New Kitty, Songs, Death in the Family

I've gotten behind again. I wanted my next entry to be about Milo. I always write an entry all about a pet when they die. But I haven't been able to bring myself to do it this time. I would get to thinking that I need to get that done for Milo, but it's going to be hard - I know I will cry. His last few weeks were so sad and pitiful. Just thinking about it as I'm typing this is putting a lump in my throat. I do need to get that done soon though. I've done it for other pets; I need to do it for Milo, too.

 

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On March 15th, Kelly and I went to Juliet's House's adoption fair at Petsmart on Bridford Parkway. They have an adoption fair every Saturday. Mostly cats, but there are also some puppies. We wanted to adopt a kitten. We had been to the shelter a couple weeks prior, but there were only a few kittens available (in the cages, anyway; they probably keep some in the back until they're ready to be adopted or until other cats and kittens are adopted) and I didn't feel a connection with the few that were available. The one I really liked was already being adopted.

 

So, anyway, we went to the adoption fair at Petsmart. There were lots of cute cats and kittens. But this one I fell in love with as soon as I saw her from a distance. (Her foster mom had named her Petunia.) I let them know that we were interested in her and they said that we could spend time with her in one of the rooms, but that someone else was coming to look at her and one of the other cats (Desiree, I think was her name). "Petunia" was six months old and so cute! Desiree was 8 months old, but much bigger than Petunia. We also spent time with her, but I didn't feel a connection to her and she didn't seem very interested in us. lol But she may have just been nervous.

 

After spending time with both kittens (both are torties), we then waited for the couple who were coming to see Petunia and Desiree to arrive and meet both kitties so that they could decide which one they wanted. I was so nervous. I really wanted Petunia. The lady helping us was rooting for us. lol She could see how much we already loved Petunia.

 

The couple arrived and chose to meet Desiree first. After spending some time with her, they decided to adopt her without spending time with Petunia. I was so happy! (For us being able to adopt Petunia and for Desiree getting adopted.) I immediately filled out the adoption form and after a couple hours of being at Petsmart (much longer than I expected to be there), we got Petunia and brought her home.

 

Kelly and I had come up with a list of names for a new kitten a few weeks before this and Kelly started reading off the girl names on our way home. I don't remember most of the names on the list, but we narrowed it down to Valkyrie and Effie (after Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games). Petunia seemed much more like an Effie to us, so that's what we named her.

 

Effie will be 9 months old this Saturday. She seems little to us for her age (such a sweet, tiny face), but she's healthy and very playful. She loves to play fetch and is so sweet! Loki tolerates her, but she often gets on his nerves. lol The pesky little sister.

 

 

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Lydia took her first steps on March 29th. Just a few at a time for awhile, but she's doing great now and is trying to run. I know I'm biased, but she is so adorable! I love her so much.

 

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Songs purchased for my iPod since the last time I included that in a blog entry:

 

I'm Walking by Donnie McClurkin

When All God's Children Get Together by Minister Keith Pringle and The Pentecostal Community Choir

Victory by Yolanda Adams

Holy by David Jennings and Shara McKee

Famous For by Indiana Bible College

No Other Name by Indiana Bible College

Better by Tye Tribbett

More Than Enough by Gary Oliver

Your Majesty by Steve Lawrence

Revolution by Kirk Franklin & The Family

That Name by Shara McKee

Holy by UPCI Music

Heaven on Earth by Indiana Bible College

Hallelujah to Your Name by Tye Tribbett & G.A.

Bless the Lord (Son of Man) by Tye Tribbett & G.A.

Still Alive by Kirk Franklin

All Things New by Tye Tribbett

I'll Sing About Jesus by Indiana Bible College

Heaven by Michael English

I'm Not Afraid by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Alive in You by Jesus Culture

The Anthem by Planetshakers

We Are the Free by Indiana Bible College

Take Me There by Chad Erickson

What a Beautiful Name by Indiana Bible College

But God by The Pentecostals of Katy

Send the Rain by William McDowell

Resurrection Day by Indiana Bible College

The Blessing by Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship

Let It Rain by Jesus Culture

Let It Rain by Anthony Evans

Let It Rain by Bishop Paul S. Morton

Excess Love Remix by J.J. Hairston

I Know a Name by Elevation Worship

Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher) by Israel Houghton

Holy Forever & Agnus Dei by The River Worship

Worthy of it All by Cece Winans

John 1 by Indiana Bible College

God's Been Good (The Church Song) by The Pentecostals of Katy

Cry Holy by Salvador

Mighty God by Clint Brown

 

Yes, Let It Rain by three different artists. I couldn't decide which one I liked best. But since getting them, I listen to the version by Jesus Culture most often.

 

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Some time between 11:30 PM, Saturday night, May 31st, and 2:00 AM Sunday morning, June 1st, Sean's father-in-law Doug passed away in his sleep.

 

Sean heard Doug's alarm going off around 3:30 AM, but it kept going. At first, Sean thought Doug overslept (he did that often), but after awhile, Sean went to check on him. He called his name a couple times, then tried to shake him awake. Doug was stiff and cold.

 

Sean called 911 and they told him to do chest compressions until EMS got there. It took them about 15 minutes to get there. (Including police and fire department. Sean said he didn't see an ambulance. He thinks it may have been the coroner's van or something.) Sean said they tried for about 30 seconds and then pronounced him dead.

Doug was 59 years old. Ashley is of course taking it very hard.

 

I can't believe he died that way. And I can't believe my son had to do what he did. He told me that the image of Doug dead and having to do chest compressions on him is always on his mind. He tries to distract himself and get it off his mind, but it's difficult. 

 

The funeral is today at 2:00. 

 

Doug left behind his mother, Fran, a sister, Kim, and his three daughters - Alyssa, Ashley, and Hannah, and five or six grandchildren. (I can't remember if Hannah has two children or three. Alyssa and her husband have two - a girl and an infant son. Ashley and Sean have Lydia.) 

 

I didn't see Doug much over the past couple years, but he seemed nice. I had done some work on his family tree for him. He thought the information I found was pretty cool.  

 

I'm dreading today. I know it's going to be so incredibly difficult for the family.

Loss, Birthdays, Park, and Sick Milo

On January 21st, my aunt Nelie passed away. She was 90 years old. She was my maternal grandma's youngest sibling and the last surviving of her siblings. My grandma passed away in 2003 at the age of 78. The other siblings were James (1915-1968), Horace (1917-1972), Lester (1919-1994), Pauline (1923-2004), and Ruth (1928-1997).

 

 

Aunt Nelie is the one with the doll. Behind her is her mother Lessie. Beside her is her sister Ruth. Behind Ruth is my grandma/Nelie and Ruth's sister Doris.

Aunt Nelie and her husband Richard.

 

Left to right: James, Nelie, Lester, Grandma (in the back), Pauline, Horace, and Ruth.

I hadn't seen my aunt Nelie in many years, but it was sad to lose the last of my grandma's siblings. That generation of our family is gone and now we can't talk to them about times past and things they lived through and experienced. 

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On February 1st, the baby wasn't moving as much as she normally does, so Ashley went to her doctor. He or she then told Ashley to go to the hospital. Charlie and I arrived at the hospital awhile after they did. We were there for an hour or two while they monitored the baby. Thankfully, all was fine. They said she was probably sitting on/leaning against the umbilical cord and/or playing with it.

After leaving the hospital, we went to Texas Roadhouse for supper. I got the herb crusted chicken. It was delicious.

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My birthday was February 7th. I'm 51 years old now. I was 35 when I started writing in this blog. Hard to believe. For my birthday, I made a chocolate blueberry cake. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (not enough of a sweet blueberry flavor in it), but it was still good.

Charlie gave me money to shop with. I mostly ordered skirts. A few black denim skirts (two Lauren Ralph Lauren, one Land's End), a brown pencil skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), a green, flowy silk skirt (Calvin Klein), a green corduroy skirt (St. John's Bay), white denim skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), and a green Tahari cardigan. (My favorite color is green. :-) Red is a close second.) All for low prices off of eBay and Poshmark.

 

Kelly's birthday was February 8th. She's 24 years old now. She wanted strawberry pie instead of her usual cookies and cream ice cream cake this year. She doesn't like actual cake, except cheesecake.

 

Charlie's birthday was February 21st. He's now 55 years old. I made him one of his favorite meals - fried pork chops, macaroni and tomatoes, corn, and great northern beans. The cake he wanted this year was lemon cake (instead of yellow with chocolate frosting) - I put buttercream frosting on top.

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I had to renew my license by my birthday this year. Last time I got it renewed, I was able to do it online. This year I had to go to the DMV to renew it. I had to read the top line of some letters and get my picture taken (probably the worst picture that's ever been taken of me in my entire life). I went a day or two before my birthday and was there for about an hour or maybe a little longer. It felt even longer than that. :-/

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On my birthday, Kelly and I went to the dam at Company Mill Preserve and to Hagan-Stone Park. The temperature wasn't bad (about 51 or 52 degrees), but for some reason I was about to freeze. I wished that I had gloves with me, a thicker coat, and had worn boots instead of tennis shoes. I did finally warm up, but it took longer than I thought it would.

 

The gap in the dam wall is to the left of this picture.

Dam wall gap. Kelly took this picture for me while I stood in agony after falling. lol

 

Anyway, we went to the dam at Company Mill first. I took some pictures and short videos and then noticed a small open area in the wall to the left of the dam. I told Kelly I wanted to get up there. We found a stone wall about 3-4 feet tall and decided to climb up. There were gaps that made good footholds. Kelly got up quickly and then I tried to get up. Actually, the getting to the top wasn't hard. But I asked for Kelly's hand and when I got to the top (pretty quickly), I somehow fell and came down hard on a big, sharp, white rock that was stuck in the ground - right below my right knee. It hurt so bad I thought I was going to throw up. It took a couple minutes for the nausea to pass. The place where I hurt my leg quickly bruised and swelled up. It stuck out as far as my knee. I joked that it looked like I had two knees on my right leg.

When we decided that we were ready to move on, I said that I probably couldn't jump back down those 3-4 feet with my leg hurting like it was. So I found a very narrow, overgrown path that lead away from the lake and dam and back to the path. If only I'd seen that path before trying to climb the wall, but it was pretty well hidden.

We then got back in the car (because the walk to the next area we wanted to go to was about 2.5 miles away) and drove over to Hagan-Stone Park a few miles away and made the walk over to that side of Company Mill where the creek is. Such a pretty, peaceful spot. We saw a couple deer take off in the woods when we got to the creek. I didn't try to take a picture since I knew that with all the trees and them moving you probably wouldn't be able to see the deer in the picture.

 

 

 

It's been almost a month and my leg is still bruised and I can't put pressure on it without it hurting.

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About 2-3 weeks ago, we started having a hard time getting Milo to eat. If I added something new to his food (he's supposed to be eating prescription food for his liver - hepatic), like rice or corn, he would get excited about his food and eat most of it. But after 2 or 3 days, he would stop eating it and I'd have to find something else to add to his food. Eventually he was eating almost nothing. He had a regular appointment (yearly check up) on February 21st and I told them about him not eating. He had lost nearly a pound in those couple weeks. Nearly every test (blood, urine, feces) came back normal and his heart sounded good. The only thing that came back not so good was his liver values are elevated more than last year (he has liver disease), but not so much that he's in liver failure or so bad that he would stop eating. So we don't know why he wasn't eating.

Charlie started giving him boiled chicken tenders about a week ago and he's loved that, but I really wish he'd start eating his dog food again. Protein isn't good for his liver.

Last Saturday, he seemed kind of lethargic most of the day and hadn't had much energy in the weeks that he wasn't eating much (naturally), but he's back to full energy now - barking, running, playing.

He's supposed to have an ultrasound done this Friday so they can see his liver.

Milo turned 13 this past September. I think Jack Russell's typically live 12-15 years, so we know he probably doesn't have much time left. I'm praying he'll be with us for at least another year though. I saw my husband's eyes fill with tears a couple times when things were looking really bad for Milo. Not only am I not ready to lose Milo (not that you're ever ready to lose a pet), but I don't want Charlie to lose him. He loves Milo so much. That's his buddy.

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Other than the clothing items I bought with my birthday money, here are purchases I've made since my last blog entry.

Talbot's dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally $149. I paid $45.87 after shipping and tax.

L.L. Bean dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally around $100, I think. I paid $35.20 after shipping and tax.

Long Overdue Post

On June 19th, my computer started messing up - turning off and on, and off and on, and off and on, etc. I haven't been able to use it since then. I've put off taking it to get repaired because I'm afraid it might cost a lot and we've had some other expenses to take care of. (Of course, it could also not cost as much as I'm afraid it will cost.) Anyway, it's been sitting in my office (which has become more of a storage room than anything) since then. I've been afraid that my blog would get deleted (unlikely, since my first blogspot blog still exists) and since Charlie brought a laptop home from work, he's letting me use it to check and update my blog.

A lot has happened since June. I've tried to keep notes on my phone. I'm going to try to keep this as short as I can, but that could be difficult.

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Sean had training with FedEx from July 31st to August 4th, started working for them August 7th (deliveries), and was fired the next day because he said the job was hard and wasn't sure he could handle it. (Long story there involving 2-3 different people training him, each with their own method.) A couple weeks after that, he was diagnosed with acute bronchitis, mild intermittent asthma, and something else. He had started getting sick a few days before getting fired. He thinks that may have made the job harder because he was feeling weak and coughing.

Sean began searching for a new job soon after getting fired. He applied many places. It was frustrating when jobs that said "little to no experience necessary" or said they would train would then tell him that he didn't have enough experience. :-/ Ashley works, but doesn't make enough to cover everything. My mom gave Sean money every week (I didn't know this for awhile; I didn't know they were struggling that much because they didn't say anything to us) to help with food, gas, tires, etc.

Finally, at the end of October, he was hired by Napa to work in parts. (A warehouse or distribution center.) He started on October 30th. He should be getting health insurance through his job and a raise by the end of January. He seems to like his job so far.

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On August 4th, Sean and Ashley told us that they're having a baby. Due April 12th - 3 days after Sean's birthday. They've since found out it's a girl. 

Still feels weird that I'm going to be a grandma. I don't feel like a grandma. lol

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Sometime in July, my brother married Shari. She's originally from Canada and has two kids from a previous relationship. A girl (Sofia) and a boy (Remi). Del and Shari are trying to get partial or full custody of Del's son Drake from his previous marriage. A long story I don't want to get into, but I'll just say that his ex is being difficult. Apparently, even her lawyer is frustrated by her tantrums/defiance. There's a court date in January, I think, and they want me and Mom to be there.

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On August 15th, a bad storm hit our area. I was outside with Milo waiting for him to potty when I saw dark, angry-looking clouds coming our way. I let Milo in and then went back outside to record it, not realizing how bad it would get. After a few minutes, the wind picked up and got so bad that I quickly went inside and closed the door. The wind had already blown the bird feeder off one of our trees and the look and sound of the wind was so scary I thought a tornado was about to hit. 

Kelly looked out the window and saw that both of our trees had cracked in half and fallen. One of the trees fell on my car. I handed Milo to her and told her to get in the bathtub. I ran around for a few seconds trying to find Loki, but I couldn't find him and ran into the bathroom and closed the door. I was shaking so bad and terrified that the roof was going to get blown off.

When the wind finally stopped, I went outside and recorded the damage. I was crying, not so much from the damage to my car, but I think from the panic and fear I had felt. I was afraid my car had been completely smashed in, but it wasn't. The windshield was busted, a small dent on top of the car, a couple dents on the front above the driver side tire, back wiper broke off, scratches all over the top and sides. (Of course, I couldn't see all of this until the tree had been removed.)

After I finished recording, I called Charlie and told him what happened. He came home with a chainsaw and he and a few of our neighbors got to work. We got it the worst in our neighborhood. About 4 or 5 of the homes on our street (all in a row with our house) lost a tree. No one's home or car was damaged. 

Pleasant Garden, and a few places between our neighborhood and Pleasant Garden, had quite a bit of damage as well. The meteorologists said that it was a down burst with some rotation and the wind speed of an F-1 or F-2 (can't remember which) tornado. It was so scary!

Our trees have been completely cut down, with just stumps remaining. Charlie said he's going to get rid of them, but he hasn't yet. Our yard looks so weird with no trees.

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My friend Phyllis (called "Sis") died on September 3rd. We first became friends online in March 1999. She was quite a bit older than me (early to mid 70s) and had had a stroke. While in the hospital, she had a heart attack and they couldn't save her. I'm glad I was able to visit her in the hospital before she passed. I cried quite a bit when she passed. Especially for her husband Steve. 

Sis and Steve were originally from Minnesota and moved here in the summer of 2020. (After having lived in NY and VA.) When Steve retired, they decided to move here after visiting and loving the location and our church. Steve didn't stay fully retired for long though. He teaches music at NC A&T and is also in a local orchestra.

I sometimes forget that she's gone and then I remember and feel sad. I miss seeing her at church and sometimes feel sad seeing Steve there without her. 

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Kelly's friend Rene (aka, my "second daughter") and her husband had a baby on September 18th, 19th, or 20th. (Can't remember which. lol) A boy they named Anthony. He is so freaking cute!

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On October 3rd, Charlie brought my car to a repair shop. (Took long enough for the insurance!) Our insurance company decided it was totaled and we picked the car back up on October 6th. They sent us a check (we used part of it to pay off a couple doctor bills) and Charlie is slowly fixing the car himself. The windshield and back wiper have been replaced and Charlie is in the process of getting rid of dents and scratches and preparing it for paint. Not sure how much longer it's going to be. My car looks rough! lol Sanded, stuff put on it where it's been sanded, many of the pieces that can't be painted have been removed.

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Kelly went to her first therapy appointment on October 4th. She wasn't able to make her second one in November and the next available appointment wasn't until January 4th. So, she'll go back on that date. Hopefully, they can figure out what's going on with her.

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Charlie, Kelly, and I (and Milo) went to the mountains on October 18th. The color was gorgeous! We went a different route this time instead of our usual. Instead of 40-W to 52-N to Fancy Gap to the Parkway and then head south to Boone, we took 40-W to near Mt. Mitchell, went to Mt. Mitchell, then got on the Parkway. We were going to take the Parkway to almost the Linn Cove Viaduct and then take a different road to Boone, but somehow we got turned around and ended up heading back south and didn't realize until we were near Asheville. lol

So Kelly and I went back to the mountains on October 23rd. We got on the Parkway near Mt. Mitchell and I made sure we went north this time. lol We went to overlooks we had never been to before and loved it. We got off before the Linn Cove Viaduct, went into Blowing Rock, went to Shoppes on the Parkway to get cherry cordials at Kilwin's, drove into Boone to eat supper at Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant (the mashed potatoes were delicious!), and then came home.

Sean and Ashley went to the mountains on October 28th.

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I think that's all of the main things that have happened. There have been clothing purchases since May, but it may be easier to add pictures from my computer. If I even bother. I'd also like to post pictures of our mountain trip, storm damage, and maybe ultrasound of Sean and Ashley's baby.

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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New Year, Church Changes, and Family Loss

 

New Year's Eve, Kelly and I cleaned the church sanctuary. We got to the church between 6:00 and 6:30 PM and left the church around 9:00. I wasn't sure I'd be able to go to church the next morning since I'd been sick (I was feeling quite a bit better), but I was glad to get it looking nice for those who would be there. Thankfully, I was able to go. 

 

Our New Year's service was beautiful and anointed. We sang Freedom (Jesus Culture?) and Goodness of God, prayed, took communion, and Pastor preached a great message about praying for God to do things through us and not just to us or for us.

I usually get on my computer on Saturday nights. When it was getting close to midnight, Charlie asked if I wanted to watch the ball drop. So I went into the living room and watched it. Then I got back on my computer.

Real exciting New Year's Eve. ;-) :-D

 

HAPPY 2023!

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I got most of the groceries at Food Lion after church on New Year's Day. Because I'd been sick, I hadn't bought groceries since the 23rd. We were getting pretty low on some things. I got the rest of the groceries the next day at Walmart and put gas in the car. There were a few things I couldn't find at Food Lion or Walmart, so we went to Target (after leaving the closed DMV) to get those items.

I was going to pay the taxes on my car and Charlie's hauler on Monday, but the DMV was closed for the holiday. So I paid them online last night.

 

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I mentioned church a few paragraphs ago. New flooring was put in the foyer last year and new carpet in the sanctuary in 2020. Now they're putting new flooring in other parts of the building. The carpet was taken out of the classroom hallway and vinyl plank flooring will be put in. Right now it's just the cement floor. The new flooring has been put in the daycare, which is on the opposite side of the building. I wonder if that means it will also be put in the hallway on that side of the building. Right now it's the same tile that's been there since our church was built in the early 2000s.

I'll try to remember to take pictures of the classroom hallway and maybe the daycare when I go to the church to clean the sanctuary on Saturday.

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Yesterday evening, my aunt Wanda passed away. She was my mom's oldest sister. She was 76 years old.

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I last posted about new songs on my iPod in April. Here are the songs I've gotten since then.

 

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Thanksgiving, New Purchases, The Walking Dead

On October 14th, Charlie traded the red truck he bought from work for a white truck from some guy he knows. The red truck was a Ford; the white one is a Dodge Ram (dually, diesel), I think. I don't remember what year it is. I haven't seen the truck yet. He has it at some guy's house where he's doing work to it.

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October 30th, my friend Skyla in Louisiana died. She was only 40 years old. Last I heard, the police were still investigating.

 

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This past Thanksgiving was the smallest Thanksgiving we've ever had. My mom worked, my brother was with his girlfriend and her family, Ashley was sick. Sean did come by that night, but otherwise it was just me, Charlie, and Kelly. I miss the Thanksgivings when I was with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

 

Our meal was turkey (I sent the leftover turkey with Sean for Ashley), stuffing, black eyed peas (closest thing to a vegetable that I like lol), broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy, and crescent rolls. Dessert was apple pie and pumpkin pie.

I don't usually do a special meal for Christmas (I usually just cook whatever I'm in the mood for - a good, home cooked meal, but not a traditional Christmas dinner), but I'm thinking of doing something a bit more special this year. Charlie doesn't like turkey much, so I may do ham. Though I don't like ham. lol 

 

But I'm thinking maybe country ham so that I can do country ham biscuits for me. I love country ham biscuits. I don't think Kelly likes ham either (or pork at all; not even bacon!), so I may cook a couple chicken breasts for me and her. Also perhaps macaroni and cheese, dressing, collards (I've never made collards, so I'm thinking of getting some already made from a restaurant if possible), some other vegetable maybe, black eyed peas for me, maybe cranberry sauce (haven't had it since I my teens or early twenties), biscuits. I'm still thinking about it. I'm not sure yet what desserts we'll have. Sean wants me to make chocolate chip cookies. But you also kind of have to have pie for Christmas. Maybe pecan pie and chocolate pie or cookies and cream pie.

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Lots of purchases since the last entry where I showed my purchases. Mostly shoes. I kind of went crazy with the Blowfish shoes. One pair a week. I still want a red pair.

Color: Bento blue. Purchased from Amazon for $39.08 after tax. Shipping was free. This is their picture.

 

Purchased from Amazon for $36.60 after shipping and tax. This is their picture.

 

Purchased from Amazon for $29.89 after tax. Shipping was free. This is their picture.

 

Purchased from Amazon for $42.66 after tax. Shipping was free. I really wanted these, but they sold out. Then the price went up to around $50. So I waited for the price to come back down and then ordered them. This is their picture.

 

Purchased from Amazon for $42.65 after tax. Shipping was free. This is their picture.

 

 

Purchased from someone on Poshmark for $23.13 after shipping and tax. This is their picture.

 
 

Liz Claiborne skirt. Purchased from someone on eBay for $33.49 after shipping and tax. This is their picture.

 
 

Chaps vest/cardigan. Purchased from someone on Poshmark for $22.06 after shipping and tax. This is their picture.

 

 

Keds. Purchased from Amazon for $47.98 after tax. Shipping was free. This is their picture.

 

 
 

Agnes & Dora dress. Purchased from eBay for $26.68 after tax. Shipping was free. I bought some black tights last week to wear with it.

 

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This past Sunday night was the series finale of The Walking Dead. I was much more emotional about the show coming to an end than I thought I would be. Even when watching the penultimate episode, I cried a little just because it was close to the end. The finale was sad in places (two deaths had me practically ugly crying), but it had a mostly happy or hopeful ending.

 

Complaints or scenes I wish were different: 

 

SPOILERS!!

 

Rosita's fall and then being able to get back up, let alone not get torn to pieces, was a little too unrealistic. Even in a show with zombies. lol But I'm still glad she did and typical Rosita came up swinging. The jump to the pipe on the wall, and she, Eugene, and Gabriel being able to climb it was questionable to me. Could they have really done that? But I'm glad they did make the climb.

Rosita's death after being bit wasn't consistent with the deaths of others who've been bit in the show. She didn't look or act sick - no sweating or signs of fever or anything. And when she died, she closed her eyes peacefully. Though at the same time, I didn't really want to see her struggling at the end. I'm glad they didn't show her getting stabbed in the head before she could turn into a walker/zombie. I was already crying pretty hard.

Daryl and Connie didn't kiss! Me and so many fans wanted/want them together so badly! lol I don't "ship" often when watching shows or movies, but I've wanted them together since the scene in the cornfield when Connie was trying to save baby Adam. If at the end of Daryl's spin-off show he and Connie don't get together I'm going to be a little ticked! lol

 

I would've liked to have seen Oceanside once more. We got almost nothing about them for a long time. It's my favorite location in TWD because it's at the beach. And I like that the women and girls of Oceanside were surviving after Simon had all their men and boys killed.

I wish we had gotten more of Jules and Luke before they died, but I guess the actor who played Luke was busy with other projects. Still, his death was so sad! When his friends (Connie, Magna, Yumiko, & Kelly) were around him sobbing, I was crying hard. Other people crying makes me cry.

Favorite scenes:

 

SPOILERS!!

 

Rosita, Eugene, and Gabriel saving baby Coco and two other babies.

Eugene and Max had a baby (and apparently got married some time during the time jump since we see him wearing a ring) and named her Rosie after Rosita. 

Maggie talking to Negan about Glenn (he was beautiful and good) and how she can't forgive Negan for what he did, but she can see he's trying to be a better person, etc. Probably the best scene in the episode, in my opinion.

 

The huge explosion that took out part of the Commonwealth so that they could kill the herd of walkers. I thought it was so cool! And the CGI was really good.

I loved when Princess (Juanita) and Max rescued Mercer. Especially when Princess said, "Baby, get back!" before blowing the door off his cell. I also like that she let Max hug her brother Mercer before she (Princess) jumped into his arms to kiss him.

Ezekiel is the new governor and Mercer is the lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth.

Carol has taken over Lance Hornsby's job. I guess that means she'll be checking on the other communities and making sure they have what they need.

 

I love that most of our group survived. Including Dog the dog! It hurt to lose Rosita (basically an OG character), but we still have Daryl, Carol, Connie, Father Gabriel (aka Father Gangsta - talk about a character with an arc!), Princess, Ezekiel, Jerry, Mercer, Lydia, Elijah, Maggie, little Hershel, Judith, Aaron, Gracie, RJ, Annie (really expected her to die), Negan, Nabila, Jerry and Nabila's kids, Eugene, Max, Coco, Yumiko, Kelly, Magna, Dianne (more of a background character, but she's been around a long time). I hope I'm not forgetting anyone.

It was great to see Rick and Michonne at the end. I will be watching their spin-off, as well as Daryl's (Daryl Dixon) and Maggie and Negan's (Dead City).

 

I loved that as we were listening to Rick and Michonne reading the letters they were writing that we got to see all those who survived and those we lost along the way. That part had me crying, too. So many characters we loved and miss (and some we don't lol) - Glenn, Beth, Lori, Shane, Dale, Hershel, Tara, Enid, Jesus/Paul, Shiva the tiger, Henry, Noah, Sophia, Siddiq, Andrea, Carl, Merle, Tyreese, Sasha, Bob, Abraham, Deanna, Alden, Jessie, Amy, T-Dog, Jacqui, Jim, Morales, Milton, Lizzie, Mika, Denise. We also saw Morgan and Dwight, but they've been on Fear the Walking Dead for a few years now.

My favorite characters of the show are Daryl, Carol, Glenn, Connie, and Dog. But I also love Princess, Ezekiel, Jerry, Gabriel (in the last couple seasons), Aaron, Rosita, and Mercer. And the rest of our group I care about and I'm glad the ones who survived survived.

I will miss this show. I didn't realize how much I would miss it until we got to the last couple episodes. So sad that it's mostly over, but we've got a few spin-offs coming. We better see Rick and Michonne make it back home to their kids and friends. And we better see Daryl make it back to see Rick and Michonne and to get with Connie.

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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