A DOSE OF GRANDKIDS, AND A DOSE OF ORGANIZING

Wow! The world is changing so much! It’s rather crazy out there. Have you washed your hands lately?? Sterilized your light switches and door knobs? Are you under a Lock Down or Shelter In Place? We are learning a whole new way of life, and we are under a Shelter In Place mandate.

The empty shelves at the Grocery Store

We can go to the grocery store, and stay 6 ft. away from other customers. Many of the shelves are bare, because people are hoarding toilet paper, sterilization products and various kinds of food. I tried ordering, online, at our local HEB store. I went and picked up my order. Luckily, I had to wait on the car in front of me to get their order. Meanwhile, they brought another load of groceries out, and called my name. WHAT? I already had my order. The gal had given me the wrong order, and so they unloaded my trunk and put in the new order. They’re doing the best they can, but having lots of people from other departments help them out.

Batman and the Princess…they kind of fought over the magic wand.
Such pretty rainbows!
And then they mixed the paints together. Oh brother!
Teaching them to play Mother , May I?
Finally, even Batman needed a nap!

At the beginning of our Shelter In Place order, my grandkids came and visited from Austin area. They stayed the week with us…they were on their Spring Break. My youngest grandson, Isaac, came for a couple of days to join them. They were delightful and playing and playing. We did some Nana school, made green pancakes for St. Patrick’s Day, and Batman took care of the Princess. He finally wore out. Boppa and Nana were also worn out. But it was entertaining for us, and it was so quiet after they left.

I sold this for $65.

I discovered Facebook Market Place, about a week before our mandate. I was excited to sell my old milk can to a guy from Wichita. He was so excited! I also sold some old VCR videos that I used in the classroom. Since then, I haven’t tried much to sell anything.

Organizing on the futon.
The futon also serves as the garage for the cars.
oh dear. Toys everywhere.
The mess.
I feel calmer now. My daughter painted the big monkey. It’s little bitty dots.

I was thinking about selling the futon, that folds out into a bed, in the playroom. It is a small room, and it just took up too much room. The grandkids don’t usually sleep on it anyway. But when I folded it up, it made such a difference in the room, that I kept it. It was a good place to sit. I organized the playroom, recycling a stacked drawer cart that we had in the garage. I put it in the closet, and put extra things in those drawers. Sent a bunch of things to Goodwill. It all looks a lot neater. Now…just to keep it that way.

We just bought paint to work on the inside of our house. That, and working outside in the flower beds, will be our next project. I’ve started on a closet that is driving me crazy. I gave a couple of piano lessons over Zoom. I have much admiration for teachers, who are using Zoom for their lessons. What a neat app!

How are you doing? Everyone have enough essentials? I’m missing my friends. Need to play some poker!!! Need to play some Bunco! But I’m blessed to be able to walk the neighborhood, and have enough food. Everyone stay healthy! I know it’s hard to respond on here…let me know on Facebook or Instagram as to how you are doing.

Thinking of you,

Grandma Sherry

JUST CALL ME SUCKER!

I AM A SUCKER! Read on to find out why this happened. Oh my!

OK….I’ll get to that part in a bit. I am totally humiliated by the idiotic thing I did. Never let me go shopping again, in a port of call!

We’ve had a good January and February. I’ve done some organizing, and am STILL organizing. We had a Super Bowl party at our house, enjoyed our grandkids, celebrated our anniversary, and went on a cruise.

ORGANIZING…I threw out 3/4 of my tupperware type of containers. Then I bought some new ones, with matching lids. The problem with my containers, is my daughter and family come over for dinner, and then they take home food in one of my containers. Somewhere along the way, things disappear. So now I have less things and everything has lids. Woohoo!

Cleaning out and getting in new stuff.

This week, I watched “Jamie’s Journey”, on You Tube, and admired her clear plastic bins that she had for her refrigerator. I thought that could be a big improvement for mine, so I ordered a set. When my husband saw the box, he said “where are you going to put them? The refrigerator is full of food!” Silly man. I cleaned out the fridge, and organized things in my containers. You can’t see them very well, in the photo, but it’s so much nicer.

We had the Super Bowl party at our house, and I won $80. Woohoo! Had several young teenagers here, plus Isaac. Good game and ads, but we felt the half-time show was pretty risque. Suddenly, during half time, I looked up and it appeared we had our own half-time show! My daughter was riding the tricycle. My word!

Our half-time show!

We used to live in Toledo, OH, for 14 years. About 16 years ago, we moved to Texas. But we still keep in touch with the fun group we used to hang out with. When we lived in Toledo, our “gang” took a cruise together. We celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary on that cruise. Last week, we toured again, and Dick and I celebrated our 44th Anniversary. We had so much fun! We miss having a fun group like this to hang out with.

My good win, in the casino!

Well….here’s my Sucker Moment on the cruise. I went down the main shopping street in Nassau. There was a gal, standing outside of a store, with a sample of a skin care pad. I took one, and she lured me into the store to try out a cream to fix the bags under my eyes. She put on some nice cream, and then the pressure started to have me buy it. It was ONLY $1,000! WHAT??? No way. Well, she could make a deal with me….(she whispered this)…she had a pkg. that had a torn area in the celephane covering. She could sell that to me for $130. So…SUCKER…SUCKER…SUCKER…I bought it.

Oh my gosh! What was I thinking? It doesn’t look like the same stuff, though it’s in a pretty container. When we returned home, I looked up the company and the reviews. Everyone said that it was a big fraud and it wasn’t the same thing that they thought they were paying for. So I say unto you…don’t let them sucker you into the store! DON’T BUY IT!

Have a good week. Let me know what time, if any, that YOU got suckered into something.

Toodles,

Grandma Sherry

Signs of Fall!

Fall is finally here. Yeah! Watch out for monsters. We’ve had quite the couple of weeks here. My poor hubby has been sicker than a dog. When they did an endoscopy, earlier, to see if he had acid reflux, they also did a biopsy of the stomach lining. I guess that’s routine. Anyway, they found bacteria in the stomach lining. He was given three big drugs to take. As soon as he started taking them, he had the chills, a fever, headache, his hair hurt, and he felt like a truck had run over him. Actually, I thought he had the flu at the same time. He was on the meds for 10 days, and in bed,most of that time. Now he’s done with the meds, but is still pretty tired. The flu??? I don’t know. They’ll test him again, in two weeks or so, to see if the bacteria is gone.

Painting a monster. Scary!

Meanwhile, my grandson painted a monster. I thought it was really cute. He’s getting in the Halloween spirit. He’s going to be Jake the Pirate for Halloween. Today, he brought his pumpkin pail to practice trick or treating.

Chocolate pumpkin bread with cream cheese. Yummy!

This weather makes me want to cook. I made some Chocolate Pumpkin Bread….pumpkin bread with chocolate chips in it. It tastes fabulous with some cream cheese. I made two loaves, planning on freezing one. But I ended up taking the extra one over to the neighbor…he’s been on strike at GM.

My fun blouse.

Trying to figure out how to dress for Fall. Of course, so far, it starts out cool and by afternoon, it gets a lot warmer. Yesterday, I needed to go to Arlington for business. So I pulled out a blouse that I bought, earlier in the year. I hadn’t worn it much, but I love the sleeves. I ordered it from Zulily. I ordered three things, at the time. The other two items I finally gave to the church garage sale. Because…of course…I waited too long to send them back to Zulily. Story of my life!

Remember when I was so excited to get my new LG Dishwasher??? When my SIL, Nathan, was over the other night, I told him it wasn’t drying very whoopy. He opened the dishwasher, and the water hadn’t drained out. The soap was still in the little door. AAAAGGGHHH!!! Nathan pulled out the drain thingy, and nothing happened. Finally, he put his hand down in there, and there was a COFFEE FILTER in there!! WHAT?? How did that happen? Anyway, since then, it has worked fine. But I’ve had nightmares, all night long, about slimy soap and clogged drains.

How is your Fall going? Is your weather getting cooler? I see some areas of the country are getting snow. Wow. Have a good week.

Grandma Sherry

October Happenings

Woohoo! It’s finally October, and maybe only a few more days of high 90* temperatures. Everyone is so tired of the heat, but we may have a bit of a reprieve next week. Bring on the Fall!

My husband was supposed to leave tomorrow, for a 4 day Men’s Golf Outing, in San Antonio. About 8 guys from our church were going to go. The spouses, including me, had great plans for our weekend. Unfortunately, the friend that headed up the golf outing, has become seriously ill in the hospital. Please put him on your prayer list!

I have talked my hubby into going to Little Rock, Arkansas, for our tour of P.Allen Smith’s big garden estate, on November 1st. We’re going to make it a weekend trip. I hope to go to see the Clinton Presidential Library. Dick is hoping to play golf with a friend. I have our tickets reserved for the garden tour. Woohoo! And a friend, very nicely, volunteered to have us stay with them. Wow.

Cut and Paste

My grandson, Isaac and I have been having Nana School. He just turned three. He’s learning how to use scissors (no easy skill!). He loves to Cut and Paste. He’s learning to count and I put out some numbers, and he has to put that many counting teddy bears to add up to those numbers. Then Isaac makes a pattern out of the bears. He’s loving it! Yesterday, he painted a Jack-O-Lantern form, and then we played Please Don’t Spill the Beans!. Fun.

Learning to color in the lines, and making a pattern

Painting a Jack-O-Lantern

My daughter, Jessica, had a birthday recently. She got to use the Red Plate. We only use that for special occasions, and then I write down who used it, and what we had to eat.

The Red Plate

Our church just had a Live Auction. My donation to the auction was a Dinner for 8, followed by Mexican Bingo. I couldn’t believe it! A group of my friends bought that for $725. Another friend bought a second one for $700. My word! This should be fun.

Mexican Bingo

Another friend, Lorraine Sheppherd, gave me her extra ticket to see “Phantom of the Opera”, with her and her kids. It was at Bass Hall, and it was spectacular!!! Love it.

Phantom of the Opera!

How is your fall going? October is going to be a great month. What are your plans? Let me know if you enjoyed this post.

Grandma Sherry

When Will It Feel Like Fall??

The calendar says it’s officially Fall. I’ve just decorated for Fall. When is it going to feel like Fall? Here in Texas, we have a heat index, today, of 106*. We’re still in the upper 90’s for this week, and who knows how much longer? Sheesh! Anyway, here are some of my decorations. I always have a small tray on our ottoman, for my grandkids. I decorated the mantel, and used a black and white theme in my music room. The house looks pretty good. The outside looks like fading plants. I have a lot of work to do outside.

The weather, as you know, has been crazy this year. After Dorian and before Imelda, we had a scheduled cruise from Galveston, on Carnival Vista. It was a great cruise! OK…I lost a TON of money at the casino! And I seemed to have gained about 3 lbs.. Our friend broke his arm on the second day of the cruise. Other than that, it was great. I earned enough points at the casino, that my next cruise is 50% off the casino rate. We are excited to go on another cruise, in February, with our friends in Toledo. This time, we went to Jamaica, Cozumel, and Grand Caymen.

In Jamaica, we took an excursion bus through the town, and up into the rural area. We visited a preschool that is kind of sponsored by the tours. Everyone brought things for the school. I loved seeing the things they were doing, and the teaching aids they had. There were three classes, kind of crammed into the rooms. But they were happy, the teacher had lots of goals for her class, and they all came out and sang a song to us. It was fun.

At the school in Jamaica.

So the amazing thing,…I’d call it a God thing….was that we came home from our cruise, driving from Galveston through Houston, and back to our house, about three or four days before all of the flooding hit Galveston and Houston. I don’t know what we would have done, if we had come back to those conditions. Thank you, Lord. But we’re still sending up prayers for Houston and Beaumont areas.

Life is back to normal routine here. Piano lessons and keeping our Grandson. I was saddened by the loss of one of the teachers at Oakmont Elementary School, where I subbed for 12 years. Her funeral was Saturday. She was a great teacher!

I’m planning our next weekend trip. I’ve been wanting to take a tour of P. Allen Smith’s home and gardens, near Little Rock, Arkansas. He has his Fall tours starting next month. Maybe I’l get inspired!

What’s inspiring you? Do you decorate for Fall? Is it cold where you live? Let me know what your big passion is, this season of your life.

Grandma Ruddell