Been trying to ponder all morning. Porch too cold, lady den not working so I guess that means I must enter the grandchildren’s room and put away the decorations strewn around and on top of their twin beds. Isn’t the human brain a wonder. The word strewn just typed itself. Probably never used it in conversation but it’s the perfect description of the disarray in the kids guest room.

A flea and his friends have room to lay their heads now. And I wasn’t telling a tall tale when I said the beds were so full of things a flea could not find a place to lay down. I just put the Christmas things in the closets, stripped the beds, and cut the lights out. Penelope isn’t allowed to take her frisky self in the children’s room but she stood whining at the baby gate till I let her in. She hopped on Emerson’s bed and took a siesta.

She’s been sick…got a shot and an antibiotic. She’ll slurp up amoxicillin but this is a different antibiotic. Takes me and Stew both to squirt the medicine down her throat. Woke up Sunday to hear her coughing! She sounded like a Canadian goose with a little fog horn thrown in. And add a few gags and dry heaves! Was not pleasant to listen to and she sleeps on the foot of my bed. Vet brother fixed her up Monday morning. She loves to go to his office. All the girls are so sweet. She knows when I say, “Car,” she’s going to see her friends.

Squirrel… Just kidding. Had a change of thoughts. I turned on the tv the other night to play Christmas music and stumbled on HGTV’s White House decorating. The Blue Room’s theme is birds! I stroked! The tree was sitting in a huge nest! And decorated with birds from every state. The birds were handmade and beautiful! The mantle’s garland of natural greenery featured bird houses. I have a bird tree in my living room. Have little china butter pat plates that feature every state’s bird. Maybe I’ll build a nest for my tree next year!

I loved every room. One room, where they built the 300 pound gingerbread house, had a garland on the mantle made from wooden spoons dipped in frosting. Hand written recipes from the volunteers and employees were used as garlands on the trees. That is my kind of tree decorating.

Well today has been eventful. My sister-in-law gave me the prettiest red bird votive holder. I left it in the car as a prize for cleaning up the breakfast room. After the breakfast room chores were done, I went out to get it, thinking I’d put it on my new bathroom sink. Nope! Tripped up the two steps on the front porch and fell flat on my face! Broke the bird in a zillion pieces. Didn’t hurt me, thank goodness. I can hold off Shady Oaks for a while longer!

But the day and it’s trials continue! I had so much “gradoo” in the vacuum cleaner I decided to empty the cannister in the overgrown bushes of my side porch. Well, hell fire, the vacuum filter piece fell out into a vine and saw briar forest about 7 feet down. Had to risk my life hanging over the brick bannisters, that are hanging on by a thread, to try and drag it up the wall with a shovel. Stew had a stroke when he saw me hanging over. I said, “Grab my feet and I might can reach it.”

You can imagine the Shady Oaks and “I’m calling Bro” things I had to listen to. But I was kidding! I tried for 30 minutes with Stew guarding me and gave up. Course Stew got it on his first try. Thought that was enough for one day… Evidently not.

Got my head caught in the rails of the the day bed in the children’s room! I’m serious, y’all! The lamp had come unplugged and I was pulling the cord across to the plug and had to put my head through the rails to see and reach the plug. I just started laughing like a crazy person. You know the Lord watches over us dumb bunnies. I remembered the pigeon from the children’s movie Bolt turning his head sideways when his head was stuck in a fence, so I turned my head and I escaped the rail!

Don’t tell my children! I’m half way to Shady Oaks now!