Last Day of 2019 Was Very Productive

First off, I continued my project of sorting my greeting cards by category.  I get lots of free ones from organizations that I made donations to.  I have so many though, it gets boring so I have to take a break from it.  May finish it tonight or tomorrow.  The Christmas cards are not shown here.  Those are in a separate plastic bag that I already put away.

I signed up Gerard and me for Silver Sneakers!  Back to strength training, here I come!  There is exercise/strength training equipment at the Parma Sr. Center that doesn't have loud annoying music playing like the gyms do so plan to workout there while waiting for Pinochle to start. 

Spunky Doodle was originally scheduled for a dental cleaning; however, when the vet reviewed her paperwork, he discovered something in the previous blood work to indicate she may have a heart problem.  Before doing the dental, he had to be sure she could withstand being put out for awhile.  Therefore, today she had an electrocardiogram and we will get the results in a couple days.  He was impressed with how cooperative she was.  He said she just laid there nicely unlike most other cats who fight.  She is not happy about having some of her fur shaved off.  I bundled her up in the cat carrier with three blankets in an attempt to keep her warm and even and the carrier opening right up to the heater most of the morning before we left because today is snowing!  Wouldn't you know it?

I reviewed the books my husband and I read this past year and here are the nine we both loved.  If you follow the links, they will take you to our book reviews of them at "Grab a Book from Our Stack" book blog:

Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Beth Durst (Third book in Queens of Renthia Series)  (Fantasy)

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Fantasy)

The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst (Fantasy/romance)

The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Thriller/Mystery)

 

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin (Thriller/Mystery)

No Exit by Taylor Adams (Thriller)

We, the Jury by Robert Rotstein  (Mystery)

The Institute by Stephen King (Horror)

The Pale-Faced Lie by David Crow (Autobiography--child abuse)

Of course, I also watched some TV (Hallmark Christmas Movies I had taped) and played video games on computer.  AARP has a lot of free games to play and I also found a free on-line Pinochle site!

I finished up with marking important things on our 2020 calendars.  Looking ahead to 2020!

How did you spend the last day of 2019?

Happy New Year everyone!

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Hallmark Christmas Movie Sweater

Thanks to my husband, I now am the proud owner of a Hallmark Channel Christmas Movie Watching sweater!  This was one of my Christmas gifts this year and is very comfortable.  I do enjoy watching Hallmark movies and especially the Christmas ones!  Even though Christmas is over, I think they are still running some but just in case, I still have a few taped that I can watch.  There were only two left when my husband went to order this one for me!  He couldn't believe people snatched them up.  Who else has one?

Do you like the Hallmark Christmas movies?  Some are definitely better than others, but I enjoy most of them.

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My Pets Gave me a Present!

Thanks to my wonderful husband, my pets were able to do a bit of shopping for me on the animal rescue site and give me this pretty purple flannel shirt for Christmas.  I would have held Spunky but she doesn't like to be held so we just gathered around her to get her in the picture too.  It's hard to see in the picture, but there are paw prints on the shirt.

Roxy got this shirt for my husband:

Spunky is old (15) so past the age of playing with toys and on a special diet that doesn't allow her to eat anything else so treats are out too.  I just pet her more and she likes that I am nearby more through the day now that I'm retired.


For Roxy, she got some fun toys from the lady I used to take the bus to work with:  a squeaky ball and a soft fabric toy.  Roxy also is getting some training with Don Sullivan's The Perfect dog kit.  It has two DVDs that Roxy watched with us and a special command collar for correction when needed.  So far, we worked on not pulling on the leash with good success.  I'm sure I'll be posting more about this in the future.

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Happy Birthday, Jesus!

This is my favorite season of the year!  Merry Christmas to all!  I love the Christmas carols, the friendliness of people, the surprise gifts, the shopping and giving of gifts and the special services at church.

The last few years, I enjoyed choosing gifts for World Vision and Samaritan's Purse in honor of friends.  I like spending money to help others and these two Christian organizations to a fantastic job of it!

For Sunday School this last Sunday of the year, I am planning a little party for my class of 5th and 6th graders.  I love teaching this class because the kids are so nice!  I am wrapping things from around my house that I think the kids would like and still need a couple more.  Of course, some things are better than others, but after they all choose their wrapped gift, after they open them, they can try trading with someone if they want.  I also have a pile of 2020 calendars to give away.

My husband and I buy gifts for each other.  This year our BIG gift is blinds for our bedroom windows, but we have to wait until after Christmas for those because I waited to long to set up an appointment.  I'll share about our gifts in another post.

I miss not visiting with family at Christmas and miss the excitement of children opening gifts.  That's one reason I like to give gifts to my Sunday School classes.  I truly do receive joy from giving.  What do you love about Christmas?  Merry Christmas to you!

For a post about our Nativity Set, see Nativity Project of 1982 With Help From Dad
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Retired and Loving It

Last Monday was my last day so I have now been retired for a full week and am loving it.  It felt so good yesterday, knowing I would not have to go to work today!  I love the feeling of having plenty of time to do stuff and not having to rush.

I played pickleball twice last week, joined in on more walks with my husband and dog, checked out doggie day care for Roxy, and attended a Sr. luncheon at church. 

I checked out the Parma Sr. community center but am not impressed.  It seems to be very loosely run, activities listed on the schedule don't always happen and there are hidden costs.  I went to an art class there this morning only to find out no one was there for it and there is a $16 charge for supplies and $8 per class.  Forget that!

I did find a brochure at the library for classes for seniors at Tri-C just on Fridays.  I found some that I will probably register for.  I plan on registering for the Spring session from March 20 to May 1.  For $99 I can enroll in as many as 6 classes.  Here are the ones I plan on taking:  TV Game Show Fun, How we Beat Diabetes or Who's on First (class on humor), Positive Psychology, and Learn, Discuss, Ask, Share (classes on information regarding aging).  Here is the link to encore 55+ Learning at Tri-C.

Got this shirt from my husband

In January, I can joint the Silver Sneakers program and participate at the Sr. Center Y activities for free as well as other fitness and rec centers so am looking forward to that too.  I recently read somewhere that retired people are the happiest.  I can certainly see why! 

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Roxy's Big Adventure

Now I know how parents feel when they drop off their child for the first time at a daycare or kindergarten.  Today is Roxy's evaluation day at Barklyn Heights Dog Daycare.  We got a friendly greeting from Zach, signed a couple papers and he copied her medical records that showed all the vaccine requirements.  Then a nice man named Mike came out to greet her and took her inside the off limits to parents area before we even explained to her what was happening.  Fortunately, they have cameras set up so we can see her throughout the day if she's in the play areas.  They also said they would send us an email progress report around halfway between noon and 1:00.

She is mostly observing as of 10:00.  She is in the outside play area with other dogs hearty dogs that want to be outside on such a cold day.  It's only 16 degrees.  I am surprised so many dogs want to be outside in this.  They can choose for themselves if they want to be indoors or outdoors.  I noticed her tail was not up as high as usual but it wasn't all the way down either.  I think she misses us and is unsure if we'll be back to get her which I feel bad about.  She is walking all around, exploring the area which I think is a good sign.  So far I haven't seen any dogs jumping at her or her jumping at them.

I sure hope this goes well and she likes it.   I just checked back to the video and her tail is all up now.

I think I could get used to this--I love being able to be outside so long without a leash!  The other dogs seem nice.

10:00 Oh, oh, now with the other dogs around her, I see her tail is down.  I think she may be a bit afraid.  (She is the black dog closest to the camera looking at the other dogs.)

Hey, can I be friends with you guys?

 All the dogs came inside around 10:20 and Roxy walked all around the side and was wagging her tail at the person.  For a little bit, a bunch of dogs followed after her and let her lead the way!  Then she went back to being a wallflower and just observing.  Looks like she's making at least one friend now.  She is way at the far end.

When we picked her up, they told us she did very well.  Was curious, shy but interested.  Favorite things was exploring the yard, playing follow the leader, and making new friends and showed no aggression.  She is welcome back anytime!  Said Roxy is a great new addition!  Yay! 

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