Monday, March 12, 2012

2012 March 12


2012 March 12, Monday
Babysat with the girls (Charlotte for only about 10 to 15 minutes before it was time to take her to school.)  I took Lorelia to preschool about noon.  We then waited for Beth to arrive home before we left.  That was to be sure someone was there to retrieve Charlotte from school.  As it turned out, Beth arrived just in time to walk up to get her.  That should make Charlotte happy to be able to walk home.

2012 March 11 Sunday
Yeah! Welcome to Daylight Savings Time.  That means I did not wake at five this morning.  I was able to sleep until six.
Ella worked today.  I went to Sunday School … only a few of us made it … either they forgot to reset their clocks or just couldn’t crawl out of bed that hour earlier.
After Ella got off work we went in to church for our Lenten Bible Study on the last words of Christ from the cross.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

2012 March 08


Thursday:  This is not normally a day to babysit.  However, Nathan worked a double shift yesterday as well as working on our truck, Rudolf.  This is his day off and he wanted a chance to sleep-in.  So, we got up at 5:45 and drove to Ankeny.
The good news is … we got to spend extra time with Charlotte and Lorelia (oh yeah, and a little with Nathan).  We didn’t stay as long as we usually do on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ella has been having trouble with keeping her phone charged.  Or more accurately with getting it to charge.  The connector port on the phone is loose and not making a good connection.  So, we headed to Verizon in Des Moines after we left Ankeny. 
We arrived about a half hour before opening time.  So, we went next door to McDonalds for coffee (and a sausage, egg McMuffin for Ella).  I hadn’t taken my morning pills and needed some coffee to wash them down.  We sat there and drank coffee and I worked on the crossword of the day.  Some days, like today, the puzzle seems very easy.  Other days, I just stare blankly at the questions.
Verizon opened their doors and we went back to get the phone serviced.  They just ordered a replacement phone, which should be here tomorrow.  
While we were there I wanted to look at the new Razor Max phone.  It is supposed to have a much longer battery life.  It is also 4G as opposed to our current 3G Droid Xs.  We were told that we could transport all  our current programs and files directly to the Razor.  They offered us a good deal on a pair of them … so we bought a pair.  They weren’t in stock but should arrive tomorrow or the next day.  Now we wanted to cancel the exchange on Ella’s defective Droid X for the replacement Droid X.  They couldn’t cancel the replacement.  So, tomorrow we should receive the new Droid X but we will not activate it.  We’ll keep it and send in the old one as an exchange.  Once the Razors arrive, we’ll take them to the Verizon store and have them activated.  It’s amazing how such a simple thing as getting a phone serviced could turn into something so convoluted. 
We stopped by the campground office on our way home.  I wanted to sign up for workcamping this summer.  I also wanted to ask about when we were supposed to have the skirting insulation removed from around our RV.  We were told that it will be removed by the first of April.  This will help us determine when we will move the Hitch Hiker off of our seasonal site and when to bring the Excel home and put it on the site.  The dealer wants at least a week’s notice to get all the systems checked and all the prep work done.  They are also going to install a rear ladder.
By now, it was almost time for me to leave for Emeritus to lead the Bible study.  Ella decided to do our laundry while I was away.  We loaded the laundry into the truck and drove to the clubhouse (where the washer / dryers are).  After unloading laundry and wife, I went to Emeritus.
At Emeritus I did a very short Bible reading and devotional and then we sang songs.  Read that as I sang songs and they moved their lips or just listened.  My throat is still a little rough from the cold I’m just getting over.  As usual we sang “Jesus Loves Me” several times.  I don’t know if ANY of them realize that we just sang it a couple of minutes ago.  Their Alzheimer’s and dementia makes it hard for me to know I make a difference in their lives or not.
I returned home just in time to help Ella fold the last of our clothes.  Now while she is putting clothes away, I am updating the blogs.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

2012 March 06 Tuesday



            Up at five forty-five to go to Ankeny to babysit.  We stopped at McDonalds for McMuffins to eat on the way.  We were most of the way to Ankeny before I realized how much better I was feeling.  Still have a dry cough but it is not as persistent.
            Cierra dropped the girls off about 7:20 so there wasn’t much time before taking Charlotte to school.  However, she did start reading a book.  I think it was called “Bad Kitty”.  She really likes reading to me. And I really like having her read with such enthusiasm.
            Lorelia was her usual ball of kinetic energy.  She is a real live reality show, complete with sound track.  She talks all the time and narrates her life.  Luckily, she likes to include me in her play.  Today she also had Ella flying a spaceship with her.  I got to help her ‘pack’ to go to outer space.  We also watched Mickey Mouse Club.  I have tired of Disney Jr and so switched to another kid’s channel and we watched a show about mermaids.  I believe it was called Bubble Eye Guppies or something like that.
            Audrie got there just shortly before noon to take Lorelia to preschool.  That meant we were free to head for home.
            As we pulled into the campground, we went to the office to pay our electric bill for the month.  We owed a few cents over seventeen dollars for the month.
            Now switching gears…
            It was a sunny seventy degrees today and I opened three of the RV’s roof vents.  I also took the plastic off of one of the windows to let the cool air blow through.  Wonderful.
Now switching gears…
            I got a call from Heather and we talked for quite a while about the research we are both doing on Ancestory.com.  She has been researching the Oldstein family tree while I have been working on the Williams.  I emailed her the document that I’d put together.
Now switching gears…
            Nathan, Beth and the girls came out this evening.  Nathan is going to try and find and fix the coolant leak in Rudolf the truck.  While he was looking at the truck, the girls (including Beth and Ella) went to the playground.
            Altogether we had a good day!