My Week

I haven't done too much Christmas shopping but with supporting Alan, a plumber, and furnace repair, and dentist, plus all the busy activities, I look forward to just the movie. Saturday before Christmas, Alan and I went shopping for our food for Christmas dinner. Monday evening I had our last dance practice prior to the New Years historic ball. Tuesday I went to a Chinese buffet after work with some of the friends at the Old State Capitol. There were a number of December birthdays in the group as well as a holiday to celebrate. I was so stuffed. Afterward, I picked up a chicken dinner at the VFW for my son. After my dentist appointment, I volunteered at the OSC on Wednesday after work for the Old State Capitol’s Holiday Walk. The evening was really quite pleasant and there was a long line at the Santa House. We had a special candlelight tour of the Old State Capitol and our resident “Boy in Blue” talked about his life. Many of the shops were open late. The weather was pleasant and people came out. I wore my historic costume. I went to a church discussion group Thurs evening to talk on the topic of Advent. Most of the other sessions were lunch discussions. Dinner was also served. Discussed humility. How Mary said “My soul magnifies the Lord”. Fr Harman told us about how he got his mother a poinsettia every Christmas and always seemed excited every year despite the same (and expected) gift. He said well this year he happened to go to Quincy and picked one up there instead because his schedule was so busy. As a result, she told him, the poinsettia isn’t doing too well. Then here comes the stab, “Where did you get it?” The point was that we criticize things indirectly and point the finger at others. Fr John thanked the kitchen help for the meal and introduced me to a new name for an old dish, funeral potatoes. Those are the potatoes in a casserole dish with the cornflakes on top that are served at funerals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_potatoes

Christmas eve my furnace quit, again. Brr. I’m till trouble with my furnace that is less than 2 years old. The local guy said I needed a dealer in this model because of warranty on the circuit board. I called the yahoo brothers that installed it for a referral in the model as a distributor. I told my story to Shawn Butler (referral). He's familiar with those Yahoos and has been following their jobs around fixing them. Furnace was repaired on Tuesday after Christmas. Two contact switches were bad. He also insulated and shifted the angle of the pipe in the attic. No extra charge since I paid $250 a week ago. We had difficulty lighting the un-split log to stay warm over Christmas.

Saturday morning I got groceries and supplies for Christmas with my son at Aldi and Walmart. On the way back to the car, I asked if he had seen any of the "PEOPLE OF WALMART". He looked at me funny and I repeated, "you know". He said he was lookin at one. I put my green jeans and purple coat in the Goodwill bag when I got back home. Saturday night I went to Mass with my sons and there was some fantastic singing. Christmas day we opened our presents. Sean loved the scope I gave him for his riffle and was totally surprised. We had ham and lots of trimmings. The kitchen was a busy place. But we ate in the living room because of the cold house. Then went to see the movie “War Horse”. It's been mild so far but that's about to change. It's freezing rain and there was snow on the ground when I got up for work Tuesday which quickly melted by 8AM. Even my outdoor cat came in. Glad I took the dogs for a short walk earlier. The furnace was repaired Tuesday morning. Something about 2 contact switches that were locked up. He also did some insulating around the pipe in the attic. He said he found a cat up there. Must have been my cat, Dave. I started the motorcycles up on Christmas Day after seeing a rider go by in sunny 47 degrees. The Aero started up almost right away but the little one didn't want to start so I had the charger put on. That means the seat has to be removed. Then it quickly fired up. Hardly seems worth it to get all leathered up just to go around the block. But it is good to let it run awhile. Besides my we went to a movie at 3. Alan got some EvoraPet oral care for my dog's bad breath. Funny thing is that his pedigree name is Bentley's Titanium Kiss and his kisses smell real foul. He has fractured teeth and won't let me in to brush. This stuff seems to work and I was a skeptic. http://cooltvoffers.com/evora-pet-oral-care/ Alan saw it on TV.

Funny thing happened at work since I also filter our help desk tickets to those that can fix things. A lady in could not access her application and the one that usually handles this was off for the holidays so I sent it to Chuck, the number 2 man. He asked “Has this person ever been able to get into this application? Does this person have the correct rights? Is this a new person?” I called and she said she had gotten into the database on Friday. So Chuck, (who also has her phone number) asks me to call and ask her “what has changed?” Knowing full well I’ll get an answer “I don’t know”. I’m a middle man!!!

I got ‘free mail’ from a lady soldier through the Soldiers Angels Ladies of Liberty Team that I sent a box to on Nov 17th. Whoo Hooo!

Tuesday night I stopped by the Apple shop (not an Apple store since the nearest is in St Louis) to ask about a cable that came with my new laptop. Seems it was more like an extension cord that goes into my existing charger. I have to remove a part to plug that extension cord in so all I can see is a risk of losing that part. I stopped by the VFW, not to pick up my usual chicken dinner but to drop off some pictures that I ordered via Snap fish of the Purple Heart Viola Day fundraiser. I also discussed with Bob about the group for our post that I started on MyVFW.org. I was so exhausted that I crashed in bed by 8PM and got up at 6. My YMCA lunch time exercise sessions have been free these 2 holiday weeks.Alan has a potential interview for a human resource job in Danville, IL at the Veterans Administration.

I’m getting ready for the Historic Civil War ball. Practicing by watching the videos online and repeating the steps in my head. Here’s my dress and headpiece. I’ve had to shorten the dress between the ruffles and added black velvet puff sleeves to make the dress more conservative. Here are the dances:

Oh Susanna (easy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA4Atjm9M_g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3GpysVsa3s&feature=related

Duke of Kent’s Waltz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7UbMvxfpmk

Spanish Waltz (moderate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbAsA68pICs&feature=related

Ted’s Triplet (moderate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD7Q6dWN430

Opera reel (moderate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEqtXbFlM_c

Corn Rigs (moderate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvRnVmp9qgw&feature=related

I found a real nice dressy dress for next year’s committee party at the Hilton for only $5 at the Goodwill store. It’s just a little low cut so I got a piece for that. Also found a nice pair of shoes for dancing because the pair I had were too tight despite the correct size.

My Week

I had a luncheon with the Womens Overseas Service League on Tuesday. I got a nice Christmas Cactus and a blueberry loaf. My busy schedule doesn’t give me time to bake.

I left work early to go to the dentist Tuesday afternoon and still have a swollen cheek. In fact, it’s bruised. Since I didn’t have to go back to work, I did my Christmas shopping at Subway. I put gift cards in my Christmas cards. Then I went to the post office to mail a box to my soldier in Afghanistan and had the clerk supplement my old stamps for postage on my Christmas cards. I shopped at Walmart for dog food and wine and came back with a lot more than I shopped for. Alan called and wanted a chicken dinner from the VFW. It was near closing but I got it. I learned that a valued member of our post had passed away the night before and that his funeral would be on Friday. I couldn’t make the funeral since I went to Chicago. During the day, I had a plumber fix my leak so all in all an expensive day.

Wednesday evening we had our AmVets Post 61 Christmas party and we celebrated with dinner at Lonestar. We had a nice turnout but then who wouldn’t show up for a free meal. I sold some 50/50 tickets and the commander’s wife won. Then our post commander gave a few words for Christmas. My sons were also there.

Friday morning I got up early to catch the Amtrak to Chicago for the Veteran of the Month Ceremony. Jack Amberg was the December VoM and after his ceremony/speech, he changed sides of the stage to join the ‘Class of 2011’ Veterans of the month. There was a blind man getting on the train in Springfield and I permitted him to touch my back as I went to the train. As we approached the steps, I pointed him out to one of the conductors to help seat him. As the doors on the train closed, I heard a man complain that he wanted off. The conductor told him he should have never gotten on and the next stop was Lincoln. So there were a couple of stowaways on board. These stops are short and he should never have gone up the steps. I had some time to kill so I walked to the lake shore, watched the skaters in the park and had lunch. It was difficult to find the Pritzker Military Library since there was no sign on front. The auditorium was fancy but moderate in size. The Governor was to be there but he got called away. If it was a plane, well, same thing except that those tickets are checked before boarding. It was dark riding back on the train. I wasn’t sure what to wear know that I’d be among veterans wearing their service caps. I decided on wearing my red blazer with pins since it was a “Wear Red Friday”. There was another lady wearing red but she didn’t know about the meaning. She learned something that Friday that she promised to repeat. I did a lot of walking in Chicago. I also wore uncomfortable shoes. I had heel boots thinking that the governor would be there but he could not make it last minute. Some houses that had back yards facing the tracks had put up Christmas lights on their back decks for us riding the train.

The Illinois Veteran of the Month award is a distinction bestowed upon military veterans who give back to their communities. Friday's ceremony (Dec. 16th) honored all 2011 Veteran of the Month recipients.Pictured are 10 of the Veteran of the Month honorees in attendance at the year-end event including December 2011 recipient, Jack Amberg.
— at Pritzker Military Library.

Saturday morning I slept in after a long day in Chicago and dancing late the night before. I did a little laundry and then I went to the Old State Capitol for our Historical dance dress rehearsal. This was the first debut in my black and red dress and new hoop. I noticed that I had sewn (shortened) the dress between the ruffles but I had pinned a section under the ruffle and not sewn it as a test for length. I gave another dancer, Deb, my old hoop since she needed one and was getting by on a single boned hoop. I told her it was a nice flounced hoop and used but I trip on it. The new hoop I got was made for petite women. It had just arrived in the mail the day before.

After our practice, I learned that there was a special historic holiday house tour and I had time to make the last stop on the list at Edwards Place. There was Lincoln, Civil War soldiers and civilians as well as carolers. There was a reception afterward at the Pasfield house which is rarely open to the public so I went for a short while to see the inside. Summers I walk past that house and had been curious about it. It is rented for parties and B&B.

I did the readings at Mass. The second reader didn’t show up so I did both. I had to carry the book up in procession so I left my purse in the pew and asked the guy in front of me to watch it. He and his wife chuckled because he’s blind. She said she’d make sure he kept an eye on it. After weeks of being cold in the house, Sunday morning after church, I called Mike come look at my furnace. I need a part on my one year old furnace. The furnace is receiving power but not putting out 25 amps. That's why I'm cold. Sure it 55 in the house and only 34 outside but feels better in the sun.

♪♫ On the 7th Day of Christmas Soldiers' Angel gave to me...♫♪

My Week

I woke Wednesday morning to a cold house. It was 61 and my dog and cat were on the foot of the bed which they normally don’t do. Well, I did wash Marley’s sleep mat and it was still in the dryer.I saw a kid going to the bus stop in a pink blanket. Don’t they have coats or did they get out of one bed and just transporting to school “as is”? Had to start the car and get the first good frost off.

Wednesday I had a one-on-one lesson about our help desk work requests.
Thursday I went to a seminar on “Countdown to Retirement”. Friday, my Christmas present to myself came. I got a new Apple MacBook Pro.

Here I am with Katja at the Christmas parade with her Great Dane, Bozo. Bozo stole the show as our reindeer.

·After the parade, I went home to change into my suit jacket and put on my AmVets cap and then went to a Christmas Memorial at the Vietnam Memorial. I've been going to this for the last say 4 years. Weather was much nicer than in the past when it was so cold we couldn't wait for the ceremony to end so we could get out of the cold. There was a protester with a megaphone that was subdued by the Leathernecks.

In the evening I changed into my historic costume and went to the 1850s choir at the Westminster Presbyterian of Lincolns. Travel back to the 1850s this Christmas season—join Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln for special music, worship, and a carol sing. The Rev. Dr. Clifford J. Hayeswill portray the Rev. Dr. James Smith, who was pastor of First Presbyterian Church from 1849 - 1856. Dr. Smith officiated at the funeral for Eddie Lincoln.

Sunday I went to Mass with the Catholic War Veterans at St Jude’s in Rochester. Sunday was much colder than Saturday so I didn’t really go out. My sons and I had tacos.The Lincolns, portrayed by Fritz Klein and Pam Brown, will greet visitors — and everyone is invited to attend in mid-19th century attire along with our performers. Following the service, join us for Mary Lincoln's White Cake in the Commons.

I got Amtrack tickets for Dec 16th to Chicago for the Veteran of the Month ceremony for 2011.

Monday I had my exercise session during lunch. After work, I went to a Patriot Guard Riders mission locally for Ron Williams. I picked up a memorial card. After standing in a flag line from 5:15 go 6:45PM, I then went over to the Hoogland Center for the Arts for our Historic Ball dance practice for First Night. This time we practiced in semi-dress with hoops for the feeling of the swag. It was something like a train wreck. Somehow, our gender roles got swapped while changing partners. The show must go on.

I had lunch with a coworker at a Chinese buffet. Here’s his fortune. We experienced our first snow flurries for the season here in central IL.

Ramblings from a Retired Shooter: Lazarus And The American Veteran

Ramblings from a Retired Shooter: Lazarus And The American Veteran: Many of us know the story of Lazarus and how Jesus raised him from the dead. For those that do not know a good friend of Jesus named Lazaru...

My Week

I went to ABATE meeting on Thursday. I tried Miller Lite 64 calories. Not bad so I picked up a case.

I mailed a box to a lady in Afghanistan on Friday.

My son asked me to wake him up Friday before I go to work so he can take his car over for maintenance all day troubleshooting. The garage said they would give him a ride back. I woke him twice before I left for work at 8:00. I called him 4 times leaving voice messages. Then called Rugless Auto to see if he had arrived and they said “no”. How’s he ever gonna get a job? He called me about 2:25PM and told me he’s been up since 11 but he thought it was too late to take his car in and feared he’d have to leave it there for the weekend. Whatever!


I got an email Open Range, my internet service provider, that they were discontinuing its nationwide operations and by evening I was cut off. I’ve been having such rotten luck. My HP computer crashed in September and I had trouble getting a refund of the new hard drive much less acknowledgement of the extended service pack. As a result I’ve been getting by on my husband’s Macintosh. I needed a PC tower for the non-compatible Apple stuff and Internet Service so went to BLH and got a refurbished Dell and Xandadoo. Xandadoo is so slow that I don’t think I’ll continue its 7 day trial. My son needs internet for his Kingdom of Camelot. On the up side, I got an email the HP was finally refunding the cost of the hard drive that did not work and I had returned since I wrote and sent a copy of the postal insurance label. Tuesday I went to the cable company and got in on an introductory internet offer so I’ll cut off Xanadoo.



I rented a movie from Family Video and noticed they had a special display table for videos for the troops. I made a contribution at the checkout. The clerk asked me to sign the card for their wall. I pulled out a Soldiers Angles card and told him to staple my card to their card. I watched Water For Elephants with my son.


Saturday morning I got up early and did some grocery shopping. I had some coupons at County Market to use up before Sunday. Items were greatly discounted but mostly things that I don’t use. However, I got them and took three bags over to the Food Pantry.


I stopped by the Avenue Thrift store and picked up this double Lane recliner. It had stuffing coming out on the top right but I patched it and you can hardly tell. It is so comfortable and nice for a lap dog. The recliner did not fit in my Murano by just a little bit so my son and I had to borrow a pick up to bring it home. I found a matching pillow with a yellow tag (the half off color at the time) and a tapestry with a yellow tag that complimented this. That should stretch the life of the chair especially with pets.



Sunday after church I went to the Kumler Church where ABATE was hosting the annual Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless. Time are tough and even our motorcycle poker runs had trouble raising money and donations for silent auctions but organizers got plenty of donations for this dinner. Kudos. One of the first in the meal line was my cleaning lady, Margret. It was nice to see her. I told her I’d been helping with the dinner the last 3 years and she didn’t remember seeing me last year. I thought for a moment and then realized that was the year of my accident. However, I did take pictures of the Thanksgiving dinner so I know I was there but probably was seated more.

When I got to work on Monday, I learned that a coworker’s father had passed away. His mother had passed in May. How sad. I've been having everyone sign a card and accepting donations for the charity mentioned in the obit.

In the evening I continued my lessons for the historic ball that’s coming up. These are really more like social mixer dances because we change partners frequently but I would not go without a partner because some of the women have to dance in the male position. I can’t do that so well with my height because we have to create a high bridge at time for others to go under and stuff like that. I’ve been going with Gene from the VFW. He seems to be enjoying the lessons. He said he really liked the movie “Of Gods and Generals”. I loaned him an outfit for the event from my collection of historic costumes but warned him that it’s not a general but a sergeant outfit.
I got a letter in the mail from one of the ladies that I had sent a box of goodies to in Afghanistan thanking me for the package. I’ve also been watching the facebook reunion of my previously adopted soldier on his return to his family.

It rained on Tuesday so I didn’t get to walk my dogs. I did see someone riding a motorcycle in the rain.

I’m trying to get my advent wreath candles to stay upright with foil. Floppity Flop Flop!

The eBay auction with items donated to Soldiers' Angels in support of Project Valour-IT is now LIVE! There are 23 items up for bid, with auctions ending anywhere between early Sunday morning and mid-day Monday.  Auction items handcrafted jewelry, a handmade camo-print purse and consumer electronics.  Go check it out!

My Week

I took a ½ day off on Tuesday and all day Wednesday to ride to Pekin, IL for a PGR mission for KIA LCpl Jordan Bastean. Weather this time of year gets real iffy for riding but the plan worked well.  Mornings and evenings are too cold but mid-day is fine.  The way things worked out, I went the 70 miles in the afternoon for the visitation, stayed the night with the Kerby’s, and rode back Wednesday afternoon after the funeral.  He was only the second burial at the new Prairie Haven Cemetery in Pekin.    The city could not have done a better job at honouring this 19 year old that died for our country.  The people on the streets stood there as we went by and their emotion was contagious.  A floral shop had employees at the side of the road with blue and white shoe boxes which I presumed they held flowers to be thrown on the hearse.  I later learned they were white doves.
There was a little girl in our flag line with full leathers and red sunglasses.  I told her I had red sunglasses and then put them on to show her we looked alike.  She was a real show stopper. The procession of motorcycles was real slow and difficulty standing up without an occasional foot down.  I saw the lady ahead of me periodically shaking her sore clutch hand.  It was hard but it didn’t kill me.  It was a bit windy on the ride home but doable.

 

On my way home, I had a cell phone message from IL DVA about a ceremony in Chicago at the Pritzker Military Library on Dec 16, 2011 for all the Veterans of the Month for 2011. 

 

Wednesday evening we had a meeting of the American Legion Riders. We discussed our POW Missing man table, Wreaths Across America, and food drive during the Christmas parade. 

 

Saturday I didn’t feel well.  I had belly cramps so I was in pain.  I didn’t get too much done but I managed to take down the Halloween decorations.  Sunday I got the leaves raked and bagged for pick up this week’s pick up.

I picked up a bunch of 1/2 off Halloween candy for the soldiers' boxes at Walgreens. I left one bag in the stores' own drop off for the local guard too.

 

Alan yelled "BOO" and made me scream --- again.  I got to be careful to make that SMACK playful. After all he does have PTSD and you should see me snatch the remote from his sleeping hand.

 

My sister in Wisconsin reported seeing a bald eagle on a tree outside her window.  That’s cool.

 

 Sunday I treated my sons to Annual Mostaccioli Dinner at church.

 

Monday I went to an American Legion meeting.  I brought up the fact that military retirees will get the Jan COLA on Dec 31^st thereby making 13 pay periods for tax purposes.

 

Now I’m putting together plans for Veterans Day.  There’s an annual ceremony by the mayor honoring veterans on Thursday followed by the Catholic War Veterans meeting.  Friday there’s a ceremony in the Chatham Square at 11.  Then there is a free meal at Applebees for veterans.