saved by the bell...

 J should have known better.  After yesterday's triumph I agreed to another game of Scrabble.  A few minutes ago my spouse was leading by 37 points, and I was despairing of every catching up, when the phone rang.  It was my brother-in-law asking for help with a computer related program.  I encouraged my spouse to go help his brother (he lives about 15 minutes away) and if we can't finish the game tonight ah well, too bad.   

Abandoning a loosing game was not my only motive for sending my spouse out into the night on a mission of technological mercy.  We have company coming for dinner tomorrow evening and I really want my spouse to be here when they arrive.  So if all goes well this evening he won't need to leave the house at all tomorrow.  Fingers crossed!

game on...

 I am a shamelessly happy winner and I admit it.  I love to play table games and I love to win.  My spouse and I frequently play card games or dice games or Scrabble in the evenings and we are pretty evenly matched.  I don't pout or cry or stomp my foot when I loose. I like to think I'm a gracious looser, but I certainly do enjoy winning. 

This evening though, I'm not quite sure I won fair and square.  My spouse had surgery earlier today on his hand.  He had a right hand ring finger trigger finger release procedure.  His hand is bandaged and he is supposed to keep it elevated.  With that on his mind he may have been a little distracted during our game because I won by 60 points.  Our difference is usually more like four or five points.  Of course it did help that during the game I was able to play the Q,Z,J and X effectively. 

Having written all this, I now realize that the next time he wins I must publish the results.  It's only fair.   

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "National Blueberry Pie Day" and, while I do love blueberry pie, this special day didn't excite me enough to want to blog about it, or bake a pie for that matter.  So I went searching (thank you Google) for other options.  I discovered that, in addition to blueberry pies, today we can celebrate "National Superhero Day,"  "Save the Frogs Day," "Global Pay It Forward Day' and  "Kiss Your Mate Day."  Here is how I honored these special days:

I don't know any real superheroes although my wonder spouse comes close. If we need excitement we can watch a Superman movie together. 

My granddaughter has a pet frog, so she's saving at least one frog.

I probably don't pay it forward as much as I could, but when I tutor my second grader I feel like I'm paying forward the ability to read.

And, as far as my spouse and I are concerned, every day is kiss your mate day, frequently.

But seriously, today was a very special day for our youngest granddaughter who celebrated her first communion this afternoon. We weren't able to be with her in person but we saw lots and lots of pictures.  She looked like an angel in her white dress and veil.  

decisions, decisions...

When my west coast brother informed me that today is "National Devil Dog Day," "Morse Code Day" and "World Tapir Day" I knew I had a tough decision to make.  Which one should I write about?  I quickly eliminated "Morse Code Day" because the only Morse code I know is ...---... and that isn't frequently needed.  So now it was down to devil dogs or tapirs.  After some quick searching I discovered that "Devil Dogs" can refer to either members of the US Marine Corps, or a snack cake. Both admirable but also known about.  On the other hand "World Tapir Day" is an annual call to action to protect tapirs and their habitat. That piqued my interest.  Tapirs are considered umbrella species, meaning that by protecting them, we also protect a whole host of other flora and fauna that share their forest home. It seems like a good reason to protect them. Their numbers are diminishing in many areas but one species, the Baird's Tapir, is thriving in Belize.  Thank you Belize.  

pop quiz

 What do the following have in common?  "Joline," "Wichita Lineman,"  "Always on My Mind," "Crazy" and "All My Ex's Live in Texas?" If you guessed, correctly, that they are all Country songs, you are right.  If you guessed that I've been playing old recordings you're wrong.  If you guessed that these and several other Country songs were performed by our very own Fort Wayne Philharmonic and guest performers Ricky Brantley and Grace Leer this evening you were either there or you are a very good guesser.  The program "Country Hits: Songs from Nashville" was quite a departure from the usual Philharmonic classics but it was lots of fun.  Both of the singers had excellent voices.  Ricky's solo "Always on My Mind" was beautiful and, if you closed your eyes when Grace sang "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You," you could imagine that it was Dolly singing.  All in all, a very enjoyable evening. 

it's puzzling...

 I'm not sure who first had the bright idea to take a perfectly lovely picture, paste it on a piece of cardboard, cut it up in little pieces, shake them all together and then say "Here, put this back together."

I did a little research on this and it turns out that the first jigsaw puzzle is credited to John Spilsbury, a London engraver and map maker. In 1767 he created his first puzzle by gluing a map on wood, then cutting it apart along the country boundaries.  Well, that makes sense.  US maps have long been used as educational tools to teach students United States geography.  But those are not 1,000 piece puzzles.  

In case you haven't guessed, my spouse and I are currently engaged in putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  A few weeks ago I was looking through stuff stacked on our living room shelves and came upon six nicely boxed, some never opened, jigsaw puzzles.  I took one of the puzzles down to our basement rec room where there is a nice big table and plenty of light, and left it sitting there in its box, thinking it might sit there until winter. Not So.  My spouse, it turns out, really likes jigsaw puzzles.  He started putting it together a few days ago.  Puzzle boxes should come with a warning (CAUTION, ADDICTIVE).  It's only a 550 piece puzzle, of a colorful French village, easy right?  Not really, it has some very tricky shaped pieces.  We spent about three hours working on it this evening, then I quit to come up and write this blog, after having put about twenty pieces in the right spots.  As far as I know, he's still down there.  I don't think he'll finish it tonight but who knows.  I don't call him my wonder spouse for nothing.  

eye see...

 I woke up this morning looking forward to (dreading?) my appointment with my ophthalmologist this afternoon.  At my regular check up last month it was discovered that I had some cloudiness at the back of the lens implanted in my right eye after cataract surgery some years ago.  Evidently this is a common occurrence.  Friends of mine have had the same thing happen.  The treatment for this problem is called a VAG Laser Posterior Capsulotomy.  Doesn't that sound impressive?  This process opens a hole in the back of the capsule holding the lens implant in place which allows more light into the eye and clearer vision.  I have great confidence in my eye doctor.  I have gone to him for years and he has done multiple surgeries on my eyes for one thing and another.  I was first sent to him 23 years ago when my optometrist discovered that I had glaucoma in my left eye.  This was controllable but the damage was not reversable, so I have very limited vision in that eye.  Needless to say that makes me feel very protective of my right eye (my good eye) so when I read in the disclosure material that was provided that the possible side effects of today's procedure could included a detached retina or diminished vision I was understandably a little concerned.  Still, if this was a chance for clearer vision in my right eye I was willing to go for it.  When I got to my appointment this afternoon my eyes were dilated.  I knew this would be part of the process so my spouse was with me to drive me home.  

After my eyes were dilated and pressure checked (8 and 8, very good) I was moved from room to room to room. In each room a nice nurse or tech shone bright lights into my eyes, and used multiple machines to take pictures, scans and so forth.  I could see all of these popping up on screens but I really didn't know what those pictures conveyed.  The doctors, my regular doctor and another on staff, studied the images with great interest.  After much hemming and hawing and even some old fashioned tests (which is better one or two? one or three? How many fingers can you see?) it was decided that while there were little pieces of clouding behind the lens it wasn't serious enough to need any treatment at this time.  It was suggested that I should use eye drops more regularly, especially if I read a lot, which I do, given some free samples, and told to come back in six months.  My wonder spouse and I were both so relieved that we celebrated with dinner and margaritas (only one each) at our favorite Mexican restaurant on the way home.  A very happy ending to this day. 

Write on...

 Thanks to my west coast brother I know that today is "International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day."  It's also "International Pick Your Nose Day" but yuck, who wants to write about that?

" International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day" is a day set aside to encourage writers to post professional quality works for free on the internet, especially works of science fiction.

I'm not sure if what I'm posting here qualifies as professional quality, but since I have been paid for some of my writing, I'll assume it does.

Of course I had to do a little research to find out what on earth a technopeasant is, but Wikipiedia came through again.  It is, by definition, "someone who is disadvantaged or exploited within a modern technological society, especially due to their inability to use or understand computer technology."

I have one friend who falls into this category, although I would never call her a technopeasant to her face.  We live across the country from each other and only communicate by snail mail.  It's kind of fun to have a pen pal in the old fashioned sense of the word but also frustrating at times.  I can't just take a picture on my phone and text it to her, nor can I encourage her to read my blogs.  No emails of course. Just thinking about it makes me wonder how I ever got along before computers, laptops, tablets and cell phones came into my life.  I guess I may have been a technopeasant in the olden days, but there really wasn't that much techno to worry about.  I learned my way around a computer by playing "Oregon Trail" and I could operate a television, radio, record player and telephone.  Woo Hoo!!

penmanship

 I wrote two letters today, one to one of my granddaughters and one to my sister-in-law.  Yes, real letters mailed in envelopes with stamps.  My college age grands enjoy getting real mail in their mailboxes. Well actually I didn't write the letters, I typed them on my computer, just like I type this blog every evening.  I type them because, frankly, my handwriting, or penmanship as we called it in my youth, is not that good anymore.  I think it's a service to my letter recipients if they can read what I send them.  

In case you're wondering, I am still able to write cursive, and it is legible if I take my time, but typing on my laptop is not only faster and easier but also aids me with spell checker.  I wish I had had that tool in my youth.  In high school I once handed in a long hand written essay (we didn't own a typewriter) about Shakespeare and my English teacher graded it A over D; A for content, D because of a spelling error.  

In elementary school I remember enjoying penmanship practice.  We had work books where we wrote rows and rows of cursive letters, upper and lower case.  I particularly like writing lower case 'c' because if you did it right, the rows of 'c's looked like ocean waves.  I once drew a little boat on that page, floating on the 'c's.  My teacher was amused but told me not to do it again.  

In seventh and eighth grade (it was a small school with two classes in each room) our teacher, Mr. Zimmerscheidt, provided us with bottles of ink and pens that you dipped in the ink then wrote with for penmanship practice.  Descriptions of Harry Potter writing with a quill pen dipped in ink always remind me of those penmanship lessons.  In college, where I was an art major, one of my classes was in calligraphy, and thanks to Zimmy and those pens, I did very well indeed.    

What's in a word?

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is "Big Word Day."  In his text he used a few big words like contrarian and obfuscation which I admit did impress me.  However, as I pondered this day I began to wonder if the originators of this day meant long words or BIG words.  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is a wonderfully long and singable word while the famous HOLLYWOOD sign on a hillside in California is definitely a big word.  I just can't decide so I will leave it to you to choose to celebrate long words or large words.  You could probably make it a travel game.  Spot the longest words or the biggest words on billboards and the sides of trucks.  

And speaking of signs, I saw a protest sign along our road yesterday that said END ROAD WORK. I agree.  There are far too many orange barrels on every road I take lately.  

pick it up....

 I hope you all have had a blessed and fun filled Easter Day.  Seeing the children at church this morning scurrying around picking up plastic eggs reminded me of an incident that happened some years ago.  Nothing to do with Easter but a lot to do with picking up. I lived in a house that had an ornamental crabapple tree planted at the front corner of the house as part of the landscaping.  Over the years that we lived there the tree had 'gone back to its roots' and instead of producing blossoms and little tiny crabapples it started producing full size yellow apples.  Each fall I would gather up bunches of these to make apple butter.  It was delicious.  One year we had a bumper crop of apples.  After using all the apples I needed for apple butter, there was an abundance left over. So many apples were dropping off that tree that they were littering the driveway.  I really didn't like squishing apples every time I backed out of my garage so I made a bargain with two of my granddaughters (eight and ten at the time) who happened to be visiting one day.  I told them that I would give them a dollar for each bag filled if they would pick up the apples off the driveway but the bags had to be really full.  I gave them each a plastic grocery bag and let them get to work.  I figured maybe they would fill two bags each before they got tired or bored but that would be a help.  Like most people I know I had quite a stash of plastic bags so when they filled one they could help themselves to another. While I was busy in the house those enterprising and energetic young ladies not only cleared all of the apples off the driveway but also from under the tree and all around the yard.  They ended up filling 14 bags each.  $28.00!  Of course I paid up, what else could I do?  They were delighted and actually so was I.  The yard and driveway looked great.

delivery bunny

 Why do you think it is that a bunny, specifically The Easter Bunny, delivers Easter eggs?  Why not the Easter Chicken?  Wouldn't that cut our the middle man? But realistically, you and I know that EB, just like Santa, has lots and lots of helpers.  I've colored quite a few Easter eggs in my day with the help of children and grandchildren and I'm sure you have too.  Generally these colorful eggs do not last long.  They are a one day sensation and then become egg salad or deviled eggs or some other egg based treat.  But I have a few special eggs that have lasted a long, long time. 

My step-mom was from Poland, where she learned to blow out and clean out eggs with just a tiny hole at each end of the egg, then paint the shells with delicate, intricate designs using fine tipped brushes.  Even these beautiful creations don't last forever because the shells are very fragile.  Thankfully, some years ago, my step-mom switched to painting wooden eggs - much more durable and just as beautiful.  The picture shows my current collection.  Three of these eggs are shells, the others are wooden.  They are all at least 40 years old.  I love lasting treasures.  Happy Easter everyone!  

Easter egg hunts...

 Easter is almost here and that means it's nearly time for Easter Egg Hunts.  Our church is having one at 10am Easter Sunday morning.  I think it's a BYOB affair.  I'm guessing the eggs (the candy filled kind) will be hidden in the courtyard and possibly some inside the church.  It really depends on the weather.  Adults are invited to come at 10 for coffee while the children hunt.  Should be fun.  I have no children or grandchildren in the appropriate age range anymore so I am not involved in this year's hunt, but I am no stranger to Easter egg hunts.  When my grandchildren were young I lived in the country on a one acre lot with plenty of trees and bushes, great places to hide eggs.  I had four grandchildren and wanted to keep everything fair so I bought 4 different colors of plastic fillable eggs.  Green, yellow, red and blue.  Generally these came in sets with five or six of each color. The older the kids got, the trickier the hiding places.  Before they started hunting I assigned each one a color and told them how many eggs there were.  Most of the eggs held candy but there were always two with money in them.  Usually $1.00 in one and $5.00 in one.  They were young and that seemed like a lot of money to them.  Every set of eggs had exactly the same prizes so no one was jealous. The nice thing was that when one person found all of their own eggs, they could help someone else.  I remember lots of laughs and some frustration.  One year the four of them hunted for a long time but still couldn't find the last egg.  I think it was a green one.  So they asked me to help.  I was happy to do this but first they had to show me where they had found all the other eggs.  I didn't want to waste my time hunting for ones they had already found.  I did have Easter dinner to cook after all.  We finally, finally found it tucked in the bottom end of a downspout, visible, but only if you bent over and looked.  I was a better hider than I thought I was.   

bats and more

 When my west coast brother informed me that today is "Bat Appreciation Day" it reminded me of the time I saw a million bats.  Well, maybe not a million, but a very large number.  They were flying out of the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico at sunset.  It was an awesome sight, but not the most awesome. 

As a child I grew up listening to my mother's stories of her big trip west in 1935 and one place she always described in glowing detail was Carlsbad Caverns.  When a girlfriend and I decided to take a trip west during the summer after my first year of teaching it was a must see on our trip.  It was truly glorious.  My mother did not exaggerate.  The multicolored stalactites and stalagmites were astonishing.  We spent hours there.  It was almost a spiritual experience.  I would show you pictures but, you know, no cell phones back then.  But, if you are ever traveling southwest, do see Carlsbad Caverns.  

snippets...

 Snippets can refer to little flashes of memories and I've had two of those today.  My west coast brother caused it by telling me that today is "Day of the Mushroom" and "National Banana Day." Yummy.  I like mushrooms and I like bananas.  Not together of course but separately they are delicious.  

My snippets are these: years and years ago, when I was in my teens my family took a driving trip east to Pennsylvania to visit relatives, and on that trip we were taken on a excursion to a mushroom 'farm.'  I remember being taken down into a very damp smelling basement room with a dirt floor full of growing mushrooms.  So that's where mushrooms come from, at least the ones that are for sure safe to eat. I'm sure you've heard of Pennsylvania Dutchman Mushrooms.  

On another travel adventure to the western Caribbean many years later, two friends and I were on an excursion bus being driven through lush jungle, marveling at the scenery, when suddenly bunches of bananas appeared hooked to a conveyor belt that stretched overhead above the road from one side to the other.  We were told that what we were seeing was the first step in getting the bananas to market.  Now, whenever I buy Dole bananas at the grocery store, I think of them first sliding through the jungle on an elevated conveyor belt.  Kind of like the jungle zip line ride I took on another trip. Some bananas have all the fun. 

the ides of April

 Today is "Income Tax Pay Day."  I didn't need my west coast brother to remind me of that, but he also told me it is "Titanic Remembrance Day."  Some people may feel like their ship is sinking when they do their taxes and I feel for them.  For many years I was considered self-employed, an independent contractor.  My first husband did our taxes every year, very carefully, and he must have done them correctly because we were never audited.  Every year, as he worked on the tax returns he would say to me "You really should learn to do this in case anything ever happens to me."  To which I would reply "Sweety, if anything happens to you, I will go straight to H&R Block." and that's exactly what I did.  This year my current spouse and I were able to file jointly for the first time, which meant he turned everything over to his accountant and all I had to do was provide a few forms.  A happy time for me, but H&R Block really miss me, or so they let me know several times.  They find it hard to believe that our 17 year relationship has ended.  So sad (for them, not for me).

just for fun...

 While searching through some old papers, I came across these gems and decided to share them:

A reading from the book of Genesis

And God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the world.

Then he made the earth round....and he laughed and laughed and laughed....

And from a list of bulletin bloopers given to me many years ago, when it was actually my job to put together the weekly bulletins, here are eight of my favorites:

1.  Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.

2.  During the absence of our pastor we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J. F. Scubbs supplied our pulpit.

3.  The service will close with "Little Drops of Water."  One of the ladies will start quietly and the rest of the congregation will join in.

4.  The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind.  They can be seen in the church basement Saturday. 

5.  For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

6.  The church is glad to have with us today as our guest minister the Rev. Green who has Mrs. Green with him.  After the service we request that all remain in the sanctuary for the Hanging of the Greens.

7.  The outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church. 

8.  Thursday night - Potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow.

Thankfully none of these bloopers were mine.  I wasn't perfect, but I did have a very good proofreader.

enough about games already

 I promise that, after this blog, I will find other topics, but when my west coast brother informed me that today is "National Scrabble Day" I decided I must insist on a game this evening.  The fact that I was defeated so soundly yesterday also played into my determination.  I am happy to report that this time I was victorious.  My spouse did beat me by 80 some points yesterday while I only bested him by 70 something  today, but still a win is a win.  We both agree that it helps a lot to draw most of the high number tiles (he last night, me tonight).  It also didn't help him that at the end of the game he was stuck with a J that he couldn't play. Ah well, there will always be a next time.  

books, books, books

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is "Drop Everything and Read Day."  If ever there was a day made for me, this is it.  I love to read and my spouse just trounced me in an excruciating game of Scrabble.  He won 385 to 302.  Ouch!!! Speaking of dropping things, after the game he bumped the box and scattered Scrabble tiles all over the floor.  Being a gracious looser, I helped him pick them up.  Needless to say, I am now ready to drop everything and crawl into bed with a good book, which I happen to have handy.  I added that "crawl into bed part" but reading in bed is so comfy.  Good night.  

here Kitty Kitty

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Pet Day."  That's fine with me.  I like pets even though we don't have any of our own right now.  Too much traveling on our agenda.  From childhood on I have lived with six dogs and seven cats, though not all at the same time.  There were also hamsters and white mice, two parakeets, some nameless fish and Charlotte the boa constrictor.  These days my spouse and I have four grand-dogs, eight grand-cats and one grand-frog. I think that qualifies us to celebrate this special day.  We did so while driving through the neighborhood this evening by saying something nice whenever we saw someone walking their dogs.  "Awe, look at the cute little dogs." or "Wow, that's a big dog!"  Things like that. It probably would have been more effective if we had been out of the car so their people could hear us but we were on our way to B. Antonio's for pizza and that requires driving not walking.  So to all of you who have pets, happy Pet Day.  Give your pet a pat for me.  

just for fun....

 Recently a friend told me that, when she and her husband go to Culver's for supper, she orders the kid's meal.  It comes with a burger, fries, a cup of custard and a drink. This sounded like a great idea, so this evening, when my spouse and I were considering options for a light supper, we decided to give it a try.  There is a Culver's quite near us which is handy.  My wonder spouse went on line and ordered two kid's meals.  I had a burger with bacon, cheese and mayo, a side of fries, apple juice (the meal comes with a drink) and one very generous scoop of chocolate frozen custard with Andes mints chopped up and sprinkled on top.  My spouse had a burger with grilled onions, cheese and mustard, onion rings, a wild cherry custard and apple juice.  We are saving the juice for breakfast.  After he submitted the order we were told that it would be ready in nine minutes, just about the time it takes to drive there.  He paid on line, drove over, picked up our order and we ate at home.  Comfy and convenient. The total order came to $19.00 so not a huge money saver but what we both liked was the size of the servings.  Everything tasted great and we don't feel stuffed.  We will probably do this again.  As a plus, these meals don't come with a toy.  

pass the olives

 According to my west coast brother today is "National Unicorn Day," "National Pimento Cheese Day" and "Jenkins' Ear Day."  I do like unicorns so I am happy to celebrate their day; Pimento cheese not so much.  Pimentos should stay in olives where they belong.  

As far as Jenkins' Ear is concerned.  That little misunderstanding led to nine years of war.  On April 9, 1731, Spanish coast guards sailing off the coast of Florida boarded British captain Jenkins ship, the Rebecca, accused Jenkins of smuggling and cut off his left ear with a threat that the same could happen to the British king.  Jenkins took his pickled ear back to England, delivered his message to the king and parliament stirred up public outrage against the Spanish.  For this and other reasons Britain declared war against Spain in 1739.  The fighting went on until 1748, in the Caribbean and off the coast of Florida.  The most serious consequences of this war were that King George was ousted as King of England and Great Britain temporarily ceded Georgia to Spain.  So now you know about the War of Jenkins' Ear.  If you're wondering, as I am, why we never heard of this in high school US History classes, I suspect it was over-shadowed by a little conflict we call the Revolutionary War.

trading cards

Over the years of my working life I accumulated quite a collection of business cards.  I was in mortgage banking with three different companies and in real estate with two different companies but with at least five different job descriptions and finally a job with my church which also earned me a card. So when my west coast brother informed me that today is "Trading Cards for Grown Ups Day" I realized that over the years I have traded cards with quite a large number of other grown ups.  I do realize that there are also other types of cards that adults might trade, like sports memorabilia.  Every once in a while, a collection of those cards shows up on Antiques Road Show, and I am always surprised at their value.  Of course many people started those collections in their childhood.  The only thing I remember about collectable cards in my childhood was that we could buy them at the drug store and they came packaged with bubble gum.  I probably should have kept the cards.

Today is, once again thanks to my west coast brother for the info, "National No Housework Day" and "National Fun Day."  That seems very logical to me.  Having fun and not doing any housework just naturally go together in my world.  Today my spouse and I avoided any semblance of housework by staying out of the house most of the day, and, when we did get home, reheating leftovers for supper.  Zapping food in the microwave really doesn't count as housework, in my opinion.  Yes, we did put our dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but that hardly counts either.  Now it's bed time and, while I have already had some fun today reading and weaving and playing Scrabble (he won but still fun), the best fun I can think to have right now is to climb into bed (we do have a very high bed) and fall asleep.  I almost always have at least one entertaining dream.  I am sorry if this blog came too late in the day to allow you to skip housework.  Good night.

smile!!!

 Dental care has come a long way since I was a child, thank goodness. Some years ago, when I first started going to my current dentist, I had to fill out an information form.  One of the questions was "Would you ever consider wearing dentures?"  On the form I printed NO!!!  The dentist thought that was pretty funny, but I had my reasons.  When I was eight years old and my mother was 42 she had all her teeth pulled and was fitted with dentures.  She was having some severe pains, I think in her back, and it was decided that an infection in her teeth was to blame.  Now, dentists would be able to pinpoint which tooth was the culprit, but back then, for whatever reason, they determined that the only solution was to pull all her teeth.  After about half of them were gone they finally got the problem one and her pain stopped, but by then there was nothing to do but remove the rest of her teeth.  The new teeth did look very natural.  On the first day she had them I remember my six year old brother and myself watching enthralled as she bit into a banana and accidentally pulled her new teeth out.  We thought it was pretty funny.  Young children are not naturally sympathetic.  Not surprisingly, I have tried to take good care of my teeth.  I have had my share of fillings and crowns, but, at my last check up, my dentist said I was doing a good job of home teeth care.  Always good to hear.  What actually got me thinking about all this was a new tube of tooth paste.  Like many people these days I would like for my teeth to look nice and white.  Recently I needed to buy tooth paste, so in a quest for something newer and better, I selected Crest fluoride anticavity toothpaste Brilliance Charcoal Mint.  I figured that would cover all the bases.  To my surprise, when I squeezed the first brush full out of the tube, it was purple-black.  I guess there really is charcoal in there.  It's evidently the hot new thing in dental care.  Happily, it tastes great and is leaving my teeth looking as white as they ever have.  I was very pleased with my smile until I got home from church today and discovered a lipstick smudge on one tooth.  Ah vanity.

Have you ever wondered why these dental care products are called tooth paste and tooth brushes?  Why not teeth paste and teeth brushes?  Maybe for the same reason I use a hair brush and not a hairs brush? On the other hand, why a pair of pants when it's only one article of clothing?  I may need to do some research but not tonight.  It's time to brush my teeth and go to bed.  

music ups and downs

 It seems like Mother Nature has had us on a weather roller coaster for the last several days here in Fort Wayne with thunder storms and snatches of sunshine.  This evening the Fort Wayne Philharmonic took us on a similar musical journey.  The evening opened with Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem performed by the orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus, the Purdue Fort Wayne Choral Union and soloists Katie Van Kooten and Benjamin Taylor.  The choirs were wonderful, the whole performance was brilliantly performed, The soloists were excellent, but it was very somber, thoughtful music.  Good to hear once but not something I would return to over and over.

After the intermission everything became much more up-beat and, I must admit, more to my taste.  Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op 74 Pathetique (considered his best and I believe it) was lyrical and lively and a sheer pleasure to listen to, and the quieter 4th movement was blissful.  This one I would listen to over and over.  

Actually, the intermission turned out to be lots of fun too.  My son and daughter-in-law had unexpectedly come for the evening and we got to chat with them.  Then 'my' oboe player happened to be coming up our aisle, spotted me and stopped to talk.  We had been tenth floor neighbors when I lived at Three Rivers Apartments and his wife and I were involved in theater together.  It was so nice to catch up.  All in all, a lovely roller coaster evening.

a numbers game

Today, April 4, is 404 Day and Jeep 4x4 Day, two days which I admit I have never celebrated.  I got this information from my west coast brother who also informed me that it is "World Rat Day," a day which I will also not be celebrating.  When I was a tiny tot, and we lived in an old area of town, my mother checked on me while I was playing in my sandbox (my father always built sandboxes for us wherever we lived) and discovered a (in her words) 'giant rat' sitting in the sand with me.  That was the end of my unsupervised sandbox time.  This may be why, a couple of years later, I enjoyed the sandbox in my kindergarten classroom so much.  It was really a sand table, filled with lovely white sand.  I loved that sandbox.  There is a similar sand table at Science Central which, when you pile up the sand, takes on the colors of a topographical map.  I would love to play with that but there are always so many little kids around, and I really can't push them out of the way.  Well I could, I am bigger than them, but I probably shouldn't.  It would tarnish their image of grandmas.

As for 404 Day, which is only celebrated in Atlanta, and 4x4 Day which celebrates the virtues of Jeeps and urges one to 'get out in the open air' and go for a ride, I won't be celebrating those days either.  I will wait for 5-5 and celebrate by enjoying a good Mexican dinner.  

sounds yummy???

 My west coast brother has informed  me that today is "Fish Fingers and Custard Day."  My immediate thought was "Goody, let's go to Culver's for supper."  There is a Culver's conveniently located less than a mile from our house, and they certainly do have fish and custard, which you do not have to eat together.  But then I got to wondering jf Culver's has fish fingers? For that matter, what are fish fingers anyway?  Do fish have fingers?  They can't be very big.  So I checked their menu on line.  They have walleye and cod and shrimp, but no fish fingers. Then I dug a little deeper (I do love Google) and discovered that fish fingers is a UK term.  Here in the US we call them fish sticks.  Well. every mother knows what fish sticks are.   The dish 'fish fingers and custard' (soft custard, not frozen) was evidently made popular by the 11th Dr. Who.  My friend Alice would probably have known this since she's a real Dr. Who fan.

Not surprisingly, writing this blog has made me hungry, and it's almost supper time.  I guess I'll see if my spouse would like to go to Culver's.  He doesn't eat fish but he does like their burgers and frozen custard.  

Rain, rain go away...

 If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?

Pilgrims!!!

This is a favorite joke of many second graders I have known.  It seems appropriate today.  Everyone knows that April brings rain. However, with all the rain, wind, thunder, lightening and more rain that we have had today, I'm pretty sure Mother Nature is trying to get all of her April showers over with in one fell swoop.  Does this mean that the rest of April will be sunny and warm?  Maybe????

After I wrote the above paragraph I started to wonder what is a 'fell swoop' anyway?  And where did the phrase come from?  A little research gave me the answer.

Blame it on Shakespeare, who else?  When Shakespeare's wrote "Macbeth" 'fell' meant cruel and he compared the sudden murder of Macduff's wife and children to a hawk swooping down on its prey. One fell swoop.  Now it is used to mean suddenly, or all at the same time, but not necessarily in a bad way.  So now you know.  

Coincidentally, my west coast brother had informed me, earlier today, that today is "International Fact Checking Day" which I did before I wrote the previous paragraph.  He also shared that it is "Global Day of the Engineer."  This pleased my wonder spouse who is an Electrical Engineer.  He thinks it is fitting that engineers get a "Global" day rather than a mere "National" day.  I don't begrudge him his special day, especially since I, who am not an engineer, won our Scrabble game this evening by 100 points, an all time record.  Not exactly one fell swoop, but a victory worth mentioning all the same.   

good salesmanship...

 This evening my spouse and I were watching a show on the History channel about South and Central American pyramids, and that reminded me of an experience I had on my first ever Caribbean cruise about sixteen years ago.  Coincidentally, I had recently come across the paperwork that came with my jade cross that I purchased on that cruise.  As you might expect, on a western Caribbean cruise, we stopped at many costal cities in Cancun, Belize and other countries but the place I remember most fondly is Guatemala.  The contrast between that and other places we called on was amazing.  In most places we were almost overwhelmed with vendors trying to get us to buy their wares as soon as we set foot on land.  I was traveling with two girlfriends and between us we certainly bought enough to help support the local economies, but the shopping was not always pleasant.  Guatemala was different.  No harassment as soon as we stepped off the ship.  We were simply put on a bus and taken to the site of a very impressive Mayan pyramid.  I'm sorry that I don't remember the name of it.  Also at that site was an archaeological museum and jade factory and, of course, a lovely display of jade sculptures and jewelry for sale.  No pressure at all, simply availability.  I enjoyed looking and bought one simple piece that I knew I would wear.  What a pleasure and the reason I will always remember Guatemala with great fondness.  

A little side story.  I was wearing the cross one day when I was substitute teaching at a Catholic elementary school.  One of the students commented on the necklace and I said that I had gotten it in Guatemala.  Another student then said "My father is from Guatemala."  When I told her how much I liked it there she just smiled and smiled and said she would tell her father.

My little jade cross, one and one half inches tall.