Many social interactions this week

Behold my Monday morning home repair project. It ain't pretty but we have tried to get two different handy-men to fix the crumbling front porch stair for several months with no luck.  So I just took some leftover Quikcrete from the bird feeder pole installation about two years ago and fixed it myself! And, hopefully, now we won't have a lawsuit on our hands because someone fell due to a breaking up step.  Monday afternoon, I went over to the newly purchased home of Tracie and Ryan to help clean out all the stuff left by the previous owner who was a HOARDER! Whooeee, I have never seen so many unopened bags of bedspreads, sheets, pillowcases, comforters. Plus she had stacks and stacks of newspapers dating back to the 1980's! The home is a little brick bungalow that looks like it was built around the mid-twentieth century. It has great bones: hardwood floors, a full basement, a detached garage with a small fenced back yard (oh, how I envy a small fenced yard!). Tracie and Ryan had a huge rented dumpster in front on the street that was almost full and they were creating a gigantic pile of things to donate to a thrift store in the living room. Her mom, my friend Mary Bell, and step dad and Judy and Herb Pyne from the ward were also there pitching in (and pitching out).

Tuesday I met Julia for lunch at Culver's. She's a friend who I hadn't seen in 16 years. She and I studied music education at MU back in the day. She is Elise's age, she teaches middle school strings in the Rockwood school district and, unbelievably, she  is going to retire in four years!!! NOW I feel super old! It was so good to catch up. 

Tuesday evening, Steve and I (and Sally) joined Beckie at her place again to watch The Two Towers.

Wednesday had a carefully orchestrated morning because I sort of over-booked myself. I had committed to drive Afghan women to the nearby Afghan Community Center for a Summer Speaker's Series event, I also had music lessons scheduled with Maria and Ben, AND I had scheduled a birthday luncheon at the house with the group of ladies (Mary, Tracie, Judy and Karen) who gather to celebrate each other's birthdays throughout the year! That was a lot of things to make happen and, happily, everything went quite smoothly.  The luncheon was potluck, which helped.  After a well deserved nap, I helped Steve fix the handle to the recliner before Jeopardy started. That evening, we watched another episode of Star Trek Discovery. I would watch the show every day but I am using restraint and we do one episode per week on Wednesday evenings.

Thursday afternoon, Steve took Beckie to her podiatrist appointment and here is what her foot looks like unwrapped...

And, she got an update: She will continue with the PICC line another five weeks and will have to be off her left foot the whole time. Then, the spacer and pins will be removed (see last week's blog post) and she will go on oral antibiotics for six MONTHS. Then, she will get a bone graft and will have to be off her feet for eight more weeks. She has purchased an IWalk which, along with a walker and a knee walker, helps her get around.

 

You see Steven in that photo, too. Well, he came into town Thursday evening to attend the St. Louis City soccer game with Joe, Noah and Quinn. He stayed with us that night and Friday morning, he and Beckie joined us at our bank to add him to our safety deposit box contract, giving him permission to access it. (He has recently been made the executor of our estate)

Thursday afternoon, I went back to Tracie and Ryan's to help paint. UGH! I really do NOT like to paint, especially after I painted the entire house on Parker back in 2020. And, it is just getting too hard on my body to do all that bending and climbing. But, they needed the bedroom to be painted so I donned my painting clothes and went over.  Happily, Mary and her husband Wally were there and, between the three of us, we got the trimming done. Ryan was going to do the roller when he got home from work that evening. 

After the bank Friday morning and dropping Beckie back at her apartment, Steve and I attended the temple. We got gasoline at Costco ($3.49 per gallon) and made a quick stop at the larger Walmart to get things that our Walmart doesn't carry before going home to nap. That evening, we watched Super 8 (released in 2011). Steve had never seen it. Wow, that train crash scene was incredible!

Saturday, I had another luncheon - this time it was to introduce Tabitha, the blind woman I picked up from the airport a few weeks back, and Brenda, a friend from church. Both women play the harp and I thought they should get to know each other. Not only do they have that in common but they discovered many other aspects that they shared in common. It was a nice lunch. I made a delicious new recipe using yellow squash since I have been picking tons from my garden (thanks to Seven pesticide which is keeping the squash bugs at bay). I also made a coleslaw from a cabbage that Judy (Wednesday luncheon) brought from her husband's garden. I had leftover 3-bean salad from last Sunday's meal and I made a marinated carrot salad that I had been craving. Brenda brought deviled eggs and I had some gluten-free lemon bars in the freezer. It was a yummy lunch! I had a cello student in the afternoon, we drove Joey to work (his mom finally got a car but it is currently not working) and then we went back to Beckie's (Sally, too) for the final LOTR movie, Return of the King. 

Today, we are feeding the sister missionaries and then the bishop and his wife and their two little kids are coming over for brownies and ice cream because I want to hear all about Trek. They were a "ma and pa" for the activity. LOTS of social interactions this past week. 

Busy, busy

Beckie is home from the hospital! She went back into surgery on Monday to have her wound debrided AND to have a block inserted to hold a place for an eventual bone graft.  Below is the inside and the outside view...

She was not discharged until Wednesday because she had to have a PIC line inserted so she can administer IV antibiotics to herself for six weeks. Plus, she can put absolutely NO weight on her left foot during that time. At the end of six weeks, she will have surgery for the bone graft and then another 8 weeks of no weight on the foot! She is still working out how her life is going to play out these next 14 weeks.

I saw my cardiologist on Monday afternoon. The metoprolol to control the palpitations is also supposed take the place of my blood pressure medicine only it is not doing a great job. So, after a week of taking my blood pressure at a specific time of day, I have sent the numbers to the doctor and see what he prescribes.  I saw a podiatrist on Tuesday and, going forward, I will go back every 10 weeks to have my gnarly toenails trimmed by him. It is just too hard to bend over nowadays and, with my completely numb feet (thanks autoimmune disease), it is too risky to keep doing it myself.  Steve saw his dermatologist on Wednesday and there were no skin cancers to freeze off - hooray. Our Kia Soul saw the mechanic for an oil change Thursday and it had no other issues. SO, we are ALL good to go....

Throughout the week, I collected, washed, ironed and prepared twenty-four tea towels for a Friday delivery to the Missouri History Museum. Whew! That was a big project that should go easier now that I've done it once. 

Wednesday morning, I awakened at 4:15 to be out the door by 4:45 to arrive at the stake center by 5:15 and set up for the grab-and-go breakfast for all the youth and leaders participating in trek. You can see the two tables full of drink boxes, fruit, granola bars, pop-tarts and cheese sticks. Judy, Carol, and Mary (identified left to right) all helped me.

There were over 135 youth and adults going on this four-day trek through the large piece of property (many acres) near Rosebud, Missouri. They were encouraged to dress in authentic pioneer garb. They were divided into "families" with a "ma and a pa" and about 8 "children". All had their own lidded five-gallon bucket to keep what they would need for the journey and they were hauled in their family handcart along with a Dutch oven and other cooking supplies. Each family slept under a huge tarp stretched over them and a huge tarp spread underneath. The following photos show the group at the church and at the Rosebud farm. There is one photo of our stake president marching while playing his harmonica.

Judy and Mary went home after the three school busses full of trekkers pulled away from the church at 6:30 but Carol and I wanted to see them actually embark with their handcarts so we drove the hour and twenty minutes down to Rosebud and stayed an hour or so to wave them on their way. 

Steve and I went to Beckie's Friday night and watched The Fellowship of the Ring (extended version). Earlier in the week, we watched The Iron Giant that Elise loaned to us. And, of course, we watched another episode of Star Trek Discovery Wednesday night.

Saturday afternoon, Steve and I drove to Columbia to take Elise to dinner to celebrate her birthday. We ate at The Heidelberg, a long-time Columbia eatery next to campus. We enjoyed ice cream at Sparky's afterwards. And, then, we drove back home later that night. Sally came along and stayed in her portable kennel at Elise's apartment while we were at dinner. She is such a good traveler. She also came with us to watch the movie at Beckie's. 

We (and those on trek) got quite a bit of rain throughout the week. It has been so nice to not have to haul a hose and sprinkler around. I will get to do THAT this coming week, though. (darn it!)

 

A week to remember

We kicked off the week with a celebration of Emily's birthday last Sunday evening. Her actual birthday was on Saturday, the 27th, but it was Family Day at Missouri S&T so that is where they spent the day. It was nice to enjoy some time with the Southerlands.

Monday morning, I picked up Beckie to take her to Missouri Baptist Hospital for some outpatient surgery on her foot.  The surgery seemed simple enough - elongate her Achilles tendon to take pressure off the bone at the ball of the foot and to take off a growth on the bottom of her foot. Unfortunately, when the surgeon opened up, it was pretty bad (the infection was now in the bone AND she had an abscess as well) and she had to shave off some bone on her big toe. It was decided that Beckie needed to stay in the hospital for a week (again) on IV antibiotics! This infection that she has been fighting since last fall, that caused her first week-long hospital stay in January, and that has required her to wear a special foot boot and to go to wound care and infectious disease and podiatrist doctors on a weekly basis ever since is STILL a problem. It is pretty discouraging.  We have been up at the hospital almost every day all week while still carrying on our regular activities.  

Steve drove a church friend to his colonoscopy Tuesday morning. I taught a lesson and worked on finances that day. We saw Beckie that night on our way to the temple (the hospital and the temple are literally two miles apart). Steve gave her a Priesthood blessing.  We saw her again Wednesday evening on our way to O'Fallon, MO to assist in a Melchizedek priesthood ordination. This is a good story....

Eighteen years ago, Steve was the bishop and he helped give a name (Cooper Bruce Wayne) and a blessing to baby boy who was born to a less active young woman named Rachel. A year or so later, he performed a marriage ceremony for Rachel to her husband (not Cooper's dad, by the way). She was working as the manager of a large apartment complex that was built around a nine-hole golf course and the wedding was held on the 4th hole. Rachel stayed in the ward for a few years but, eventually, she moved away and we lost track of her. Fast forward to spring 2025 after the performance of the Lamb of God, which I played in. Rachel had gotten her life together and had met and married a good member of the Church and she attended the program. She saw me, recognized me and Steve, and caught us up on her life. She now lives in O'Fallon, MO. Last fall, I saw her as a temple worker and she mentioned how cool it would be if Steve could help ordain Cooper to the Melchizedek priesthood when he turned 18 in the summer of 2026 (kind of a full-circle thing) so I gave her my cell phone number. Then, Tuesday night, when Steve and I went to the temple, there she was at the recommend desk and she asked "what are you doing tomorrow night? Cooper is being ordained and it would be great if you could come". So, that is what we did. Plus, it gave us a chance to see Beckie again since we were driving by the hospital anyway. 

Thursday we did NOT go to see Beckie - we had shopping to do and English class to drive for. Friday morning, Steve dropped me off at the hospital on his way to his second temple visit of the week. I hung out with Beckie for about an hour and a half. Her podiatrist/surgeon had been to see her just before I arrived and told Beckie that more bone needs to be removed on Monday morning. We are not sure how much or what will happen after that. Beckie was supposed to go home Tuesday but now we are not sure....

Saturday was our nation's 250th birthday! And it started out HOT! (the whole week was HOT) What a day to mow the back lawn but that is what I did. Ugh! I finished in time to shower before we attended a ward BBQ at 11:00. Steven drove into town to join us and afterwards, he spent the afternoon with Beckie up at the hospital. Tamara is out of town with her family so Biscuit came along and Steve and I got to dog-sit him. He is a good dog but Sally HATES him! It is a good thing she only has about three teeth or we would have had a problem. Sweet Biscuit wanted to be friends but Sally would have none of it. That afternoon, a front blew in with lots of rain and cooler temperatures so that by fireworks time, it was quite pleasant. We didn't go to any fireworks displays but we didn't need to. Neighbors all around us had their own illegal fireworks show that would rival any civic display! I just sat out on my front lawn and watched fireworks all around me in lovely, coolish temperatures. Happily, Sally is not freaked out by the noise, which was good since there was a LOT of noise all the way up to 11:00 pm. Steven was back in Columbia by then but Biscuit also seems to be oblivious to the noise (hooray!)  Biscuit was a really good dog around the kids at the ward BBQ. Little Margaret just LOVED him!  Biscuit also seemed to love his grandma. The last photo are of the t-shirts Steve and I found at Old Navy for the 4th of July (apparently, their classic 4th of July t-shirts sell out by mid-June every year. Who knew??)

 

Wow, June went by quickly!

Kirsti, Ryan, Alice and Ivan left our place Monday afternoon to spend the night in Columbia with Steven and Tamara before driving home on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was so great to have them here. I sent Kirsti home with three new plants - babies from my ever growing houseplants. I wasn't able to wave good-bye to them from the driveway because I was asked to pick up Tabatha, a blind friend from church, whose arranged ride home from the airport fell through. Not only did I need to get her but we also had to pick up her seeing-eye dog from the VA Hospital where she works and where a co-worker was dog sitting. Below is a cute photo of her dog with her in the car. Her name is Tori... She was very happy to be reunited with her person.

Speaking of dogs, here is Sally with her new haircut and in one of her favorite places - the back of the couch in the TV room. She hangs out there when Steve and I are watching something on TV.

And, Steve and I were able to do quite a bit of TV watching this week. Tuesday and Wednesday, we finished the last two episodes of season 2 of Star Trek Discovery. Whew, they were intense! We started season 3 last night and it was amazing. I think I need to watch it again...  We also watched Prince of Egypt that Elise loaned to us. We'd never seen it before and it was quite good.  Steve watched his June movie, Chariots of Fire, on Saturday afternoon while I was running errands and teaching lessons.

I didn't teach lessons at all while the Merrills were here so this past week they resumed. Understandably, my summer lessons are not as regular or frequent so I just had six students this week. Two of them were Larkin and Quinn who Emily brought to our house Thursday morning for a long overdue lesson. 

I saw my nurse practitioner Wednesday morning for my annual Medicare exam. I was given a clean bill of health for which I am grateful. Steve is doing physical therapy twice a week for his back. So far, he has not seen a great deal of improvement and he see's his pain doctor tomorrow to see what is next.

We both drove for English class Thursday night and I had a late meeting afterwards to finalize food plans for the stake Pioneer Trek that is planned for July 8-11. Happily, I am just in charge of the send-off breakfast Wednesday morning which means I don't have to push a handcart or camp on the ground in heat and humidity. 

Steve and I took two ladies from the ward with us to the temple Friday morning and we took two different ladies to the Tabernacle Choir Hollywood Bowl watch party Friday evening. The concert was actually held in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday of this past week and it not only featured the Tabernacle Choir but several other guest artists including Donny Osmond. I had no idea he was just two years younger than me and one would never guess his age by his powerful and beautiful voice. He was my favorite part of the program. The watch party was a multi-stake event and they served hot dogs, chips, and Kona ice. Plus there were bounce houses and other games to play. It was a big to-do and I enjoyed seeing friends from all around St. Louis. 

My big project this past week was to prepare and distribute embroidery kits to Afghan women. We have a purchase order from the Missouri History Museum gift shop for 24 embroidered dish towels. So exciting and it means I don't have to sit at a booth for hours and hours hoping people will buy something. Below are the two designs we are making:

We had temperatures on Monday that didn't get out of the 70's! Our windows were open all day. But, it IS summer and it IS Missouri so we are now in some pretty miserable heat and humidity. But, my flowers are loving it!

I will close with a photo of a car I saw this past week. Notice the expiration date of the temp tags!!!! Unbelievable.

 

Fun around St. Louis

We returned from Johnson's Shut-Ins Tuesday afternoon.  Wednesday morning, Alice joined Larkin out in Ballwin for a Stake Primary activity in the morning. Ivan was not old enough to take part so Kirsti and I took him to the Science Center. He had a blast!

Ivan was also fascinated by all the musical instruments we have and he talked Poppy into letting him try to play his baritone.  It took a bit to teach him to buzz with his lips but, once he learned, he was a darn good brass player! He convinced Alice to give it a try. He got his mom to "play" the trumpet and we had more than one jam session during their visit.

Ivan also joined me on my morning walks Thursday, Friday and their last day on Monday, July 22nd. He had his own grabber and he was a delightful companion and a great helper. 

 

I showed him how to make a snapdragon blossom "talk" and below is a little reminder of their last day when he tried to do it.  It stayed on our back steps several days after they left as a sweet reminder of Ivan.

Beckie took Ryan and Kirsti to see Disclosure Day Wednesday evening so I was in charge of Alice and Ivan at home. We watched Toy Story 4 to prepare us for the Toy Story 5 (which we saw Monday morning with Beckie). I had only seen 4 once before and I loved it all over again. Laughed my head off! The fifth movie was also delightful and it had a timely message for parents (and kids).  

The Merrills went to the zoo on Thursday. It is too much walking for Steve and me so we stayed home. Friday morning, they visited Grant's Farm before they headed east to Greenwood, Indiana to visit Julina and Alex. It was a short visit and they were back in St. Louis by Saturday dinner. I had signed up to feed the missionaries several weeks ago so we all had delicious homemade pizza. Alice is a picky eater and I was so thrilled when she devoured the cheesy scrambled eggs and cinnamon breakfast cake I made Thursday night.

Saturday morning, while the Merrills were at Julina's, Steve and I fulfilled our assignment to help clean the meetinghouse. I left immediately after to supervise another Afghan women craft booth at an Archway Refugee Connections fundraising pickle ball tournament. It was outdoors, warm, and tiring. I was glad to pack up and go home to the air conditioning.

Johnson's Shut-Ins

We had another great experience at Johnson's Shut-Ins. We invited Larkin to join us and have some cousin time with the Merrills.  We drove the two-hour trip Monday morning, June 15th and we had perfect weather both days - not too hot, not too chilly. Clouds collected during our Tuesday morning swim and, as we were packing up, it rained on us a little as we walked to our car, but not a drenching rain. And, by the time we were driving home, the rain had stopped. Here are photos:

Larkin and Steve were quite adept at cairn stacking...

This is Steve's:

There were only two things that put a black mark on the whole trip. First was that Steve's and my air mattresses leaked. The camper cabin has only room to sleep 5 or 6 so Steve and I planned to sleep on the large porch on air mattresses. However, by midnight, mine was pretty much flat and Steve's had a slower leak. The electric outlet on the porch didn't seem to work and we didn't want to disturb sleeping bodies by hauling the mattresses back into the cabin to fill them out. SO, I had the brilliant idea of sleeping in the Honda Element (which we chose to drive since it has more room to haul stuff). Both the front and back seats can be made completely flat and I thought we could sleep on the elongated seats. Unfortunately, the seats are not completely even in their flat-ness and Steve's back could only tolerate about 20 minutes of it before he returned to his slowly leaking air mattress.  After he left, I was able to configure my body over the two back seats and I slept there the rest of the night. Not a great sleep, however.  Here is what my bed looked like: 

The other black mark - SNAKES! Monday there was a water snake sunning on a rock by the far shore and also swimming in the shallowest swim pool. Happily, it kept to itself but it was back again Tuesday morning. And, Monday evening, as Ryan and Ivan were walking down the cement path to the bathrooms, they encountered a copperhead!!!! And, it was in strike mode. When Larkin, Steve and I went to the bathrooms a little later, we avoided the cement path and chose the road and Steve and Larkin saw another snake in the road. It was getting dark so we don't know if it was the same copperhead or not. Here is the photo Ryan took: 

HORRIFYING. We are going to the Shut-Ins again in August with the Southerlands and this might just be my last year to go.

 

A full week and a family gather on June 14th

We have a new living room window!!! Behold the before and after photos:

The seal was lost on our original window which caused the foggy look. 

On Sunday, the 7th, Steve was released as a counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency. And, we fed the new set of Elders assigned to our ward. We now have two sets of missionaries.

I finished the t-shirt quilt during the week - hooray! On Monday, the 8th, I got to deal with the help desk for Hewlett Packard regarding our printer. When we switched internet providers, the printer stopped talking to the laptop and, after an hour on the phone, we finally figured out why. The printer cannot talk in the 5G language of our fiberoptic internet. I had to call AT&T and have them create a 2.5G line for the printer. Then I had to call HP again. What a pain in the neck!

On Friday morning, Steve and I visited a family of two of my students, Ben and Maria. They recently built a new house and got a new puppy (a doodle named Nova) so I had to see both. 

Kirsti, Ryan, Alice and Ivan arrived Friday evening! Saturday, I already had a previous commitment to run the Archway Refugee Connections booth at a Grand Market so that is where I was from 9:00 to 1:00. As usual, we didn't sell as much as I had hoped and I think this will be the last time we participate. Maliha was my helper and you can see her in the photo below. She also insisted on taking a photo with me in it. This Grand Market was supposed to be outside but it rained. In the photo with me, there is a basket with braided bracelets that was our biggest seller.

The Merrills stopped by the market in the morning and, in the afternoon, they spent time in Ballwin with the Southerlands so I took the opportunity to attend a senior recital of a young woman in our stake. She is a phenomenal cellist and, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because her parents are also amazing musicians. Here she is performing with her mother and father. Aside from the Shostakovich cello concerto (which I dozed through), it was a lovely program.

Saturday evening, we all squeezed into our little TV room and watched Attack of the Clones (Star Wars episode 2) since Alice and Ivan have been working their way through the Star Wars movies. 

Sunday afternoon, we had five of our seven children with us. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed dinner out on the deck. Avert your eyes from the peeling paint on a deck that was supposed to not need any more care over the years. Stupid paint. It was a really nice evening all together. We sorely missed Sarah and Julina...

(l-r) Ryan, Kirsti and Alice Merrill, Noah, Steven, Emily, Larkin, Ivan, Lucy, Quinn, Joe 


below Elise and Beckie, Quinn and Noah 

above: Steve, Emily, Elise, Beckie

below: Ivan and Larkin