Last Day as a 2nd Grader

Today Violet graduates from 2nd grade ending the 2020-2021 pandemic school year.

What an experience she's had trying to navigate virtual learning, wearing a mask to school and social distancing. She's a trooper! I wonder what 3rd grade will bring?

Arthritic Knees

What another thing to look forward to as I get older. I've been having trouble with me knees for the past 2 years and found out I have arthritis in my knees. Usually people with BAD arthritis get steroid shots every 3 months. I've been pretty lucky and only go every 5-7 months.

The nurse practitioner informed me next time I need to make an appointment with the orthopedist in order to continue. Instead of steroid injections, they'll inject a thicker substance to help cushion the joint. The pain from the steroid injection is bad enough. I may have to get Teresa to go with me to hold me down while I get this new shot. I've been this way since I started getting shots as a child. Why should things be any different now. At least I don't need a knee replacement.....not yet!

Garage Sale

For the past 3 months I have been going through every cabinet and every bin in my storage room trying to get rid of items I don't want to move to my new house. For someone who doesn't keep too many items, I wound up with approximately 35 boxes and bins of stuff I no longer wanted.

It took me another week to arrange things just so as to make it attractive for buyers. What a waste of time. I made things easy for myself and marked 99% of the items at $1.00. People would come in, browse around the tables and leave. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong or if I had things people just weren't interested in.

I finally dropped my price to 2 for a $1.00 and things started flying out of the garage. I guess everyone just wanted a bargain???? Either way I didn't care. There was no way I was taking anything back into the house. If it didn't sell, it was being donated. One lady even commented she felt as though she was stealing from me. How in the world do you steal someone's trash. I told her if it made her feel better, I'd turn my back while she left!

After a day and a half of selling, I wound up with only 7 boxes of items to donate. What a relief. This just confirms that I REALLY don't want a job.

Lincoln's Graduation from Pre-School

While I was gone, Lincoln completed pre-school and had a small graduation program.

It's hard to believe this little guy will be attending kindergarten next year and going to the same school as Violet. That should be interesting!

New Orleans

After being cooped up in the house for over a year and not being able to travel, my friends, Frank and Gloria, talked me into meeting them in New Orleans on their way to Florida from Las Vegas.

Last minute traveling is really not my thing. I need weeks to prepare what to wear, what to do and how to do it. So making airline and hotel reservations last minute put a bit of a strain on me. But it was worth it to see my friends again.

New Orleans is famous for its food and this little cobblestone strip outside the hotel provided everything we could wish for. Dinners of lobster mac & cheese at Ruth Chris, shrimp & fries basket at the Grand Isle and fish & chips at Gordon Biersch rounded out our dining experience.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! I can't believe how much I've missed traveling. Gloria and I are trying to talk Frank into taking us to Paradise Island in the Bahama's for Franks birthday in February. Several months away but worth waiting for!

 

Mother's Day Part 3

Having children that don't work a typical 9 to 5, Monday through Friday job means celebrating holidays on days other than the intended date.

Michael had to work on Mother's Day and wasn't able to join us for dinner on Mother's Day, so besides sending me flowers a few days before Mother's Day, he took me to lunch at Red Robin. I always feel special when my kids make that special effort to make me feel lucky to have them. Thank you Michael!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day seems to be such an emotional day for me.

The morning was filled with tears and memories of my Mom while watching the hummingbirds feed from the feeder.

But the afternoon and dinner was filled with laughter while eating dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Lone Jack. Just as we sat down to eat, Jamie was called on an EMT emergency but showed back up in time to pay for dinner.

And now I not only celebrate Mother's Day by myself but also with Melissa who is a great Mom. I think she gets it from me!

Geocaching

While Michele was here escaping the stress of an open house, we went on my first geocache find. The directions indicated it was only 1.5 miles away along the Jackson County trail in the back of my neighborhood so we decided to walk. We searched and searched and couldn't find the treasure. We did find the discarded blue glove and Cheetos bag that someone posted in a picture but were unable to find the camouflaged bottle.

The worst part was having to walk back the 1.5 miles. After climbing up and down the hill and trying to avoid the sticker bushes, it was a little difficult to trek home. I'm trying to decide if I want to upgrade in order to see more geocaches but my first experience wasn't that great. Maybe I'll try the next "easy" one near my house and make my decision then. BTW, that's Michele way in the back!

Early Mother's Day Flowers

I have the best son.

Michael sent me this beautiful bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day. Too bad I can't keep them alive forever!