Mmmm...

 

You know what I thought about this morning? Supper. A real, home cooked supper. At my home.

Oooh, I pictured a pork chop, some mashed potatoes (OK, Hungry Jack instants), some corn,  and some Hawaiian bread. Probably not a salad for me, but Dave would pour applesauce on his plate and eat it with his food. That’s a nasty habit he has, in my opinion.

I used to do that…cook supper. People ask us now, “Well, what do you eat?” And I don’t really know. To cook that meal above, I would have to go grocery shopping. But we usually have something in the fridge we can find to eat. It’s just not a good home-cooked meal like it used to be.

Today I missed it. BUT, tomorrow or the next day, if I make it happen, I know I will be halfway through the mess of it all and I’ll be saying to myself, “Is it really worth it?” Basically, I hate to cook.

What do you like to cook for supper?

Anderson Glenn Schieler

Anderson was born Friday, February 15th, at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.  He weighed 3 lbs 6.8 oz.  The day before his birth he rode in a helicopter with his mother from St. Joseph Hospital in Bloomington to Peoria. 

Charity is home from the hospital and doing much better but very tired.  Tomorrow we plan to go back to be with Anderson.  This will continue (back and forth to Peoria) until the baby is able to come home.  He is breathing fine on his own.  He was under the bilirubin light today for jaundice but the numbers are coming down.  They plan to begin feeding him his mother's milk tomorrow.  He is and has been receiving nutrition through an IV in his tummy.  This will gradually switch over to the bottle.  If he gains weight from the milk and can thrive without the added assistance of the IV, he will be able to come home.  When he is able, he will get his milk from his mother without the bottle.  The earliest he will be able to come home is likely next Monday.  But they don't know, because they don't know how he will respond to the feedings.  Today we got our first pictures of him with his eyes open.  His nurse said he has opened them a lot, but not when we were there.

Yesterday, Glenn and the children got to see him for the first time.  Glenn had the flu was told by the hospital staff he couldn't be near the baby when he was born.Yesterday, he wore a mask and his doctor had him on an antibiotic and said he is no longer contagious. (We hope.)

Because of the flu, Glenn couldn't go in with Charity to have the baby (c-section) so I was there with her instead.  I got a couple pictures on my cell phone I could text to Glenn.

We are glad Mother and baby are doing as well as they are. ----Carol

ANOTHER PROJECT BEGINS

We've - rather Jerry - has begun another project that might keep him busy until the grass is green and needs mowing. He is stripping the wallpaper from the kitchen and possibly from the family room, if all goes well. He searched online and found a "product" called "Simple Strip" which is supposed to make the project "simple"!! :) He plans to work slowly and carefully. The product, which was shipped from the United Kingdom, seems to work well. He received a package of some white strips which he has to soak in a bucket of the special liquid, place the paper on top of the wallpaper and spray with a specially provided liquid that dissolves the wallpaper paste. A "scorer" was included in the package which was actually the first step of the process. He says it was much easier than stripping the bedroom paper. So, we'll see how the rest of it goes.

Southeast Snow

Our corner of the world got snow today.  Unfortunately we were about ten-fifteen miles south of the southern line of activity, but most areas north and east of us got a nice snowfall, and apparently it was the nice kind of snow that sticks and makes good snowballs.

This is my niece (Mike's brother's daughter), husband, and adorable daughter, enjoying the snow at her folks' house, an hour northeast of us.  I know y'all don't know them, but thought it was such a pretty picture, and so classic of people enjoying rare southern snow, that you would like to see it anyway.

Birthday Party

The RDK family celebrated Mom's birthday today at Steak N Shake. We were missing Cleve and Kathleen and David's Linda. Marty brought a friend to join us, as you can see sitting by Cathy. Mom turned 86 today. She is in good health and is enjoying her new home at Mercy Creek. We had good food, as usual, and really enjoyed visiting around the table.

On a sadder note, Carolyn Schlipf's grandson, Matt Schweigert, was killed in a car accident yesterday in Tremont. He is the son of Joe and Nancy Schweigert. The obituary should be in the Peoria Journal Star tomorrow. I'm sure they would appreciate our prayers.

Houston, Tx

Hello All,

This post has been a long time coming...we were in Texas for two weeks and I just didn't have everything I needed at hand to post some pictures like I wanted to. We are home and I am back at my computer, so I will fill you in our activities of the last two weeks.

Gloria wanted to go to Joe and Jamie's in Houston for a 1 or 2 month stay. She has always driven herself down there - by herself - with her birds and her dog - straight through - taking her about 20 hours. This time, Dave and I offered to take her down in Dave's van and then we would go back and get her when she was ready to come home.

We started with a side trip to Indianapolis to see Dave and Jodie's Emma peform in "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." She trains with YAT (Young Actor's Theatre) in Indy and she was given the award for the "young actor of the year" with their program. She proved to us that she is a great performer and we had such a good time spending the evening there.

Gloria, Dan and wife Tami, Jodie, Myself, Amy, Dave, and EMMA



 

We left Indy about 9 pm and hit the road for Houston.

This is the van, packed up with the three large bird cages and the dog cage. Gloria held "Doggie" all the way there. The trip took us 17 hours. It was cold outside so we didn't even stop long for bathroom or meal breaks as we didn't want to leave the birds for too long of a time in a cold van. The birds were covered up and were pretty quiet all the way, except for the occasional squawking outburst of "Goodnight, Angel!" or "Mom!" or "Dog-gie!" or any number of things the birds say.

We arrived at Joe and Jamie's and enjoyed two nice days and nights with them. It was a great opportunity to spend some time with them and getting to know Dean and Benjie. Dean is a senior and Ben (as he prefers to be called) is in 7th grade.

Then we left Gloria there, and Dave and I headed to find a place on a beach for a much-needed vacation for us. He has worked the last 10 years for IDOT and could (would) not get away in the winter, in case it snowed and he would have snow plow duty. So this year, his first winter of retirement, he promised me some beach time. We found a very nice little condo in Port Aransas, TX. We stayed there for 6 nights and had the good luck of being there on the warmest week of the winter so far, and one day it was stated on the news that we were in the warmest place in the USA for that day.







We drove down to Padre Island National Seashore on the last day, when it was a bit windy and overcast.

After our week away, we returned to Joe and Jamie's in Houston and found that Gloria was ready to return home with us. So we stayed one more night, and then packed things up and headed for home. Again, it was a 17 hour trip, we had good roads, and all the animals survived the long drive.

A couple of random photos of "Baby" and "Doggie."

On our last evening, Jamie's friends cooked us a "real" Mexican dinner. We had a good time spending the evening with them.

So this was a long post.

I, for one, will set a goal of doing more posts in 2013!



South Carolina News

 --Ada and Jerry came through here on Tuesday.  They spent the night with Mom and Dad before heading back to IL early the next morning - they were ready to get home!  I only got to go over there for about an hour, due to it being one of those busy teacher-responsibility nights.  But it was good to see them.  The four of them went to G'ville and ate at Outback - they requested a certain waiter named Andrew and I assume he did a good job!  Sorry no pics of A&J's brief visit here.

--Here is a "little-girl blanket" I made for Mary and Joey's granddaughter Emma (Lindsay's little girl).  It was supposed to be done by Christmas, but. . .you know how that can go sometimes.  Mid-January is better than not getting it done at all.  I figure since Ada is always making such beautiful things, I should put my once-a-decade creation on here.  You can't tell in the picture, but both colors of yarn include a metallic thread that makes it shine really nicely.

--And finally, Andrew and Mary Lee went on a retreat to the mountains with the college group of a church they have been attending, and sent me this pic this morning. 

Congratulations

The EJK FAMILY BLOG has been an interesting website to click into more than once a day.  This morning I note that it was started in January, 2008.  This means that a FIVE YEARS ANNIVERSARY is at hand.

CONGRATULATIONS--ANN !!! Your faithful monitoring is much appreciated!  On behalf of the entire family, please accept our gratitude.

C & K in Florida

This was taken this evening (Monday) from the balcony of our condo in Marco Island, Florida.  We could not resist adding this trivia question:  Are we facing the camera or the sunset?
C & K

Birthday Celebration

Several of Mark's family, and the Bailes, came tonight to celebrate Papa's 83rd birthday.  Mike Bailes came late after work.  

 

All the grandchildren that were present:

The candles were the kind that wouldn't go out.  Grandma CLAIMS that she didn't know they were that kind when she bought them.

THE REST OF THE STORY

MOST of our time at Indian Rocks Beach has been wonderful. It has been very sunny, the surf has been beautiful, our condo is beautiful with a balcony facing the gulf and another balcony facing the road, the pool area is lovely. We have taken a long walk most days.

 BUT good is always mixed with a little bad and now I'm going to tell you "the rest of the story". The directions for access to the condo were sent to me via email about a week before we left home. The elevator key was locked in a box similar to a mail box in the parking lot under the building. We had the combination to open the padlock in our hands. If anyone was watching they surely thought we were a couple hillbillys. With his "new eyes", Jerry can't see to read so he asked me to do it. It was a little too high for me and I got frustrated very soon. So he got his little reading glasses and eventually got the numbers lined up and opened it. We took the "key" which is a credit-card-type electronic key that allowed access to the elevator. We got to level three, got off the elevator into our personal entry to the condo and there was another lockbox with the door key in it with the same numbers to line up to get in. Rerun of the downstairs fiasco.

 Another problem was the toilet - we're used to a "high" toilet. So we bought one at Walgreens, saw another at Walmart for half the price so bought that and took the other one back. One evening I did laundry while we were watching TV. We heard a bang followed by a "grinding" sound. I ran to the laundry room and turned the dryer off. The items were mostly dry so I emptied the dryer. Jerry turned it back on, it made the same loud noise so we turned it off and emailed the owners who sent someone out to fix it a few days later. The ball-bearings and the belt were broke. In the meantime, we found a laundromat with interesting people.

 We have done a lot of "eating-in" for weight-control purposes and it is definitely a money-saver. I noticed that the dishwasher wasn't getting the dishes very clean. I had purchased cheap detergent at the dollar store, but on next trip to Publix bought some good cascade which didn't do any better. Then one night when I emptied it, the dishes were just plain dirty and dry!! We ran the cycle again and watched it closely and could hear no water running or anything. So we turned it off and again sent an email that the dishwasher wasn't working. Same repairman came back the next day - and kinda laughed at us. He fixed it very quickly - and as he left the kitchen he put his hand on the refrigerator and said "now I'll put you on my list to come by tomorrow morning to fix this for you" - smiled and walked out the door. As of now, he has not had to return.

 BUT - and I really hate to admit this one! Yesterday I needed to go to Walgreens and renew my prescription and Publix for food. Our parking lot is very difficult as there are posts supporting the building everywhere! I was very slowly backing out of our spot when I very gently hit a post. Nothing major but enough to leave a scrape and a small crack in the rear light. We never know what tomorrow will bring. The pictures shown are our breakfast this morning as we are cleaning out the fridge. If you ever need to microwave bacon and don't have any paper towels, I recommend coffee filters and toilet paper!

FEW MORE AND I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE . . .

I'm beginning to understand our camera, but still have much to learn. Enjoyed church in Sarasota this morning and got home about 3 pm. We walked about a mile down the street for an early dinner, watched the sunset as we walked back along the beach, and I am now playing with these pictures. Jerry is watching the football game while sleeping :)!! Hope all of you had a blessed Sunday.

MORE PRACTICE

One more picture - just practicing. Question for some computer experts: I get the picture to upload, obviously, but on the page where I'm typing right now, the picture itself does not show up, but a "script" shows. Anybody know how I can fix it so the actual picture shows on the draft.

UNBELIEVABLE!

I've been trying for days to get some pictures on here. My camera of many years died and we bought a new one. The first pictures is a view of our kitchen and the second one is a view of the pool taken from our 4th floor deck. We plan to go to Sarasota tomorrow - about an hours drive. Hope to stop at the outlet mall on the way home.

Congratulations, Preston!

Preston graduated from Franklin University in Ohio last month with a bachelor degree in science for Business Administration and Management.  His plans are uncertain, although he is applying for jobs in Sioux Falls, SD and waiting to see what opens up and works out.  Currently he is working for our store as a salesman and is becoming quite proficient in "cold calling" in person to businesses in Streator.  He also works in the store on Saturdays and fills in when our other two employees need a substitute.  ----Carol

WHOSE BIRTHDAY?
We came home from church tonight to find a message on the answering machine.  The message was a singing of "Happy Birthday to you"   followed by "happy birthday, Uncle Lynn."   No identification, but now after reading Carol's comment, it appears some dear niece or nephew confused Lynn's and Jerry's birthdays.  Try again on January 29!     And, Jerry, I hope you've had a good birthday--basking in the sun and having Ada wait on you all day.  

MILESTONE DAY

The weather has been beautiful since we arrived in Florida with temps in the low 80's every day. We've been walking, reading, sleeping, shopping (lots of malls around here), and just enjoying the life of leisure. Last night we went to a Gospel Music concert - just good old songs like I'll Fly Away, Precious Memories, Shall we Gather at the River, I'll Meet you in the Morning, and many more. It's a Saturday night event and we'll probably ago again next week. Vic and Jeann introduced us to this the first year we came down here and we've enjoyed it every year.

Today has been a good day. We "went to church" via the internet and listened to Byron's sermon from St. John 6 - not as good as being there in person but were able to feel the Holy Spirit in our kitchen and think of all our dear friends in church.

THE BIG MILESTONE - Jerry turned 70 today! Each of the kids "skyped" us this morning and they all had birthday wishes for Jerry - and that was fun. This afternoon we went to a music concert of music from the 50's and 60's at the Largo Cultural Center. I believe we were among the youngest people there, so we've decided maybe we're not so old after all!!

Still can't get my pictures posted. I'll keep trying.

Allen wrenches

I thought I would share this here to make sure my dad sees it rather than on fb  or my personal blog.

Several years ago Dad bought me a "real" toolbox to replace the plastic fishing tackle box I had been using. It's a big metal one with a very sturdy handle. Then he began upgrading my tools.

At some time he bought a set of allen wrenches for me. I have probably used them once or twice in the 10-15 years I've had them.

This morning I packed up my garage closet and decided to keep my tool box out and available. The set of allen wrenches wasn't in the box but was on a shelf by themselves. I debated if I should pack in a box or keep them out and available. I opted to keep them out and set them on top of the box.

Sure enough this afternoon when I was replacing the shower curtain rod I needed allen wrenches.

So Dad, thanks for the foresight many years ago that I would need allen wrenches. They surely came in handy today!

GETTING SETTLED

We are settled into our beautiful third-floor condo and loving it. It is located on a narrow stretch of Gulf Rd. that has the Intercoastal Waterway on the East side and the Gulf on the West. We can sit on the east balcony and watch the boats on the waterway and sit on the west balcony and watch people on the beach. Or we can go down by the pool and read/sleep.

Cloudy day today, but we will take our usual 2-mile walk soon - hoping to increase the mileage a little day. Weather supposed to clear up mid-afternoon and be beautiful and sunny for the next 10 days or so. But we all know how accurate those weather forecasters are - so we'll just have to wait and see.

I've been trying to get a picture on here, but it won't work! Obviously, I've been sending pictures "forever", so can't figure out what's wrong now. Probably hit the wrong button someplace!!

Mary Lee's Trip to Guatemala

The second week of December, Mary Lee took an educational/missions trip to Guatemala with the education department at her college.  They visited an international school one day, and the rest of the time they traveled out into a rural area to hold a Vacation Bible School in the church pastored by the missionary parents of one of the girls on the team.

I posted some different picture on my own blog, here, if someone wants to see more.  Didn't want to overwhelm the audience with too many.

Eric, I would be interested to know how this compared to your Guatemala trip.

Here she and the other team members are doing a craft with the children.  She said it was really cute to watch the teen boys - who in the States would have been far too "cool" to do simple paper crafts - but they loved the various projects.  One day they were gluing "jewels" on Burger King crowns and the boys would say in Spanish, "Hey, we need more jewels over here!"

Two of her aunts publish a bi-weekly newspaper called the Electric City News, and one of the features is to show people reading the paper around the U.S. and the world.  So she took one along.

Typical example of the roadside scenery.

Blurry picture, but you can tell that it is an active volcano.

And this is my favorite picture!

TRIP TO FLORIDA

We arrived in Indian Rocks Beach on Sunday, went to a rental agency and a very nice lady found a condo for us with a great view from our balcony. I had earlier rented one for three weeks beginning Jan. 5 and we will move into that condo on Saturday.

As most of you know, Angela and family have moved to Jacksonville FL. Last Friday we traveled with Angela, Kelsie, and Nathan in three vehicles including a Budget Rental truck, Angela's car, and our car. We had four drivers so we were able to trade driving. It was a little "hairy" at times, several major traffic backups that were very frustrating. Twice there was an accident site involved, but other backups just suddenly began moving again with no indication why we had to "stop and go" for an hour or two!!

We arrived in JAX about 5 pm. Jerry Wetzel was there waiting for us, took us on a tour of the apartment they have rented. It is a very nice complex with a cute apartment. We went out for pizza, then headed to the Hampton Inn where we always stay when in JAX.

Now we are enjoying the view from our balcony, listening to the surf, taking walks on the beach, and relaxing.

Stan's Painting of PA

I took a photo of a painting my Dad (Stan) did of PA Klopfenstein awhile back. What do you think? He's been painting off and on... all kinds of things -- from abstract art to portraits like this.

 

The packing process has begun as of tonight!

Some of you may recognize these dishes from Grandma K's kitchen. There are 4 dinner plates, 4 smaller plates, a meat platter, a small vegetable bowl and a covered vegetable bowl. They definitely show wear.

If anyone is interested in them, you are welcome to them. I am thinking about a trip to central IL in late February or early March that I could bring them or I can pack and ship.

Christmas at Perry's

The Corda Roy's Bean Bag Bed/Chair was a gift to Perry and me from our children.  It will be handy for extra sleeping space when they are all here.  Such a good idea!  The Emch family arrived Sunday night about 10:30 and left this morning.  The Endress family arrived Monday afternoon about 4:30 and left yesterday afternoon at 5.  Brandon and Preston managed to take apart our old ping-pong table which was stored in the furnace room and re-assemble it in the garage.  It was in use much of the time.  Yesterday, the children decided to have a restaurant for lunch.  They printed up menu options and took our orders and served us and even cleaned up!  The left overs of  all the previous meals were the choices and it worked out great.  Anna thought of having cups with crayons and paper for the little ones to use while they waited to be served their food.  Later, they called us out to the garage where they re-enacted the nativity story.  They were so creative in their custumes and Milan in the box as the baby Jesus was quite adorable.  I wish I could post the video I took but it probably wouldn't work since I am so tech impaired.  I smile at what a creative bunch they are.  The house is quiet now and Grandma is sad.  No matter how much work it is with all the food prep, I always want them to stay longer. --- Carol

Stevig's Christmas

Keith and I spent Christmas Day in Bloomington at Larry & Barbs.  Lauren is home from U of I for
winter break.  Erin and Thomas from Champaign were there too.  Bonnie and Ben couldn't make it
home as they both had to work.  Barb served a delicious meal and of course I took Heavenly Hash.
Our big news is that Erin and Thomas are expecting their first child in early March.  It will be our first
great-grandchild so everyone is excited.  We are hoping he will be born on March 6 (Keith's birthday).
Sorry no pictures.

Good News Tonight!!

Don't want to take away from all the Christmas gatherings posts, but we just got some good news and I've got to share it.  Many of you know that Mike has been on a rotating shift for his entire 23 years at the nuclear station.  It has taken its toll over the years, both because of being on nights - so hard on him to get "turned around" - and because of missing many big events, such as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year.  He just called me from work - as of June he will be transferred to a straight day shift job.  Not sure what it is, but it has something to do with preparing the work for when units are offline for refueling.  No nights, rarely weekends.  We are grateful and glad!!