Christmas Time 12-15-24

 Retired Life. Sunday.

The alarm went off way too early so we could make it to church on time. For a moment, we hoped the roads were too bad to go anywhere so we could go back to sleep. But then we looked at the Jesus Picture below, remembered why church makes us happy, and got up and got going. The roads were not slick anyways...

Choir Practice. Sacrament Meeting with choir performing beautifully. Men's Meeting.

Back home, lunch, rested, talked football.

Took the Sacrament in to Hanna's Mom.

Back home again, took a super long nap.

In the evening, we read, watched church videos, ate leftover soup, and watched the movie "Christmas with the Kranks". One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time because it features an accountant as the main character. A funny one even! Who knew?

Bonus, a picture of our decorated house from a distance. Merry Christmas!

Retired Life. Monday.

Revlimid Day! It's the day that comes every month when the FedEx Dude brings Hanna her $20,000.00 Chemotherapy Drug that must be signed for. An exciting day because it means we are grounded home and can't leave, less we miss the FedEx Dude.

Today, for some reason, (you figure out why...) the FedEx Dude was very busy and quickly drove out of the driveway before I could take his picture. Instead, I took a picture of the $20,000.00 package of drugs. And had AI draw a picture of Frivvy racing him down the road. (Frivvy is winning even!)

So, staying home. That meant an extra nap, doing the family bookkeeping/updating the budget. Analyzing what will be our new medical coverage starting in February, (apparent coverage...), putting up the driveway markers to I don't destroy the lawn with the snow plow this winter, and making a pot of Stewart Stew, which we devoured while watching a couple of shows tonight.

And here, have an eerie picture of last night's moon.

Retired Life. Tuesday.

Gotta go get food day.

First, the pictures, the sunrise looked spectacular and promised a sunny day, and did not disappoint. We enjoyed our walk on the trail of the CDA. And, when you have a dog as cool as ours, impulsively buying him stuff just happens. He is really enjoying his new squeaky toy.

So, we planned out our week (yes, going somewhere almost every day) made menus, created shopping list, played Rummy, ate salads, walked on the trail, and bought groceries........you know the routine.

The satisfying thing that happened today was I got on the phone. I hate the phone. Introverts do hate it. I rarely call anybody. Before retirement, in our office, Hanna returned all phone calls and I returned all Emails, regardless of who they asked for. Clients would ask "so what's the secret to getting to talk to Greg? Is there a secret code or something?" We wouldn't tell. But it was if they sent an Email, they'd get Greg. So, I let all these phone calls I needed to make just build up and then I did them all this morning in about an hour. I feel very accomplished now. And exhausted. I called my doctor's office. Delta Airlines. Kootenai Imaging bill paying people. Fred Meyer. Western Union.

I should have called the Dermatologist's office and the guy that is fixing my small engines. But I procrastinated and BOTH surprisingly called me later in the day. Weird Psycho event!

Retired Life. Wednesday.

Omelettes for breakfast. I try to make them once a week. Yummy!

There was nothing on the calendar for me today, not going anywhere. So we decided to go somewhere. To the dump. With a load of old furniture and garden scraps.

We took Frivvy for a walk on the Centennial Trail on the way back.

At home, I broke down a pack of bacon we bought into serving sized bags and froze it. Frivvy always comes to the kitchen and watches me closely when I do this.

Tonight, I watched a prerecorded football game (SMU vs Clemson) while Hanna went to a church women's Christmas Party.

We also spent significant time on-line and on the phone with various medical folks trying to confirm that with the change from a Sharing Ministry to Medicare, that Hanna's Immunotherapy drug is still covered. By the end of the day, we had promises that it is. Huge win!

Retired Life. Thursday.

Yup. It was run into town and spend all day there day again.

The alarm went off. Not fun. But Hanna had to go to her appointment.

Drive to CDA. Buy cheap gas. Hanna sees her PT to adjust her leg braces. They have actually been rubbing on her shins until they bleed. Problem is now fixed. (Frivvy and I waited out in the truck. We are a patient bunch). Eat sack lunches we brought from home. Go to the bank to get some cash for Christmas presents. (All our grown kids are going "YES!!!" right now) Go to Chiropractor's office. I get my back decompressed and adjusted. Hanna gets a neck massage. Go to temple to worship. Stop at the pharmacy for some drugs. Go to that Fancy Like place for dinner. (I actually did have the Bourbon Steak. Hanna had the salmon, which she says was pretty good. Included free Rummy games.)

Now we are tired. Being retired means we're extra tired, right?

Retired Life. Friday.

We woke up to a bit of snow out. That is always exciting, especially when you drive JEEPs.

We drove (in the snow) to Plummer for breakfast and rummy and to take a break from fixing our own breakfast. Topped off with cheap gas, gawked at a cool accident (someone ran off the road and plowed over a light poll) and took Frivvy on a walk on Trail of the CDAs.

At home, I fixed a large cup of Hot Cocoa and watched a football game that was on for a bit. Then fell asleep and enjoyed a nice long nap.

Once the coma was gone, I made a batch of my sugar-free eggnog.

In the evening, we celebrated Christmas. Years ago, we decided that we both pretty much have everything we need, so to celebrate Christmas (and every other holiday for that matter) we spend time together. So tonight we drove to the CDA resort and watched a Christmas Concert/Story Telling Show that was really nice. Merry Christmas!

The past few days I have been dealing with my Dad's inheritance. While it is nice getting a bit of extra cash to add to the retirement accounts, I would much rather have my Dad around than have the money. That being said, I figure my kids hopefully will feel the same about me some day. Seems like we spend a lot of time chasing around visiting kids and grandkids. At times I grumble about that because it prevents me from getting stuff done on my precious project list. I'll stop grumbling now. Perhaps I need to just have a huge work party that all the kids come to and they wipe out the project list in one busy day. Then I'd have nothing to do. And we'd wake up in the morning and say "we have nothing planned. I guess we better go to Sandpoint or Pullman or South Hill or Elk or Seattle or even Atlanta or Columbus and see what's going on there." Time and relationships over money always. Especially in retirement.

Retired Life. Saturday.

Woke up fighting off something, been holding off for quite a while, but it was bad this morning. So first off, we drove to town to get meds. Once back at home, I took a really long nap. Let's just call it a retirement sick day. By evening, I was feeling good again, so off we went to finish our Christmas Celebration.

Having a really nice dinner and seeing last night's Christmas show we figured was too much for one night. So we split it up and did the dinner portion tonight. At Chinook Steak House at the Casino. Jumbo Shrimp appetizer, prime rib, and Hanna had a Gluten-Free pasta that she was really excited about. She don't get pasta very often. We ordered dessert, Baked Alaska that was flamed up table side and Gluten Free Chocolate Cake.

Dinner with the Tribe. Very Cool.

Someone now tell me why the star on our tree keeps falling over. Bad omen? Sign of good luck? Poor engineering?

Merry Christmas!