Thursday, December 22, 2022

VERY Productive and FUN Day

This is a crazy week for everyone, isn't it? We decided to combine our two studies into one Bible study this week. This will make tomorrow a bit saner.  We had a lovely time together. We haven't been able to go out for the past couple of weeks due to one thing or the other. 

I had a "quick stop" to make on the way back home.  Kroger pharmacy is no longer going to service Medicare D (Dad) or tri-care clients (us). I had talked to Fred Myers twice yesterday. I'd talked to the doctors. I'd talked to Carrs - the only other pharmacy in town. They assured me this will be easy. We got the letter this WEEK and it goes into effect January 1st.  We stopped by Carrs to pick up the one new prescription Dad had and to insure all his prescriptions from Fred Myers had been transferred.

Nope. 

The new med had been denied by the insurance until January 12th because their records showed Fred Myers had given it to me yesterday. I explained they had NOT. I asked them not to as I wanted it from Carrs to establish Dad as a client. He called the insurance. He called Freddies to have them send prescriptions over. He asked me to wait. 

While we waited, we wandered over to Starbucks. I then wandered back to the pharmacy. Leave the girls alone for a few minutes and crazy things happen. 

Two hours after we walked into Carrs we left with one med, a cart of groceries, and it turns out Freddies only sent over 3 prescriptions...dad takes at least 20.  No, I am NOT exaggerating.  They recommend I simply call the doctor and have them send over all dad's meds and we'll start fresh rather than requesting it again from Freddies. I called the Doctor's. They weren't in. I know they are closed on Friday. ::sigh:: 

The girls and I got home hours later than expected, but we had a plan. We needed to get as much done today as possible toward tomorrow's Christmas Adam Tea because Tomorrow I have a date with Benny and the girls have a date with Arielle.  

We dried mushrooms. These are NOT for the tea - but I needed to get them done. 

We made Peanut Butter Fudge Bars.

We made mint fudge bars. 

We cooked chicken to make chicken salad. We made truffles. Ours NEVER look as good as Jennifer's!!! They taste the same! That counts. LOL 

Then we began the project I planned on doing yesterday! I was glad the girls were excited to help. I had ordered soy wax and other supplies online...I was ready to try an experiment. I can handle many diffused essential oils. I cannot handle scented candles. I get migraines. This is incredibly sad as we love scented candles. I wanted to make some with soy wax (which is supposed to burn cleaner) and ESSENTIAL OILS. I checked which oils wouldn't be toxic to burn. I settled on orange and cinnamon. 

The girls did the scenting...

Allie has been so busy with work and school. It is wonderful that she is out of school - WINTER BREAK!!! She had the day off - we were glad we saved this project until she could do it with us. We laughed and sang and enjoyed doing life together. 


None of us had any real idea of what we were doing...but it worked like magic. I had purchased wood wicks to burn in some candles...they say it crackles like...well like wood burning...::snort::  I thought it would be a fun pick us up to make us smile this winter.  We made one for the kitchen and one for the girls' room. We have great hopes we can have scented candles again. I don't mind making them. I've been around the oils all day and am still migraine free. 

And since you can tell from the photo above...yeah...my secondary goal was making "tea lights" for the Christmas tea. I saved teacups whose saucers broke, thrifted for more...

They turned out great. So great we had to run out to find more cups and such....then realized we probably don't have time or wax to make as many candles as we are dreaming of making. Maybe they'll be New Year's gifts instead of Christmas Eve gifts. ::wink:: 


We are happy with the candles we made. 

This has to be the funniest thing I saw all day. A display at a local store. KNOW YOUR MARKET PEOPLE....it's unlikely BOXED Seattle Wild Sockeye is going to sell well to folks who have a freezer full of Wild Caught ALASKAN Sockeye. 

The countdown continues... Allie burst out with "This girl is on fire," when she saw the lit advent countdown tonight. She has a point. LOL 

Yes, I've been singing the tune all night. ::snort:: 

In A Moment Everything Changes

Stacia is absolutely "knocking her senior year outta the park!" She's "killing it."  This morning a note from our mayor arrived. She's finally realized they are NOT joking when they send these letters. It congratulates her for being in the top 10% of Alaska's graduates and for earning a scholarship at any university in the state system.  Her heart is set on being a missionary and she is plotting a direct course through Bible school to Japan. It is highly unlikely she will detour for a stint at one of our universities...but who knows? God always funds his plans. 

She isn't coasting, her coursework is so interesting to her that she is up early and working hard. She has a plan to finish her high school curriculum by the end of the 3rd quarter - and she's taking a FULL load. She will then have the 4th quarter of her senior year to work solely on college credits.  This has been her plan. She applied to a program with Global University (an Assembly of God University) to begin taking courses as a high school student. Then, she waited. 

At dinner tonight she mentioned she'd not heard from Global yet about her application. She was wanting to start the first class in January. I checked my phone and saw an email from the university. I handed my phone to her to read. 

She's accepted and can begin immediately. She'll have to take the first 3 courses one at a time, maintain a certain GPA and if she does - she'll be free to switch over and go full bore. She has six months to finish each course, but we suspect she'll have the first one done by the end of the 3rd quarter...and finish the next two her 4th quarter. We'll see. She's highly motivated to "get it done."



Stacia said it well. "In a moment, everything changes and yet nothing changes."

Doesn't that sum up so much of a senior year? She is still in high school. She'll still be at home. BUT she's been accepted into the University she thinks she will want to attend for her Bachelor's in Intercultural Studies. She believes she'll eventually be able to do a semester abroad and stay with some missionaries in Japan. She'll begin college courses in January. 

We are proud of Stacia! We knew when she figured out what she wanted to do she would chase it down wholeheartedly. Y'all she's suffered since the earthquake, but she's ready to go back.  It's fun to watch.