a quiz for you...

 Several of us who attend the same Sunday School class most Sundays decided to meet for lunch today just to socialize.  We gathered at Hall's Gas House, always a great place to eat. The friend who first suggested this get together really out-did herself in making it a fun pre-Valentines Day event.  The tables were decorated with red tinsel and heart shaped cups full of candy and she provided some paperwork to entertain us as we waited for our food, giving us plenty to talk about, around the tables.  I have decided to share one of the games with you. Enjoy:   

A BOOMER'S QUESTIONAIRE  (If this doesn't bring back some memories, I don't know what will.)

!. What was the first Swanson TV dinner?

2. What two other "junk food" favorites were created by the inventor of Tang?

3. Name all three astronauts who were part of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

4. What did Simon and Garfunkel  call themselves before adopting this name?

5. How many castaways can you name from the TV show "Gilligan's Island?"

6. What was the last Beatle's album to be released?

7. Who hosted the Beatle's first appearance on American TV?

8. What toy became a worldwide sensation when it was popularized by Wham-O in 1957?

9. Who was tennis player Billie Jean King's opponent in the "Battle of the Sexes?" 

10.  What was the real name of "Dr. Seuss?"

Answers tomorrow.

so much fun...

 I started wearing glasses when I was seven years old.  The first pair I had had brown squarish frames.  I never minded wearing glasses, and yes, in case you're wondering, boys do make passes at girls who wear glasses. 

Over the years I've worn wire rimmed, cat's eye and various other styles.  I also wore contact lenses for about 20 years.  But there came a time when I needed reading glasses with my contacts.  That's when I decided it would be easier to just go back to wearing glasses.  

I'm bringing all this up because today I had my eyes examined and my new glasses will be ready in a week.  My wonder spouse wondered if I could just have new lenses put in my current frames, but I explained to him that there is really no fun in getting new glasses if you don't get new frames.  Interestingly, the new frames I picked out are squarish and brown (really more copper). My wonder spouse went with me to the appointment because we were going to lunch with friends right after.  He told me up front that he would not assist me in selecting frames but when the time came and I had narrowed my choices down to three he picked the one I liked best.  So we're both happy.

What I find interesting is how much new technology is involved in eye exams these days.  This morning the tech, who looked like such a sweet young thing, put a 'football helmet' on my head, then clamped a pair of goggles that rivaled anything I've seen on Olympic skiers to the helmet.  It was heavy but I did manage to hold my head up and follow directions.  A voice in my ear told me to watch the bouncing ball, keep my eyes wide open, blink when instructed and watch the orange target.  That AI voice kept telling me that I was doing very well which was nice to hear.  I have done visual field screening exercises in my ophthalmologist's office but he doesn't make me wear a football helmet.  Interestingly though, today my optometrist still took me through the very familiar slide show with the same old questions that eye doctors have been asking me since I was a child - which looks clearer, this one or 'click' this one?  Which line of print can you read?  And on and on it went.  It felt like a long time but the actual exam only took 25 minutes.  Then I got to pick out my new frames, the final reward.  I will enjoy having new glasses, (and I will be able to read small print more easily) even though I realize that most of my friends will never notice the difference.  

one of those days...

 Do you remember, when you were very young, long lazy days during summer vacation?  Those days when school was out and it seemed like summer would go on forever?  You could lie on the grass and watch the clouds form and re-form pictures of fantastical beasts and pirate ships or rocket ships or whatever. 

When you get to be an adult those lazy days are much harder to come by.  Even when, like me and my wonder spouse, you're retired, stuff like doctors' appointments, necessary shopping trips (groceries are important), and volunteer work tend to fill up at least part of every day.

But today, thanks to a series of pleasant coincidences, was one of those lazy days for me.  

After weeks of below freezing temperatures, the sun is blazing down from a clear blue sky, the temperature has soared to over 40 degrees, snow has disappeared from the streets and sidewalks (although it does still cover the grass) and I have had nothing to do that must be done today. I did walk out to get the mail and was able to breathe deeply without feeling my lungs freeze up.  

I have read a book and worked on a stitchery, but only because I wanted to.  A lazy day for sure and I am loving every minute of it. Is it possible that I have early onset spring fever???

mud pie anyone?

 My west coast brother informed me earlier today that this is "Chocolate Day."  I am happy to be able to report that I did enjoy some really excellent chocolate this evening.  I do like to celebrate these special days. 

But first the rest of the story.  Yesterday was my brother-in-law's birthday.  When we said that we would take him to dinner to celebrate and that he could choose the place, he accepted with alacrity and selected Cork and Cleaver, an excellent local restaurant with an amazing salad bar. I tried to make a reservation for yesterday, his actual birthday, but they said they would be closed, so we went this evening instead.  

It is one of those restaurants where you really do need to make a reservation.  As we were leaving after our dinner I heard the receptionist speaking on the phone saying "I'm sorry but we're completely booked for the rest of this evening."

But about that chocolate - after the three of us were full to bursting with huge mounds of salad bar salad, steaks, sweet potato, baked potato, mushrooms, broccoli with cheese sauce and molasses bread with cinnamon butter (none of us had all of that but you get the idea) they brought out a humungous slab of mud pie for the birthday boy.  Of course they also brought three chilled desert plates so we could share.  Their mud pie is a frozen mound of coffee ice cream coated with a delicious chocolate shell and topped with a mound of whipped cream. So now you know how I got my chocolate for today and why I am now waddling off to bed to sleep it off.  Sweet dreams everyone. 

New and Improved...

 My eye doctor suggested that I should use a larger monitor and key board for my writing which, of course, includes this blog.  The new computer arrived yesterday and I am using it right now for the first time to write this blog. 

So far it is being very nice to use but I had really hoped that I would suddenly, magically become a more competent typist.  So far that is not happening.  Thank goodness for spell checker. The closest I ever came to failing a class was when I took typing in high school, back in the bad old days when carbon paper was my nemesis. 

This new monitor does have a lovely large screen, a 24 inch instead of my laptop's 13 inch.  Thinking about this makes me laugh.  I was in sixth grade when my father brought home our first television set.  It was awesome, a Zenith brand 'portable' that sat on a table top and probably weighed at least fifty pounds. It had a 13 inch screen, black and white of course, and received three channels through an antenna on the roof.  Flash Gordon, Captain Kangaroo, Gunsmoke, Saturday morning cartoons and more kept us enthralled. 

Now I can watch a TV show on my computer, through the magic of split screen, while also blogging or answering emails or attending a Zoom meeting.  I can do that all at once, but "new and improved?"  I'm not so sure.

back to the Phil...

 The Fort Wayne Philharmonic almost never disappoints. Almost never. This evening was an exception, at least for me.

First I must say the piece performed before the intermission was absolutely wonderful.  Peter Boyer's "Ellis Island: The Dream of America" was amazing.  Beautiful music interspersed with the narration of oral histories of people who had come to America through Ellis Island over many years kept me spell bound.   

Unfortunately the second piece, performed after the intermission left me cold.  Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety" made me anxious to have it finished.  The guest pianist was very good and his encore was the best part of the second half in my opinion.

As I listened to the Bernstein piece I assumed that it was my lack of understanding of more contemporary music that was keeping me from enjoying the music.  Surprise, surprise, when I confessed my disappointment with the second piece to my wonder spouse when we got back to our car, he agreed with me.  He was also wondering about that piece.  He knows much more about music than I do so it was very reassuring to know that he agreed with me.  

It's that time again...

 The Winter Olympics opening ceremony is tonight.  Thank you NBC for televising this.  Thank you MIlano Cortina for hosting it.  It's hard for me to imagine how much preparation goes into hosting the Olympics but it must be an incredibly long and complicated process. 

There are so many things I love about the Winter Olympics.  Figure skating and and speed skating are among my favorites.  Then there are all of the down hill speed competitions on skis, snowboards and, never forget, the luge sleds.  

I haven't been on ice skates for years but when I was a young teen I had my own ice skates, white of course, and we skated quite a bit during the winter.  We would skate at the Coliseum, on the hockey rink when there weren't games scheduled.  It was a wonderfully large space.  

One winter a heavy rain flooded a field across the road from our house and then it froze hard.  For a few wonderful winter weeks we had our own private rink.  The field ice was much rougher than hockey rink ice and I can remember lying in bed at night after a long time on the ice and feeling my feet vibrating, like they did on the rough ice. 

All of this is to say I love ice skating.  It is my favorite part of the Winter Olympics.  

This year though there is an added bonus for me as I watch the Olympics.  On my first trip to Europe, about 15 years ago, I spent some time in Milan, and seeing the Duomo and other famous landmarks on TV this evening brought back some wonderful memories.  

Enjoy the Olympics, I know I will.