a different kind of art

 My spouse and I saw a fascinating exhibit at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art today.  The title was "Ghost Army, The Combat Con Artists of World War II."  

"The exhibit tells the story of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, the first mobile, multimedia, tactical deception unit in US army history.  The unit waged war with inflatable tanks and vehicles, fake radio traffic, sound effects and even phony generals, using imagination and illusion to trick the enemy while saving thousands of lives.  Along with the 3133 Signal Service Company in Italy, the unit helped liberate Europe from the grip of Nazi tyranny."

That's what the brochure said and I really can't say it better.  I found it interesting that Bill Blass, the Fort Wayne native who went on to become a famous clothing designer, was part of this endeavor.  He was part of the 603rd Camouflage Battalion. 

The exhibit includes bios of several of the men who were involved in this effort, and I was interested to see how many of them had gone on, after the war, to careers in the arts, from writing for TV shows to become famous cartoonists, to working for Walt Disney.  

The exhibit also included an inflatable cannon and an inflatable tank. Quite fascinating and, I'm sure, pretty realistic from a distance. 

There was also a chance to listen to the fake sound effects.  They had recorded sounds of trucks and tanks being driven and soldiers talking and marching which they amplified so the sound would carry for  6000 feet.  They amplified the sounds using a huge speaker mounted on a large truck.  It was such an important device that it was understood that if the truck it was mounted on ever faced imminent capture it would be blown up.  

All in all a fascinating exhibit which I highly recommend.  It will be here in Fort Wayne until October 26.  

PS There's also a glorious glass exhibit that you should at least walk through while you're at the museum.

drink up...

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Coffee Day."  Now there's something we celebrate every day around here.  

I did not appreciate, before we were married, what a fine barista my spouse is.  We do not just buy a can of Folgers or some other coffee at Kroger's.  No indeed.  Instead, he buys freshly roasted coffee beans - half the house blend at Old Crown Coffee Roasters and half their decaf house blend.  These he shakes together in an air tight storage container.  Each morning he 'mills' rather than 'grinds' enough grounds for eight cups of coffee.  Then places the freshly milled coffee in a special cone shaped filter in our new (we've worn out two old ones) drip coffee maker.  

The result is wonderful coffee which we linger over longer than we should most mornings.

Being a purists, my wonder spouse drinks his coffee black of course, I however like a little milk in my coffee.  He has learned to avert his eyes and not make too much of a fuss about this.  

a little more history

 Since I told you a little about my maternal grandparents yesterday I thought it was only fair to share what I know about my paternal grandparents today.  There are some interesting similarities between my two grandmothers. Sadly, they both died in their 50s so I never knew either of them.  They were both 5' 10" tall (unusual for women of that era) and they were each six years older than my respective grandfathers.  

The story I was told about how my father's parents met was that she came to work as a house maid for my grandpa's family.  This does not mean that they were rich by any means.  It was not unusual for young women to find work in someone else's household until they married.  

My grandmother's family were farmers and my grandfather was a carpenter.  My father quit school at 16, as was expected of him, and went to work with his father.  I was told that they built most of the barns in the territory surrounding the small town where they lived.  

When he was much younger, about 3 years old, my grandmother took my father (her youngest child) with her every weekend to help her parents with house work. These trips of about ten miles involved riding in a train, a horse drawn surrey and a Model T, all in the same weekend.  I find that fascinating.

When my grandfather was still able to drive (he later had both legs amputated because of diabetes) he would drive out to our place in the country and always had pink and white mint lozenges to give my brothers and me.  

He also had a picture of a sexy lady on the knob of his car's gear shift (the same silhouette you still see on some truck's mud flaps). 

Isn't it funny the things we remember? 

Here's their wedding picture.  I'm guessing they were married about 1905.  Although you can't tell it in the picture, my grandma's wedding dress was a black two piece outfit. Years later my cousin and I used to play dress up with the skirt.  

a history lesson

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "Ancestor Appreciation Day."  I do appreciate my ancestors on both sides of my family and applaud them for their hard work to build good lives for themselves and, by example, for those of us who came after.  Today I want to share a bit about my maternal grandmother and grandfather.  

In the late 1800s my grandfather worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania to earn enough money to go to seminary to become a Brethren minister.  He went on to serve as a pastor in three or four congregations.  The first of which spoke 'low German' while he spoke English and 'high German.'  He learned.  The last of which gave him, as a retirement gift, a quilt containing the carefully stitched signatures of members of his congregation.  When I knew him he was retired and living in a retirement home where he served as minister.  

My grandmother grew up in the Laurel Mountain area of Pennsylvania, was six years older than my grandfather, and told my mother that she married my grandfather because she "wanted to see what was on the other side of the mountain."  From things I've read, she served with him in his ministries and was revered as a very good Sunday school teacher.  Sadly she died in her 50s.  

Here's a picture of the happy couple.  I'm guessing they were married about 1904.  My mother, their third child, was born in 1910.

PS My grandfather was also a self-published author who wrote several books of poetry.  I guess I come by the urge to write honestly. 

sweet somethings

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "German Butterbrot Day," "National Bakery Day" and "Better Breakfast Day." What an amazing day.  In case you haven't guessed, butterbrot means butter bread.  

As it happened, my spouse and I celebrated today before we knew it was so special.  Maybe it's an instinctual thing.  First we took a drive to our favorite Amish bakery (it's not a national bakery but it's baked goods are universally delicious).  There we purchased two loaves of my spouse's favorite - oatmeal walnut bread and two loaves of my favorite - cinnamon swirl bread.  I assure you that either bread is delicious, especially toasted and liberally buttered.  We also bought a loaf of apple bread, just for variety. 

And speaking of better breakfasts, my breakfast every morning (unless we go out for brunch) is a slice of cinnamon toast buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar (buttterbrot with a swirl(.  Some days I add a hard boiled egg.  Of course, my breakfast is accompanied by my wonder spouse's coffee which really is excellent.  

Happily I am now well supplied with toast for a month's worth of  breakfasts. Although we may go back to the bakery sooner. We will need to get some coffee cake, just for variety you know.

game on...

 I am happy to report, as a follow up to last night's blog that I can indeed play my favorite New York Times games on my new phone.  And, depending on the game, I can do just as well or poorly as I did with my old phone. 

There are four games that I play every day, usually over my breakfast coffee. One of the perks of retirement is that our mornings are ordinarily not too rushed.  The games are Wordle, Connections, Strands and the newly added Pips, which is a tricky little timed game but fun to play. My wonder spouse usually beats my time but not always.  By the way, these are free games.  

I tell myself that these games improve my brain power and maybe they do, or it may just be that they are addictive.  If it is an addiction, it's wide spread.  My spouse indulges in the same four games and I have a group of friends with whom I share my daily scores on Wordle and Connections.  My friends and I have an agreement that we do not send our game results to each other before 8am or after 11pm.  That's just common courtesy.  

If you like word games and logic games and haven't tried these yet, I encourage you to do so, and if you care to share your scores I'm always glad for friendly competition.  Just leave your cell number in the comment section at the end of this blog.   Game on!  

new to me

 Two new things have come my way today. Actually five if you count each tire individually.  Earlier today I was able to pick up my car which I had left yesterday to have new tires put on.  Fred, my service consultant, gave me a $50 discount because they kept me waiting so long yesterday.  That was my low tech but nice experience for the day. The car is rolling along beautifully on it's new tires. 

Right now my wonder spouse is working to bring my brand new phone to life.  This is our high tech adventure for the day.  The process sounds pretty straightforward.  Take the SIM card out of my old phone, pop it into the new one and hey, presto everything transfers over.  Well maybe not so fast.  Right now the phone is asking permission to format the SD card that my spouse ahs put in.  He gave it permission.  Now the phone is installing all the apps and all my contacts.  

You may be wondering how I could possibly get along without my spouse to help me with all this.  The last time around, many years ago, I used the Geek Squad at Best Buy to help me.  But at home in my pajamas is way more convenient.  

And hooray, I just received a text from a friend on the new phone, so I guess I'm in business.  It has also just set up RCS.  The real test will be if I can play my New York Times games tomorrow morning. Stay tuned. 

the waiting game...

 Today I spent a fun filled afternoon at my car dealership having the oil changed in my faithful Fiat and the slow leak on one tire evaluated.  

After the first two and a half hours (they had warned me it might take that long) the nice young man told me that the oil change was completed at no charge since this was my "fifth one free" and I was free to go.  I thanked him and asked him about the tire situation? 

He looked at me blankly. Evidently someone else had take my info when I first arrived and failed to pass on my request to have the tire leak checked out.  The ensuing conversation got a little comical.  "That was the right front tire?"  "No, it's the left rear."  He returns after a check "The right rear tire?"  "No, the left, the driver's side rear tire."  I finally realized that they weren't seeing the problem because my wonder spouse had been reinflating the tire daily so I could drive it safely until I got it to the dealership.  They finally, finally listened to me and found the problem.  The tire did indeed have a small but irreparable leak in the side wall.

You may have already guessed the outcome to this story.  I need four new tires.  Considering that I have owned the car for over ten years and this is the first time I will have replaced the tires that's really not too bad.

After some time, the same nice young man showed me a chart with three tire models listed that were appropriate for my car.  The best was guaranteed to last for 75,000 miles, the next for 70,000 miles and finally the cheapest (and I use that word loosely) for 45,000 miles.  I decided that, since after 10 years the car has less than 35,000 miles on it (it's my around town car), the 45,000 mile tires should suit me very well.  

Will the car and I make it for ten more years?  I'm willing to bet new tires on it.

It's fall...

 Happy first day of fall.  To celebrate, the weather here was cloudy and cool, a very pleasant change from the near 90 degree heat that we've had for the last several days.  We also got some rain yesterday and today which we have really been needing. 

But enough about the weather.  My west coast brother has informed me that today celebrates elephants, rhinos and chainmail.  While I know that the chainmail they are referring to is medieval armor, when I saw the word my mind went to chain mail of a different kind.  

Do you remember chain letters?  Of course this was all done by snail mail. You can actually Google copies of chain letters from the 80s.  As I recall it worked like this: someone would send a letter to 10 friends asking for something.  It might have been your favorite recipe (back in the days when we all cooked), a small amount of money or something else easily mailable.  They were also asked to send a copy of the same letter to ten of their friends who were to send money or whatever back up the chain.  Names and addresses of the person sending you the letter and the person who sent her the letter, with instructions to send something back to those two people and send the letter on to 10 more.  At best, it was a harmless exchange of cookie recipes, at worst a pyramid scheme.  Some of the letters even contained veiled threats of the "If you send this on you'll have good luck." variety. 

Sadly, I was never much of a team player.  I can't tell you how many chains I broke.  

Baby talk...

 This evening we had dinner with my grandson and his wife.  We went to Casa's, always delicious food and quiet enough to talk.  

And boy did we talk.  Their first baby is due in March, so they are through the first trimester and feeling much more comfortable thinking and talking about what's to come.  

We did learn, in one quick sentence, that my grandson has a new job, driving a fork lift, but then the discussion went right back to babies.

The discussion ranged from needing to baby proof their home to dealing with their cat who may be jealous.  They don't know yet, and won't know for a while if it's a boy or a girl.  She says all of her friends think it will be a girl while I predicted a boy.  I figure I have a 50/50 chance of being right.  

There will be a baby shower (or maybe more than one) to which I will wear my new great-grandma t-shirt.  

We talked some about actually giving birth and I tried to reassure her.  My births were both quick and easy, but she's been hearing some horror stories from her friends and other relatives.  She even admitted to being afraid she might die in childbirth (something that never occurred to me now or when I was pregnant).  She is still struggling with morning sickness so I understand why her thoughts might turn to the gloomy side sometimes.

It seems to me that doctors are much too quick to do c sections these days.  Believe me I know that there are times when it is absolutely imperative but not every time.  But I'm not the one having the baby so I will keep my opinions to myself.

I also didn't mention sleepless nights, teething, projectile vomiting  and other delights they have to look forward to.  

But you never forget the joy of holding a baby in your arms.  I loved it back then and I'm really looking forward to having that experience again.  I know I will have to take turns with the other grandmas but I will manage it, and I have a very comfy rocking chair.  The baby will love it.  Now there's a happy thought to fall asleep on. 

LLL

 Everyone enjoys life's little luxuries.  Some people enjoy massages.    (I had a really wonderful full body massage on our last cruise) but that's not a regular thing for me.  Some people enjoy gardening and flower arranging, but to me that seems more like work than a luxury.

Personally, I have two little luxuries, each of which I enjoy about once every three weeks, often on the same day. Today was one of those days.

First I had a manicure.  In case you're wondering, yes I can file my own nails and even apply polish reasonably well, but I cannot trim my cuticles nicely and they grow like weeds.  That's my excuse for needing a professional manicure.  Of course, the fact that my nail tech applies a kind of polish called Shelac that stays on and looking good for three weeks is also a real benefit.  I've been going to the same nail tech for over twenty years now.  We know each other so well that it's almost like a therapy session sometimes.  Her daughter and my granddaughter even took baton lessons together many years ago. 

My other little luxury, in which I indulged today, is going to the library.  Always a splendid way to spend a half hour or so.  Today I had a list of favorite authors in hand and was able to find three interesting novels to check out.  In case you're concerned that three books might not be enough for three weeks, one of them has 600 pages so I think I'll be ok.  I do have other things that I need to do in my life. 

One of the things that makes something a luxury is that you can't do it all the time. Be sure to make time for your favorite luxuries.  

What's your pleasure

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "International Read an eBook Day."  It's also "National Cheese Burger Day," "National Red Velvet Cake Day," and "Rice Krispies Treats Day." 

I love all of these foods but I have written quite a bit about food lately so I have decided to focus on eBooks.  

I appreciate eBooks, I really do.  I have one on my phone right now and have downloaded several from our county library since that service became available.  

However when I tried reading an eBook while on our cruise around South America I was frustrated.  I know you're probably thinking "Why would she be reading on a fabulous cruise?"  I really don't read all the time, but I find that reading a few pages at bed time helps me relax. 

This particular eBook was not relaxing. Not the fault of the book.  It appeared to have downloaded completely onto my tablet before I left home, but when I tried to read during quiet moments on our cruise, huge sections of the book seemed to be missing.  When I would turn the tablet off and on again the book would seem to be ready to read and then more pages would disappear.  I discovered that I could scroll backwards from the end of the story but only to the middle and that is no way to read a book. 

When we got home from the trip I checked a paper copy of the book out of the library and was finally able to finish it.  

I'm not saying that I will never read another eBook but from now on, when I travel, I will make sure I have a paperback book with me. 

Autumn joys...

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Apple Dumpling Day."  Doesn't that sound delicious?  And so perfect for this time of year.  Sadly, I don't have any access to apple dumplings right now but, happily, I will soon have access to apple pies.  Basically the same deliciousness, just in a different shape. 

Every year, in September (this year the 20th and 21st) we here in Fort Wayne enjoy the Johnny Appleseed Festival, where over 200 vendors sell all manner of crafts, antiques and foods (including apple pies) and children can play on reproductions of toys from the 19th century and enjoy mazes and other activities.  This is the 50th year for this event which is held in Johnny Appleseed Park, site of Johnny Appleseed aka John Chapman's grave.  He lived in the Fort Wayne area for the last ten years of his life after many years of travelling around the area planting apple and other fruit trees. Whether or not he actually wore a tin pot on his head as a hat I don't know, but it's a good story.  The name of our local baseball team is the Tin Caps, and now you know why. 

But back to pies. A friend of mine attends St. John's Lutheran Church where they bake hundreds of pies every year to be sold at the festival.  Luckily I know, thanks to my friend, that the same pies can be purchased frozen at the church.  I have ordered three and will be picking them up on Sunday.

After carefully examining the situation, my spouse has informed me that we do not have room for three pies in our freezer, so we will need to bake one of them right away. 

So this Sunday we will be enjoying some church made, home baked apple pie.  So yummy.  Who needs dumplings?

beware.....

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Stay Away From Seattle Day."  I'm not sure if this is a warning from Seattle inhabitants they they do not welcome newcomers or a warning from the outside world that Seattle is not a good place to travel to. 

I am somewhat concerned about this because my oldest nephew and his wife live in a suburb of Seattle and have for many years.  Of course maybe it's ok in the suburbs.  

While I have never lived in Seattle, I do have some very vivid memories of the city from several visits.  First, it does not rain there all the time.  Very early in their married lives (the first time around for each of them) my daughter and son and their respective spouses lived and worked in Seattle. When we visited with them we got to tour the underground city.  I'm not sure if that's even possible any more. It was fascinating and a little bit spooky.  

When I travelled there on business with my boss we went to the Pike Place Fish Market where they fling fish around with wild enthusiasm.  It was there that my boss bought a large box of Dungeness crabs to bring back to Indiana.  Since she was older and had some mobility issues, I was the one who carried that box of crabs home to Indiana.  Not my idea of fine carry-on luggage. 

My worst Seattle experience which turned out to be one of the best is when I flew there for my nephew's wedding and had my suitcase stollen at the airport.  Happily they didn't get my purse.  I contacted the police, describe the contents as best I could, and accepted their assurance that they would do their best but there wasn't much hope of ever seeing my stuff again.  They were right about that.  Finally, about midnight, I checked into my hotel where, after hearing my sad story, they gave me a comb, toothbrush and toothpaste. 

The next day, still wearing the clothes I had traveled in, I explained the situation to my sister-in-law (wife of my west coast brother).  We were all, thank goodness, staying at the same hotel close to the wedding venue.  That wonderful lady took me on a quick shopping spree at a nearby mall and I bought a summery dress, shoes, slip, underwear, pajamas and a nice blue suitcase which I still use.  There was a Macy's in the shopping center so I was able to buy makeup and also cancel the Macy's gift card that was in my suitcase and get a new one.  The kindness of my sister-in-law and all the family was all I needed.  I had a wonderful time at the wedding.  

I highly recommend a trip to Seattle.  

If you can avoid the airport do so.

Actually I have mixed feelings about Seattle and its environs.  My oldest nephew was married there and that was a joyful ocassion.

good eating....

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Double Cheeseburger Day."  Unfortunately my spouse and I had already made plans with friends to have lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  Yes it was Wu's and yes I had my favorite Pungent Beef / medium heat with fried rice, an egg roll and hot and sour soup. It never disappoints.  Happily, I always bring home enough for supper which left me no room for a cheeseburger.  Maybe tomorrow??

I never have a double cheeseburger but my cheeseburger creations are consistently my own.  Wherever I go (and this even includes Culver's for their kid's meal) my cheeseburger assemblage is always the same - first a bun (pretzel buns are the best) then mayo on both sides of the bun.  Next the burger patty (medium to well done), cheddar cheese, bacon, a slice of tomato and a sprinkle of salt.  That's all but it is so good.  Usually the most frustrating part is convincing a waiter that I do not want lettuce.  Ah well, if necessary lettuce is easily pealed off.  

Happy eating everyone!

PS: Even better with a side of sweet potato fries or, if I'm feeling really daring, onion rings.

CAUTION: This is not diet food.

The history of my Corvair...

 First a correction to last evening's blog.  My west coast brother has informed me that my Corvair cannot have been a 1955 model because Corvairs were not made until 1960.  1960-69 to be exact.  After thinking it over I'm pretty sure mine was a 1961 model.  I know I bought it used in 1965 for $800.  You may remember that there was a famous book written about Corvairs and Pintos and a few other small models called "Unsafe at Any Speed" by Ralph Nader.  It was published in 1965 but I failed to read it before I made my purchase.  

The problem with Corvairs was that they tended to roll over because of the engine in the rear.  I know that this is true from personal experience.  I was driving back to Ball State one Monday morning near the end of my last summer quarter when, before I knew what happened, I had gone around a curve (possibly a little too fast)  and the car spun around and rolled over and up on it's wheels again in the middle of a harvested corn field.

Coincidentally, and blessedly, my mother had sent me money to have seat belts installed (not required) and I had that done a week before my accident. I sat there, stunned but ok except for a tiny scratch on my left knee.  I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to drive the car to Muncie that day, especially as I watched my windshield gently rocking in the field about 20 feet in front of the car.

I walked across the highway and knocked on a farmhouse door.  A very kind lady let me use her phone to call home.  The conversation went like this - me "Daddy I've had an accident." Dad "Are you OK?" "Yes." "That's all that matters."  You've got to love a father like that.  He came and got me, drove me the rest of the way to college, sympathetic not scolding, and then came home and dealt with the car situation.  My car was on his insurance policy at that time and the agent said we should call it a total and they would pay me $400.  My father, who had never had an accident or an insurance claim in his life thought this was not fair considering what I had paid for the car two weeks before.  They said the other option was to repair the car at no cost to us.  Daddy said "Fix it." and so they did. I drove that excellently repaired car until 1971 when, married and with our first child on the way, we traded it in on a VW bus camper conversion.  Happily I was very comfortable with rear engine cars at that point.

a car story???

 After I spent yesterday blogging about the wonders of chocolate I discovered, thanks to my west coast brother, that today is "International Chocolate Day" which just goes to show how important chocolate is world-wide. 

But enough about chocolate, at least for today. 

As it happens, today is also "Drive Your Studebaker Day."  During my high school and college years I dated a 1956 Chevy, a 1957 baby blue and white Chevy (so beautiful), a big old station wagon of undetermined origin and, believe it or not, a 1950 something Studebaker.  It was dark green and style-wise looked the same coming and going.  

The year was 1965.  Since the Studebaker belonged to the man who would become my first spouse and since I was trying to learn to drive well enough to get a driver's license (this was during my last year in college, and I knew I would finally need to know how to drive) he decided I should try driving his Studebaker.  

There was no power steering and it drove like a truck, a really big old heavy truck.  At the time of this event I was home from college on break at my family's country home on a good quiet road on which to try driving.  Off we went with me in the driver's seat.  I drove slowly and carefully out of our driveway, onto the road in front of our house, and away we went.  So far so good.  Then my boyfriend suggested I make a left turn onto a quieter country road.  I tried, I really tried.  I made the turn but not all the way.  The Studebaker ended up nose down in a ditch (happily not too deep).  We switched seats and my future husband managed to get the car out of the ditch.  I never drove the Studebaker again.  

In case you're wondering, I did get my driver's license later that summer.  I was finishing my last quarter of college at Ball State (a summer session) and rooming at the home of a girlfriend whose family lived in Muncie.  Her father took me car shopping.  I was able to buy a 1955 Corvair, then I learned to drive it (much easier than a Studebaker) and then I got my driver's license, just in time to start my first year of teaching.

To be continued....

Oh chocolate!!!

 I think I've made it clear in other posts that chocolate, in just about any forms, is one of my favorite foods.  It is, of course, one of the basic food groups, and since it grows as beans, obviously a good-for-you vegetable.

My west coast brother, who also loves chocolate, has informed me that today is "National Chocolate Milkshake Day."  What could be healthier than that?  Milk and chocolate together in a cool concoction.  And this is an unusually warm September day.

My Spouse and I do have a blender so making a milkshake is not out of the question.  We also have some chocolate syrup and the dark chocolate powder that he uses to make his fudge.  After his one and only disastrous fudge making attempt (all of the others have come out just fine) when the fudge didn't harden properly, we ended up using it as syrup on ice cream.  I know, how sad.  

Right now the only thing stopping us from making chocolate milkshakes is the lack of ice cream.  As soon as my wonder spouse, who is also a chocoholic, reads this blog he may decide to rectify the situation.  

In case you're wondering why I don't go to the grocery store and buy some ice cream it's because my spouse needs a very particular kind because of his allergies.  I prefer that he pick it out himself.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Sweet slurping everyone.

new and improved??

 I tried to sign on to my blog site this evening and couldn't get to the correct screen.  I think this might have been caused by some 'improvements' aka 'updates' that were loaded on to my laptop as I was attempting to shut it down last night.  Whatever the reason, and with some help from my wonder spouse, I seem to be back in business, at least for this evening. 

Which brings me to the topic for this evening's blog.  Thanks to my west coast brother I know that today is "National No News is Good News Day."  Compared to what happened on this day 24 years ago, this was a no news day.  I remember very clearly where I was when the twin towers in New York City were destroyed.  If you're over 50  I bet you do too. 

I was rushing around getting ready to go to work while my husband was watching the morning news.  Suddenly he said "Something is happening in New York (talk about an understatement). I think you should come see this."  

I really needed to get to work but I came to see what he was talking about.  Obviously lots of schedules got upset that day and I was very late getting to work.  I worked in a real estate office at that time and. needless to say, not a lot of work got done that day.

I wasn't immediately personally impacted by that disaster but sometime later my daughter who was in the Air National Guard was deployed to Iraq.  She came home safely and having met the man she would marry. 

Good news is even better than no news. 

Woops...

 I realized last night, after posting my blog, that I had overlooked an entire category of favorite old and well loved restaurants.  I'm talking about Italian restaurants of course.  There's the Casa Ristoranti Italiano group, a well established local chain, Ziano's, Salvatori's (another chain of five). There are also two small American restaurants that we frequent: Klem's Candelight Cafe (which is interestingly only open until 2:00pm) and The Divine Encounter. It's a bad habit I know but I do have certain dishes that I order every time I go to a favorite restaurant.

In case you need some guidance in making menu choices here they are:

Wu's Chinese - Pungent Beef

Casa's - Chicken Palermo with a white pasta side

Ziano's - Stuffed Shells with Alfredo sauce

El Azteca - Original Nachos and Fideo soup

Coney Island - two Chili Cheese Dogs (one is not enough)

The Divine Encounter - the best biscuits and gravy anywhere

Klem's - Waffle and chicken strips

Must stop now, I'm feeling a strong urge for a bed-time snack.

a time honored tradition...

 My spouse and I had dinner this evening with a friend of mine since 8th grade and her husband.  We manage to get together once or twice a year.  We decided to meet at Hall's Gas House, a downtown restaurant, since they live on the southwest side of town and we live northeast.

We each had a different entree, all evidently equally delicious based on how clean our plates were by the end of the meal.  I marvel at the fact that this old restaurant, part of a small local chain of, I think, six restaurants, has survived and thrived for all these years.  The first Hall's restaurant opened here in 1946.  I've eaten in every one of them over the years but the Gas House is the best in my opinion or at least it's my favorite.  

For very special occasions their upstairs restaurant in the same building - Takaoka, a Japanese steak house, is another fine dining experience.  We took one of my granddaughters there when she was about eight years old and she was so entranced with the food prep 'show' that she hardly ate a bite.  

And for summer lunches their outdoor dining area along the river, The Deck, is delightful.

Fort Wayne is actually blessed with many really good restaurants.     I think it's because Hall's and other long established restaurants have set a standard of excellence.

In case you're coming to town, and while I'm thinking about food, here's my list of favorite good old restaurants:

Hall's Gas House

El Azteca Mexican Restaurant

Wu's Chinese Restaurant

Paula's

Henry's

The Oyster Bar

and of course Fort Wayne's Famous Coney Island where the buns are steamed.

I said these are all excellent restaurants, I didn't say they are all fancy.  The next time you come to Fort Wayne, come hungry.

We have a winner...

 My west coast brother correctly guessed that our Pet Rock's name DRIOMB does indeed stand for Don't Run Into Our Mail Box. Since I didn't receive any guesses from anyone else he is the winner which entitles him to bragging rights.  I'm not sure who he might want to brag to about this but there's always his cat Ace. 

In the same text he informed me that today is "National Ampersand Day" sometimes considered the 27th letter of our alphabet.  You must admit it's very handy & easy to type & cute & curvy.  Its one possible shortcoming is that it makes it much too easy to create run-on sentences & we all know from our high school grammar classes & the constant reminders by our teachers & the frequent red marks on our essays & the admonition to rewrite what we thought was our greatest prose & the sad realization that much of this happened long before we had the luxury of typing on a computer & the fact that I must stop this silliness and go to bed soon & that I can't think of anything else to write about, I have come to the end of this sentence. 

Just in case this wasn't exciting enough & you were hoping to celebrate something else, it is also "National Date Nut Bread Day" & "National Pledge of Allegiance Day" & "Senior Citizens Day" & we celebrated our day with one cookie each before bed time & that's all folks.

 

Oh happy day...

 Today is "National Grandparents Day" and "National Pet Rock Day." Thanks to my west coast brother for this information.  My spouse and I celebrated being grandparents by enjoying a quiet day at home because being grandparents is not a full time job at this point in our lives.  Our celebration included having my spouse's fabulous toasted cheese sandwiches for supper.  He makes them with a wonderful blend of cheeses, bacon bits and mayonnaise instead of butter.  Sooo good.

We celebrated pet rock day by sending my brother a picture of our pet rock.  Like all pet rocks ours started out as a small rock in 1975.  Since then he has grown and grown so now he stays outside. 

Here he is.  His name is DRIOMB, obviously an acronym.  I challenged my brother and I will challenge you to see if you can guess what the letters stand for.  I will provide the answer tomorrow.

greener grass...

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "International Vulture Awareness Day" and also "National Humming Bird Day." When I read his text I was struck by the contrast between a really large bird like a vulture and a tiny little bird like a humming bird. 

And I started wondering - do humming birds ever look up and wish they were as big as a vulture?  On the other hand does a vulture ever spy a humming bird and wish she was tiny and petite?

These musings took me back to memories of my middle school and high school years.  I went to very small schools, only 52 in my graduating class, 12 in my middle school class.  As it happened I was the tallest girl in the whole school (not quite as homely as a vulture but very unsure of my looks).

As it also happened, most of my girlfriends were about 5'2" (cute and petite - think humming birds) to my 5'10" and in middle school, already 5'10", I was taller than all the boys.  I spent half my life during those years wishing I was shorter.  I even read an article about having some bone removed in my legs to be shorter.  Thankfully I couldn't afford that. 

Then happily I went off to college where I discovered that in the world beyond my small hometown there were lots of girls close to my height and, even better, lots of young men who were taller than me.  The dating scene was way better than in high school.

One more happy coincidence - my first college roommate, who became my BFF, was 5'2" and we discovered that the huge advantage in our height difference was that we were never tempted to borrow each others clothes.  A win win for sure.

speed record?

 Some weeks ago my spouse and I decided that the time has come to do some spiffing up in our house.  Remodeling the kitchen last year made us more aware of what needed doing in the rest of the house. We made plans to have most of the woodwork, especially baseboards, painted white.  While we were at it we thought we should have new carpet put in the guest bedroom (the old was really bad) and have the walls in there painted. 

The painting will start on Monday which means that today was the day to move all of the furniture out of that room and tear out the old carpet. We may be old but we're not stupid, so we arranged with the carpet company to do all this (for a small fee of course).  They were supposed to come sometime after noon and I assumed it would take most of the afternoon to clear out the room.

I was wrong.  At 11:25am four burly young men showed up and got to work.  By 11:50am the room was cleared, the bed, dresser and other furniture moved into the family room, the old carpet and pad pulled up and hauled away, and the floor swept clean. It was amazing.  If all goes as planned the painting will begin on Monday. It's scheduled to take about two weeks for the painting, then the carpet will be installed and I will be able to send an after picture.

Meanwhile here's what it looks like now:

Exciting right?

just for laughs...

 I will admit that I like t-shirts with funny sayings on them. I am not above walking up to a complete stranger and asking to see what their shirt message is.  My good friend and pen pal knows this about me so she recently mailed me a catalog she had received that's full of humorous  t-shirts.  The one I am actually planning to buy reads "MOM, GRANDMA, GREAT GRANDMA  I just keep getting better"           

I think it would be fun to wear to a baby shower for my granddaughter-in-law. 

But here are a few other of my favorites:

"It's weird being the same age as old people."

"ENGINEER Solving problems you didn't know you had in ways you can't understand" This is for my EE wonder spouse.

"When I get old I don't want people thinking 'What a sweet little old lady,' I want them saying 'Oh crap, what is she up to now?"

"Since there is only one of me does that make me endangered or a limited edition?"

"If things get better with age then I am approaching MAGNIFICENT"

"So far this is the oldest I've ever been."

"A book is the original hand held device."

"I'd rather be reading."

"I may be left handed but I'm always right." again for my spouse.

"Let's assume I'm right.  It'll save time."

"I hate it when I see an old person and then realize we went to high school together."

That's all for now.  I hope these have given you a chuckle.

it's frustrating

 Life is full of frustrations.  Not heart breaking tragedies, just inconveniences in the pleasant routine of ones day.  For example, loosing a very close game of Mexican Train, which happened to me this evening.  But yesterday my spouse and I encountered one of the worst.  I exaggerate of course but I know you will sympathize when you see our plight. 

Take a good look at this 1000 piece puzzle that we finished yesterday.  Can you spot our frustration?  By the way, the blue boarder is not part of the puzzle.  If you've looked closely I'm sure you've spotted it - one missing piece.  Believe me we searched.  We shined our handy phone flashlights on every inch of carpet for a large distance around the table in all directions.  We searched the wrappings that the puzzle came in, and every possible place we could think of and some impossible places.  It wasn't lodged somehow in the hanging light fixture.  It hadn't got dropped into my yarn basket. It was nowhere.  We have finally concluded that it was never sent with the puzzle.  Somewhere someone has put together a duplicate of our puzzle and found that they have one extra piece.  

I'm happy for them.

living history

 This evening my spouse and I were watching a documentary on the building of the Acropolis in Greece, really amazing.  And it occurred  to me that we also enjoyed two historical experiences today. 

First we went to Ziegler's to see about getting some shades for the windows in our breakfast nook.  They are lovely big windows and I enjoy watching the birds at our bird feeders but at this time of year the morning sun comes in our east facing window and blinds us as we have breakfast.  I knew that Zeigler's had been around for a long time because they did the window treatments in my house on Tonkel Road about 40 years ago, but they have been in business longer that that - 78 years according to a sign in their showroom. We found exactly what we wanted and a nice young man named Michael is coming tomorrow to measure and finalize the details.  I insisted on very white shades to go with our white woodwork.  The name of the color we ended up with is called Picket Fence.  That reminded me of Tom Sawyer, a bit of literary history.

After that exciting visit to an historical place we had lunch at the original downtown Coney Island.  While sitting there waiting for my chili dogs (yes plural, you can't eat just one) I saw their sign that said they have been in business since 1914.  111 years!  That's some history. 

Here is a before picture of our breakfast nook after the sun was higher in the sky.  Plan on seeing an after picture sometime soon.

I do not make a habit of taking pictures of food so I can't show you the coney dogs.  They were soooo good. 

it's a rule

 Today is Labor Day after which, according to long established custom, women do not wear white.  White shoes, purses, dresses and hats are put away until Memorial Day. I have read two theories about how this fashion rule came about.  It may have begun as an elitist fashion statement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries established by people who could afford to buy a variety of clothing, or it may simply have evolved from the natural practice of wearing darker heavier clothes as the weather gets cooler.  I suspect that the first reason is the more accurate one.  

These days, of course, no one feels obligated to follow such silly outdated fashion guidelines.  Interestingly, yesterday during coffee hour after church several of us ladies of a certain age got into a discussion about not wearing white after Labor Day.  We all agreed that it was a silly rule that doesn't need to be followed.  

But old habits are hard to break.  I know it's silly, but I also know that next Sunday I won't be wearing white to church.  I will be curious to see how many others in my age group are not wearing white. 

But, while some habits are hard to break, many things have changed in my church wardrobe since my youth.  I almost always wear pants to church instead of a skirt, I do not wear gloves or a hat except in cold weather and I don't carry a lace edged handkerchief in my purse.  

What I do carry in my purse is my phone.  Wow, how times have changed.