Karate Crone

Granny's Posting

Brayden typed for me yesterday bur he's not up this morning.  It's early but Scott has already left for work.  He made my coffee and my tuna sandwich which I have for lunch.  Brayden hates making tuna sandwiches but did it yesterday and only complained behind my back.  He fixes us waffles for breakfast.  We all went to basketball practice last night.  I spoke with the coach as we were leaving.  He  said we really have a 'fine one',  I told him we thought so too.

Rose and Shirley are enjoying their time in Florida.  The only thing they had planned yesterday was a trip to the grocery store.  Shelly and her  friends are going to Colorado  tomorrow and Chris is dog sitting.  All this snow hit there first, I think.  Beth didn't have school again yesterday.

Spring Vacation

This is Brayden i am typing for my Granny and i figured out how to put Granny's email address in my computer she nor aunt rose couldn't figure it out but I  knew how. It is raining here and so we probably will not have soccer practice but i will have basketball practice. I am on spring vacation for a week and Granny is staying for me.

SNOW

We've had a snowstorm here in St. Louis this week but it may thaw a bit some today.  I don't think it will warm up a lot today but more so than the last few days.  It's really been a 'family gazette' with contributions from other family members and it makes the news from other members more of a 'family' thing.

I'm going to Scott's tonight but I'm flying.  Chris is taking me to the airport and just called to see if my flight had been cancelled.  There were lots of them cancelled last night and also several schools were closed.  Goldman came and shoveled for us.  He is going to take Rose and Shirley to the airport for their flight to Panama City on Saturday.  This is their winter vacation.

We're going to spend the rest of the day packing and exercising.  In Louisville. I'm looking forward to Brayden's basketball games and practice and soccer practice.

Brother Joe's Volunteer Work

Here is a link to a photo of people involved in the Springfield, MO railway museum.  The photo is on page 5 of "All Aboard."  Joe's granddaughter, Lydia, made a documentary about the museum, and we will repost the link if Joe sends it to us.  I have often traveled round trip, St. Louis-Chicago, on Amtrak and do love the train.  Next year there will be high-speed rail completed between the two cities so the train will be even more efficient.  Certainly less hassle than travel by air.  Joe spent his entire career working in the railroad business and devotes a lot of his time and talent to this museum.

I neglected to add the link to the photo of Joe.  It is at:  http://www.newslink.com/newsletters/alab.html
The photo is on page five.

And meanwhile, Brother Joe sent the link for Lydia's documentaries:
 http://rrhistoricalmuseum.zoomshare.com

Winter Again

That was a great update from Jana and we have one coming from Brother Joe.  Rose has to post that one because I can't do pictures.  I hope to send more pictures to her next week when I'm in Louisville and I also hope the weather gets warmer.  It's winter again here with the temperatures prevailing.

I had some disappointing news yesterday.  Peggy has taken a summer job as a nanny and won't be available.  Linda isn't available full time anyway.  Goldman was the perfect companion/helper the past two years but may go back to teaching summer school this year.  If anyone knows of someone who may be looking for a summer position, either call me at 314-452-3685 or email me at Marthaboaz@aol.com      I'm still hoping Goldman takes the position.

I leave Friday for Louisville.  Chris and Goldman are taking me to the airport and they're also taking me to dinner tonight.  Rose and Shirley leave Saturday morning for Panama City.  I won't take my computer to Louisville because Brayden lets me use his.  I'll miss the exercycle and the treadmill but Rose is going to rent a guitar to keep up with her practice.

Hello from Kansas!!  I promised Aunt Sue we would update the blog and do not want to disappoint!  We have had a busy year so far and it's only February!  Ellie has been playing basketball and that keeps us busy every Saturday.  This is her first year playing and she is getting better every game.  I got roped into coaching her team but it has been a lot of fun!  Her last game is next weekend.  Kaitlyn loves to go to the games so we hope she is another athlete.  Santa brought the girls a basketball goal for Christmas so they play every day when the weather is nice enough. 
After Ellie's game today, we went to I-Hop with Tricia for breakfast. Ellie ordered bacon with her pancakes and eggs and wanted us to tell Aunt Sue that the bacon was certainly not as good as Goldman's at the lake!! Kaitlyn then chimed in saying that hers was not crispy enough.We had Ellie's parent/teacher conference Thursday night and she is doing excellent.  She is reading at a 4th grade level (she is in 1st grade) and is also among the best in her class in math and spelling. She must get all of those attributes from John since I am not good at any of those subjects!  The girls were so excited for their Valentine's Day parties with their schools.  Kaitlyn kept trying to eat the heart shaped suckers instead of taping them to the cards.
Tricia comes over every few weeks to see the girls.  She is still working at KU Med in KC and is a nurse in the Army Reserves.  The girls stayed with her for 4 days while we were in Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl.  We met some friends there and had a great time climbing mountains and seeing the sights.  Of course we visited a few breweries and  and stopped at the casino too.  I think everyone was ready to see us when we got back.  Everyone was sick and Tricia was ready to have some time to herself. 
We went to the Hearn's for Christmas and saw Debbie, Cathey, Sandy and their families and Grandma. It's always nice to see everyone.  We took our dog, Rosie, and she was able to visit with her mom and brother.  Ellie of course had to dress up all the dogs.  We are doing the Warrior Dash in April and tried to get Sandy to do it with us but she declined.  It's a 5K obstacle course in the mud and water.  They say finishing the race is more about being mentally tough vs. physically in shape.  Wish us luck! 
Our jobs at Sprint and Hallmark are going well.  Ellie comes to work and visits sometimes when she doesn't have school.  Let me know if anyone wants to switch to Sprint - yes, we have the I-Phone now, Aunt Rose!!  And the I-Pad and the I-Pad mini.  John pays $40/month for unlimited everything - we had to stand in line outside of the Sprint store on campus on Black Friday so he could get the latest phone super cheap.  We hadn't slept for almost 30 hours so I went into one of our other buildings on campus and took a nap until the doors opened!  It's only a matter of time until Ellie is going to want a phone - she already monopolizes ours!
We are anxious to watch the K-State basketball game tonight.  We lost our last game so are hoping to do better.  The girls love K-State and have already resided to the fact that they will be going to college there too.  We hope to take them to the Spring football game and spend a day in Manhattan if the weather is nice.  It's been cold here but only snowed enough to make a snowman once.  The girls and John made one then Ellie and Kaitlyn made one on their own in the backyard.  It of course, was a KSU snowman.  They made bird feeders a few weeks ago so have been watching for birds to some eat the seed.  I'm starting to think we bought the wrong seed as we haven't seen a single bird on any of the 3 feeders!  The girls want to play games now so I've been summoned! 

Saturday

Pete called with his Saturday morning call.  He had already talked to Brother Joe and things were good with him.  Janet was doing very well and cooking in the evenings.  As I remember, she is a much better cook than Pete so he relayed that fact to me early in our conversation.

I took a break to eat breakfast and shower and now it's nearly lunch time.  I'll finish my post before I eat again.  I heard from Jana this week and she and her family are already making plans to visit me at the lake this summer.  She said she will update the blog this weekend with news about the Kansas Felins.

I've still been walking quite a bit.  My Fitbit is keeping tracking of my daily measures and also keeps track of other people in the family who are registered with their computers on it.  Though two days I've walked two miles. I walk least of anyone registered walking.  Chris and I walked one day in Forest Park and one of those two days part of the way over the bridge on the Missouri River.  He could have made it all the way but I couldn't.  We turned around and went back.

After our walk, Chris and Shelly had me out to dinner.  Her mom and Butch were there too.  Shelly must have spent the whole day cooking.  The meal was delicious.      

Brayden and Shirley

Brayden at his birthday dinner. Ten years old

Chris and Sue

Beth and Shelly

Scott and Beth at Brayden's birthday dinner

Chris wearing Brayden's birthday hat

Basketball Star BrettSmith, son of Sabrina and Dave, grandson of Margaret

Walking Along

I've been doing some power walking that the Fitbit helps me measure.  Monday I did a mile and a half and didn't leave the house.   I also did 20 minutes on the exercycle.  Tuesday I did a little over two miles in Forest Park with Chris and also did the 20 minutes on the exercycle.    Then we had dinner at Applebee's.   Yesterday Chris and I went again to Forest Park and I did almost 2 miles.  We then had dinner at Pio's, an old place in St. Charles that was there when we lived there.

I'm going to Louisville on February 22 and spend the week at Scott's.  Brayden is on Spring Break that week and he is such good help.  That's the week that Rose and Shirley spend in Palm Island.  Linda can't spend the whole week with me and Peggy has a full time job so their time with me at the lake is limited.

If anyone knows of someone who might be interested in this position as companion and caregiver, call me at 314-452-3685 and my email address is marthaboaz@aol.com

Brayden'sTenth Birthday

Pete called with his weekly call after I had updated on Saturday.  Things were good in Idaho.  My boys (remember, they're middle aged men now, not boys] often talk about the good times they had with Uncle Pete and Aunt Janet in the weeks they got to spend with them in the summers in Idaho.

Scott and Brayden arrived from Louisville Saturday afternoon.  We were celebrating Brayden's 10th birthday.  His birthday is the 12th but that's a school day and a work day.  Beth came from Kansas City.  Brayden, Scott. Beth, Chris, Shelly. Shirley, Rose and I all had dinner at a restaurant called Brio's  which had such excellent service.  The Birthday Boy ordered an entree that I have never had and can't spell.  After the dinner, we came back to Rose and Shirley's and he opened his gifts, blew out the candles, and we all had cupcakes from Jilly's.  Jilly's is a great site for delicacies like that.

Fitbit

Some three years ago I read about the Fitbit in the New York Times technology section.  It was intriguing.  The early Fitbit device measured steps, activity level, distance, and sleep.  Since then the early model has been improved.  The newest one counts flights of stairs and has other improvements to make it a better motivational tool for exercise.  Now, I see the Fitbit everywhere.  The Apple Store has them.  Best Buy carries them.  Many members of our family have one.  A neat feature of the Fitbit is that it loads data onto a private website where information can be shared with friends and family.  Naturally, competition gets going, and that's another motivator.  I see now Fitbit is coming out with a wristband model.  That will be good because it should make it harder to misplace (or to put through the washer-dryer!).

Brayden's Birthday

I'm awaiting Pete's call this morning but don't expect Scott and Brayden's arrival for a bit later.  They are driving over from Louisville to celebrate Brayden's tenth birthday.  The birthday is the 12th but that's a school day and he is very diligent about his attendance.  Also, he can't name anything he wants for his birthday.  His Dad and his Uncle Chris surely weren't that way.

I had dinner at Chris and Shelley's last night. Her mother and Uncle Butch were also there.  Chris and I made a delivery to Kendrick Hospital which was practically on our way to their house.

I haven't been to the lake in quite a while and am eager to go ant time.  Linda is busy preparing for Holy Week and Lydia's wedding and Peggy would have to return very early so if anyone knows of someone who would like to accompany me, let me know.      

Harcuts

The previous picture was the 'after' when I had my hair cut yesterday.  I truly needed a haircut as did Rose.  We patronize a hairdresser by the name of Stephanie who is in a salon called David's and is near by.  Rose, Shirley, Linda, Peggy, Peggy's mother, and I all use her.  If ever anyone is looking for a hairdresser, I would certainly recommend Stephanie.  Rose took the 'after' picture of me but Chris picked me up 'before' of her and she wouldn't pose.

Chris took me for a ride over in Illinois after my haircut and then we went to dinner at Appleebee's.  Tonight he and Goldman and I are going out to dinner again.  Wednesday is the day that Shirley stocks up on organic foods from the Whole Foods store.

It's warmed a bit but not so cold like it was when I was in Louisville that week.  Scott and Brayden and I hope Jalen is coming over Saturday to celebrate Brayden's birthday.  His birthday is the 12th but that's a school day.

Stephanie and Sue at David's Salon

Monday Morning

Monday morning and I'm trying to hurry.  I have an appointment with a toe doctor at 9 this morning so Rose and I are both up early.  Chris and Shelly took me for a pedicure on Saturday and I was sadly in need of one.  They both got pedicures, too.  Chris said it was okay to put the info that he got a pedicure when we got ours but he didn't get nail polish.

Sabrina had met Rose and Shirley at the Apple store while we were getting our pedicures.  When Chris and Shelly brought me back, Sabrina was here.  We had a long visit and she caught us up on the happenings in the Abbott family.  She uses some of the same expressions that our mother used which I'm sure she gets from Margaret.

It didn't seem like Saturday since Pete called early.  I'm still mixed up.  We had 4 inches of snow when we got up yesterday morning but it's going to get to 50 and probably melt today.  Gotta Go.

Happy Birthday. Pete

Pete forgot what day it was and I forgot his birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN LEO even though  it's belated.  Hope you had a good one.  I won't mention your age mostly because I don't know it.

Home Again

Back in St. Louis and there's a bit of snow on the ground.  Shirley's relatives had to leave yesterday and had a long drive back to Memphis but her sister, Loretta. flew back to New Orleans which probably didn't take nearly as long.

Pete called this morning.  He was confused about what day it was.  He usually calls me and Joe on Saturday morning and had also tried calling Joe but got no answer.  He said everything is the same as last week so will skip tomorrow's call.  I assured him it was okay to be confused about what day of the week it is because this happens frequently to these three old ladies.

Rose and Shirley are going to Florida for a week leaving February 23.  This is their Christmas present to each other.  They'll come home on March 1.  Scott has invited me to stay with him but I've engaged Linda to stay at the lake with me most of the time and will probably do that.