September | One Line a Day

September 30, 2024 by GmasPhoto 4 Comments

September | One Line a Day

Hi, it’s September. Just 3 months until Christmas. But first Autumn!

01. Sunday. I really enjoy this season. The first sign of Autumn was just this morning, the fog. This image was taken while I was on my way to the grocery store. Erika and her family will be coming over to spend the day with me and Kevin!

02. Monday. I delivered the senior session images to Cresinda.

03. Tuesday. Worked my last day with the Kansas child support services.

04. Wednesday. My first day working for the school district! What a day it was. The bus would not start in the morning. Jumped the bus and still did not start. Ended up the bus needed a new battery.

05. Thursday. Getting up at 4:30 am comes pretty quick!

06. Friday. Getting up at 4:30 am is not the best part of this new job.

07. Saturday. Slept in till 7:00 am. Took a nap, much needed.

08. Sunday. Kevin surprised me once again. Went to morning mass!

09. Monday. This is my first full week working at the school district.

10. Tuesday. Went to my brother in law’s mother’s service. Living in a small town, everyone knows everyone. Her service was packed with many of her family and dear friends.

11. Wednesday. Stayed up much too late last evening. Overslept, not good. Had to rush to work. All good, but still got my heart racing.

12. Thursday. Still settling into my new daily routine, I came home and did some housework. Now that I am working part time, there should be no reason for my house not to be clean. 🙂

13. Friday. Oh boy, Friday the thirteenth. A high schooler ran into the bus I was riding on this morning’s route. The student was fine. Car a bit dinged. Bus ok, nothing.

14. Saturday. Spent the afternoon with my parents. Erika and her family was there too. Kentucky Fried Chicken was on the menu for dinner!

15. Sunday. On the drive home, stopped by the Grinter’s Sunflower Farm. This is really growing. Not so much the fields of flowers but the farmer’s wife opened a general store a couple years ago and the place was a hoppin’ place today.

16. Monday. The library was having an Adult Crafting Night. I went and painted some rocks!

17. Tuesday. Returned to the library to fax some paperwork needed for Adam’s insurance.

18. Wednesday. Drove into Lawrence for Bible Study and to fill Adam’s pillbox. Wednesday is early release for the school kids. Needed to get back to the bus so the Lawrence trip was a quickie.

19. Thursday. Finally, some rain. Craved ice cream. So I made myself a frozen cherry smoothie!

20. Friday. At the school there is a large transportation break room. Nice. Spent the time between morning route and afternoon route there.

21. Saturday. Kevin took me to Ashli’s Family Diner for breakfast. Pancakes sounded good. The only option on the menu was the ‘giant pancake’. The waitress asked me if I wanted the ‘giant’ pancake. Sure!

22. Sunday. Kevin and I went to church, early mass. Went to Lawrence to fill Adam’s pillbox. Bought groceries. Spent the afternoon at home. Watched the Chiefs play football in the evening. Go Chiefs!! Chiefs won.

23. Monday. A fellow bus driver called in sick. Her route was split between two other buses. I was on one of those and was able to get in some additional hours.

24. Tuesday. Studying for the written CDL test. Getting anxious.

25. Wednesday. Attended a defensive driving class. Was shown how to park in a parking space correctly. Learned other useful tips/information.

26. Thursday. Completed the defensive driving class and received my certificate. Supposedly I can provide this to my insurance company and possibly get a discount on the rate. We will see.

27. Friday. I passed the written CDL test. Next I will be training on a real bus, the driving part 🙂

28. Saturday. I was tired. Passing the CDL test was really stressful. More stressful than I had realized.

29. Sunday. Kevin and I went to Sunday Mass. This is becoming our new Sunday norm! Watched the Chiefs play.

30. Monday. Between the morning route and afternoon run, I went into Lawrence to visit with my folks. Also filled Adam’s pillbox. On my drive thru Lawrence, I had happened to see this wreck. Pretty scary. All involved seemed to be okay, out of vehicles and standing waiting for the emergency personnel.

September went way too quick. Looking forward to October. The leaves will be changing colors and the weather getting cooler. Sweater weather 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

July | One Line a Day

August 1, 2024 by GmasPhoto 8 Comments

July | One Line a Day

Hi, welcome to Gma’s Photo. Another month has come and gone. One of my photo memories that popped up on my phone is the featured image I selected for this post. It really doesn’t have anything to do with July, however- I found it funny. I wanted to share a funny! Seems each month goes faster than the last. In five, we will be preparing for Christmas. Image that! For now, I will concentrate on what I did in July. Here is my one line a day for July.

01. Monday. Linda is busy with her firework stands. Our virtual walk is postponed until after the firework season has ended.

02. Tuesday. Making a list of things needing to do before the party.

03. Wednesday. I miss my virtual walks with Linda.

04. Dinner and movie night with Adam. Lots of people shooting fireworks! Adam’s little dog, Illi, did not like the sounds throughout the night.

05. I took the day off from work. Went to the hospital for the Prolia shot. Spent the rest of the day getting ready for our July Summer Party!

06. Kevin made pulled pork. We asked our guest to bring a side dish. So many delicious foods were brought. My sister in law wanted a sibling picture. This is Kevin’s parents and siblings.

07. Drove Adam home after breakfast. Once home worked on the blog and went to bed early.

08. Back to work. Busy day after holiday weekend. Washed Dixie, our Australian Shepard. She had an encounter with a little white striped kitty. 🤭

09.

10. Dinner and Movie night with Adam. For dinner we had some left over pulled pork. Oh so delicious!

11. I sure enjoy my frozen dark sweet cherries with low fat vanilla yogurt!

One of my favorite summertime breakfast!

12. Went with Erika and her family to see the Little Mermaid musical at Starlight Theatre.

13. Had a sleep in morning. Worked on my blog. Took a nap. Watching the news and seen Donald Trump assassination attempt. Scary.

14. Went apartment hunting with Adam.

15. It’s Monday again. Linda and I are back to our virtual walking!

16. Tuesday. I didn’t realize just how much I enjoy walking with Linda.

17. Wednesday. Movie and Dinner night with Adam.

18. Thursday. Typical day at work.

19. TGIF! The best time of the weekend is 5.30pm. I have the whole weekend ahead of me!

20. Saturday. Mom asked that I drive her and dad to his appointment Monday morning. I had to get the details of Monday and make arrangements for work.

21. Sunday. Spent the night at my folks house. Wanted to be there in plenty of time on Monday morning. Had a wonderful visit with my parents.

22. Monday. Went with my parents in the morning. Dad had a colonoscopy scheduled and I was the designated driver. All was good. Amen!

23. Tuesday. Kevin’s 59th Birthday!

24. Wednesday. Virtual walk with Linda.

25. Thursday. Dinner and movie night with Adam. I have no idea what to have for dinner. We have lots of tomatoes from the garden. A salad is sounding perfect! Movie, Land of Bad. Not a family movie, but I must admit a good watch.

26. Friday. Our 38th anniversary. Took the day off as a vacation day. Kevin is cutting hay this weekend before the next round of rain. Next week is supposed to be hot and will need to get the hay put up before it burns. For lunch a repeat of dinner last night.

home grown tomato — Home grown tomatoes!

27. Saturday, I am bored. Have you ever had one of these days? I did a Google search for events in my area. This is what I found. On my way to check it out!

28. Sunday. Spent the evening in the ER. Kevin had been working out in the pasture. He had come to the gate, parked the tractor. He had gotten out of the tractor to open the gate. He heard a popping sound. That is when the tractor advanced, pinned him between the tractor and barbed wire fence. The hedge post kept the tractor from possibly breaking a rib or several. So with the cut from the barbed wire on his arm, Kevin was very lucky. 13 stitches later he is sleeping.

29. Monday. Work as usual. Felt tired all day.

30. Tuesday. Woke up with a really bad stomach ache. Held the throne with the trash can between my knees very royal like.

31. Wednesday, Another day with the stomach bug.

It’s now August 1st and I am still not feeling the best. Called in sick and have a doctor’s appointment for follow up. I just want to make sure the ‘bug’ is not more to do with my Crohn’s.

I am ready for a healthier August!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

April | One Line a Day

May 1, 2024 by GmasPhoto 4 Comments

April One Line a Day

Hi, we are gearing up on getting the yard in shape for our summer activities. April already here and the mowing and dandelion season has already begun!

1. April Fools. Seeing many posts of people showing pretty flowers blooming. And when I walk out of my door, this is what I see blooming.

2. Work computer was down yesterday. Made today very busy. My head hurt at the end of my shift.

3. I sure enjoy my ‘ice cream’ aka frozen strawberries and banana smoothie!

4. Movie night with Adam. For dinner, Casey’s pizza, best pizza! Movie, Deepwater Horizon with Mark Walburg and Kurt Russell. Much better than last Thursday’s choice.

5. Finally Friday, virtual walk with Linda.

6. Saturday, Weight Watcher meeting, Adam errands and grocery shopping.

7. My grand daughter had gotten a phone on her birthday this year. I got a text today with this picture!

my grand daughters selfie — My grand daughter’s selfie!

8. Monday, always busy. Call volume the highest in the week. Virtual walk with Linda (on our treadmills).

9. Rough day taking calls. Virtual walk with Linda (on our treadmills).

10. Spent the evening with Adam, our movie and dinner night. The movie tonight, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Could be a bit frightening for little children but not like the other movies Adam has selected!

11. Kevin fried a few mushrooms he found just a couple days ago. Every spring I look forward to having these!

12. It’s Friday! I look forward to the weekends. Tomorrow, going to the Tulip Festival!

13. Wamego, KS Tulip Festival! Very fun day spent with a friend, Linda. The weather was perfect!

14. Happy 36th birthday to my daughter! Kevin and I met her at the Waffle House for breakfast.

15. Last week, I was drinking hot chocolate. Our inside house temperature was at 62. This weekend the outside weather reached 80 degrees and then some. Kevin turned on the AC. We removed the pool cover. It’s time to start cleaning the pool and patio!

16. Enjoy the virtual walks with Linda.

17. Movie and Dinner night with Adam. Goulash for dinner. Real simple and plain recipe, hamburger (2lbs), I can tomato juice and 2 cups of elbow macaroni. Browned the hamburger then in a pot added all ingredients. Heated the goulash until the noodles were cooked. Done. Very good on a cold, rainy evening! The movie was the third in line, War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

18. Cold continues. Much needed rain. Lots of calls at work.

19. It’s Friday. My favorite part of the weekend is Friday at 5:30pm. My work shift has ended and the weekend has officially started!

20. Slept in. Horrible night sleeping. Did not go to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. Stayed home. Ordered my groceries thru the Walmart app to pick up tomorrow.

21. Met Erika and the girls at my folks house. Had Casey’s breakfast pizza. Adam came by too!

22. Kevin always finds things to do on the farm. He will go to the back forty or across the road. I had a question for him and tried calling him. His phone was in the house on the charger. So I reverted to calling his name really loud, Ke-vin, here Kevin, come, along with a whistle. Not just one time, but several times repeatedly! 🙂 I thought it was funny. After several minutes, I heard him come into the house. His words, “So, you think you’re funny”. Looking into his eyes, “I thought it was darn funny!”

23. Experienced FaceTime issues. Not sure what caused the disruption. Ended up having to uninstall the app. Re-installed FaceTime and all was good. However, all this occurred during the time I was to virtual walk with Linda.

24. Good day. had hot chocolate. Was able to virtual walk with Linda, FaceTime now working.

25. Felt like Friday. Long day.

26. Dinner and movie night with Adam and a bonus. We went to Erika’s home for movie. Dinner was Golden Corral. The movie, Murder Mystery 2.

27. Spent the night with the kids. Saturday Shaune and Adam worked on taking out the bathtub from the grand girls bathroom. They got it out and even set in the new. Still need to work on the sheet rock. The hardest part is done.

28. When I left Erika and Shaune’s house, Shaune had the tub in place. He said the back part for the shower should be easier. The difficult part will be cutting the piece where the shower pipe will need to go thru the backing. I will be excited to see the remodel next weekend. And then after Erika has done her redecorating!

29. I had an exciting day. Adam called me this morning after he got off work. He had been in a bike wreck. Adam drives a Honda Grom. It’s bigger than a moped but not as big as a motorcycle. My heart sank. I live about 25 miles north of where Adam lives. I made it to town and Adam is okay. There was minimal damage, repairable. All is good.

30. Been in the process of opening the pool. Well, it’s official. Our pool will need attention. This summer we will need to limp it along. We have a drain that has a crack. It’s on the return side back to the pump. Kevin was concerned. He got one of those camera scopes to view the pipes. But the positive, Kevin said when he fixes the drain, we can replace the liner. Something I was excited to hear! 🙂

limp pool thru summer — Pool in need of loving care.

It will be necessary to drain all the water out before repairs can be made. This is the reason for trying to make the pool last thru the summer.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

March | One Line a Day

April 1, 2024 by GmasPhoto 6 Comments

March One Line a Day

Hi, I am so ready for spring. During the cold months, I fall victim to the blues. Working from home has presented a new level to the blues. The thought of requesting a higher dose of meds does not sound appealing to me. After giving this some thought, I want to work on habits.

Working at home, I have created some bad habits. The biggest bad habit I have gotten into, staying in my pajamas all day, every day through the week. Weekends I do leave the house, regular clothes and makeup are a must. To start my new positive habits, I will use a journal. My Weight Watchers teacher inspired me with hers. Planning to incorporate her style with a monthly post of one line a day. And, this will knock off my #58 on my 101 in 1001 list!

March got off to a late start. Beginning with Saturday, March 9, 2024.

09. My WW instructor’s suggestion of a journal style book already has brightened my day. The journal supplies I purchased are shown in the post feature image above.

.
10. Amazing animals that touched my heart.

11. Monday, a typical day of working remote. After work watching Wheel of Fortune with Kevin, I keep telling him he should try out. He always figures out the puzzle.

12. This was a fun day. I took personal time from work and had to run an errand for my son. Which took me to Topeka, our state capitol. The grand girls were on spring break and they went with me.

13. Thankful for indoor plumbing, especially at nighttime.

14. Each day my feet touch the floor is a good day. I choose to be positive.

15. Had a fun movie night with Adam. We had Mac and Cheese with little smokies and watched the movie, Damsel on Netflix.

16. First went to my WW meeting. After, went to Best Buy. I had purchased the Zagg screen protector and paid the fee for Geek Squad to apply the protector. Both are a bit pricey when you think of it as a one time purchase. However, I had dropped my phone and the protector cracked. Well, Best Buy will exchange the broken protector with new and even apply again at no charge. This is the second time I needed to have a replacement.

17. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. The shamrock green is not a color in my wardrobe. However, I love to accessorize!

18. My new favorite Weight Watchers friendly dessert is frozen bananas.

19. Spent a fun evening with Adam. Our weekly movie and dinner night. This week the movie pick was Unthinkable. Definitely not family friendly. Rather a dark movie. If you have seen it, would be interested in knowing what you thought of it.

20. Not too much to say, regular work day and did a virtual walk with my friend, Linda. We meet in the evenings at 7:30 pm and FaceTime while we walk on our treadmills.

21. Cut up several bunches of bananas to freeze.

cutting bananas to freeze — From bunches to freezer!

22. It’s Friday, the best part of the weekend. The beginning!

23. The local grocery store has a wonderful deli. The food is good and very reasonably priced. Kevin and I each got a chicken dinner. Kevin got the white and dark meal and I ordered the 2 piece tender meal. Our total was 15 and some change.

24. Had breakfast with Kevin, Erika, Shaune and the grand girls. The grand girls wanted to come back to the house and see the calves!

25. Linda was not able to walk this evening, so I ate some cookies instead!

26. Drank 3 cups of hot chocolate. It’s still cold in Kansas. Walked with Linda tonight. Needed to walk off the hot chocolate and cookies!

27. A rollercoaster ride with my website disaster. Oh my, I was working on my website (this one) just Monday evening. All was fine when I went to sleep for the night. The next day I went to update a post and my site was gone. Vanished. I panicked. Today all seems to be back and working. Thank goodness! If you were wondering- I did pay the bill……. This was not the issue. I had to call the tech department and they were able to fix.

28. Had movie night with Adam. We had ham and cheese quesadillas. He chose the movie, Blood & Gold. This is not a family friendly movie. I think Adam will not be selecting next week’s movie night movie!

29. Sometimes I just like drinking my water from a glass jar instead of my insulated cup.

strawberry infused water — Absolutely the best way to drink water!

30. Kevin wanted to go shopping. This is a rare experience! Actually, our dear neighbor is not in the best health. Kevin wanted to shop for a jacket.

thrift store shopping — Kevin’s shopping spree!

31. Happy Easter.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

Bible Study | #50 of 101 in 1001

January 1, 2024 by GmasPhoto 2 Comments

Bible Study | #50 of 101 in 1001

Hi, Happy New Year to you!! My New Year’s resolution is not the typical ‘need to loose some weight’, which I have done in previous years. This year I have chosen to strengthen my Faith. Number 50 on my 101 in 1001 is to go to church once a week.

I had created this 101 in 1001 list back in February 2023. Since doing so, I have decided to tweak my going to church once a week to going to Bible study once a week. Have you heard of Joel Osteen? Some people like him and other’s not so much. My father is one who is with the not so much group. That can be a different story! 🙂 Today is about how I decided to strengthen my Faith.

#50 goal of going to church every Sunday was really on my mind for the whole month of December. It was on one Sunday that Joel Osteen’s program came onto the TV I had been watching. Joel, in my opinion, is an excellent presenter. I enjoy his uplifting words. At the end of his program he says to get into a good Bible based church. What I heard, Bible study. That is when I decided to change the going to church to bible study (Sunday School).

As I was preparing for my ‘Bible study’ group, I realized the only Bible I had was this beautiful, huge Bible my husband’s brother and his wife gave to me and Kevin as a wedding gift. I was on a mission :), find a Bible!!

I just didn’t realize how many different Bibles there are. One recommendation I would like to share, go to a Christian book store when you are searching for your Bible. At the store, you can actually compare the verses in one book to another. Genesis 9:4,5 was the one I used for comparisons. I bought two of mine from Amazon. It took 5 purchases before I found the one for me. Consider the print size and the age group. One suggestion for the retail marketers, change the age 6-12 to beginner. One of my preferred Bible that I have, is the kids’ version and it would be nice if it said beginner. And, I had to literally go to the kids’ section to find it.

This Bible needed to be more of a personal size book. I had gone to the Christian store, Mardel. There, the sales lady, assisted me with selecting the version I was more comfortable reading and understanding. I had selected the NKJV, New King James. It was my second visit to the Christian store that I had gone over to the kids’ section for the right Bible for me 🙂

Later, I was in Wal-Mart and happened to check their book section. And guess what, they sell Bible’s too! They had a super sized Bible, the font was much bigger. All the better for me to see! So I bought it. Well, later I was speaking with a friend and she was telling me she had gotten her (now grown) boys a children Bible and that is what she takes to her Bible study group. As you may have already thought, yes- I bought a kids’ Bible too 🙂

For anyone who is just beginning to read the Bible, I recommend the kids’ version. In the below image it shows what resources the kids’ book provides. The super size Bible is good too. As I began reading the Bible, there have been so many words I need help with. Webster wasn’t cutting it for me. This is when I ordered the Student Bible Dictionary.

I must say, I am eager to begin my studies! 🙂

In summary, the Christian book store is a one stop shop. Plan on spending a long time in the store. Look at more than one Bible version. There are large print, comfort print, and the age level options to consider. A reference book should be included for studying. Bible book tabs are good too.

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -28.6 lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

Back to the Norm

November 6, 2023 by GmasPhoto 8 Comments

Back to the Norm

Day Out with my Children

Hi, October was my thankful, grateful month. I am back to my usual series of postings that will be available these particular days: Monday, weekly post; Thursday, Tongue-Tied LinkUp Party and Friday, Gma’sPhoto | ge•ner•ic LinkUp Party.

Had a super fun Saturday with just me and my kids. This does not happen too often. I had asked them for a picture of the three of us. Then I wanted to have one of just my two children. It will go well with the past image series.

Picnic in the Park

This weekend Kevin asked that I go with him to the ‘Picnic in the Park’ for the homeless on Sunday. One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to go with Kevin more, and Sunday was a nice day for November. This week there was not as many people who went thru the line.

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -26.4lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra