Christmas 2020

As I sit here writing my last blog of 2020, a year that has been so difficult for so many around the world, I reflect on all the blessings I have received in spite of all that has happened....

-Steve and I were blessed with health and endurance to get our Columbia house ready to sell, thanks to a tremendously skilled, reasonably priced, and very nice handy man, James Remus.

- Steve and I were able to sell our Columbia house within 48 hours of listing for our full asking price to a buyer that didn't back out.

- Although purchasing a house in St. Louis did not go as smoothly, we ultimately did fine the perfect house at the best price.  When we actually were able to buy, we found the house on the first go-around.  And, we found the perfect place to sub-lease for the month we were "homeless" - it benefitted us and it blessed the person we sub-leased from, too.

- My back started to deteriorate in the spring of 2020 and got progressively worse until I was able to get in to see a doctor in mid November.  But, after three different doctor visits and six sessions of physical therapy, I can see improvement on my back pain.  It is not completely conquered yet but it is SO much better than even two weeks ago.

- Steve's health took a strange downturn in the spring - two hospital stays to regulate his potassium levels and then his calcium levels - but, with diet and medicine changes, he is getting back to normal again.

- We lived in a freezing house here for almost two weeks but we now have a functioning heater and a plan for replacement in the future using a dear Columbia friend who will be blessed with the opportunity to work.

- We had several fix-up needs for our new house and we finally found another tremendously skilled and reasonably priced, and very nice handy man here, Neal Merritt.

- We adopted two adorable, sweet-tempered senior cockapoos (or cockadoodles) to complete our new life here in St. Louis.

- We get to see Emily and family and Beckie regularly now:  Larkin comes over for Grandma preschool once a week and I get to see the whole family once a week (usually) when I go to Ballwin to teach piano lessons to Noah, Lucy, and Quinn.  We do things with Beckie usually at least twice a month, as well.

- In spite of a pandemic, we were able to safely visit with Kirsti, Ryan, and Alice at the end of October.  We will welcome a new grandson from them in April.

- Also in spite of a pandemic, we got to see five of our seven children in person on Christmas Day.  Sarah drove here with her two dogs from Utah to spend the holidays with us.  She was able to get a Covid test shortly after arriving which came out negative.  Elise spent Christmas Eve and Day with us.  Steven and Tamara stopped in for a couple of hours Christmas morning on their way to Ohio to visit friends.  Beckie came over, of course.  And the Southerlands came for a couple hours, too.  Pandemic protocols were generally practiced....And, we FaceTimed with Kirsti, Ryan and Alice and with Julina. - 

- Since having Sarah and getting our two new dogs, we made it through two dog escapes!  First, Lily and Bones got out of our fenced back yard on Monday night!  After calling and calling, Steve got in the car and found Bones fairly soon in an alley behind a BBQ place a block away.  But, we didn't see Lily until four hours later.  We had given up hope of her returning on her own and hoped to find her in a shelter the next day but she managed to find us and came bounding up to the front door after I heard her barking at someone who was walking across the street.  The next day, I patched up two of our known holes in the fence (which I had already temporarily blocked) as well as a third hole that we had somehow failed to notice.  I also tried to chain together the two parts of our back gate where we think Bones and Lily might have squeezed through (although, the third hole was also large enough to get through).  But, apparently, Sally was still small enough to be able to squeeze through the space at the back gate because Tuesday evening, while I was out with all four dogs to supervise their potty duties, I watched Sally go right up to that back gate and go right through!  She ran to the next street while I, who didn't have a key to the padlocked gate, had to climb over our fence (happy for long legs and a relatively short fence) to go after her.  We had only had her for five days so I was not really her "person" yet - plus she is getting used to her new name of Sally - and she didn't come when I called her.  I helplessly watched her begin to run down the street behind us but then she stopped and started running to me!  I caught her and another disaster was averted.  I know it was a miracle that she came to me.  And that Lily found us the night before. 

And so, as 2020 winds to conclusion, I am glad it is over but I am so grateful for all the great things that happened over those twelve months.  And, I look forward to a brighter 2021....

Photos of our Christmas Eve Bethlehem dinner held at Kyle and Micah's house (who were down in Arkansas with Kyle's parents) where Beckie was house and dog sitting.  Steve with Luna, Beckie and Sarah in the kitchen with Armond, and all of us around the table.  Whenever Beckie is involved in a meal, it is always a work of art as well as being delicious 

Christmas morning at our home.  

Elise made the gluten-free cake and I turned it into my mom's Christmas cake recipe.  And, Beckie's hedgehog (or possum) cheese ball 

As for the rest of the week, we had some REALLY cold days (single digit temperatures) that are thankfully gone.  We changed our phone plan and I got a new Samsung.  We were given a bunch of free food from our neighbors who had received it from their kid's school and just couldn't use it all so we were able to share with two needy families in our congregation.  We took advantage of after-Christmas discounts and got three skinny Christmas trees for next year to allow us to display the many music-themed and lamb-themed ornaments that we just didn't have room for this year.  I finished up my physical therapy.  We were finally able to close out all accounts from our old bank). We hope we have come up with a permanent solution to the gap in the back gate (see photo below).  We watched a bunch of Christmas movies (both Miracle on 34 Streets, Scrooge, It's a Wonderful Life, and Klaus).  It has been quite the week and quite the year!

 

Doggies are here!

We added Linus and Sally to our household on Friday.  Here they are.  And, their personalities are just so sweet and gentle.  Emily brought over Noah, Lucy, Quinn, and Larkin Friday afternoon to meet them and the dogs were so great with them.  Even, so, Larkin was pretty freaked out so she built herself a fort of pillows on the couch.  

Yes, you saw additional dogs in the photos.  Sarah arrived Thursday morning with her two, Lily and Bones.  Happily, all four dogs have come to agreements with each other.  For the most part, they are fine but sometimes Lily and Sally get territorial.  Nothing really vicious, just some verbalizations.  

Julina also drove over to visit Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning so she could see Sarah.  Beckie came over Friday morning for brunch and then all five of us drove out to get the dogs.  

But, I get ahead of myself....Monday evening, Vicki Southerland (grandma Vicki) was in town for a short visit and she treated all of the Southerlands plus Steve, me, and Beckie to the Missouri Botanical Gardens Garden Glow.  The night was chilly (no surprise there) but the lights were so lovely that we forgot the temperature.  They had wheelchairs to checkout so Steve pushed me around to save my aching back.  Two more PT visits this week and I think the sessions are helping.  Standing and walking for long periods of time are still hard, though.  

Photos of the Garden Glow:

We had our annual St. Charles outing Saturday evening with a reduced number of participants.  Elise couldn't spare the time off, Melanie stayed back to dog-sit Bacon who is still worrying his amputated tail bandage/stitches, and Julina was already driving back to Indiana by then.  One would never know that a pandemic was going on with the crowds - and with people not wearing masks!  

Steve and I managed to fit two bike rides in early this week and I took photos of a house in our neighborhood that is just way over-decorated.  There is hardly an inch of lawn that doesn't have some kind of decoration on it.  Right next door is a simple, lovely nativity - the sublime next to the ridiculous

Here is a photo of my bird feeding stations next to our driveway.  Still waiting for the birds to discover it...

 

Movie report - we are watching Christmas movies - our old favorites.  Sarah did introduce us to a delightful "new" one, though - Eloise at Christmas.  You can find it complete on Youtube.  

Second week of December

 I can't believe all that has happened in this past week!  Just last Sunday we were freezing in our own home and hoping for a repairman on Monday and for our home warranty to cover the cost.  We did see a repairman from Appliance Repair Clinic on Monday afternoon but it wasn't Marcello - it was Don who was supposed to come between 9 and 12.  Well, he didn't show up until after 2:00!  He said he had a flat tire and he didn't have our phone number!!???  He diagnosed the problem as a bad igniter and he had to return to his shop to get the part and didn't return until almost 5:00 that afternoon to put it in.  The heater came on which was a good thing but it couldn't get the temperature up to 69 degrees where the thermostat was set.  It hardly kicked on at all throughout the next 24 hours - it was clearly struggling.  When I called to report this, Don suspected it was a "thermostat" at the heater that was bad.  He also said the heater was dirty and that he had cleaned it.  So, we told him to bring a thermostat on Tuesday and install that.  Which he did - maybe.  Because after he left, the heater was still not working up to capacity.  This repair company was so terrible and we told the home warranty people to not use them again.  We looked up their Google rating Tuesday night and they had 8 reviews - all horrible!  Speaking of warranty - evidently the home warranty we purchased does NOT cover pre-existing conditions.  So, because the heater had not been maintained for many years (very dirty), they would not pay for the two parts or the labor.  We were so angry.  What was the purpose of a home warranty which we were led to believe at the time we bought our house would take care of problems just such as this one?  We called them Tuesday afternoon - were on hold for over an hour - and asked for a refund.  We had purchased 3 1/2 years worth of warranty!  Thankfully, they agreed to reduce our coverage for just one year and will refund the rest of our money - which will almost cover the cost of the two visits from Appliance Repair Clinic - a tender mercy.  In the meantime, Wednesday morning, we still didn't have a well-functioning heater.  Tuesday night, when we were learning the awful truth about Appliance Repair Clinic, we also looked up HVAC repair companies in our neighborhood (Appliance Repair Clinic is based out of north St. Louis - way north) and we looked at who was certified by the Better Business Bureau (not Appliance Repair Clinic) and what their reviews were and settled upon a particular company who we called Wednesday morning and they had a serviceman at our house by 10:00.  He worked on our heater for two hours (Don was at our place three times and all those visits equaled maybe 45 minutes?), he said the heater was filthy (Don said he had cleaned it), he did note the new igniter and his cost quote sounded about right for what we paid Don, but he did not even know what I was talking about when I mentioned a thermostat at the heater.  So, either Don called the part by the wrong name or maybe he didn't install anything.  We have no way of knowing.  The company won't even give me an actual invoice for the parts and labor (I have asked two times).  All I have is an email receipt from some card payment company.  But, after this new serviceman from Vitt Heating and Air Conditioning left, we have a heater that now works.  He did say it was installed in 1996 so we should be thinking of eventually replacing it.  And, I know who we will NOT be hiring to do the job.  Don contacted me on Wednesday to see when he could return and I said "no thank you - we will not be needing your services any longer".  Ugh!  So frustrating and so embarrassing that we made such a dumb mistake with the home warranty.  On a happy note, our home is warm again.....

Our handyman, Neal, on the other hand, is marvelous!  He installed closet doors downstairs and fixed another closet door.  He converted an unused light switch in the basement to be an outlet.  He tried to fix our exterior light but he says it needs an actual electrician.  And, best news of all, he came up with a work-around for our leaking basement shower.  He said it was installed improperly but he has sealed the drain with two levels of silicone caulk and told us to wait a week to let it totally dry and he believes it will solve the leak without having to tear out the entire shower and start from ground up.  We will test it out this Saturday and cross our fingers and toes!  

Medical update - I saw a physical therapist for the first time on Monday and again on Thursday.  Apparently, my gluts and abs need to be stronger to support my body because my back muscles are being overworked and that is why they are spasming and causing all my pain.  Since my visits, I have had good days and worse days of pain.  I am hoping the next four PT visits will bring some relief.  The heating pad is still my friend.  I wore a Holter monitor for 48 hours Monday through Wednesday and I guess I will find out what was found when I see my doctor later this coming week.  

After months and months of hardly any musical activity aside from teaching two cello students, I had a rather busy musical week.  Our ward is still meeting virtually but they wanted to provide Christmas music for the December 20th sacrament meeting and I am in two ensembles.  One is with harp and violin and cello and we rehearsed Thursday afternoon.  The other is a violin and two cellos (I played a viola part).  We recorded both pieces today after this week's sacrament meeting and it will be broadcast next week.  The other cellist is REALLY good - he just graduated in cello performance last spring - and his younger brother, the violinist, is also amazing.  And, I think I mentioned I was in a string quartet - we are calling ourselves the Carondelet String Quart - and we rehearsed for the first time Friday morning at a nearby church where we could practice safe social distancing.  The violist was one who played with the other string quartet I was in back in the fall and he lives in my part of town and wanted 1. to play in a group that didn't rehearse thirty minutes away and 2. to play with really good violinists.  He found the violins who also live nearby and he arranged the rehearsal location and we are playing music that is challenging and rewarding.  Now, when we will ever get to perform is another issue but we are hoping for a late spring performance when hopefully the Covid numbers are under control. 

Saturday morning, Steve and I took our blind neighbor, Fred, to the Soulard Farmer's Market.  And, then, we went with Beckie to look at dogs!!!!  She is always checking out poodle rescue websites and last weekend, she found two cockapoos up for adoption and they had to be adopted together.  Steve and I had already decided that when we got a dog again, we would get two so they could keep each other company.  Beckie forwarded the information to me, I filled out an application on Monday and on Wednesday, I got an email inviting us to come visit them!  These two dogs are older - the male is guessed to be about 10 and the female is perhaps 9.  They were found as strays.  The male is heartworm positive and has a fatty tumor that needs removal.  The female is missing teeth.  We brought Beckie to our visit and we all three just fell in love with them.  They are very sweet and calm.  They are small and seem more poodle than cocker spaniel which is nice.  The female has to be with the male which is why they need to be adopted together.  Because they are senior dogs and Steve and I are senior citizens, we qualify for the Seniors for Seniors program meaning we get them at hardly any cost and well animal visits and food are provided!!!  Incredible.  It was meant to be.  We get to pick them up at the end of this week.  We have decided to call them Linus and Sally.  Lucy would be cute but we already have a Lucy in our family and I am not sure how appropriate it would be to name a dog after our granddaughter.  😕

Movie report:  We watched two versions of A Christmas Carol - the Muppet one and the George C. Scott one (never ever watched that one until now) and we watched A Christmas Story.  Larkin and I watched the stop-action puppet from the 60's "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town".  And, Steve and I watched a new Netflix movie called "Operation Christmas Drop" that was just delightful.  Based upon actual facts, it was also a cute romance.   

Hooray, it's December!

I am writing this with frozen fingers ....because our furnace is not working.  It stopped sometime in the wee hours between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.  Ya, five days with no heat.  The problem is our home warranty - with which I have a love/hate relationship.  I love that it will cover things that break.  I hate that it takes SO long to get those broken things fixed.  I called first thing Wednesday morning to report and create a claim.  We heard nothing all day.  Thursday morning, I opened my email and there was a message that we had been assigned a repair person and they would be at our house between 3 and 6 that afternoon.  I immediately called the repair person to confirm and he said yes he would be there.  But, when he hadn't come by 5:00, I called to get an update and he said "there was a misunderstanding and his company would NOT be doing the repairs!".  So, I called the home warranty right away and, after being on hold for quite some time, was told that another company, Appliance Repair Clinic, was going to do the repairs but with it being so late in the day, we couldn't hope to see them until Friday. This new company just so happened to be the same company our home warranty assigned to fix our leaking downstairs shower.  So, I will side-track a bit to explain why I was not willing to have them do THAT repair.  First, the name of the company:  a shower is NOT an appliance and we were told that the shower needed to be completely replaced meaning plumbing and dry wall and that kind of thing.  So, the name did not instill much confidence in the skills needed to fix a shower.  But, I called anyway and the first time I did, the man answering the phone just said  "hello".  Not "Appliance Repair Clinic, how may I help you".  So, I asked if he was with the company, and he replied "who needs to know?"  Would that kind of response instill confidence in you???  I don't think so.  Nevertheless, I set up a time for him to come look at the shower two days from then and hung up and immediately reached out to our handyman, Neal, to ask if he was at all interested in doing the shower.  Happily, he said yes so I cancelled our Appliance Repair Clinic appointment - but I had to do it via text, email, and voicemail because he (his name is Marcello) never would answer the phone after that first time. So, imagine my dismay when the home warranty representative informed me Thursday evening that Appliance Repair Clinic had been assigned to fix our heater.  As I said, they are practically impossible to get a hold of.  Ever since that first phone call, I have never been able to reach Marcello by phone...only by text or email.  He emailed Friday morning to say he was coming that day - didn't specify a time - but then I heard nothing until the afternoon when I was in the middle of grandkid piano lessons when he texted me to say he was on his way.  I texted him back with Steve's phone number and to tell him to work through Steve.  So, he texted Steve to ask what brand of heater it was.  There are no labels of that kind on the furnace (it looks really old).  Steve informed him of this and by then, it was closing time on Friday and here we sit, in the weekend, with no heat.  I took photos of what signeage there was on the furnace and emailed them to Marcello yesterday and, not surprisingly, I have received no response.  So, I sincerely HOPE we see Marcello from Appliance Repair Clinic tomorrow and that he is able (competent enough) to fix our heater!!!!  In the meantime, we bundle up throughout the day, we bake in our oven as often as reasonable, we burrow down in a pile of blankets at night, and we wait.  We finally remembered TODAY of a little emergency propane heater that we bought 13 years ago for just such an emergency and it is now up and running.  YAY!  But it is small and it won't heat the whole house, obviously.  At least the kitchen/dining room is getting warmer.  

Okay, on to more positive things.  Like Neal, our handyman.  He is awesome!  He has been to the house twice this past week to do some small repairs and to begin some larger ones.  He hung a little wall shelf above our dining room table.  He put up a flag holder in the brick outside our front door.  He installed a ceiling hook in the library to hang Steve's model B17 airplane and he is working on installing closet doors to the cedar lined closets in the basement, two heat vents for the basement, and a new exterior light just outside our side door.  AND, he is going to fix our shower.....

We bought a Christmas tree on Monday and now the house is all decorated for the holidays.  We chose a smaller tree for our reduced living room space but we also bought an cheep artificial tree for the basement guest area and, between the two trees, managed to find places for all our ornaments.  Eventually, I want to get a tall skinny artificial tree for the TV room for my musical and lamb themed ornaments.  Larkin helped us decorate the basement tree (all unbreakable ornaments) for part of preschool and she was thrilled.  Even though we purged our Christmas decorations before moving, we were still worried there would be places for everything.  Happily, we found spots to put up everything, for the most part.... 

here is the living room

You already saw the wall shelf. Here is the bakers rack.  Notice my beautiful blooming Christmas cactus!

We fit all our Charlie Brown Christmas decor in our bedroom

Here is the basement tree and other decor in the guest area

Medical update:  I had an MRI of my hip Tuesday morning and saw an orthopedic doctor specializing in hips on Thursday.  And, it is not my hip!!!  Even though the pain I feel is in my right side, it is actually the lumbar region of my back that is the problem.  X-rays of my hip were done first thing at the doctor's office on Thursday and, when the doctor came in, he showed me that my hips are actually doing quite well.  He ordered X-rays on my back and showed me those pictures and, yep, you can see why I am in pain.  He referred me to a spine doctor and I was able to get in to see him the very next morning - Friday.  This doctor changed my pain med to a high powered naproxin (Aleve), told me to stop the muscle relaxers, and ordered six sessions of physical therapy over the next three weeks.  And, I am to see him in six weeks.  I have to say, I am impressed that he didn't immediately recommend surgery.  And, I am also impressed that the super-naproxin works better than the other pain med I was on.  In fact, I felt so good that on Saturday afternoon, I was able to get out in the yard and finish pulling up the grass/weeds in the flower bed behind the garage.  

Beckie stopped by Saturday morning to use our glue gun on one of her Christmas ornaments.  I was at the Southerlands on Friday afternoon giving piano and violin and cello lessons.  My Columbia cello student came into town for a lesson on Saturday.  I am still teaching my cello student in Phoenix every week.  Aside from being chilly, it has been a good week.

We have enjoyed our traditional Christmas movie watching - this week was Polar Express, Elf, and Charlie Brown Christmas and It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown (we watched the last two with Larkin during preschool).  We also watched Christmas Chronicles 2 on Netflix and we were pleasantly surprised.  I will warn you to NOT watch 48 Christmas Wishes and Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square on Netflix.  The first one was just horribly casted and acted and the over-the-top soundtrack just makes it worse.  The second one is too musical.  Funny to hear me say that but it is just too much.  

 

Thanksgiving week

Before I go any further about Thanksgiving week, I want to share three photos taken by Emily when the Merrills were here.  I present to you Alice and Larkin!

Okay, now to the week.....Monday was an average kind of day.  Weather has been pleasant enough that Steve and I have been able to take afternoon bike rides and we had a nice one around nearby Carondelet park on Monday.  Tuesday was Larkin Preschool and we did everything turkey - we made the trace-around-your-hand turkey, we read a Thanksgiving turkey book, we made this little pumpkin turkey...

We played with stuffed turkeys and, strangely enough, a stuffed wolf

Steve and I went to IKEA that afternoon and I bought myself a fiddle leaf fig plant.  Her name is Phoebe and I hope she likes her new home (they are kind of tricky to grow, I hear).  Beckie came over that evening and cooked an early birthday dinner for me - ribeye steak with a bleu cheese/cream sauce, spinach and mushrooms, and fresh pineapple,  It was DIVINE!  After dinner, Beckie joined as we watched part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

On Wednesday, my actual birthday (at 65, I am now an official senior citizen), Steve and I ventured south to Fenton to a feed store to buy 50 lb. sacks each of millet and black oil sunflower seeds to mix together for the bird feeding station I got as my birthday present.  I had a lovely afternoon nap.  Steve fixed dinner - grilled pork steaks - and we watched part two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Elise arrived to catch the last bit. 

Thanksgiving morning saw all the gang at Forest Park at 9 a.m. for a brisk hike.  

the above photo is from the Art Museum in Forest Park.  It is called "Stone Sea"

After our walk, we all went to our own homes for small Thanksgiving feasts.  Beckie joined Elise, Steve, and me for ours.  We wore masks the whole time.  Poor Elise had to sit at her own table (she works in a public setting which understandibly makes it easier for her to catch the coronavirus) but we were still able to chat and enjoy each other's company....

Our feast which was a bit simplified compared to previous years - there were no sweet potatoes, corn, green beans and only one kind of pie: pecan.  However, Beckie brought a store-bought slice of pumpkin pie for Steve to enjoy.  Pumpkin is high in potassium so one slice is all he would allow himself.

After some visiting, Beckie left to work on Thanksgiving feast #2 with Kyle and Micah, the rest of us took a nap and then we drove to Emily's for an evening fire pit complete with marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers (I brought my own GF kind).  It was a lovely way to end the day and just might become a new Thanksgiving tradition....

While we were at Emily's, we had a Zoom chat with everyone

Friday afternoon, we made a quick trip to Columbia to spend some time with Melanie, who had to work on Thanksgiving.  We dropped off some IKEA purchases I made for my friend Elizabeth and picked up two bags of peat moss she didn't need.  We dropped off a turkey leg for Elise who was at work at Cracker Barrel. And, we briefly saw Steven and collected a bird feeding shepherd's hook that Tamara was no longer going to use.  We got home around 7:30 for a late left-over dinner and the newest episode of the Mandalorian.  

Yesterday, Saturday, we puttered around with various projects including installing my two shepherd's hooks on the chain link fence post right outside our kitchen/dining room sliding glass door.  (photos to follow next week).  Steve has been busy decorating the outside of the house for Christmas and the back deck now has lights and a tree! 

We try to walk every morning and one day this week, we found this huge stuffed gorilla on the ground next to a dumpster.  It was kind of a funny sight so I took pictures.  Kind of sad because it seemed to be in pretty good shape.

Aside from finishing up the Harry Potter movies this week, we also watched "The Family Man" and our traditional Thanksgiving week viewing of "White Christmas" and "Home Alone".  It was a very nice week and I am very grateful for so many things - for Steve, for our children and grandchildren, for our new little home, for our new life in St. Louis, for our overall health, for a car that runs, for food in our fridge and pantry, for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have a wonderful life.