Week 6: Beth's Winter Holiday

Sunday, Dec. 26 -- Beth woke up excited. "Is it that Christmas?" she asked when she came downstairs. No, that was yesterday. "Oops!" she said, then "That's right, yesterday." It was still a good day.

A tiny bit of snow fluttering around. A very lazy day. Beth did some work in her new workbook, and did some artwork and helped clean up around the house. We watched the Chiefs game (well, Beth and Tom did -- Pan and I took a nap). We talked to Ken and called Scott but missed him.

A light dinner and early out!

Monday, Dec. 27 -- Back to the regular routine, or at least trying to get back into the swing of working hard. Nancy worked from home; Beth was quite chatty and cheerful. She went to Curves in the afternoon and wanted to stand around and talk with her friends there instead of doing vigorous exercising. Can't say I blame her! They're very nice to her, always greeting her with hugs and big welcomes. She had a good exercise, too. We had dinner at home.

Tuesday, Dec. 28 -- Another work day! Today Beth and I also ran some errands; Beth is steadily working on her cursive workbook. We have a little spelling bee almost everyday -- it's a great indicator of how sharp she is feeling. Some days, she's just perfect; other days, she's quite slow and gets frustrated. We stop on those days and she goes back to coloring. When she's fresh, we also practice numbers but this is consistently slow. We go through little drills about the day and date and what's coming ahead.

Another day at Curves, too. Then dinner at home, and now to bed!

Wednesday, Dec. 29 -- Oatmeal for breakfast, brown sugar, raisins and apples -- yummy! More practicing with cursive and spelling. In the afternoon, Beth went to Curves again for a good workout. In the evening, we went over to Pam and Brian's house to babysit Simon. He was so funny! Beth took along her workbook and Simon kept coming in the dining room to check on her. "Beff?" he'd ask, and then go find her. "Beff!" We had pizza for dinner at their house. Kind of a late night for Beth, not in bed till after 9 p.m. Practice for new year's eve!

Thursday, Dec. 30 -- Nancy had to go in to work in the afternoon, so Beth and Tom stayed home. Chores for Beth: sweeping up, setting the table, cleaning up her desk. Later, Beth went to Curves for her afternoon exercise.

From 2010-12 Beth's Winter Holiday

From 2010-12 Beth's Winter Holiday

From 2010-12 Beth's Winter Holiday

Friday, Dec. 31 -- Some errands in the daytime; Beth practicing her handwriting and drawing, too. Beth and I go shopping; Beth gets a pair of shoes. Then in the afternoon, we get ready for our evening out. Beth wears a sparkly top that she really likes. It looks very fancy! We also fix her hair a bit and she's ready! We go to Max's house for a nice time with many of our bookstore friends -- John Donnelly, Kent, Dennis and Peggy Farney, Bill Russell, Bill Byrne and Kathy. It's a nice time and Beth monopolizes Peggy just chatting away, telling her all about everything. After that, we go for a late dinner at Aixois (nearly 9 p.m.). Emmanuel and Pascal and all the crew give Beth a big welcome and compliment her. We have oysters before dinner. The place is very full and very inviting. We have a great dinner and then get bundled up to head for home in the cold. Happy New Year!

Saturday, Jan. 1 -- Beth was disappointed that Curves wasn't open today, but glad to remember that it's a holiday so it's good for everyone to be with their families instead of at work. We ran a few errands, getting groceries for the family dinner tomorrow, and talked with Ken in the afternoon. We were babysitting Simon in the evening while Brian and Pam used the hot tub. Then we had a nice dinner made of a variety of leftovers. Beth stayed up a little later than usual because of our later dinner. She was enjoying working and using her new lap desk for drawing and dinner in the TV room.

From 2010-12 Beth's Winter Holiday

Week 5: Beth's Winter Holiday

Sunday, Dec. 19 -- Sleepy morning! We had omelets for breakfast (mushroom & feta) and then we got ready for a little more shopping. Family dinner in the afternoon was at Patsy's house. Beth likes the clam dip that she serves, and we all got a good laugh when Brian accidentally put barbecue sauce on his ice cream!

Monday, Dec. 20 -- Back to the routine! Nancy had a few meetings and worked from home the rest of the day. We started in on wrapping presents. Beth visited Curves in the afternoon; we took along a set of copies of four pieces of her art for Halley, the gal who gave Beth the nice present. Dinner at home.

Tuesday, Dec. 21 -- Beth was having a slow day -- slow to respond, difficulty in thinking. She had a good workout at Curves and we straightened out everything there, so she's paid up for her exercising. I'm amazed at how many people there know her. She gets hugs when she comes and goes there; very sweet. After the workout, I had to go to the KU Hospital to do some work (stuff that came up quickly and I couldn't do from home) so I took Beth with me. She sat at a desk and practiced her handwriting while I worked. She was very good and did a nice job of shaking hands when she met one of my colleagues there. We had dinner at home -- a nice tortellini with italian sausage and a salad. Cookie sampler for dessert!

Wednesday, Dec. 22 -- Nancy had to be away most of the day, so Beth was with Tom. They did some shopping and went to the bookshop for some work. Late in the afternoon, over to Curves. Dinner at home. Beth now has become reluctant to go up and get ready for bed by herself. She waits for me, calls out for me and generally won't do anything unless I'm there to guide her along and help out.

Thursday, Dec. 23 -- In the mornings when I hear Beth get up, I remind her to take a shower and help her pick out what to wear, and then I leave her alone. Today, she forgot to turn off the shower. I can't imagine how much water was wasted. After breakfast, she helped with sweeping up and wrapping presents. Beth is good at wrapping presents, a great helper! Getting some work done, then we decide to go last-minute shopping but Beth would rather go to Curves. OK, that's what we do. Then back at home, we start in on baking. Beth again does a great job, very patiently mixing stuff and helping out. We make a batch of nut rolls -- the little nut-filled crescents, one loaf and several nut rolls (pinwheels). We'll be sharing these with our brothers. Dinner at home -- made bread while we were baking, also a macaroni & cheese.

Friday, Dec. 24 -- We woke up to a White Christmas (eve)! Just a nice little flurry of big soft snowflakes, enough to cover everything but too wet to stick for long. Today we will go to our regular Christmas eve lunch with Andrea, Vince and Mary Lynn, and then tonight we go to Patsy's house for her Christmas Eve party.

The lunch was very nice. Andrea presented Beth with a cute and Christmas-y pin, which looked great on Beth. (There are photos.) Lunch was fun.

Later, for the party, Beth got dressed up in sparkly top and black pants -- everyone commented on how pretty she looked. She liked it very much, got to hug a lot of people!

Saturday, Dec. 25 -- Christmas Day! We got up a little early to be all ready! We were at Erin's at 9 a.m. Beth enjoyed a breakfast there, and then it was time to dive into the gift giving. The kids had loads of fun with all their new toys and stuff.

Beth got some candles, soaps and lip gloss, pens, a lap desk, a drawing book and a photo album. I'll have to work on getting some prints to fill it up. After all that ruckus, we went home and opened our own presents by our Christmas tree. Beth got a sweater, a couple of shirts, some pants, some pens, a travel pen kit, some paper, socks and such. It was quite nice!

We relaxed a bit then, and later went back to Erin's for Christmas dinner. We had fun with the kids and their new toys, and then sat down to a turkey dinner. Beth had an ice cream truffle for dessert along with warm apple cake. She was nearly falling asleep at the table by the end of it all!

A joyous Noel.

Week 4: Beth's Winter Holiday

Sunday, Dec. 12 -- What a cold day! Snow on the ground, and blowing, so we stay inside all day. We decide to rearrange our bedroom upstairs and it takes most of the afternoon. Beth is very helpful, moving books and chattering. We get a call from Scott -- we hadn't seen him online so hadn't been able to talk with him on the video. We tried calling Ken, but missed him. We had family dinner at Erin's house. Beth really enjoyed it!

Monday, Dec. 13 -- Beth is getting slower and slower in the mornings. I barely get to see her when I have to go to work. I was able to work from home in the afternoon. Beth is practicing her printing and writing everyday now. Today she worked on her Christmas cards, selecting each one individually and writing out a little note on each. You should get them soon. We had dinner at home, and then went out for a little shopping -- a couple of quick errands -- and then we went to a local school for a play, put on by our dear friend Sylvia. Beth, as you know, can't resist a darkened theater and was snoring within minutes of the start of the first act. We left early so she could get a proper sleep in her little bed.

Tuesday, Dec. 14 -- Still cold here, but Beth is convinced the snow is melting. "Look, look, the grass is comin' back," she'll say. Today, after I got home from work in the morning, our friends Sarah and Lucy came over to help us bake and decorate cookies. (See the photos.) This was loads of fun -- from rolling out the dough, using the cookie cutters, then mixing the frosting, decorating the cookies and finishing them off with sprinkles. We learned that Sarah's birthday is the same as Ken's, and that we all have three big brothers. There was even some singing... Loads of fun.

Later in the evening, we babysit Simon at our house. What fun!

Wednesday, Dec. 15 -- Nancy was working most of the day, so Beth was with Tom. She went to Curves in the afternoon. Then we had a quick dinner, and it was off to an event at Union Station, at the Irish Center. A friend of our was putting on a show about "Nelly Don," the Kansas City business woman and fascinating historical figure. There was a fashion show with it. A lot of our friends came, so it was nice to see everyone. (Beth fell asleep during the talk, but it was OK, our friend understood!)

Thursday, Dec. 16 -- Another busy day! We're working on xmas cards, laundry, baking and work, of course. Beth is doing a good job of sweeping the floors most days. She went to Curves in the afternoon again, and then we went out to have dinner with our friends Jason and Angela. We had a very nice dinner downtown at Bo Lings -- I think this counts as a new restaurant for Beth! It was great fun, and then home!

Friday, Dec. 17 -- We started the day at Rotary, Beth and me. It was the annual Christmas event, with singing and everybody wearing goofy Santa hats. Beth was so happy to be there, and stood up and waved at everybody when she was introduced. She did a good job on the Pledge of Allegiance, too. And the singing! It was really fun. The rest of the day was working for Nancy; but Beth and Tom went out to visit Andrea for Happy Hour in the afternoon. Then, for Beth, a workout at Curves. We took a sample of her artwork to share with the gals there, and as it turned out, Halley, one of the workers, had a Christmas present for Beth! It was so sweet. She says Beth is the hardest-working member of Curves! When we got home, Beth opened the present. Then, finally, a night at home! We had dinner in and then to bed.

From 2010-12 Beth's Winter Holiday

Saturday, Dec. 18 -- We talked with Ken and Scott. We tried a video conference with Scott but technical difficulties kept dropping the video, so we had an old-fashioned phone call. Great to catch up with everybody! After that, Beth and I went shopping. I've been trying to find some clothes for her, but we've really had a hard time finding pants. We got a few things, but they will be a surprise for Christmas for her. Later, in the afternoon, we went to Aixois (our favorite restaurant) where a friend was autographing his new book, a history of the Beech (Aircraft) family. Lots of our friends from the bookshop came for the party: Kent, John Donnelly, Aften, Bill, Sally, her Mom Kay, Heather, Jason, Steve, Max, his son Steve, Diane and Marc,Kevin and Miriam, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others. Beth enjoyed it, mostly because she sat in front of the snacks and got to try several kinds of cheese and pate. (Yes, she liked it.) After the party, we decided to stay there for dinner. It was great! We had oysters (a special treat!) and Beth had the rotisserie chicken and chocolate mousse for dessert. She loved it so much, she was so happy!

From 2010-12 Beth's Winter Holiday

Week 3: Beth's Winter Holiday 2010

Sunday, Dec. 5 -- A leisurely morning, Nancy's famous omelets for breakfast -- today's flavor was spinach and feta cheese. Then we went shopping for Beth, with some success: a winter coat, slippers, a turtleneck shirt, a sweater, undies and socks. We looked for shoes but no success. (Everyday, Beth looks for her black shoes and has to be reminded that she didn't bring them.) Oh well. We'll keep looking. After that, time for family dinner, this week at Brian and Pam's house. And what fun! Pam had gingerbread cookies for the kids to decorate. Beth did a couple very nicely!

Monday, Dec. 6 -- We mostly stayed around the house, but had to run some errands too. Beth came along, of course. She had a good workout at Curves. We had dinner at home -- chicken with rice and veggies, and a cookie for dessert.

Tuesday, Dec. 7 -- Nancy had several meetings, but took Beth to Curves in between them. At Curves, the gals there gave her a piece of fudge to sample. What's with that? She loved it! They have a little card up with her name and they're keeping track of everyday that she's been there. It's a good list already. They all know her! Today the two gals ran to give her hugs when she was ready to go. We had dinner at home and then got started on some cookies. It was great to talk with Mike today!

Wednesday, Dec. 8 -- We've started some new exercises in writing, both printing and script, and adding. It's surprising how she has lost so much of her previous skill, but she enjoys the exercises and I think it gives her a different sense of accomplishment. After the exercises, she can color and play music. Another day at Curves. Dinner at home and then we made cookies; tomorrow we bake them.

Thursday, Dec. 9 -- Another busy day for Nancy, with a lot of meetings away. It makes Beth anxious, so I try to explain as much as I can, over and over. Sometimes it helps to write a note to her, but other times she forgets the note. In the afternoon, Beth and Tom went to visit Andrea and then she went to Curves. Dinner at home again. Tom and Beth also raked leaves.

Friday, Dec. 10 -- Up early, early, early for the Rotary meeting. We were there at 7 a.m. We practiced saying "Good Morning!" and "How are you?" and other conversation. Everybody welcomes her and calls her by name. She loves going to the meetings and talks about it all day afterward. This afternoon, we went Xmas shopping. Beth liked it. Then, it was off to Curves and the grocery store. In the evening, we went to Lily's basketball game. Beth liked that too, clapping and cheering -- and she got to nap in the car!

Saturday, Dec. 11 -- French toast for breakfast! We go shopping in the afternoon, and then in the evening, we go to our neighborhood party.

From 2010-12 Beth's Winter Holiday