MINUTE BY MINUTE....

 Not getting too much done: Son L has promised to get my Christmas cards printed and ready for mailing so yours this evening, but his wide and daughter accompanied him this afternoon so Fio has no idea where everyone is.

AHA! The moment your girl said she had no idea where Son is, he and the rest of the family popped in. the door. It's going to to take at least three more days to get Fio's Christmas card (which is really very simple) in the mail. If you haven't seen it or heard about it before, it's Fiorella's musical masterpiece.....

Being alone in the house on a darkish afternoon starts Fio to think about things, worrisome things. Remember, despite your girl having lived herein this neighborhoods a good four years, she really doesn't know anyone in the aria, and her Sonia Dog is gone forever. Thus, Fiorella's single solace was the big black and white cat that wanders the house but sleeps with Fio most of the nights as if he has a crush her.

Fiorella may be facing a food shortage, though, because she didn't grab enough milk, Shredded Wheat, carrots, etc, and Son L can't always be able so be available to fill her coffers. 

By the way, when you wake up, remember to send a mental message to your girl's daughter-in-law to   PLEEEEZE finish washing and drying her clothes because Fiorella is at the bottom of her panties!

TRUDGING ALONG, BUT NOT GETTING MUCH MILEDGE

😕Because of her troublesome left eye which bars her from measuring stupid things like distances and overheads, Fiorella hopes there will be straight-seeing husband waiting for her somewhere down the line.😀

Okay, Fio admits she's trying to get her bedroom in shape by hacking through the wall of tacks, Scotch Tape, and cardboard to preserve everything and anything that she thinks was even half important in her former life.  But...uh...if you'll excuse her, the first thing to do is find that slip of paper that she wrote down her favorite doctor's appointment on. 😕

Daughter and her clan will be visiting tomorrow to celebrate the New Year. Fio never had much of a chance to participate in frivolities like this when she was a child because her family moved from Ohio to  Texas when she was in the second grade and....well...her relatives stayed home.  😒 

Very few people had TVs back then so their accents varied extremely from one side of the nation to the other--and up and down too--which made communication difficult. Yep, you got it: television gradually transformed the way people expressed themselves--but your girl had a head start because her parents were Yankies and spoke the TV lingo. (Think of Mr. Rogers and his friends if you're old enough). 😕

That's enough for tonight, but please stay on the lookout for a piece of paper with Fiorella's favorite doctor's phone number scribbled on it, OK?😟

SHE IS SOOO LONELY......

 page 28 

Fiorella has been yearning for a pair of beige shoes for a long time now, and maybe 2024 will deliver them. She also wants a permanent driver so she can get to her medical appointments on time. But most of all, she wants a friend she can talk to and discuss her feelings with, who will wipe her tears when she cries and clap her hands when she does something brilliant.

Changing the subject, your girl thinks the Austin American-Statesman has lost some of its tread: there seems to be a lot more "slow news" and  "desperate news" than when she last lived in Austin. Also, there are more and bigger illustrations filling the pages...

Yes, daughter-in-law's big black and white cat has still established himself beside JoJo,  Fio's black and whites stuffed panda. (Their relationship amuses Fiorella. She wonders if Cat will sweep JoJo off the bed.)

Sometimes Fio wonders at her cul-de-sac daily walks every day, but then she thinks about her school days: kindergarten, elementary, junior high, senior high, and her college days. It would be a wonder if she WERN'T a good walker!

Where is your girl heading toward? Where will she land? What will she do? PRAY FOR HER!

MOVIN' ON THROUGH CHRISTMAS

 Fio begs your apology for the fact that her Christmas cards won't be out till at least next week plus, but it took her a while to put everything together, and now, Son L won't be able to finish the off photo-coping till next week. Your girl is not happy about it, but there's nothing she can do about it but seethe. And to think, she started all this out two weeks before THE DAY!

Interesting enough though, your girl made some sweet discoveries when she was going through her old papers.....like that she had written a couple of other Christmas songs too....one, in fact, featuring a piano and guitar. Hmm...what else will Fiorella uncover? (No wonder she got an A in that class!)

Did Fiorella tell you about the specialty card she got from her friend in England? Actually, Suzy's  husband wrote it all, but what is the season like if not for every hilarity you can wring out of it?

Friend Paula and husband sent Fio a card from Vermont, which is almost as far as England to your girl, and she especially treasures the picture of their red-headed granddaughter on it. Would love to paint her sometime.

How did Fio get to know these lovely ladies, you ask? We all taught at the University of Texas way back when, and your Fiorella hopes all of our students remember us too....or, more important--our values!

Not a Lot of Fun

 Here your girl is again! She still can't find some of her things, but she did sketch a grandmother and did a really good job on it. Unfortunately, she's also having trouble handling her text, which has been dragging her all over the frame. Whoopie!

Sigh....this is the day that Fiorella takes down her minimal Christmas decorations and packs them down for next year, and also the day she looks at her unfinished art projects and winces. 

Did Fio tell you that the big black cat (alive) and the big black Panda (stuffed) slept beside your girl on her bed while she was frantically trying to finish off the grandmother portrait?

That's all Fiorella is going to say except THANK YOU for fixing her computer again, which pretty much explains everything, dang it!

 

 

TIME OFF

FIO IS TAKING EASTER OFF.  SEE YOU TOMORROW!

A STUCK-TOGETHER EASTER AND FAMILY COMENT

 It's almost time for Christmas and Fiorella can't help but wallow in her childhood memories of pine trees, flickering candles, children bundled up for bed, and if we were lucky, SNOW.....which wasn't too often in Waco, Texas. But. luckily, our Yankee parents were clever enough to continue the charade. (How in the world did they combine Mr. Snowman and the Christ Child?)

As you remember, Fio's holiday cards cards are going to be late this year due to her problem with the local (grrrr) supplier. Your girl will keep you tune in because there's not much else going on right now..... unless you want to know all about Fiorella's utter failure in dropping off the pounds. (Did she tell you that yesterday?)

Ho, hum.... If Santa delivered gifts to adults this very second, Fio would ask for an automatic car that would obey her on command. Hmmm.... even if it weren't Christmas, a car like that would be a good deal,,,,and Fio thinks she's seen something like it in trucks and automobiles "driven" in California....... 

Your girl, as you must have guessed by now, is trying to eat better, and right now, she's replaced her bag of chocolate with a bag of of shaved carrots....AND SHE LIKES THEM!

There will be an egg roll for the children tomorrow, but....ahem....Fio will just stand and watch, and maybe be a little sad. If Husband hadn't died on her, maybe he would have been part of the joyous crowd too......

PS

LATE CHRISTMAS CARDS SHOULD APPEAR WITHIN TWO WEEKS, HOPEFULLY EARLIER

On and Off

What a wonderful early afternoon with my brother and his wife, who took your girl out and treated her with delicious baked salmon. Then, when she got home, Friend Paula, who lives in Vermont, called on the phone so she and Fio could make attempts at a couple of wobbly carols, then ended up talking about old times teaching at University of Texas, where they first met.

 How the times pass. That set of Christmas carols that Fiorella has dug up was composed when she still lived in Georgetown, probably soon after she had taken a music composition class. But she hopes at least one person will see the light of day when your girl finds herself an available photo-copier.

It would be nice if the frog in your girl's frog throat will jump back into the swamp too. 

And, of course, Fiorella's  hopes this year will be her year to attract friends.

Your girl's fingers are growing weary with messing up her messenger so let's close the door. OK?

 

.

BITS AND PIECES.....

 0ooop! Fiorella skipped a day again and her only excuse is that she's working on the upcoming Christmas, which includes, as she's told you, putting together a fake mistletoe strand along her side of the house window. Fio also had to call upon her driver to whisk her off to the local H-E-B so she would food for the upcoming week.

Ah, the memories of Christmas past--the sparkling lights, the overloaded branches, the excitement, the wonder, swwooooon.....

It's also the time to start thinking of next year, 2024, when your girl hasn't really gotten adjusted to 2023 yet. 

What a disappointment that there wasn't a drop of snow this year, at least in your girl's area, but maybe January will drop some down on our rooftops. 

What does Fiorella want to do in the new year, you ask? First of all, she she wants to make a friend, someone talk to and laugh with, and just maybe someone who has a car and is willing to haul your girl around in it. 

ALL ABOUT ME, ME, ME!

 First your girl makes a Christmas card, then she has to get it copied, then provide the envelope, then address and mail it to friends and relatives, and along the way, any tragedy can occur. Pray for Fiorella's cards this year.

Fio's quick eye glanced at the outside of the left side of the house, the part she lives in, and realized she could do something Christmas-like with it so she hauled out her box of fake mistletoe  and added even more decoration to the family trimmings. Then she lost the names her sister-in-law had given her of companies who would who photocopy her Christmas cards.. Then she found the list where she had put it, taped to her bureau door. And if you can follow all of this, you're a better woman than Fiorella is!

Winter, whether it's cold or now, always bring out Fio's memories. She was born in Ohio, where snow was inevitable each year, and then her family moved to Texas where snow was a rare. The ice skates, the heavy coats, the snowballs were only fading memories of her past.

 Changing subjects, did Fiorella ever tell you that she has four orange University of Texas shirts that she still wears? Or that she has a degree in linguistics? Or that she holds not only a Bachelor with High Honers but a Doctor of Philosophy and that when she received her final degree, she was offered a teaching position which Fio (stupid girl) refused because she was tired of school and wanted to take a rest.

Interestingly enough, at least to your girl, she ended up teaching on the college level, and loved it.

Considering.......

Fiorella has had a hard couple of days so she's taking a day off. It's hard to keep pace when you can't drive, but Son has promised to stop by Walgreen tomorrow and pick up two of her major pills. Still can't think of any way to work with the Christmas cards though.

The Chariot people are very nice, but they couldn't rustle up anyone who would drive Fio to her appointed blood draw with a semi-blood doctor. Your girl thinks she's okay, but who knows?

Then there is the sorrow of the Christmas cards, which Fiorella loves to design and pass out. She decided to use an oldie this year because she was entering the game late, but, as it has turned out, it looks like she won't be able to compete at all because the company she usually used had changed and become more expensive and more complicated. 

Nevertheless, Fiorella, with a big white cat purring in her lap, is determined to make some kind of card this year. As she has often said: pray for her.

 

Holiday Jitters

 Had some hard times today. The Christmas cards your girl wanted to-re use as Christmas cards to far-off friends could not be used at all because, as the woman behind-the-desk kept explaining, the way cards are being handled had changed in the past couple of years. What can your girl do now?

 At least the weather is nice--calm and slightly warm. Hmmm....maybe Fio can make up some cute cards by hand and mail them out a "little late."

Ah, the Christmases in times past--waking early in the morning when she was a child eager for gifts, and, as an adult, enjoying watching her children's eyes light up when they unwrapped their gifts.

Hoping we'll have a big family dinner some place along the line. Fio's kids are sort of into that--and so is she because she, being the matriarch, doesn't have to take care of the kitchen.😋

Really wish we had my singing, though. Wouldn't it be nice to have some singers stop on our doorstep--and maybe we could join them?

 

 

 

 

 

DISTRAUGHT......

 Talk about a dull day! Fiorella has been very down, she had a hard time getting a ride and when she finally found one, she learned that the place she needed to go was closed for the day (Sunday, of course). Then she started thinking about how she really didn't have anyone to talk to about her situation because she was alone, alone, alone.

She can't even find good TV/"Remote" shows any more because she's seen them all!

Why doesn't she have a best friend in sight--someone that she can share all her joys and troubles with? How can she get one such creature...or two? Fio used to have an overload. Now, all she has is the cat.

Of course, one big problem is that your girl doesn't drive any more, and Fiorella sees no way to escape that reality. That's all Fiorella has to say because there's nothing more to say.....except that she asks you to talk to God about her.

 

 

 

 

TRYING TO PULL EVERYTHING TOGETHER.....

 What to do next? Fiorella has actually--really and truly--pulled all the things that were on top of her bureau together and cleaned the place up, and that now she is eyeing one of the cabinets on the side of her bed. WHOOPEE!

Did Fio tell you that one of Son L's cats ran away two nights ago but the other one stayed put? As expected, the new cat was the one that jumped the fence while the white one (ahem, the one who likes Fiorella) stayed put. After all, it knew that the the food served inside was better--and more regular--than whatever was available in the wide, wide, world.

The city is trying to lure aging artists back to its clutches and Fio is willing to try it out once again, but only if there is a taxi nearby. The first two times she tried, your girl was the only one who made an appearance....except for the clutch of dangerous looking gamblers toward the back of the room.

Your girl is getting tired of watching the same, same movies with her remote, but the game is that we watch only the old, free ones. (Fio had no idea that Goldie Haun is now in her seventies!)

 Please remind Fiorella that she should be composing a carol or a poem or maybe both before Christmas is over. After all, if she has cleaned up her room, what other things can she do?

 

UP TO DATE!

 Hello, hello, hello....did your girl miss something? She's working toward Christmas now, of course but she's also fighting off a cold and deciding on presents. This morning was not pleasant, but she's better now. (Please send your best wishes.)

Has Fio told you that Friend Paula sent a lovely picture of her red-headed grand-daughter for Christmas? Swooooon! Fiorella would like to paint her when she's a little older.

Right now, Fio is all tangled up with the family ranch, which she's never seen but has been in charge of even before her husband died. Her job is to dish out the proceeds to family members, but she also pays the taxes. 

Fiorella has said it before and she's going to say it again: she loves to be part of a caroling group. It used to be so much fun....and joy. But where are my friends now? Fa-a-a-r away, fa-a-a r away...

Your girl's New Year's promise is to finish off the big family painting in her salon that she started out about twenty years ago. What's yours? 😃

 

RUNNING A LITTLE LATE!

 Whuppeeeee! It took half the day to finally get the phone number for the people who arrange your girl's travel for her regulated blood-letting and then Fio was so elated that she dove into her next project....and lost her instructions......

Then, whoopee! She received a fair number of Christmas cards! Maybe somebody remembers Fio from way-back-when after all! Hmmmm....

Fiorella also had another victory: she finally got the address of Chariot, the nice people she uses to "get to the scalpel in time" when it her blood needs checking out, and was able to add to their coffers for everyone.

Neighborhood news: has your girl told you that she has graduated to walking the whole cul-de-sac all around the loop with just a light jacket and jeans to protect her from the wind? (If she's all ready told you, clap again.)

Better go now and design some Christmas cards NOW!

 

 

 

 

 

I'M VERY TIRED AND I'VE ALREADY ACCIDENTALY WIPED TWO OTHER MESSAGES OFF THE BOARD SO ENJOY ME WHEN YOU CAN

,

Guess what! Chariot, your girl was able to get a driver today to get her to and from her blood draw, and she and Fio really jelled. Unfortunately, Fio's draw was a little too high so she'll have to return next week  to be checked again, but who would care if she got the same driver again!

Oh, something else happened when she was getting her blood checked out: Fiorella met another woman whose name was the same as hers, and when the nurse called Fio's name, she answered too--and gave the other patients-in-waiting a good laugh.

Of course, your girl is hoping our visitors will say nice things about her decorations, (1) a paper Christmas tree design inside her large window, (2) six of her homemade Christmas cards in the entryway, (3) paper holly and berries in the hall, and a Christmas song she composed on the piano years ago.

CLOSER TO CHRISTMAS THAN YESTERDAY......

 OOPS, yesterday was supposed to be the tenth and this be the eleventh. Mistakes like that remind you that this blog is being written by a real, live person. In this case, the person is grinding her teeth because she couldn't get anybody to check her blood and probably will be in the same situation tomorrow--or maybe for the whole Christmas season.

By the way, Fio found the birthday check for Son L that she was afraid she had lost and searched the whole morning about, then found it exactly where it was supposed to be.

If you visit me during the season, be sure to compliment your girl on the six Christmas cards of poetry that she composed in latter times and has mounted this years on the door to the piano room. And while you're at it, also at least  glance at the large Christmas design she mounted on the window in the study, and when you come in the door, enjoy the formation of the fake holly.

 Fiorella can't help but remember her Christmas decoration when she was a child because most of them are still being used one way or another--being handed down to another generation😊

Her parents would be pleased.

 

BUILD-UP TO CHRISTMAS!

 Fiorella helped with trimming the Christmas tree this evening, which warmed her heart since she recognized most of the ornaments as being from her own collection and her mother's. Now, just hoping that Son and his wife will maintain and pass on the bags of ornaments like Mom and then your girl did--and that they will be as meaningful to family through the years as they have been for us.

Also hoping some of the ornaments will be shared with Daughter A's and her young family's Christmas.

Your girl has pulled out the Christmas songs she composed way-back-when and will try to engage someone or other to use them caroling. We'll see....or rather, hear. 💖

Tomorrow morning, Fio will take advantage of Cheriot, a free local "taxi" for older people, but because she herself has the money to pay the tab, Fiorella writes out a check when she gets back home, tucks it in a an envelope, skips up the cul-de-sac, and tucks the "overload"into the mailbox. (Every little bit helps the next person.)

Speaking of Christmas, Fiorella is wondering if we're going to have any snow this year. Also if there will be any caroling. Needless to say, your girl used to participate in it and would love to do it again.

 

 

 

 

BE JOYFUL! CHRIST IS BORN!

 Hello, hello! Your girl is falling behind with her Christmas preparations, although most of them will be cash. That's how it goes when you are the oldest in the family. Not that Fio is doesn't have other things to deal with too.

By the way, where did Fio's roll of Kleenex go? And those stacks of toilet paper that were in the washing closet? Surely, Santa isn't going to deliver gifts that are second hand.

Ring-a-ding! Fiorella has contributed her own displays to the front of the foyer: four of her own Christmas cards, complete with your girl's poems. 

And here is one of them:

                        Christmas Fire

The firewood salvaged from our fallen trees

We've dried and heaped upon the fireplace grate

To counteract the deep midwinter freeze

Which lowering temperatures now prognosticate.

Steel strikes flink, the tinder pile is lit,

A quick flame flashes, then is gently fed

Until the fire is burning bright and brisk,

Its finger reaching high, its embers red.

Crackling and raging and roaring with each bite,

The hungry fire consumes the waiting wood,

But after we have gone to bed at night

The flames burn out--untended, unrenewed.

       Yet warmth awakens us upon the morn--

        A Merry Christmas to all! Christ is born!

This, That, Art, Weather, etc.

 Merry Christmas-- Son L's little dogs have started leaving "piles" on the floors and in the bathrooms. Thank goodness that they are too small to leap up onto your girl's bed!

Congratulate Fiorella--her window display is now finished, and it looks great, especially when Fio turns on the lights in the evening  against the dark sky.

Also congratulate your girl for being able to balance on a small wood stool to to go up on her tippy-toes in order to pull up the white shade so the whole design could be seen. And about the design? It's composed of seven paper cut-outs of green Christmas trees--four on the first row, two above them, and four on top of themgold on top. It's stunning at night, even if Fio does say that herself. (And you know she will.)

By the way, the "gold" is four tops of yellow "candles"in a row and one in the middle, then two above it, plus four gold-colored leftovers that end up almost to the top of the window. It's one of the best things your girl has ever done...and probably the cheapest. 

Changing the subject, the wind is swaying the bushes outside so Fiorella better grab her cane and hit the road for her daily walk around the cul-de-sac before the weather gets too cold.

MOVIN' ALONG

 Fio is a-movin' along....she hopes. Not only has she been doing well on her outside Christmas decoration, but she lassoed a driver for her every-two-weeks visit to her medical bloodsuckers. WHEW!

About the inside decoration, they're almost done

Of course, your girl is going to have to get help when she gets to the top of the decoration, but maybe the teenager next door will lend a hand if Son L is not available. Otherwise, Fiorella is restless. She wants to be on the move, to be DOING SOMETHING! TO BE TALKING TO SOMEONE! Maybe, by a miracle, TO ATTRACT SOME FRIENDS!

In fact, Fio is going to hit up her "visiting friend" the next time she drops by and try to get her to teach Fio (1) how to deal with taxis, and (2) how to find friends. (Will report the results later.)

Am also thinking of pulling down some of the orange library-like epistles that your girl has carried with her from home to home. Hmmmmmmmmm................

 

 

 

Same Old, Same Old.......

 Sorry--Fiorella was sick yesterday, a rare thing to happen to her. She's up and about now, though, and working on her outside Christmas display which isn't really "outside," but pasted on an inside window facing the street. Fio will describe it more later on, when she has it finished.

Interesting: when you girl was barely awake this morning, she was contacted by Cheriot, a free ride program  free for older people which she often uses, and told that they couldn't supply her with a driver today. But when Fio was full awake, she realized that she hadn't booked a ride for the day. 

Wonder who's out there somewhere still waiting for his/her ride....and if that means that ride your girl had booked would for next week was floating somewhere out there in the distant universe.

Your girl got an active, a very active letter from a woman she used to teach college with years ago, and   her friend and family have been all over the place. Fio wished her well, but she is jealous. That could have been her if her husband hadn't died on her! 

What Fiorella would like to do is go somewhere that she could make friends and TALK to people!!!

 

 

Christmas Ups and Downs

 Your girl has decided to decorate her window with snowmen this year. Maybe she'll decorate the hallway too, and she's debating whether to add in a few other things, like paper carolers. (Will keep you posted.)

It's settled: Fiorella does not like the new cat, and as far as she can tell, the current cat--the one that  likes Fio--doesn't like the newcomer ether. 

Besides, the intruder has a habit of leaping up onto the dining table while your girl is trying to lay out her breakfast.

As Fio has told you, she's been wearing her mother's heavy mink coat when she takes her usual walk around the neighborhood cul-de-sac. It brings back good memories  of Waco winters and IT'S WARM. 

At the end of the day, your girl went through all sorts of treasures to put together a fake Christmas  tree for her window, then ran outside several times to see if it could be seen from  the inside of the house. It's not the best tree she's done, but she still has almost a month to go. If anyone out there is reading this page, PRAY FOR FIORELLA!

THE SEASON

 Hello, hello, hello--

Your girl has spent a full day fooling around with her Christmas plans....except when she was taking care of her overwhelming pile of adds, mailing out her bills, and making a whirlwind visit to her grocery store to pick up her usual sliced turkey. Fio, feasts on turkey all week long at all years long too!

Fiorella has to make a decoration for her studio room too. How about snowflakes in many colors--this is Texas, remember!!

Of course, Fio would really like to have singing too--for her and everyone else. Hmmm.....maybe, just maybe. In the meantime, your girl will not only brighten things up as much as she can, but also be as merry as she can. 

Blessings upon you and yours....