Today’s Business: 2010-12-19
Sunday, December 19th, 2010Today’s Activities
- Shower. DONE.
- Cat duty. DONE.
- Do all (4) loads of pending laundry. DONE.
- Process at least ten grocery and other store receipts. IN PROGRESS.
Log
05:00 AM: I’m up, temporarily. Mom requires assistance.
05:20 AM: All is taken care of, and I’m headed back to bed for a while more.
10:00 AM: I’m up, and feeling a smidge sore after all the ladder-climbing I’ve done the past couple days to get the blue Christmas lights into those high places here on the property. I find that I talk to myself more when climbing ladders. At five Ft. above ground, I might say 25 words a minute. At ten, where the ladder wobbles a little, I say a hundred per minute. At fifteen Ft., where the wind blows and the ladder really starts shaking, I can’t understand myself anymore, ’cause I’m talking way too fast. Must be a nervous thing, ‘eh? |-) Good morning!
10:20 While in the shower, I heard noises in the kitchen and elsewhere on the first floor. It sounds like sister Jojo and her daughter. Investigating… Yep, it’s them. They’re here to bake cookies. Neat.
10:30 AM: The article about the Christmas lights here and me, who put them up appeared in the Altoona Mirror newspaper this morning, and sister Jojo just loved it.
12:00 PM: Forgot to memtion that today is my 50th birthday! Happy birthday to me. 
01:30 PM: Hung out with sister Jojo and daughter while they finished up their cookie baking. When they left, I dispensed Mom’s lunch time meds.
02:15 PM: Well, the washer officially died today during the spin cycle. It went with a loud hiss, a pungent smell, and then, in spite of the motor still running, the tub inside no longer spins. Now, I have an unspun load of laundry to contend with. Grrrrrr. I guess life just never lets up; not even on one’s birthday. Good afternoon!
02:45 PM: Subscribed for a year to Consumer Reports magazine so I can find out, online, what new washing machines they recommend this year. We’ll probably have to buy one this week.
03:10 PM: Vacuumed my bedroom, and started the bedding a washing.
03:10 PM: My ride to pick [Emmy] up at the train station just arrived. So we’re leaving now. Back later.
03:55 PM: [Emmy's] train was precisely on time. Now, we’re headed back home. Sister Mary Ann and family should be there by now. They’re taking me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday.
04:15 PM: We noticed upon arrival back home several cars parked in the lot adjacent to the house. Unusual. Hmmmm.
04:15 PM: On the way in, we ran into nephew Garrett, also heading for the door. Apparently he’d come to visit Mom.
04:17 PM: When I opened the kitchen door, all the mystery dissipated. All the family was here to throw me a surprise birthday party! Wow. I don’t think I’ve had one of these since my 12th birthday some thirty-eight years ago. Sweet! So, I wrote on Facebook: Wow, I just got surprised with a surprise birthday party! We got cake. We got pizza. And, we got lots of love. Thanks so much, family. You’re great!
05:00 PM: They served square pizza, blue corn chips, dip, assorted candies, and ice cream cake. Well, this will cost me a couple pounds. But it’s worth it.
06:00 PM: All my sister’s daughters chipped in and decorated our Christmas tree. Mom had not wanted to do this, this year, but changed her mind when the girls offered to do it for her. It really looks nice too; just like when Mom used to place all the balls and bells on it herself.
07:30 PM: After we ate, or while we ate in some cases, folks moved into the living room to watch the Steelers on TV. They lost the game however, but still managed to make the playoffs this year.
11:30 PM: Got Mom prepared for bed, started another load of clothes in the washer, and kicked off a load of dishes from the surprise party in the dishwasher.
12:00 AM: Watched the remainder of some movie on the Hallmark Channel; called First Christmas. Not bad but it seemed to move along more slowly than I prefer. But my words on this only bear just so much credibility, as I did not see it from the beginning. [Emmy] and Mom however did view this movie in its entirety, and they really enjoyed it.
12:05 AM: I was pleased to see that over fifty people wished me a happy birthday on Facebook. Guess I’m more popular there than I imagined. Even heard from [Lynn], [Olga], and [First Love's] girlfriend. This really was a day full of surprises. So with the party and all those good wishes from family and friends, today really couldn’t have been any better for me. Yes, the washer went on the blink. But all that warmth made this a non issue. It’s just laughable really.
12:10 AM: Headed for bed now. I’m sure I’ll have more to say tomorrow.
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