YES, IT'S REALLY ME

 Hello, friends.  I know that I'm not on here very often anymore, but I've been very busy on YouTube doing Vlogmas.  I had no idea how hard that would be before I began or I wouldn't have done it.  But I did and now it's over.  But...  I can't seem to stop posting videos.  I keep finding things I want to share.  I know that after the New Year things will calm down so I am enjoying it now.

I hope you all had a great Christmas.  Joe and I went to visit my sister.  We left here later than I wanted to, but the roads were pretty empty and we made really good time.  The only problem was that I wasn't paying attention and missed the turn off to Route 202.  We ended up in...  well, we have no idea where we were.  Fortunately Joe had the GPS on his phone and we didn't lose a lot of time finding our way back to where we were supposed to be.  And we saw a beautiful part of New Jersey that we didn't know existed!

We kept saying that we were going to scale back on our gifts and we did but we all still got so much.  I think the three of us are very spoiled.  Of course you know I got Peeps.  Stockings, snowmen, trees, a Peeps Pop (five chicks on a skewer).  Joe and Elaine spoil me.

Elaine made a great dinner for us.  She had prime rib, potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce and rolls.  Cookies for dessert.  It was wonderful.  Of course we pulled our crackers and wore our crowns through dinner.

You might notice that there are no pictures with this post.  That is because I have lost my camera.  I had it when I got home because I parked in the lot across the street, saw the beautiful lights on the houses, took the camera and shot some video and took a photo, then grabbed several bags of gifts to take into the house.  I had the bags, my purse, my cane and was in a lot of pain so I took a long time getting into the house.  A little bit later I looked for my camera to look at the pictures and it was gone.  I have gone through all the bags, Joe has gone through the car and searched the lot where I was parked, we searched the house, my purse, my coat pockets and nothing.  I am so sad because I had such beautiful pictures.

But I am not without a camera because Joe gave me a Minolta vlogging camera for Christmas.  It is really nice but there is a huge learning curve.  I have been using it to post some videos on YouTube, but I can't get it to do everything I would like it to.  I am sure that in a few weeks I will be a pro but in the meantime...

It was a great Christmas and I hope you had a good day too.  I hope to be back here soon.  Have a great day everyone. 

GOING OUT FOR LUNCH

 

Hello, friends.  Hope you are having a great day.  I took this picture from one of my coloring pages.  Isn't it pretty?  Wish I were as creative as this.

I have been so busy trying to clean up and bake and do Christmassy things.  Someday I will be completely caught up.  Maybe...  In any case, I am having a great time and enjoying the season.  

The other day I made some gingerbread cookies.  Going through the pantry I found three packages of cookie mix and decided that was going to be my cookies for this year.  I am trying to use things up rather than go out and get new things.  Joe had bought some crystalized ginger thinking he was getting a package of candy.  Instead, it came in a jar and was to be used for baking.  What???  So I made up the mix and sprinkled the ginger on top.  They turned out so delicious!  I will definitely be using this ginger again.

Yesterday I met my sister and a friend and we went to lunch at the Suburban Diner.  I gave each of them cookies and they were so thrilled.  That surprised me but made me so happy.

The diner is halfway between my friend's house and mine.  I suggested it for that reason and it turned out to be the perfect place.  It took me 45 minutes to get there.  Maybe because President Biden was in town and some streets were closed off.  (The President seems to come to Philadelphia a lot.) 

It takes awhile to get there, but the food is so good.  I had a grilled burger that tasted as if it had come off of a backyard grill in the summer.  Delicious!  My sister had an avocado BLT.  I was debating about getting that and might just do that next time I go.  My friend had the French dip which she said was good also.

We were able to sit and talk and catch up and it was just such a good time.  My friend Mar gave me a Christmas gift.  We usually don't exchange gifts, but she saw this and had to get it for me.  It's a Hallmark movie watching mug.  So cute.  I didn't get a picture of it, but trust me on this.

It was such a quick visit, but so good.  It took me another hour to get home.  Well, to get to Rite Aid.  I had to pick up some medicine for Joe, but also used the time to get some stocking stuffers.  Tis the season.

It's Bible Study day, so I have to run and get ready.  See you again soon.

Kathy

IT'S EARLY MORNING AND I'M AWAKE

 Hello, friends.  Hope you are having a good day.  I am up nice and early this morning.  I always tend to wake up early.  When I worked, I couldn't get up in the morning, but since I retired, here I am wide awake at 3:00 a.m.  It gives me some "alone" time before Joe gets up.  And I tend to watch the Hallmark movies that I recorded.  It's not Joe's thing.  What I'm watching now is "A Fabled Holiday" which is one of my favorites.  I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but the new movies they have out this year are really good!

I'm listening to our Jack cat snoring.  He is pretty loud.  He has also been sneezing and coughing quite a bit.  He was at the vet about a month ago and we were told he had a virus and it would go away on its own.  But it hasn't.  So I called the vet yesterday and got an appointment for him for next week (the earliest they had).  Poor baby.  He has to get seen.  I also got an appointment the following week for George.  It's time for him to be neutered.  Hopefully this will make him calmer in a bit.  He is a real...  I don't even know what to call him.  He is into everything!

I also made an appointment for myself to get another barium test on my esophagus.  I hate doing those, but at least they are effective in getting to the bottom of what is going on with me.  Not being able to swallow well is no fun.  It's hard to believe that this all started 13 years ago (when I began this blog) and it is still going on.  On the other hand, I thank God for another 13 years of life here on earth.  I was pretty close to heaven back then and didn't even know it.

I made a couple of other calls I needed to but kept thinking I was forgetting something.  Then this morning I remembered the other doctor I was supposed to call.  So I will do that today and get myself all set up.  It will be good to enter the new year with everything under control.

Today I am going to concentrate on cleaning up the living room and baking some cookies.  What kind?  That's what I am trying to figure out.  I have so many good recipes.  What shall I do?  Sugar?  Peanut butter?  Snickerdoodles?  Spritz?  Norwegian wreaths?  Snowballs?  The list goes on and on.  What is your favorite?  I also want to get some decorating done.  I'm feeling really good right now, so I hope this lasts.  Maybe I should clean and bake before the sun comes up while I still have energy.

And on that note I am going to get off of here and get some things done.  Hope you will check back later.  I will try my best to write during this holiday season.

Until later...

Kathy

I made an apple pie the other day and it was really good!

I KNOW I'VE BEEN MISSING. I'VE BEEN BUSY.

 

Hello, friends.  I know I haven't been around here much.  In fact I've thought of ending my blog.  I just don't have the time to give to it that it deserves.  I have been doing a lot of work on my YouTube channel which at the moment I am enjoying a lot more than writing.  Things go back and forth in my life so I may get back to enjoying this more.  Who knows.

In any case, I just couldn't disappear and let you all wonder what happened to me.

I had a really nice Thanksgiving.  Joe and I went out with our friends Debbie and Rosemary to the Country Club Diner for dinner.  The food was good.  I had roast chicken while Rosemary and Joe had turkey and Debbie had salmon florentine.  We all ended up with a slice of pie except for Joe who took Jewish Apple Cake.  It was fun to just sit in a restaurant and let someone else wait on me.

I was heading for last Sunday morning.  When I went to leave the house I looked on the table where I always keep my keys and they were missing.  Gone.  I searched the entire table, the floor, the other table in the room.  Nothing.  I took everything out of my purse, turned my coat pockets inside out and not there.  By this time church was half over and I still couldn't find them.  So I gave up and waited for Joe to wake up.  Here he had borrowed them and put them into his coat pocket.  I never thought to look there.

I did see a service live streamed on YouTube from one of our sister churches.  The pastor was someone I knew from Annual Conference, but had never heard speak.  He was excellent!  Guess I was meant to hear him.

I am so discouraged about cleaning up my house for Christmas.  The more I try to clean, the worse it looks.  Are any of you like that?  But I have to keep trying.

Joe just got back from the store and I have to help him get the food in so I have to run.  I will try to write sooner.

Until then...

Kathy

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