New Years Eve 2019

Last day of 2019!

We went for a bagel at Panera this morning and then to Walmart.  Walmart was packed with people, could hardly get thru the aisles.  People would stop right in the middle of an aisle to talk on their phone and no way would they move.  We got what we needed and got out!

I fixed Chicken Kev for dinner.  Before midnight we had shrimp and cheese ball with champagne to celebrate the new year.  We managed to stay awake until midnight and then off to bed.

Snow, snow and more snow

Today we got about 15 inches of snow, it snowed all day.  That made it a good day to stay home.  We got some things done but I got lazy in the afternoon. 

We had waffles for dinner and watched TV in the evening.

Sunday thaw

It was in the upper 30's when we got up so we decided to go out for breakfast.  We went to Perkins as we were both ready for some of their excellent potato pancakes.  The to Menards where I bought some Christmas wrapping and bows for next year.

We read the Sunday newspaper and a nap.  Brenda and Scott came over in the evening for a visit and to bring Don boxes for his ebay habit.

We read on Facebook that a good friend and neighbor from Sumter Oaks RV Park had died.  He had been suffering for a few years from demimeta. 

An icy world

We woke up to an ice covered world.  There were pictures of people ice skating on the streets, of a school bus going sideways down a hill, car wrecks, etc.  We made the good judgement call to "stay home".  It did warm up during the day and turned the ice into slush which is about as bad. 

For dinner we had leftovers and then watched television.

Tums for the tummy!

Breakfast at HyVee today, had a nice BYGO coupon.  Then we did grocery shopping, didn't need much as we are anticipating emptying our refrigator in a week or so when we head south.

We came home and got some things done, read the newspaper and generally caught up.  We went out for hamburgers and also got malts.  We had not had malts for a long time.  We both ended up with upset stomachs and the need for Tums.

Christmas plus 1

I declared today a "Stay at Home Day".  We had plenty to do and just needed to rest, not accustomed to so much activity!  We went through and admired our gifts.  Put some away and sat some on the table to look at some more!  I did some laundry.  Don took down the outside lights as today looks to be the last nice (?) day for awhile.

For dinner I fixed spaghetti and garlic bread.  We watched the last of the current episodes of "The Crown" and started on "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel".

Christmas

We loaded up our gifts for everyone and took all to Sheila's house.  We had a good brunch.  The kids distributed the gifts and we all opened our gifts.

I got many fine things; shirts, jewelry, cosmetics, Amazon gift cards, etc.

We came home, I was so tired I laid down for a nap and fell so soundly asleep that I had trouble waking up.  I had to get my vegetable casserole cooked so stumbled around for awhile.  Then we went to Ken's brother's house for Christmas dinner.  They always do a great job and there is always plenty of food.  We always enjoy ourselves.

Christmas Eve

We went to Panera for bagels and then to Sheila's house with food and drink for tonight's festivities.  Came home and made a vegetable casserole for Christmas dinner tomorrow.

We took a nap as we knew it was going to be a long day!

Church was at 5PM and then we went to Sheila's house for fondue, etc.  Some of Ken's family came over a bit later so there was a good group.  There was a lot of food to fondue, steak, shrimp, bacon, appetizers, etc.

Day before the day before Christmas

Clean house, do laundry.  I made my cheese balls for tomorrow evening. 

We ate leftovers from two dinners for dinner.  Then continued to finish getting things ready for Christmas.

Sunday

We tried a new place for breakfast.  It was OK, not great - there are other places we like better.  Don talked me into going to Menards to get Christmas wrap, bows, etc for next year at half price.  I picked up a number of items, but when I went to checkout they were not on sale.  Only the decorations like lights and ornaments were on sale. 

Brenda came for a visit in the morning after she did some flying.  Has to take advantage of the nicer weather, never know how long it will last.  Sheila came over in the afternoon (with more Christmas cookies).

We had ham and sweet potato fries for dinner.

First day of winter!

It actually warmed up to 45 degrees today!  What a change from the negative numbers. 

I finished wrapping a couple more Christmas gifts and started to clean up my wrapping area.  Otherwise we worked around the house doing odds and ends.

We went to dinner at Panera's.  At first we had a problem finding a parking spot but the second time around someone moved their car.  It was in front of of the Pizza place but oh well----

There was a massive line-up at our favorite car wash so that will have to wait for another day.

HyVee and the lost credit card

Why not go out for breakfast the third day in a row?  We went to HyVee for breakfast and then did our grocery shopping.  It was getting crowded by the time we left.  We then went to the liquor store for beverages for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Don was going to pay but he couldn't find his credit card.  I had paid for the groceries and he paid for breakfast so we guessed he left the card in the folder where they present the bill.  So it was back to HyVee and fortunately his card was there.  (I have the card set up so that I am notified on my phone whenever it is scanned so we knew it had not been used.)

Then we went to Walmart for something HyVee didn't have available.

Back to HyVee in the evening to get Chinese food for dinner.  All parking spots were taken but on the second trip around we did find one and right up front.

IKEA

Today we went to IKEA.  We started with their good breakfast and great coffee and then we walked the entire store.  We picked up a few things to buy.  It was noon by then so we had their salmon balls with green beans and mashed potatoes for lunch.

On the way home we dropped some things off at charity and went to the DMV to renew our trailer license.

We were really tired when we got home!  Also had enough to eat during the day so opened a can of soup for dinner.

Impeached

We went to Panera for a bagel and then to Walmart for some groceries and other things.

It is a little warmer today, sure feels good to not be in the deep freezer.  We stayed home for dinner.  During the day and evening we watched some of the Impeachment hearings.  Glad it is done and Trump is officially Impeached.  He well deserves the distinction even if he won't be removed from office.

We also watched the finale of Survivor.  We have been watching the show all fall and wanted to see how it ended.

Wrapping it up!

I spent about 3 hours total wrapping Christmas gifts.  I couldn't take it any longer, I was tired and my arms and hands hurt.  I did get a lot done!

Don got good reports from his doctor visit. 

It has turned cold again and so we decided to stay home for dinner.

Monday

We got the house cleaned and laundry done.  I worked on getting some stuff done on the computer.  I set up my Christmas wrapping area so tomorrow I can wrap like crazy while Don is at the doctor.

We had leftovers from Saturdays dinner out for dinner tonight and watched some more of "The Crown".

Treats

Colder yet this morning, minus 12.  We went for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  As luck would have it we sat next to a table with a man and woman.  The woman talked non-stop.  I mean non-stop!  She talked loud enough that we could hear every word.  They didn't seem to know each other well, we would have like to tell the man to leave while he could!

From there we went to Fleet Farm and Menards (again) and home.  Sheila came over in the afternoon.  She brought homemade Christmas treats - so good.   In the evening our doorbell rang and it was FedEx with a gift for us.  I couldn't imagine who it might be from but I should have known it was from Brenda.  It is a "tower of treats"  from "Harry and David"  including 6 pears, popcorn, candy, nuts, etc.  We will enjoy!

Cold Saturday

We had bagels at Panera and then went to Harbor Freight and Menards.  It was ridiculously cold outside and snowing some.

In the evening we went to Chili's for dinner.  They were really busy. 

Friday the 13th brings more snow

We ate breakfast at HyVee.  We hadn't been their since September but they still remembered us!  We must make an impression - good I hope.  Then we got groceries, there were a lot of people at the store buying a lot of stuff.

It started snowing mid morning until mid afternoon.  They finally got out to do our streets and driveways, they didn't do them after yesterday's snow.

We picked up sandwiches for dinner.  By then there was a light rain.  I don't know how it can rain at 18 degrees.  It was messing with traffic but we didn't see any wrecks.

Tried to stay home

It snowed most of the morning and still too cold.  We tried to stay home all day but ended up going out to pick up dinner and mail the Christmas Cards that I had been working on all afternoon.

Still cold

Still cold but can't stay home forever!  We went to Panera for bagels and then to Target.  I much needed a Target visit for Christmas odds and ends.  The store was not busy.

I had made an eye doctor appointment in October for today having no idea it would be so cold.  It was a new doctor for me.  He did a very thural job but gave me a headache which lasted the rest of the day.  Turns out all is well.

We came home and stayed home.

Minus one

It was -1 when we left this morning for the bank and to do some other errands.  We wrapped up in layers but still we got cold.  The poor car even complained.

We got our hair cut, we had delayed last weeks plans to get hair cuts not knowing it would be so cold today.  They dried our hair well so we wouldn't get icicles!  We stayed home the rest of the day.

Ice and snow

Clean house day.   We had rain then snow during the night and it snowed until mid afternoon today.  Made the road terrible (I heard on TV).

We also got some bookkeeping done and other botherson things.  We had Chinese food leftovers for dinner.  Good not to go anyplace on the slick roads.

Visits and food

We went to Baker's Square for breakfast, it had been awhile.  We had a good breakfast and good service. 

In the afternoon Sheila and Brenda and Scott came over for a visit.  Always great to have them come!

I fixed a beef roast in the Crock Pot for dinner, good on a cold night and good leftovers!

Reuben

Another nice day, relatively speaking.  It is in the 30's with sun, it is going to be a whole lot worse next week.

We ate at Culvers, a favorite place but tonight our Reuben sandwich had little meat and less sauerkraut.  We were disappointed and should have said something.  Instead we vowed to go elsewhere for a Reuben.  We did have their little dish of free frozen custard! 

Grocery shopping - again

No alarm clocks waking us up today!

We went to HyVee for groceries, don't know how they add up so fast!  Later went to HyVee for Chinese food for dinner.  Always very good.

We kept checking for my orders to be delivered.  They were set for delivery on Thursday but still didn't get anything today.  Must be a big bottle-neck someplace.


We don't have to cook Thanksgiving or Christmas
dinners but feel for those who do:

6 AM Mystery solved - mostly

6 AM Mystery solved (mostly).  The muffled alarm went off again at 6 AM this morning, we both got up to try to trace the alarm down.  It was in our living room, muffled as it is the farest place from our bedroom.  It was a clock that has been sitting there for ages, never sounding an alarm.  So the mystery remains "why did it suddenly start alarming at 6 AM".  Of course we turned it off and set the alarm time to 8 AM in case it starts up again it won't wake us.

It turned out to be a stay at home day, I didn't get near all done which I wanted to do.  I made dinner and we watched another episode of The Crown.

6 AM mystery

We ate breakfast at Perkins, we love their potato pancakes.  Then we went to Menards, Don wanted to go and I went along to get in some walking.  He bought nothing, I had numerous things in my cart!

We have a mystery; at 6 AM we wake up hearing an alarm clock.  It is a muffled ring.  We have looked around but can't find any ringing clock.  I checked with the woman who lives above us and she said she had no alarms going off at 6 AM.  Tomorrow we will investigate further.

I got Kohls and Amazon delivers and I put in a second big order to Kohls today.  I will keep the packages coming!

Leftovers from Red Lobster for dinner.

Panera, Aldi, Walmart, Red Lobster

We went to Panera for bagels this morning and then to Aldi and Walmart.  We got a few things we needed and I did some Christmas shopping but found very little.

We went to Red Lobster for dinner, they had a shrimp special.  We got way more shrimp than we could eat so leftovers for dinner tomorrow!  Their parking lot was an ice skating rink - it had melted during the day and refrozen into a layer of ice.  I was in fear every step I took that I was going to end up on the ground.  Don drove the car to the door to pick me up when we left.  We told the hostess about the ice, she said she would have someone spread some salt.  That hadn't happened when we left.

We watched the first episode of the third season of The Crown on Netflix in the evening.

Cyber Monday

Don had an eye doctor appointment in the morning (good news, no changes).  I stayed home and cleaned house, he vacuumed the floors in the afternoon. 

I got a big order off to Amazon from my phone, my contribution to Cyber Monday.

We had waffles for dinner and caught up on some TV.

Getting out finally

Enough of staying inside, we went to Denny's for breakfast.  A sign we go there too much - they know what we want to drink!  Then we went to HyVee grocery for "a couple things" and ended up with a $44 basket full.

Sheila came over in the afternoon for a visit.  After she left we continued to work on getting Christmas decorations out and the tree trimmed.  We finally got done and the boxes taken out about 5 PM.  Looks nice, a lot of work for a few weeks.