Thursday, January 8, 2026

Mama had the day off from work for her birthday so she took Chase to school. He didn't have any tests today or any homework to turn in. Mama and Nanaw went shopping: to Walmart to buy a small Roku TV for Mama's office for her and Chase to play X-Box and Playstation on and to Hallmark to spend her birthday discount from them. They had Mama's birthday lunch at Tequila. Mama had a major nacho dish and Nanaw had taquitos. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he said he didn't have any homework except to study for Friday's Christmas Carol test. Nanaw told him that he'd gotten a 70 on one of the Christmas Carol worksheets so that brought his reading grade down to a B+ from an A-. Chase and Nanaw gathered up all the worksheets, and study guides they could find, and Nanaw quizzed Chase on all the material. They studied a lot for the Christmas Carol test, and Chase knew a good amount so hopefully he'll do okay on the test. He had baseball practice tonight so he probably wasn’t going to do any more studying. Saturday night is Mama's birthday dinner at Joe Boccardi's and Chase and Nanaw are looking forward to that.

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

On Wednesday morning, Nanaw reminded Chase to turn in his vocab packet and Christmas Carol worksheet, plus a couple of permission slips. She wished him good luck on his science test and thanked him for studying last night. When Nanaw picked him up from school, she asked about how the science test was and he said okay. He said he wouldn’t get an A on it but he think he passed. He said there were some questions on the test about stuff that he hadn't studied. He was happy that he didn’t have any homework. He played knee hockey and that other game he plays with pens, pencils, etc. and ping pong balls. He had his healthy snack followed by his unhealthy snack with lots of candy. He wanted to use Nanaw’s math book because his had fallen apart. But then he decided it was a different book and he couldn’t use it. So Nanaw will check it out next time Chase has his math book. Mama is off from work tomorrow for her birthday and Friday to do absolutely nothing so she is going to take Chase to school both days. Tomorrow morning Mama is going to get her engagement ring cleaned, then she's going to come pick up Nanaw. First, they're going to Walmart (Nanaw doesn't know which one, Telegraph Road or Waterloo) for Mama to buy a little Roku TV like Chase has in his bedroom. Mama wants to put it on the table in the office and attach an Xbox and Playstation on it. Then, they're going to Tequila for lunch, where Mama will get a fried ice cream from them for her birthday. Nanaw looked at the menu to find something gluten free, and she selected Taquitos Mexicanos. (2 rolled corn tortillas stuffed with a choice of chopped beef, seasoned ground beef or shredded chicken. Then deep-fried. Served with lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo.)

Sunday, January 4, Monday, January 5, and Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Chase and Mama worked on a a school project on Sunday evening. Everybody in both classes had the assignment of making a recipe from a different country or a different part of the USA. Chase chose Miso Ramen from Japan. During the Christmas break, Chase and Mama went shopping at World Market and Trader Joe's to get all the international ingredients they needed for the recipe. Chase did the grating and chopping and a lot of the other work. Nanaw came over to watch and that was a lot of fun for her. Chase was very excited about the project. They all had the Miso Ramen for dinner, and it was a success. Nanaw only ate a couple of bites because the Ramen noodles have gluten in them, and she's trying to avoid gluten. Chase read a list to Mama and Nanaw of what his classmates had chosen to make, and there were some interesting sounding recipes. On Monday morning, Chase took the crockpot with the Miso Ramen into the garden level at church. That was where they were going to have the big tasting event. Nanaw went along with him to open the door. She got to say hello to the teacher, Mrs. T. and tell her what fun Chase and his mom had had making the recipe. Nanaw also told Mrs. T. that her favorite-sounding recipe was Lorelei's black forest cake, and Mrs. T. agreed. Mama sent Nanaw a picture from the school Facebook page of Chase and his friends (the crew) sitting around a table and trying out the food and rating what they were eating. When Nanaw picked Chase up from school, he told how much fun the project was and how he was still full. He told Nanaw there was only one dish he didn't like but he didn't tell her what it was. On Tuesday, Chase had lots of homework. Wednesday is the last day of the quarter so the teachers are trying to get in additional grades. The main thing Chase had to study for was a final exam in science, covering six chapters. He brought home the science books to study from. They could only find two of the past six science tests so they decided to concentrate on the study guides in the books. They got through studying the six chapters, and Nanaw instructed Chase to go over them again Tuesday night, and he said okay. He also has to finish his vocabulary assignment that's due tomorrow and turn in the worksheet for chapter 4 of the Christmas Carol. So far he has all A's and A-'s as his final grades. The A-'s are in reading, science and religion. 

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Last night, Mama and Daddy picked Chase up from Nanaw's house after they got Mama's car from the Jeep dealer. They also returned Nanaw's Escape. It cost Mama over $900 to get her thermostat fixed and get an oil change but there was no charge for the head gasket because they fixed it last year. When they left, Mama told Nanaw that Chase had hockey practice Friday evening and a hockey game on Saturday evening. On Saturday morning, Nanaw went by the vet's office, hoping to set up an appointment for Taylor to try to get a transdermal steroid patch to use on her ear to help with her asthma. Nanaw never could get Taylor take the steroid pills or the steroid liquid. Nanaw also wants to see if there's anything they can do about all the weight Taylor has lost. She eats all the time but never gains weight. She doesn't seem sick at all. She still has lots of energy and runs around. Next, Nanaw took more of Chase's toys and baby things to Goodwill. She'll try to do another load to take tomorrow. Nanaw asked Mama to send her a picture of Chase, a report of his day, and a report of Saturday night's hockey game, and Mama said she would. Mama reported that Chase didn't do much on Saturday. He played knee hockey, did his AR reading (hopefully he'll finish the book Notorious this weekend so he can take the AR test), and did some chilling. They left at 3:45 p.m. to have dinner at Marco's before the hockey game. The game ended in a 4 to 4 tie.

Tuesday, December 30, Wednesday, December 31, 2025, Thursday, January 1, and Friday, January 2, 2026

On Tuesday, Nanaw and Chase took Mama to Dobbs because her check engine light was on, and she needed an oil change. Dobbs said it was her head gasket again, and she should take it to the Jeep dealer because they had fixed it last year. So Mama and Nanaw went to the Jeep dealer, and then Nanaw brought Mama back to her house so Mama could borrow the Escape so she'd have a car. It was cleaning lady day so Chase and Nanaw went to hang out at the library because Nanaw's basement is a holy mess. But they got tired of sitting in the library and Nanaw asked Mama if they could come to Chase's house, and she said yes. On Wednesday, New Year's Eve, Mama told Nanaw what the menu was for the evening's festivities: "Besides the shrimp you bring, we'll have bacon wrapped smokies, meatballs, salami/ cheese tray, chicken/cheese dip, and party pizza ryes.   I’ll pick up pretzel bites and chicken wings Wednesday.  If you like the party pizza stuff I can just have some off to the side not on bread." Other guests included Uncle Will-Bill, Aunt Becca and Uncle Stan. Chase stayed up till midnight, and Nanaw, Aunt Becca and Uncle Stan left right after midnight. Uncle Will-Bill left about nine because it's such a long drive home to Silex. Nanaw had a good time hanging out with Chase and watching him play all kinds of things. On Thursday, New Year's Day evening, Mama, Daddy, and Chase went to dinner at Miller's on Main, which used to be Reifschneider's. Chase and Mama had French onion soup and Daddy had a Reuben sandwich. Nanaw came to visit in the evening and brought Planet Earth Bingo to play with Mama and Chase. Each of them won one game, which was really great. On Friday, Mama and Daddy worked at home, and Chase came over to Nanaw's house. They had a wonderful day together because Chase was in a really good mood and that made Nanaw very happy. Mama forgot to send Chase's leftover onion soup over for his lunch but that was okay because he'd decided he wanted chicken lo mein. He played on his phone and on Nanaw's computer. He also did his AR reading. He's almost done with the book Notorious by Gordon Korman/ Nanaw is hoping he finishes it by Sunday so they can study the study materials so Chase can take the AR test next week and get some more AR points before the quarter ends on Wednesday, January 7.