed if she needs it. It has a nice front yard, with a courtyard just outside the front door. The back yard is fairly large, with a wrought iron fence all around, nice lawn and beautiful patio. The view out the back yard is very nice. There is a ravine right behind the house, and by looking off to the southwest, you can see over a very large area, and this will never be blocked by other buildings, by the way the land lays. This is southeast of Lincoln, in the foothills. It is nice to sit out on the patio in the evening and see the lights and watch planes land at a local airport. We saw a small bear in the ravine a few days ago. I didn't realize it was a bear at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that is what it was. Last night I sat in my room, and I could hear an owl. First one I have heard in years. Last week we had SNOW. They tell me that doesn't happen very often. But, it was so neat to wake up to about 2 inches of snow on the ground. It fell during the night and was all gone by about ll am. But it was so pretty.
I think this is about enough for now - catch you later.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I've Moved!!
Well, it has been over two weeks since I last posted on here. That was the day before I moved from the senior assisted living facility, and now it is about time I got started on catching up.
The move went very well, and I quickly got established in my new home. I'll tell you more about it in a minute. I had trouble getting my TV hooked up. Finally got that done about mid-week last week. I am used to Comcast and here in the house they already had Direct TV, so I was kinda stuck. We actually had to have a tech come out and get it started. Although there was a hookup in the room, there had never been active service to this room, but that is all OK now. Now I just have to get used to the different locations of my favorite channels. A little time and practice will take care of that.
The computer was another story. There was only one phone line into the house, so the family "tv guru" finally set me up with a wireless hookup thru her computer. I guess it is OK. At least I can send and receive emails again. I haven't tried to do any internet research yet. But there are aeveral new problms which have shown up. I hope we can get them straightened out. It has to be the result of something that happened in the change-over, because all these things were working OK before we made the new connection.
When I lived in Yuba City, transportation to church, or anything in the Lincoln area was quite a problam for me because I had only three people to ask for help. And I just hate having to ask someone for a ride. I was afraid that might continue after I moved down here, and it seems that is just exactly what is happenig. Most of the people at church know I still have a transportation problem, but they are still not checking with me to see if I need transportation. I'm hoping that situation will improve as people becone more familiar with my situation.
My room is very pleasant. It is just a little bigger that the room I had at the Manor in Yuba City, but I guess it is the way it is arranged, there seems to be more room. And, it is very cozy. I always am concerned about mixing my furniture with someone else's. But it is working out well. All her furnitute that I am still usuing is light aok. And all but one piece of mine is light oak (or at least it looks like it). The room realy kooks quite coordinated, and not really cluttered. The room is about 12 x 15 and you would not believe what all I have in it. The one end wass lost space where the entrance door folds back against the wall. Then there is a space that is room for a small knickknace stand. The rest of that wall is taken up with skiding glass doors on a nice large closet. Turning the corcer, there is a round table which is actually there just for oranamental purposes. Next to that is my computer armoire (Kathy got this for me when I moved here), there is a short three drawer chest upon which we have put the printer Steve and Judy loaned me. It holds the 4-way printer, and has three drawers. The next thing is my large bookshelves. My recliner (which is were I sleep) is in the corner, and behind it is a very nice plant. On the third wall, are two nice windows with lattice blinds on them. In front of those windows is a very nice desk. In the next corner is a straight chair (dark wood, but it has needlepoint cusion on it that Mom did, and there ain't no way I'm getting rid of that chair). Next is a piece that I'm not real sure what it was intended to be used for, but it works very well for storing my magazines and some other things in binders, and then the next thing is a five drawer chest, which gives me lots of drawer space. Nex to the chest is my "entertainment center". It consists of a cabinet on wheels which I believe was originally a TV table. It has two shelves in the lower space. One shelf holds my DVD playrer, my VCR player, the controll box for the TV, another snall unit that goes with the DVD player. Then at the end of this equipment, I have some binders of CD's.
The bottom shelf right nw has only a rather large figurine of Arty's, but only time will tell how long that will stay there. The TV sits on the top of the cabinet, and we put a levelling shelf on top ot the TV holds my 3-disk CD player, with the speakers on the chest of drawers. Of course you have to add a few knicknacks, flower arrangements, wall hangings, and you have a niily furnished room. I know. it sounds crowded/cluttered but it really isn't. Oh yes, I have a nice big artificial Boston Fern on top of the computer cabinet. I am really very comfortable.
My bathroom is just outside my room and has to be used by all visitors to the home. So when I want to take a shower I have to use Artie's bath. Neither of us can step into a tub to use a step0in shower, That seens to be the only proproblem so far, and we seem to be working around that. I think this is a good place to call this blog to a helt. I will tell you more next time about Artymae herself, the house and the environment. This coukd take at least a couple of posts to tell you all about where I am, but I think I will call it quits for now..Bye Bye
The move went very well, and I quickly got established in my new home. I'll tell you more about it in a minute. I had trouble getting my TV hooked up. Finally got that done about mid-week last week. I am used to Comcast and here in the house they already had Direct TV, so I was kinda stuck. We actually had to have a tech come out and get it started. Although there was a hookup in the room, there had never been active service to this room, but that is all OK now. Now I just have to get used to the different locations of my favorite channels. A little time and practice will take care of that.
The computer was another story. There was only one phone line into the house, so the family "tv guru" finally set me up with a wireless hookup thru her computer. I guess it is OK. At least I can send and receive emails again. I haven't tried to do any internet research yet. But there are aeveral new problms which have shown up. I hope we can get them straightened out. It has to be the result of something that happened in the change-over, because all these things were working OK before we made the new connection.
When I lived in Yuba City, transportation to church, or anything in the Lincoln area was quite a problam for me because I had only three people to ask for help. And I just hate having to ask someone for a ride. I was afraid that might continue after I moved down here, and it seems that is just exactly what is happenig. Most of the people at church know I still have a transportation problem, but they are still not checking with me to see if I need transportation. I'm hoping that situation will improve as people becone more familiar with my situation.
My room is very pleasant. It is just a little bigger that the room I had at the Manor in Yuba City, but I guess it is the way it is arranged, there seems to be more room. And, it is very cozy. I always am concerned about mixing my furniture with someone else's. But it is working out well. All her furnitute that I am still usuing is light aok. And all but one piece of mine is light oak (or at least it looks like it). The room realy kooks quite coordinated, and not really cluttered. The room is about 12 x 15 and you would not believe what all I have in it. The one end wass lost space where the entrance door folds back against the wall. Then there is a space that is room for a small knickknace stand. The rest of that wall is taken up with skiding glass doors on a nice large closet. Turning the corcer, there is a round table which is actually there just for oranamental purposes. Next to that is my computer armoire (Kathy got this for me when I moved here), there is a short three drawer chest upon which we have put the printer Steve and Judy loaned me. It holds the 4-way printer, and has three drawers. The next thing is my large bookshelves. My recliner (which is were I sleep) is in the corner, and behind it is a very nice plant. On the third wall, are two nice windows with lattice blinds on them. In front of those windows is a very nice desk. In the next corner is a straight chair (dark wood, but it has needlepoint cusion on it that Mom did, and there ain't no way I'm getting rid of that chair). Next is a piece that I'm not real sure what it was intended to be used for, but it works very well for storing my magazines and some other things in binders, and then the next thing is a five drawer chest, which gives me lots of drawer space. Nex to the chest is my "entertainment center". It consists of a cabinet on wheels which I believe was originally a TV table. It has two shelves in the lower space. One shelf holds my DVD playrer, my VCR player, the controll box for the TV, another snall unit that goes with the DVD player. Then at the end of this equipment, I have some binders of CD's.
The bottom shelf right nw has only a rather large figurine of Arty's, but only time will tell how long that will stay there. The TV sits on the top of the cabinet, and we put a levelling shelf on top ot the TV holds my 3-disk CD player, with the speakers on the chest of drawers. Of course you have to add a few knicknacks, flower arrangements, wall hangings, and you have a niily furnished room. I know. it sounds crowded/cluttered but it really isn't. Oh yes, I have a nice big artificial Boston Fern on top of the computer cabinet. I am really very comfortable.
My bathroom is just outside my room and has to be used by all visitors to the home. So when I want to take a shower I have to use Artie's bath. Neither of us can step into a tub to use a step0in shower, That seens to be the only proproblem so far, and we seem to be working around that. I think this is a good place to call this blog to a helt. I will tell you more next time about Artymae herself, the house and the environment. This coukd take at least a couple of posts to tell you all about where I am, but I think I will call it quits for now..Bye Bye
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