I am SOOOO sorry it has
taken so long to get my latest update online. I didn't realize until
just the other day that I hadn't updated for November and here we
are nearly through December! My only excuse is that there have been
a lot of problems this month. However; before getting to the troubling news, why don't
you go back to NOVEMBER
and see what all happened during that month.
Now that you've checked
out last month, let's start in on this month.
First the good news!
World AIDS
Day Event
All my work last month came to fruition
as this month started off. With December 1st being World AIDS Day,
it was finally time to put Catawba Care's show on the stage.
Here's the crew that put
the show together!
Anita (Catawba Care's Exe Director), Brianne (Winthrop Health
Services), mIkIE, Laura (Winthrop Community Engagement) and Monica
(Catawba Care's Prevention Dpt Supervisor)
In the main hallway, just
around the corner from the theater, we had exhibition tables set up
from the partners for tonight's show - Tell Them!, Catawaba Care,
and The ONE Organization.
My friend, Sondra Bloxam, represented
Tell Them! - a grassroots organization devoted to matter concerning
sexual healthcare, like teen pregnancy, STDs, and HIV.
The ONE Organization chapter from
Winthrop represented a global organization that champions the legal
issues and public education about global problems like poverty,
hunger and AIDS.
All night long, our
Winthrop friend Laura, was everywhere and really cutting up! She did
an excellent job organizing and facilitating things between Catawba
Care and Winthrop, and her brand of humor helped cut through the
stress of getting everything to work out right that night.
For a change, I didn't man
the CC booth - I was too busy getting ready for the show. Instead we
had student volunteers from Winthrop that handled passing out
literature and condoms.
The gang from Catawba Care, along with
some friends from DHEC (the SC Health Dpt)
Two of our emcees for the show:
Denis and Telluss
All dressed up for the evening, they gave our show some class and
pizzazz!
the ONE group
Sondra! from Tell Them!
Once again like last year, we had a
full theater of students and guests there for the performance.
We had the performance
troupe Skin Deep perform for us, along with showing plenty of videos
produced by WHO (World Health Organization), ONE (RED), Catawba
Care, and the student submissions into the contest.
Monica, along with Denise and Telluss,
handled the jobs of awarding raffle prizes, discussing the videos,
and moderating a question and answer period.
It seemed as if the event
went over very well. If you'd like to see the event itself you can
view it as one long file, or just watch pieces of it. Watch below or
go to
Catawba Care's Youtube channel
On to the Bad News Now
Now that you've checked
out last month, let's start in on this month.
First the bad news!
Unfortunately, my 94 year
old grandmother fell the other day when she was out shopping and
broke her hip! She ended up in surgery where they had to replace her
hip. Needless to say, while she is out and going fairly well, she's
having a lot of health issues and recovery is going to take quiet
some time. Of course, this will change all our plans for Christmas,
and may change Nana's plans for ever returning to her home again.
Boy, have I had electronic
problems this month. The laptop of Mom's that I used at night while
watching TV in the den finally gave up the ghost.
Now, horror of horrors, my OWN computer is flipping out!!
I've saved all my files; but the hard drive is running terribly
slow, I'm having to reboot all the time, and it's just a matter of
time before the machine completely fails!!! I have no idea what I'm
going to do without any computer; but it looks like I might be
finding out soon.
To top it off, my cell
phone finally finished breaking
(it's hinge starting falling apart a few months ago). I got a
replacement phone at a refurbished phone kiosk in the mall. However,
that phone is completely crappy
(won't hold a charge more than a day and the main screen is totally
scrambled) and the store owner wouldn't replace it. So I do have a
phone that kinda works except I have no idea if I've dialed right or
who has called - and don't even begin to talk about text messages.
LOL
(I kind of like how my bad
luck emoticon
doesn't show up too well on this Christmas-y background. It makes
all my troubles not mess up the holidays quite as much. LOL
Baking for
the Holidays
With a holiday dinner party
approaching, it was time to start some holiday baking. Occasionally
I've gotten to taste a really pleasant holiday treat - a pumpkin
roll. While I have never attempted to make a cake that gets rolled
up, I figured I'd give it a whirl. And it worked out really well!
With a thin layer cake,
made with pumpkin and spices, rolled up, the interior layer is a
yummy cream cheese/powdered sugar icing. The outside is covered in
even more powdered sugar for an overall yummy dessert.
Christmas
Party with Friends
Last New Years Eve, I was
invited to a party at the house of Bruce and Travis. Since then I
have been pleased to make better friends with them having visited
for both of their birthday parties. A few months ago, I also joined
them in going to a dinner party at the home of Joanna and Tom, some
other people I met at Bruce's and Travis' parties, and have gone on
to call friends.
Since Bill and I hadn't been able to go
back to Joanna's and Tom's for the Hickory Grove Christmas Parade
and dinner at their house, we set up another dinner - this time down
in Rock Hill with Bruce and Travis. Bruce made a terrific chili,
Joanna made broccoli cornbread, and I brought the pumpkin roll.
As three couples, we all
had a great time with delicious food and good company.
The pumpkin roll went over really well.
As I was unwrapped it, Joanna told me how she had eaten it before
but was always afraid to make it because of rolling the cake.
I explained that was exactly how I had felt and why I decided to
give making it a try. Several (no names will be divulged; but I
think it was nearly everyone) snuck back to the kitchen for 2nd
helpings of chili and cornbread, with another slice of pumpkin roll
- so I think the night was a super success.
We wanted to take a group
special for a very special friend of ours - Christine. I don't think
I've ever laughed as much in my life as I did last New Years Eve
when I met Christine. Since then she has moved back to England.
Although she's that far away, she's never too far away from our
hearts. We really missed her this evening and wanted to send her our
love and a pix of us thinking about her.
Week Two:
We Need a
Little Christmas Right Now
Even though we don't have
kids in the house,
every house needs a tree to bring in a little Christmas spirit.
On the front door, hangs
one of Nana's latest craft projects, a beaded picture of Christmas
candles. Outside the door, not only did I notice the very
inappropriate sn@wman flag that Mom is flying
;
but I can see our Christmas tree lights reflected seemingly out in
the front yard.
Christmas
Parade
Just because I wasn't able
to attend one local Christmas parade didn't mean I was going to miss
out on all the Christmas parades in the area. About halfway between
Bill's place, down in Chester, and our friends over in Hickory
Grove, was a little area known as Lowry. For many years they have
held an ever-growing parade of farm equipment and horses. Not only
did all my friends known about this parade, but even the case worker
from Long Term Care known about it when she visited me for her
quarterly home visit. Why this case worker had even ridden her horse
in the parade for many years.
Bill picked up some broasted chicken and tater wedges, as we planned
to view this parade from the comfort of his van as we ate lunch. I
thought that was an especially good idea as it was a little overcast
and chilly that day - and I am deadly allergic to horses!!
And boy were there a lot
of horses there! And very close!!
I was very glad to be behind the glass and steel as those horses
trotted right beside our vehicle.
There were people lined up
for the parade as far as the eye could see to the left and the
right.
Tons of old and new farm
equipment drove by, decked out in tinsel and pine garland.
I wish I had gotten a
better picture of this. It was part of the conveyors used for hay
bails, only they were sliding gift wrapped presents up and down this
float.
Really?!? Newt for
President? That guy that left his dying wife in the hospital to go
marry his mistress? The guy fined $300k and censured by the House??
You want that uncouth criminal to the POTUS??
People everywhere enjoying
the parade as the clouds begin to break
- making it a really nice day for a parade.
Miss Strawberry from the
Fort Mill Strawberry Festival (where I have worked the Catawba Care
booth for several years now) waves and wishes everyone a BERRY MERRY
Christmas.
This bulldozer pulled one
of the longest floats in the parade. We had already seen over 3
dozens tractors and trailers go by and, quite literally hundreds of
horses.
The Red Hat Gals were
singing and dancing, hooting and hollering, and having a very merry
ol' time!
Several floats throughout the parade
were loaded with kids. Kids from the 4H, from the Boy and Girl
Scouts, from church groups and school groups. I bet this is a great
tradition of fun, as they wished the parade watchers Happy Holidays,
and passed out candy to the crowd.
One local dairy represented in
the parade passed out pint cartons of white and chocolate milk!
No Christmas Parade is complete without
and until Santa rides by!
Week Three:
More Troubles
Damn! Not only is this broken
replacement phone driving me crazy; but my home computer is having
fits
- the kind that signal that it's about to die!! I have no idea how
I'm going to replace my computer, maybe Santa will bring a
replacement
- or at least send a couple dollars towards the "New Computer Fund".
Very quickly, I've backed up all my files that I can and I'm trying
not to use my computer too much - well, except for working on this
update for you to read.
There is a little bit of good news
though. Although I can't read any text messages, and unless I catch
the call or hear the message, I have no idea who has called on my
phone, I should be having a solution to the computer problem in the
near future. My middle brother, who is also a computer geek but the
network system kind, has access to some slightly used computers. He
says he should be able to have one, that's only a year or two old,
for me in a week or two. w00T!
More
Cooking
With Christmas just days
away, it was time for me to do more cooking - like I needed an
excuse to hang out in the kitchen and bake. ROFL
I'm going to have to cook
something to clear off enough counter for me to put together
something to cook.
After about 5 hours, I had
produced 2 Pumpkin Rolls, Candy Cane Cake Cookies, Choco-Chip Cake
Cookies, Lemony Doodles, Instant Russian Tea, Seasoned Oyster
Crackers Snacks, and a skillet of Cornbread and a pan of homemade
Biscuits to make homemade Dressing in a few days, along with the
fixings for a Green Bean Casserole.
I actually got everything
but one thing cooked all in one afternoon.
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer,
Vixen (wow! Do Santa's reindeers should like they could be gay or
what?!?
),
Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blixen, Rudolph and Huey, Duey and Luey.
Well, even with the red noses, they couldn't all be "Rudolph",
right? LOL
Christmas
with Nana - Part 1
After not being able work
things out to have Christmas with Mom,
my brothers went ahead and took their families to visit Nana in the
rehab center/nursing home. The kids (My brothers and their wives)
had originally wanted to bring Nana our of rehab for the evening to
join in our yearly get-together; but it's obviously way to early and
Nana is way to weak to think about her being outside just yet. Needless to say
nine visitin people couldn't fit into Nana's double occupancy hospital room,
so they took Nana up to the front visiting area so that everyone
could visit.
Nana definitely enjoyed
seeing the whole crowd since she hasn't seen most of them since last
Christmas.
Ninety-four year old Peggy Snavely with
Jonathan, Jackson and Jenny Bivens (children of Jonathan Bivens) and
Allison and Kayla Bivens (daughters of Donald Bivens)
My two brothers, Donny and Jon.
with Nana
The next day when Mom and
I visited her again, she was very pleased to show off the digital
picture frame - filled with a slideshow of family pictures - the
kids got her (Mom ends up going over almost every day to
handle issues for and with Nana. Some of you probably know how it is
when you have the responsibility of someone in the hospital -
there's always something to do and a reason you just have to make
another trip over to visit.)
Nana said she was glad to see the whole crew even if the great
grandkids didn't have much to say, and the visit really made her
tired.
Mom and I found out from the nurse that of course Nana was pretty
tired as she's dealing with a touch of pneumonia now.
Thank goodness, Nana and the doctors decided to not leave rehab just
yet, even if it was Christmas.
Hopefully this newest health problem won't end up a bad problem.
Please remember to keep my Nana in your thoughts and prayers. So
far, although she's very old and frail, she's doing fairly well, and
we're hoping she'll get to go home (with some full time care) after
the first of the year and still be around for us to love a little
while longer.
Week Four:
Christmas
with Nana - Part 2
For more years that I can
count my Christmas morning entailed driving an hour over to spend
the morning with Randy's mom. It was a tradition that Randy and I
had, and that I kept all these years afterward. Even Jim and I made
the trip over for several years. Back home, Mom and Dennis would
pick up Nana and drive up to have Christmas lunch with my Aunt and
her partner, Chris, up outside of Durham.
Since Nana is in the
nursing home this Christmas (as you saw from the pictures with my
brothers),
we took Christmas to her at Sardis Oaks Nursing Home.
leatherman
the reindeer
While we waited on another
family to clear out from the conference roomed,
we opened the few gifts we had all gotten each other.
Dennis, Chris, Beth, Nana
Beth, Peggy, and Celia
Beth started clearing the dirty dishes
the previous family left, while I started unpacking the car. While I
did most of the cooking, Mom definitely did the major planning. She
arranged to have a decorative tablecloth, festive paper plates and
holders, along with silverware and cups.
By the time they got Nana
situated in a chair, everyone was beginning to dig into and pass
around the food - gravy, the homemade dressing I made from scratch,
a green bean casserole, two roasted pork loins, potato salad,
cranberry sauce, rolls, wine, tea, and the pumpkin roll for dessert,
along with some mini cheesecakes.
Stuffed!
Celia, Beth and Peggy.
Although we didn't spend
this Christmas anywhere we would have wanted, this get together went
very well, and everyone enjoyed themselves. I was very glad to have
brought a touch of homemade Christmas to Nana while she's trapped in
a place like this. And I was glad we were able to share that same
Christmas with my Aunt and her partner.
Christmas
with Bill
After the lunch party with
Nana broke up, I loaded up my car with some dressing, another
pumpkin roll, and a small gift and headed down to spend some
Christmas time with my beau, Bill.
Although Bill had sworn off Christmas
many years ago, he did get me a couple of presents. Along with a new
alarm clock (because my old one was very dead and I had been using
my phone until it died), he got me a memory foam pillow. He's been
using one for years and hopes that it'll help with my neck pain
issues.
Bill also got me a bucket!
Well, not just a bucket but a bucket-caddy for tools and gardening
stuff. What a great gadget to use to tote my stuff around the yard
here when I out there working.
This has been a good year
dating Bill. We have had some issues as we have gotten used to the
situation (me with the dogz and living at Mom's, not to mention the
40 miles between our houses); but all-in-all we have a lot in common
and get along incredibly well.
Week Five:
Christmas in the Carolinas
Click on the doggies to view the
Holiday Page
(Although, since I didn't travel or do much for Christmas this year,
most of what you'll see there you have already seen on this page.
However, there are some pictures from Christmases in the past that I
had with Randy and with Jim.)
To close out the year, Bill and I will
be attending a New Year's Even party over with Bruce and Travis and
friends; however, I won't have those pix ready to post until next
year. In the meantime, below is the annual summary of the events
of the year. It's just a quick recap of the highlights from each
month. Feel free to click each month name to jump to that month if
you want to read more or see those pix again.
This month was a big one for
activism. I helped with the BHAAD event, taught a
class about exhibitions, and attended a rally in the
state capital. Mr. Kitty had a miraculous recovery.
Spring came so early I started working on getting
the pool area ready and I started working on my tan.
Spring definitely arrived this
month. Mom and I took pictures in a park in Rock
Hill, that would eventually win me an award. I cut
down a lot of trees. I accidentally yanked out a
nipple ring, and Joxer had to have a tumor on his
ear removed. But the biggest news was that I was in
the swimming in the pool already!
As usual I thought a lot about my
Jim and Randy this month. I went to a garden party
for my 2nd place park picture. My garden grew well,
and I swam in the pool a lot. I also did a LOT of
advocacy/activist work and attended the yearly
fundraiser for Catawba Care - and had a GREAT time!
JUN
This was another month with a lot
of activist/advocacy work and a trip to Columbia for
an HIV conference. However I also had serious car
troubles and the pool exploded and tsunami-ed across
the back yard!
Along with spending time in the
pool I spent time working in the yard, and enjoying
still more flowers. I also got to take the trip of a
lifetime
and went to Seattle thanks to my good friend James.
I return just in time for the annual Catawba Care
fish fry and to work the exhibition booth at the
Charlotte Gay Pride Festival.
After a pool party at some friend's
home, it was time to finally end the pool season at
my house. I spent a lot of the month doing volunteer
advocacy work for Catawba Care. My inflatable bed
went flat and, after an oil change, my car radiator
sprung a terrible leak! Although I got emails from a
crazy internet stalker, my best friend Richard got
to make a trip through town and spent some time with
me.
Bill and I went to the Columbia Zoo
just before Fall moved in. As the seasons changed, I
rearranged my fountain area and planted some more
stuff. Dressed as Spiderman I won a Halloween
costume contest while I was working for Catawba
Care.
With Fall firmly in the air, I went
with my friend Phil on our annual trip to the
Renaissance Festival. I spent the rest of the month
working really hard producing videos and getting
ready for the Catawba Care World AIDS Day event
coming up at the start of Dec.
The WAD event was finally finished.
I did a lot of holiday baking. Nana fell, broke her
hip and ended up in rehab for Christmas. My phone
broke, the replacement was crap. My computer broke.
But I went to a parade, celebrated Christmas, and
had a great time with Bill.
I explained that was exactly how I had felt and why I decided to
give making it a try. Several (no names will be divulged; but I
think it was nearly everyone) snuck back to the kitchen for 2nd
helpings of chili and cornbread, with another slice of pumpkin roll
- so I think the night was a super success.
- or at least send a couple dollars towards the "New Computer Fund".
Very quickly, I've backed up all my files that I can and I'm trying
not to use my computer too much - well, except for working on this
update for you to read.
Thank goodness, Nana and the doctors decided to not leave rehab just
yet, even if it was Christmas.
Hopefully this newest health problem won't end up a bad problem.
Please remember to keep my Nana in your thoughts and prayers. So
far, although she's very old and frail, she's doing fairly well, and
we're hoping she'll get to go home (with some full time care) after
the first of the year and still be around for us to love a little
while longer.
