Sara is not coming!

Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink! I called Sara and told her to check the roads out since the river would crest on Saturday! Landon got on radar and we all decided they should not take any chances!  So I am sitting here with coffee!  I have already called Karel to come take down the decs and put Xmas away!

It wasn't like I planned but neither was it for all the people who lost everything in floods or tornados!  Put that in your gust and blow it!

Flooding is all anyone can talk about here!

We are waiting for the river to crest and begging people not to drive thru standing water!  Over ten people have been killed in their cars!  Mark and I did it yesterday on a Cape street and it was stupid, stupid!   Rain is to let up on Friday!  Oh glorious day!

Feeling better this morning!

The monsoon rains are still coming down!  Mark came yesterday to take my trash to the street and bring my paper up to the house and go do some errands and he is coming back today!  

I need to call Heather today and see if she is okay!  She lives in part of Scott City that they are evacuating and she has a new baby!  She brought her by last week!

Rain is pouring and back is aching!

I'm out of sorts and out of commission for the second day!  Fie on the world and all its inhabitants today!  I'm watching television and turning the phone off!

Rain and more rain!

Up at five watching weather!   Another day of rain,  Christmas is over And I talked to all my kids on phone and to two of my sisters.  Annie and Steve came by for a visit!  Allen bought Jennies house!  

Christmas morning

Coffee in hand and wearing my plaid pjs! Santa Claus failed to stop here last night! But I don't care!  I spent a delightful afternoon yesterday trying to get my sinks in kitchen drained and then trying to find someone to unclog the pipes!  By the time I got the mess cleaned up and Mark Hoff came to plunge all the clogged pipes, I was cursing Santa!  Here's to the scum I carried out!

Christmas Eve

I am going to Christmas Eve service at Trinity Lutheran today with Bev Hickam and her family and then going to her mother's house for snacks!  Will be a fun night!

Visitors and ball games

I spent yesterday with Heather and Bill who brought their new baby, Lily, to see me!  Then I went to see Lady RedHawks play with Lana Richmond and ate out at Cup and Cork!    I thrive on being out among people and visiting!  It gives me a lift.  Today i have nothing on my schedule and I just got up at 10:00. That sounds heavenly!

Being me!

I have had a lot of heroes in my time:  Elvis, Myron Healey, an actor no one else ever heard about, John F. Kennedy, the list goes on and on.  But some of my heroes, now, are international students who come to this country, alone and scared.

Last week some of them graduated!

My music scholarship recipient

Yesterday Hannah Scherer came over with red velvet truffles and it was a happy happening!  She has Betty Hearnes Music Scholarship and she is over the top happy!  It is contagious!

Wiped out but not down!

Yes I am worn out!  I have had guests from India for four day and they just left!  Joy graduated and six other members of her family came!  Four stayed with me!  I will feel better after I soak in my bathtub and close up my house and sleep!  But it was the thing to do and my weariness makes me feel good!  Yes, I am weird!

Speaking of last night..

Last night I was on campus speaking at the Student-athlete Graduate Recognition Program! I had to breach the initial idea that I was some old lady who couldn't possibly say anything worth listening too!  I must hav hit the mark because a twelve year old boy said out big and loud as I walked out, "Lady, you were really funny!"  Hey, I'm on a high!

Joy and her family from India!

Joy is graduating on Semo on Saturday and her family got here late last night!  They are staying with me and we are constantly on the go!

Today we all gathered at IHOP for breakfast including Dr Tayie!

Christmas at Dalhousie

Joan Gohn and Judy Brown and I had our Christmas party last night at Dalhousie and it was a blast!  All night people came in who were longtime friends and I was thrilled to see them all!  Even as I left, a man asked me if I knew who he was and I was blank!  When he said, Bruce Watson, I nearly fell over!  It had been so long since I had seen him!   I love this season!  It's like coming home;  although I never left!

No debate about heat!

Yes, I have heat!  It took all day with Th noises a pounding and I had to stay here to answer questions (like I could).  Finally Lana Richmond called and they said I could be gone an hour and I left for Cup and Cork!  But I have heat, even got a rebate from Amerind and I watched the hop debate!  

Desperate times call for desperate measures!  

A new furnace is coming today/Merry Christmas to me!

My 32 year old downstairs furnace is being replaced today so that is my adventure for today!  At last I will have more heat!  Bought me an I pad so I am happy with new gadget!

Aaron and Angeli, brother and sister from Sri Lanka came yesterday bringing my lunch, cup and car!  Their dad works atuN!

Cheers for Christmas!

Had a fun afternoon yesterday going to see the Lady RedHawks play ( they lost) and then went to Gentrys for a Christmas party!  Sat with my old pal, Dutch Meyr, at the game and then went with Carol and Ron to the party!  

A wasted day

Yesterday I completely wasted the day and listened to CDs, watched Stepmom on television and four reruns of Golden Girl!  I did nothing and I did it sincerely!  I knew I would need that wasted day by the end of the week!

I am packed with activity and guests from India!

A fine rainy day!

Yesterday I overdid the running and I have nothing on the agenda today!  I hope I keep it that way because I have a week beginning Sunday that would kill a horse!  Stay tuned!

Went out with Elizabeth Shelton for lunch and Starbucks for early supper and visited along the way!

Today is Leah's birthday!

Happy birthday to Leah today!  She has added a lyrical note of happiness to our family when she married Adam Dyer! She teaches private voice and lives in Houston!

But I love her spunk and her getting on the internet when she is here and solving problems!  Happy Day, Miss Special!

Cold and scared!

I am downstairs sitting in the relative cold with only the heat of the fireplace and then Greg Brune called and said that he was going up to tape my intro for Athletic Hall of Fame saying my ass would be busted when he got thru!  Now, I am cold and scared!  At least I will have a new furnace on Tuesday and I won't have to hear Greg's remarks until February!  

Cmon world!  Help me out on both counts!   

Christmas doings

Most of my cards are in the mail since I send money instead of gifts.  I have my own gift bought!  And I have my speech done for SEMO commencement for athletes.  Joy and her family are coming from India to stay with me for graduation on 18th!  Joy has been doing her internship in Kansas City in therapy this semester!  She stayed with me when I fell down the steps for three days!

Birthday party for Frank Nickell

Went to birthday party for Frank Nickell last night hosted by Steve Limbaugh and it was a fun party! Ran into Jack Waggener from Charleston who wanted to know about Julia, his classmate!   Frank was 80 years old! 

A musical Sunday

I went out to hear Jerry Ford yesterday at Cape Bible Chapel with his orchestra and they had something for everyone. They had the key players and different instrumentalist. It was a great kick off for the Christmas season.  Alanna Mills of Sikeston made the place rock!

Going to green house

Yesterday Matt Porter came by and asked me if I wanted to go to University greenhouse and we went!  Denise Pingel has worked there since she was a student and I love to see her!  By the time we left we had a good-sized load of poinsettias and cactus flowers and we kept thinking of others who help us and live alone!  Matt is into this as much as I am!

So for the next hour or so, we had the pleasure of getting more than we gave!

Saturday and nothing on calendar!

I am happy with no schedule!  Everyone is getting ready for Christmas and I have some of mine done!  My house is all done and I am getting out again!  Went out to lunch yesterday and then went downtown to an art exhibit!  Even helped Bert Kellerman hang garland😊

Finally, out Among em again!

Finally out in the world again!  Went to Mark Kastens office and got my blood work done and then worked on my speech for athletics!   Last night I went to a dinner at Olive Garden with Bsc board and sat across from Alton Bray!   

Looks like I am back in the land of the living!

More mass shootings

Another mass shooting in San bernandino yesterday!  Will it ever end!  It defies explanation!  But there are multiple explanations!  We have violence every day in our area and it gets closer and closer!  Usually one's explanation is tied to one's prejudices and biases!

Is it guns, drugs, terrorism?  Are there any true answers!

Christmas tree is going up!

I feel better--not ready to jump hurdles or leave the house yet after this bout of blahs but Karel is here putting up the tree and mantel and Greg Brune just called about a party.so I am feeling better😏.

I love the lights of Christmas and love not having to do it!  I am no hand at decorating!  And I never even tried to learn it!  So I just love to sit and watch someone do the magic!

I feel better, I have fought the fight, and now I have a speech to write!

My sinus infection is better, I went on a tear after not sleeping for two hours for two nights and I tore up the doctors office and prescription shop but last night at 7 they delivered my medicine and I slept like a log!  I have used my slogan " excuses only help the person who makes them!"

Now today I plan to spend the day writing my Semo Commencement Speech to Athletes!  What can I say that is relevant to them?  I pore over speeches and swear I will never do another one! But then I take a new one!  Wish I was paid by the hour!

Rain, rain go away!

I have two things to do this week in this rain:  put up Xmas decorations and get rid of this sinus infection!  They could work together if I tried to do the yard decs and got zapped by the electric current!  But that is a drastic measure!

So I will suffer in silence inside and find something to do and wipe my nose endlessly!  Bah humbug!

Remembering two years ago

I have a stupid sinus infection like everyone else who lives here with endless rain!  Noah and his ark are coming for us soon!  So I am staying in this house and inventing things to do!  I may resort to watching Xmas movies!  You don't have to figure out the plot!  There isn't one! 

Then I got a Fb flash of joy!  Here we were two years ago at Mark Stacy's house!

Graduation thoughts!

It just hit me yesterday!  In May Sindupa, Raphael and Nelson will all be graduating! All three of these guys are a part of my weekly life! They are from Sri Lanka, France, and Kenya!  Their common denominator is Semo!

Yesterday we did our usual for Sindupas birthday and we went to Andys in the rain for ice cream!  I can hardly think of my life without my Three Musketeers!  They help me up the stairs when my back goes out, move my furniture back after water damage and allow me the privilege of talking to them like a grandmother!  Because I am that to them!

Hearing the voices

I'm not hearing voices in my head; it's just that I like to hear voices of the people I love I'm holidays. So I spent the time I was whole calling my three sisters and started calling my three children. I never miss calling my three sisters.

I call Rosemarie first so that I can tell the other two sisters how she is doing and she knocks me out with telling me stuff I know nothing about like a Music arrangement she's doing. Julia tells me about the food that she ate that day. Betty laughs and laughs and I love to hear the sound. It is music to my ears. It is Thanksgiving at our old house again.

https://www.facebook.com/jane.stacy/posts/10154351534148989

Eating at the Hickams today!

Going to Bev Hickams house today to eat with her mother, Nancy and Danny!  I will have a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you will too!

It takes grits to make grits!

I sent my son, Jim, the video of my making grits on television and he responded, "wish I was home eating them!"  So did I!  He was a picky eater and did not like half the things I put on the table including vegetables and desserts!  But he loved garlic cheese grits!  

So I died laughing last night showing his culinary efforts!  Yes, home is where the grits dish started!  Eat up and remember, Jim!

Bryan Stacy has a birthday!

Bryan Stacy has a birthday today and I am a proud grandmother!  He walks to the tune of his own drummer and in his own cadence! And that's the way he has to be!  To thine own self, be true!

To me, he is like my mother!  Art filled the empty space in her life and gave meaning and depth and conscience!  It does the same for my beloved Bryan!  And he makes me laugh jut thinking of him!

Mentally getting ready for Thanksgiving!

I have so many reasons to be thankful:  my children and grandchildren, my three sisters, my friends, my health, on and on I could go!  But thankfulness does not automatically happen!  I'm in charge of it happening!  And I grew up hearing, "You've got the same clothes on to be glad in, that you have to be sad in!"  No one has to change their outfit to "get Glad"; but they may need an adjustment in their attitude!  Myself included!

So this is the season I get glad!  I think glad by getting my mind off what should have been and thinking what I can do to help somebody else!  So life didn't turn out like you wanted!  Things happen! We don't get do-overs but we do get start-overs!  Thank God!

Moving with Manasa

Last week Dr Wanda Pipkin, a local veterinarian, and I had lunch and I made a call with her to international students who need stuff!  Manasa, from Nepal, told me she needed plates!  So I gave her my dishes I had in my cabinet!  Two days later I found more of the pattern in my dishwasher and yesterday Matt Porter and I took them by along with a Christmas tree!   She was thrilled with a red colorful pop up tree!  

Snowing in Madison

Jim sent pics today of the snow in Madison!  It's raining in Cape so I slept until nine and I am still in my pajamas drinking coffee!  We beat Umkc last night in women's basketball!  We have a new basketball coach, first woman coach, and she played for Baylor!  She is now family to me and I take a cheering squad and sit behind her bench!

Living in the past...and bringing it up to present!

Yesterday I went out to eat at El Sol with my old colleagues:  Barb Kinsey and Marcia Hendrix from Semo Athletics to celebrate Barbs birthday and we talked about all the old coaches and how someone would get fired and a new coach would take the team to the championship!    I kept thinking about that as the afternoon went on!

We all build on the work of others!   But it is nice when the new person acknowledges that debt!

Russian Tea room talk

My friends, Dr Wanda Pipkin and Lynette Williamson, went out to lunch yesterday at Milk and Honey, a Russian specialty restaurant!  Svetlova owns it and the cabbage rolls and bread are wonderful!  Wanda goes to Cape Bible Chapel and Lynn goes to centenary Methodist but our common bond is international students!  Wanda is teaching seven of them to drive.  

No one would believe our conversation!  It was about dealing with bedbugs and Wanda had zero mixed information!  It is relevant!  Did you know heat from a hair dryer will draw them out!  Bedbugs may not be usual lunch conversation but it will help more people than you think!

Julia Childs is whipped to a whisk!

The television filming of my cooking debut is over!  Carly Okeefe is gone and so is the Kfvs tv truck in front of my house!  I am home alone and I am singing the old hymn, "Blessed Quietness"!   Yes, I made Garlic Cheese Grits on camera!   I can cook!  I raised three children and helped raise their friends!  Program is on Friday at noon! I am a better cook than Tom Harte!  I took a survey!

Rain is pouring down but I have to be Julia child's!

Kfvs tv is coming this morning at 8:30 to film me making garlic cheese grits and do an interview!  I haven't made them in years, I look like an unmade bed, I am cleaning the house before Gloria gets here and I got up before six to make it look normal!  Now I need to memorize the recipe before the people get here to film!  I wish the show didn't have to go on today!

Thanksgiving dinner for International students!

Last night we hosted a dinner for international students at Dearmont cafeteria and they ate well --all 175 plus of them!  Georganne and Bill Syler took on the massive task and it was wonderful!  Ran out of everything but green bean casserole and pumpkin pie!  President and Mrs Vargas came also! What a wonderful night!  I have had Thanksgiving!

Agony remembered!

Harriett Small sent me a pic of an old time dentist office and I responded pronto, "It is Dr Cornwall's office, a place of torture and pain!"  And it began years of my avoiding dentist's office and a gag reflex which continues to this day until the nitrous hits!

No wonder!  There are yellow demons in this picture!

Praying for Paris

Can't turn the television off!  Finally heard from Raphael Pellenard, my scholarship recipient from France, and his family is fine!  This is mind-boggling and I can't wrap my mind around it! 

Athletic Hall of Fame at Semo

No one would believe that I am inducted into the Semo Hall of Fame but if the Creeks don't rise, I will be!  Read it for yourself in today's southeast Missourian!

A celebration of birthdays!

I work at Baptist Student Center every Wednesday and we have built camaraderie!  It was Matts birthday and we go to eat and celebrate! He picked Katie O Farrell's and we love it! I got him a horrible card and he was embarrassed to death! But we laughed and enjoyed the stupidness which comes from togetherness!  Families forge, often, before you know it and way before you even think to acknowledge it! But we are a family that has happened!  

A celebration of birthdays!

I work at Baptist Student Center every Wednesday and we have built camaraderie!  It was Matts birthday and we go to eat and celebrate! He picked Katie O Farrell's and we love it! I got him a horrible card and he was embarrassed to death! But we laughed and enjoyed the stupidness which comes from togetherness!  Families forge, often, before you know it and way before you even think to acknowledge it! But we are a family that has happened!  

Veterans Day celebrated

Yea for all our veterans today!   

Go to hairdresser and Doctor! One of them will make you look better!

Debbie Bickings came to get me yesterday to go to shop!  She has done my hair for over thirty years and she knows every strand of my hair. So I sat down and back as she weaved her magic and removed facial hair! 

Then  I went to Dr Kasten who never seems to remember that I watched him grow up!  I think he has to check the plan paper before he knows who I am!  He asks me if I want all these tests!  I say no!

He gives me a pneumonia shot!  I read the report that says I weigh 184!  Wow what a splendid piece of news!  At least my hair looks good on my fat body!

Don McNeely death

I received a sad call from Donna Sue McNeely yesterday saying that her dad had died!  Don was the heart and front man of Kfvs and became a wonderful personal friend!  I remember my son Jim being friends with his daughter, Laura Beth, in Campus School!

But what immediately came to my mind was in a world of "Get the story; to hell with the victims that are left behind!" Don McNeely did not fall for that line!  Courtesy and accuracy walked together with him!  I am proud to call him friend!  Rip!