Happy 2015!

It's official, the ball just dropped, people are shooting off guns or fireworks outside.  People on TV are cheering.  I prefer to thinks all the booms outside are fireworks but I suspect there are a few guns being fired into the air in response to the frequent mentions on the local news that firing guns into the air is dangerous and illegal within the city limits.  Since I live about 1 mile outside the city limits I suspect some celebrators are thumbing their noses at authority - or maybe they just don't listen to the news, but it does seem like it's going on much longer than usual this evening. I shall be satisfied with a quiet Happy New Year! I did my toasting and celebrating earlier this evening.

The count down has begun...

No, not that count down, that's tomorrow night.  I mean the countdown to my retirement. I finally counted the days today and I have 32 working days left until I am officially retired.  Next week we have three interviews scheduled with potential replacements and a few more applications/resumes have come in so I am confident that we will find someone very competent as my replacement.  I'm excited and curious to see what might be coming next.  There are some volunteer things I want to do, but not too much, I want to travel some each year and I definitely want to sleep in in the mornings, at least until daylight, and, oh yeah, within two years I want to down size which means I have a whole new full time job waiting for me cleaning out closets, rooms and garages.
What I will resist doing with every fiber of my being is critiquing my replacement.  I'd better make that a New Year's resolution.

Well, here's a new idea.

I was just watching a discussion on the local news about the virtues of recycling, and I totally agree.  It's an excellent habit to get into.  I started to seriously recycle with the big bin and everything a couple of years ago and I've been amazed at how much stuff can be recycled.  My recycle bin fills up much faster than my garbage bin.  I also know that real Christmas trees can be recycled (ground up and used for mulch) but one man being interviewed said he has friends who keep their Christmas tree, and when the ice melts on their lake, put a weight on the tree and throw it in the lake where it becomes habitat for fish.  Who knew?
Of course I practice the ultimate recycling.  On New Year's Day I will take apart my not-so-natural Christmas tree and pack it away until next December. No fuss, no bother, and I don't have to haul it away anywhere so I guess I'm saving gas too.  Wow, it just gets better and better.

Keeping things in perspective.

I found myself complaining internally (a private little pity party) about taking yet another trip from laundry room to the other end of the house where the bedrooms are located to remake some recently used guests beds with fresh clean sheets still warm from the dryer.  Oh, poor me, all those steps from one end of a fairly modest house to the other.  Then I remembered National Geographic type scenes of women beating clothes on rocks to wash them, and even my own mother-in-law using a "mangle" to wring out sheets, then hanging them to dry in her basement when it was too cold outside. We did offer, several times to buy her a modern washer and dryer but she wasn't convinced they could possibly clean as well as her system. Well, so much for the pity party,  I've given myself a metaphorical smack up the side of the head, and decided to get on with things.

I think I need to get some of these.

Have you ever heard of "My Happy Feet" socks?  They are billed as the original feet alignment socks. I hadn't heard of them either but my daughter-in-law got a pair for Christmas and I must admit I'm intrigued. They are socks without toes but with thick coils of yarn (fabric) between spaces for your toes.  The idea is that, as your feet adapt to them gradually, they spread your toes, relaxing your feet and making them feel happy.  I think it sounds like a fine idea.  Mind you, I'm not aware that my feet are particularly unhappy but you never know.  If you're curious you can check out these super socks at www.My-HappyFeet.com.

Snow far, snow good!

I was reminded today, by some pictures on a local news show, how very different last December was form this one.  This year, no snow and today it got up to 46 degrees.  Last year most kids ended up with three weeks off from school instead of the usual two, mountains of snow and sub-zero temperatures.  I'm sure there are kids out there right now praying for snow like last year, but as for me, I will remain grateful for every day that I drive on dry pavement.  It's one of life's quiet pleasures.

Merry Christmas to All

It's been a wonderful Christmas.  Beautiful worship services on Christmas Eve (I ended up attending three - each one beautiful in it's own way) and today good time spent with family and in-laws with too much delicious food and some excellent gifts given and received.  Among the fun ones I received were a spa treatment, a new Vera Bradley purse, and an ornament that says "You should read my Blog."  Favorite gifts given - my annual shopping sprees with my grandchildren.  The first one is already scheduled.  Extra joys - I connected unexpectedly with two friends at the 10pm service last night and had two phone calls from friends and family far away this evening.  All in all a very satisfying Christmas.  And to all a good night.

patting myself on the back

I'm sitting here feeling very pleased with myself because here it is still more that a day and a half 'til Christmas morning and the presents are bought, the stockings are stuffed and the gifts are all wrapped.  That may not seem like a big deal to those who are less organizationally challenged but, believe me, it's an accomplishment for me.  I can remember many Christmases when I was still wrapping gifts after the midnight Christmas Eve service.  Sleep was not an option. Who knows, by next year, when I'm retired, I may have things all finished a week before Christmas.  I know, I know, dream on....

light envy

Every year I put up a modest little display of outdoor Christmas lights, the same basic design year after year and it pleases me when I drive home after dark.  They are on timers so they cheerfully greet me and anyone else driving by on my dark country road. They don't twinkle or anything, they just glow.
However, for the last two nights I've been watching a TV show called "The Great Christmas Light Fight" and I must say the displays these people have come up with are absolutely mind boggling. There is a prize of $50,000 to the winner but it's obvious that these displays are works of love that have been evolving over years and years.  Some spread over acres and acres of land, one includes a 70 foot tall "tree", one is a detailed recreation of a Disney dream and one includes a train ride, and on and on.  As I struggle with light envy here I am consoling myself with one thought.  Whoever wins that $50,000 will probably spend all of it on their electric bill.

memories of "The Sound of Music"

I love the movie "The Sound of Music", the old original with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.  I'm watching it right now.  Besides being the ultimate chick flick and full of wonderful music, it brings back a sweet memory. This,in spite of visiting Austria and hearing the 'true story' and recently seeing a much older Christopher Plummer starring in "The Tempest".  He was excellent by the way.
When the movie first came out, I was spending the summer at home after my first year of teaching helping my dad take care of my little brother since my mother had died that past winter.  This wonderful sounding new movie had just come out and I decided that my little brother Tom, age 11, and I should see it.  We journeyed to downtown Fort Wayne, to a grand old theater, in time for the early afternoon show only to discover that it was standing room only.  We decided to wait for the next showing, bought our tickets, had a snack, explored downtown and got back in time to have seats for the next show.  It was magical.  We were both spellbound through the entire movie and agreed after that it was the best ever.  A lovely escape during a sad time in our lives. I think Tom and I always felt closer after that.

Perfection continues to elude me.

After working zealously to finish my Christmas poem and get it into the mail in time for at least a few people to receive it before Christmas (or at least before New Year) I discovered, after they were in the mail, that there was a typo.  Proving undeniably that it is time for me to retire from a job that is heavily focused on proof reading.  Not that I needed an excuse, but now I'm more sure than ever.  Nine weeks and counting....

My Christmas poem, day 2

Well, it's finished, not good but finished and short, light and quick to read.  I figure people who want more details will call me.
Here's a bit of it:
October brought another trip, for my travel friends and me,
We bussed around Croatia - just try to make that rhyme.
It was a fascinating trip, I highly recommend it.
We found three days in Venice was the perfect way to end it.

my Christmas poem

Every year I write a little Christmas poem and send it out as my greeting to friends. This year I seem to be facing an incredible wall of writer's block. I want to write about the three highlights of my year but so far all I have is this (to the tune of Jingle Bells):
Racing through the west
in an old white Rendezvous,
Ore the hills we drove,
laughing all the way

That's it, that's all I've got - more tomorrow??

I owe my brother $100,

But only if he ever sees this blog.  As things were winding down after my birthday party on Saturday, my son offered to turn off the gas log fire and all of the lights, lock the doors, etc.in the lower level of my house before he and his family headed home.  I said sure and he took care of it.  My brother who was sitting near me said jokingly "I bet you $100 you'll go down and check everything before you go to bed."  To which I indignantly replied that I certainly would not. But, a few hours later, without even really thinking what I was doing, I found myself downstairs double checking everything.  Of course it was all ok, but I am admittedly a little compulsive. Shhh, don't tell.

people who feel older die sooner

Here's an interesting study that caught my attention, now that I'm 70.  A study was done beginning eight years ago, with people who were 65 years old at that time.  They were tested to see if they felt older, younger or the same as their actual age.  then they were followed over the next 8 years.  According to the results disclosed this morning, 25% of those who felt older died during the 8 years, 19% of those who felt their actual age died in the same time span while only 14% of those who felt younger died.  Their conclusion seemed to be that if you feel younger you live longer.  Some days ago I told a friend that on the inside I felt 40 something.  I'm really liking that answer now.

the 70s

Well, it's happened.  While I was busy entertaining weekend guests and hosting a 12-13-14 party, I turned 70 - gasp! 70 sounds old. Definitely not middle age any more.  But I've been thinking about it and as I recall the 70's (1970's that is) were really exciting for me with babies and college lecturing and moving out of and back to Fort Wayne and other busyness.  Since the first 70's worked so well I have high hopes for my own personal 70's. I'm sure adventures await, starting with retirement in two short months.  Yea!!!

How old do you feel on the inside?

Still pondering this age thing.. A very dear friend said to me today "You sure don't look 70."  Now I've learned a few things over the years and one of them is to never ask the next logical question "How old do you think I look."  I don't want to know.  I'll just take her comment as a compliment.  But then she asked an interesting question "How old do you feel on the inside?" After a little thought I said that  I feel like I'm in my 40's.  I remember a conversation with my father one Christmas day when I was in my 50's and he was in his 80's. I said to him, as I was busy getting the dinner on the table, that sometimes, even though I'm all grown up on the outside, I feel like a little kid playing at cooking dinner.  He laughed and said "You know, some times so do I."  Isn't that great?  I plan to stay as young as I can as long as I can on the inside, and in the meantime I will avoid mirrors.

It's sneaking up on me pretty fast...

I've been very busy this week getting ready for a party I'm having this Saturday.  I'm calling it my 12-13-14 party because I like the sequential numbers in the date. It also, coincidentally, happens to be my 70th birthday which a friend kindly reminded of in a text today.  That's the part that's sneaking up on me.  How can I be 70?  It sounds so old.  I can't think where all those years have gone.  I guess I've been too busy living to notice that I'm getting older, except of course when I happen to glance in a mirror.  Now that is a dirty trick of nature.

yet another white elephant

Today I attended my second, and I hope last for this year, Christmas party that involved a white elephant gift exchange. I gave away what i won last night and the lady who picked it seemed pleased but I noticed no one stole it from her.  I had my hands on a gift box that included some lottery tickets but it was stolen from me before I got to see if I was a big winner. Ah well.  I did end up with a jar of candy (I'm sure my grandkids will approve) and a Snowman music box - definitely a better haul than last night.  Ho, ho, ho!

White Elephants

I attended a Christmas party this evening that included, after lots of good food and fellowship, a white elephant gift exchange.  As usual with these exchanges, some gifts were rather nice (a tiny crystal sail boat with a clock on the sail) and some were pretty awful (the singing frogs on a  log) but I got the most mysterious gift of them all - three little bags, furry on one side, satiny on the other, each with a zipper closure.  All three were creamy white in color and rather nice to look at and feel but no one could figure out what they were for.  One was shaped like a small coin purse, the second like a visor with a head band and the third one a long skinny bag with the zipper on one small end.  One wise guy suggested that that one might be an umbrella holder.  Finally, the lady who brought these mysterious items explained.  These little bags (made in China according to the tags were intended as ice pack holders, something soft and silky to put on your forehead or wherever when some part of your body aches. How very nice.  I know just where to put them.
Did I mention I have to go to another party with white elephant exchange tomorrow?

a long awaited pleasure

Over the years friends have invited me several times to attend the annual Advent Candlelight Service at Trinity English Lutheran Church here in Fort Wayne.  This year I was finally able to attend and it was beautiful.  My friend suggested that we sit in one of the side balconies, which we did (front row).  it gave us a perfect view of the various processions and the bell choir in the balcony across from us  Beautiful music all the way through.  I discovered, coincidentally that my financial adviser plays the Glockenspiel.  The absolute high point of the evening for me was the St. Lucia procession at the end of the program.  I was born on St. Lucia's Day and my name is Luci and all my life I've heard about girls representing St. Lucia walking in processions with a crown of lighted candles on their heads but I had never actually seen it until today.  The young lady in the "starring role" this year had a lovely voice and carried herself quite regally.  As she stood at the front of the darkened church, other girls carrying candles moved along the aisles lighting the candles people held, who then lit their neighbor's candles and on and on.  From our place in the balcony we had a beautiful view of the flickering lights gradually spreading through the whole church.  Really lovely and very moving, a fine way to start the Christmas season..

Christmas Shopping

I'm happy to announce that I have started my Christmas shopping. I know that's not very impressive.  I have already seen people going into post offices carrying boxes ready to ship across the country.  I am full of admiration for people who get things done early.  I have one friend who is so consistently finished early with her Christmas shopping that I know when she tells me "I'm finished with my shopping" it's time for me to get started, so I have. Two family gifts down, 27 to go.  I'm on my way.

Do you remember Bewitched?

Samantha, the lovely young witch who was the feature character in the old TV series Bewitched had a wonderful way to get things done. All she had to do was twitch her nose and dishes washed themselves, rooms cleaned themselves, anything cluttery was immediately pristine.  Right now my living room and family room are stacked full of an odd assortment of everything that had to be dragged out of three bedrooms so new carpet could go in. The new carpet is in now, just lying there and looking new and beautiful. Now my job is to put everything back...but try as I may, twitching my nose madly, nothing's happening.  I guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way, sob... Ah well, tomorrow is another day. Maybe I'll get bitten by a weird spider or struck by lightening over night and develop super powers. I'm off to bed to find out.

favorite holiday commercial so far

I was listening to the radio the other day, in itself an unusual experience for me, tuned in to a country station, also unusual but fun, and I heard a commercial that made me laugh.  A lady, shopping at a jewelry store, calls her husband on his cell phone to tell him about the amazing deals at the store. To everything she mentions, a diamond necklace, a Pandora charm for his mom, and much more, he says "Sure, sounds fine, go ahead and buy it." She squeals in delight and as the connection is broken, the man's buddy says "Who were you talking to?" to which the agreeable man replies "No idea, it was a wrong number."

Hats off to Norman Breakey

As I was painting yesterday (I promise this is my last post about painting) I marveled at how much easier and faster the painting went when I was using the roller instead of the brush, so I naturally began to wonder who invented this marvelous tool.  According to Wickipedia the inventor of the paint roller was Canadian Norman Breakey.  He invented it in 1940 but sadly never made much money from his invention,  Others swooped in with slight variations and got the market share. Another fascinating factoid, especially for fans of space fiction: In a serialized story, "Space Hounds of IPC" published in 1931, the author, E.E. "Doc" Smith, mentions using rollers to spread paste on the outside of space ships. So there you have it paint roller fans.

The fun stuff

Well< I did  it.  My bedroom is now painted a pretty pastel yellow, and ready and waiting for the new carpet which will be installed on Thursday. The other two bedrooms will get their carpet on Wednesday.  After two and a half days of preliminary work, the actual painting took less than five hours.  It's a sad truth of life. The fun stuff always goes fastest.

Wallpaper paste spiked with super glue

I like to paint, rooms that is,although I have been know to paint on canvas.  I find it very satisfying to end up with a new-looking room, fresh and clean.  What I don't enjoy is the prep work. I don't mind taping the trim but washing down the walls, moving furniture, ripping off unnecessary trim, and especially stripping wallpaper are not my idea of fun.  It's finished now on my current project, the wallpaper stripping, not the painting, but what a chore.  I'm pretty sure the wallpaper I've been working on was held on with wall[paper paste with occasional dots of super glue thrown in for good measure.  That wallpaper did not want to come off.  I'd be stripping away, getting fairly large strips off when suddenly my scraper would hit a stubborn spot - it felt like super glue to me.  But it's done, finally.  Now I can get on to the fun stuff.

Black Friday math

I watched an interesting TV report today which followed a particular Black Friday shopper through his shopping experience.  By his own account he waited in line 30 hours to get into the store of his choice bright and early this morning. The reporter watched as the buyer's purchases were rung up, clearly announcing each item and then the grand total - $1,500. The cash register receipt showed a total savings of  $750 which the reporter said meant that the happy shopper had "earned" $25.50 an hour for the time he stood in line.  Really?  I suspect a flaw in that logic. But I'm not a Black Friday shopper.  I also wonder how he feels about the fact that he now has no surprises for any one on Christmas.

Another happy thanksgiving

It's good to be part of a functional family.

Picture this...

As I was driving to work this morning I ended up following a bus into downtown Fort Wayne. As in many cites, our buses are painted over with advertising.  While waiting patiently behind the bus at a red light, I studied the ad on the back of the bus.  It was a nice looking ad for an attorney who could evidently help me get money from all sorts of dire circumstances. However, due to some unfortunate arranging of the graphics the nice looking attorney appeared to be holding the license plate, causing him to look like a criminal posing for his mug shot; not an image to encourage confidence.  If I were that lawyer I'd be suing someone.

Cat comfort

I was texting recently with a friend whose mother died last week.  Her mom was 90 and had been ill for some time so it was a blessed relief type of death, but loosing a parent, regardless of circumstances, is always a deep grief.  She sent me a text to thank me for my part in a decorative blanket/throw that a friend and I had given her in lieu of flowers.  In her text she said that she was sitting, wrapped in the throw with a cat curled up on her lap.  I know that was the best thing for her. A cat on your lap guarantees soothing comfort.
I saw a report on pets recently by an expert who assured the TV audience that cats don't feel emotions. Really? They certainly seem to know when someone needs comfort. I'm sure some would explain it away by saying that the cat is simply taking advantage of the availability of a warm lap for creature comfort.  I beg to differ.

It works!

As I struggled last week to remove the wallpaper in a bathroom I'm having remodeled I realized that there must be a better way.  The wallpaper did finally come off in little bits and pieces although I'm pretty sure it had been put on with super glue.  Today I started removing the same wallpaper in the adjoining bedroom.  Thankfully the people who owned this house before me had constrained themselves to only papering two of the walls in the bedroom.  Of course they also papered at least one wall in every room of the house - most of which is gone now.  In my time in this house I've removed metallic wallpaper, strippable wallpaper, flocked wallpaper, paisley wallpaper and more but none that was more stubborn than the bathroom just finished.

Because of the problems with the bathroom paper, I googled ideas for better ways to remove wallpaper while avoiding steam and harsh chemicals, and guess what, I found the perfect solution. Use fabric softener! I tried it today - fabric softener mixed with hot water and sprayed heavily on scored wallpaper.  It works.  That paper peeled right off.  I still have to peel it off in fairly small pieces but it's coming off easily.  Of course I think it also helps that in the bedroom the paper was put on previously painted walls while in the bath it seemed to have been put on minimally primed drywall.

I think my goal of getting the bedroom painted over Thanksgiving weekend is going to happen.

I love my car.

I really like my Rendezvous. It's easy to drive, has lots of space to haul stuff, and, even though it is getting a bit elderly, it runs like a charm.  Maybe, best of all, I can take all four grandchildren in it at the same time. Just lately though I've been thinking a little about getting something newer,  Until today that is.  I had it in for an oil change and the mechanic referred to it as a low-mileage Rendezvous.  "Low mileage?" I said, "At 128,000 miles?" "Well," he said, "It is 10 years old so that is only about 12,000 miles a year - low mileage. These cars go forever."  Excellent.

The Castle Gallery

Spent a lovely few hours this evening at the Castle Gallery in west central Fort Wayne enjoying some truly lovely paintings and sculptures, a little wine and some delicious refreshments. While I enjoyed the art, although I do admit to feeling a little overwhelmed by landscapes, I really had fun seeing how this grand old building has been brought back to its former grandeur. Beneath the lavish Christmas decorations it was possible to see lovingly restored woodwork, coffered ceilings and a grand staircase. The evening was a pleasure on so many levels (no pun intended).

How many days to go?

I was eating lunch today with several of the people I work with when one guy asked me "Well. how many days now?" It took me a minute to realize what he was talking about and another minute to realize that it is getting closer now, my retirement that is, so maybe it is close enough to start counting the days. So here's the count: after today - 98 days total, but if I only count working days (I usually work only four days a week and I do get Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years off) it's just 53 days. 53 days!! Wow, that doesn't sound too bad at all.  Of course, in those 53 days I need to create 1 48 page Annual Report, 2 16 page newsletters, 3 tri-fold brochures, 4 bulletin inserts, 5 golden rings (just threw that in to see if you're paying attention), 14 weekly bulletins, 14 weekly e-news letters, 14 lists of announcements, and an unknown number of other unexpected word related requests. I am now officially and happily counting the days 'til my really, truly final retirement.

I am woman, hear me roar!

I always feel inordinately proud of myself when I figure out how to do something that at first looks too difficult for me.  Case in point:  As I may have mentioned once (or maybe a 100 times) I am in the process of renovating my bedroom and bathroom.  As part of the process, I am getting rid of some excess furniture.  I had two heavy wooden bookcases (6 ft tall, 3 ft wide) in my bedroom that have definitely seen better days.  It was time for them to go, but how to accomplish it in time to get the bedroom painted before the carpet is installed?  I decided that if I could get them into my garage I could load them into my trusty old Rendezvous and cart them off to Good Will unless someone in the family wants them. At least they would be out of my bedroom and on their way to somewhere else.  Well I studied the problem, decided that the cat wasn't going to be any help, discovered they were too heavy for me to lift and pondered the problem (which was further complicated by strange little steps and tight corners in my house) for about two days.  I never claimed to be a quick study.  I finally realized that if I couldn't carry I could slide, so I flipped those puppies on to their long smooth sides, and pushing and pulling, with some nifty maneuvers around those tight corners, got them out of the bedroom, down the hall, through the dining room, through the kitchen and into the garage without touching any woodwork or kitchen cabinets. Yea me!

The happiest time of my life?

I heard a comment on my favorite TV health minute this morning that I found interesting but not too surprising.  People get happier, more content, as they get older. Conversely, people tend to be most discontent in their 40's.  Well, no big surprise there - if you're a parent your children are probably in or approaching their teens with all the stresses that can lead to: dating, driving, part-time jobs, finding money for college, the list goes on when you're in your 40's.  Whereas, when you are rapidly approaching 70 (as I am) your children are all grown up, probably in their 40's, and their children are their concern, while you get all the fun. Why does it take research to figure this out?

I admire people who break records.

I applaud athletes who win medals in the Olympics and I marvel at some of the records listed in the Guinness Book of Records. But there are some records I can live without.  Last night Fort Wayne received a 3.5 inch snowfall which broke a record for November 16. Goody! Tomorrow, the excited TV weather reporter is telling me we will almost certainly break another record with the lowest high for the day since 1903. In 1903 the high for the day was 24 degrees while tomorrow we may not reach 20 degrees. Really? To further drive the point home the weatherman lingers lovingly on the potential wind-chill and repeats frequently that the average high for this time of year should be about 50 degrees. Thanks so much for driving that point home.  It makes me feel so much better.

Chocolate wins!

Recently heard health report on the morning news: Cocoa can help prevent memory loss.  Well, no surprise there.  I have long believed that chocolate is one of the basic food groups.  The report went on to say that to really see the effects you would need to consume quite a large amount of hot chocolate or dark chocolate candy.  And the problem here is???

A muddle magnet

I commented in my blog last night that my closet is a muddle magnet, but after giving is more thought I realized that my entire house has been a muddle magnet for years. When we moved into this house we rejoiced in the fact that it had lots of closets - even in the garages.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  Truer words were never spoken.
Here's where I think the problem lies.  A person faced with stuff they don't really want or use any more has to decide what to do with it - throw it away? give it away? try to sell it? or just tuck it away?
Guess which is the easiest?

kind of spooky

As part of this whole bathroom/bedroom renovation thing I knew that I needed to paint my closet - this weekend's project.  The bedroom paint job will take place over Thanksgiving weekend.  The problem with painting a closet is that first you have to clear everything out.  Everything includes all those mystery things that have gotten shoved to the back of the top shelf, not to mention all the clothes, shoes, spare blankets and more. I filled two bags and a box with stuff for good will.  I found a Star Wars pop up book and a little bow with 3 rubber tipped arrows, and enough Christmas wrapping paper that I won't need to buy any this year, also two packages of plastic Easter eggs and six seasonal pillows.  I think my closet is a muddle magnet. The really spooky part is finding stuff that I don't remember ever owning.
The really good thing about my not very big walk-in closet is that the former owners never got around to wallpapering it. Just about the only space in this house that hasn't been wallpapered at one time or another.  I applaud their restraint.

The big day has finally arrived

Today is the day they started to install the new shower in my master bath.  I was a little apprehensive all day because I had to go to work before the crew arrived.  What if they tore out the wrong tub? After all the avocado number in my hall bath isn't exactly new, but at least it does have a shower and hot and cold running water.  But when I got home all was well.  My old baby blue bathtub was sitting in the driveway in pieces and I didn't even feel a twinge of regret or nostalgia. It isn't like it was a '57 Chevy.  The county inspector had just finished his job when I got home me assured me that all was well. He said "I've worked with these guys before and they do a good job." He went on to tell me that if a problem did come up and the company wouldn't resolve it I could call him. Then he left without giving me his name, although it's probably on one of the official looking noticess hanging in the bathroom. The floor of the shower is in.  Stay tuned for the exciting sequel - walls and plumbing.

They're saying the "s" word

In the weather report this evening they used the "s" word several times.  Granted they are only predicting flurries, little or no accumulation.  But I am not comforted.  It seems inevitable that where a little comes more will follow.
I really wouldn't mind snow (it can be quite beautiful on mountain tops or even covering my grass) but it needs to learn to behave itself.  I propose legislation to only allow snow to fall on natural spaces - grass, bushes, tree branches - places like that.  If it didn't clutter up roads, driveways, parking lots and cars I would find it much more appealing.  Let's start a petition to pass that legislation.  Surely a country that can control illegal immigration can control snow fall.  Oh, wait...

A Veterans Day reflection

This is a devotion that I wrote for a staff meeting today and I decided that it would be appropriate to share it on my blog.
They Didn't Always Choose to Go...
But I don't think that makes them less heroic. My family tree is full of veterans starting with Philip Von Steinmetz who fled to the new world to escape the death penalty after killing the king's deer and arrived here just in time to fight in the American Revolution. In more recent history my father-in-law fought in World War I, my father was in the Army in World War II, and my husband served in Korea, My oldest brother went to Viet Nam while my youngest brother joined the Air Force during peace time. My daughter and son-in-law are both in the Air National Guard and have been deployed to Iraq and elsewhere multiple times. My daughter is technically also a veteran, having first served in the Army.

Except for the last three, they were all drafted into the military. They didn't really want the disruption to their lives, but they answered their country's call, not having much choice in the matter.

This weekend I heard a news reporter on TV interviewing people along the route of a Veterans Day parade.  To her questions about the event one man responded "It's a lot better than the reception we got when we came home." and I knew instantly that he was a Viet Nam vet.  A classmate of mine, years after that war, told of being spit on and called "baby killer" when he got off the plane in Fort Wayne, eager to see his family and happy that he made it home alive.  He wasn't, by the way, a baby killer but he was devastated by his "welcome home".

I'm sure there were atrocities in Viet Nam, just as I am sure there have been atrocities on every side in every war ever fought, but to condemn everyone for the actions of a few seems wicked to me.  Happily, the national attitude toward veterans seems to have improved considerably over the last several years.

God, in a world where war seems to be a fact of life in every generation, help us to mourn the dead, celebrate with the survivors, and be slow to condemn, even when we think we know the facts.  Amen

Christmas Catalogs

Usually my snail mail consists of one part bills, seven parts pleas for charitable donations and an abundance of ads for things it would seem every senior citizen needs, but suddenly it has taken a turn to the interesting.  The Christmas catalogs have started to arrive - one yesterday, two today.  Who knows what tomorrow might bring.  While these are fun to page through, especially the one with the way too expensive women's coats and dresses, I must admit a nostalgic longing to have a nice fat JCPenny Christmas catalog show up in my mail box, one with pages and pages of toys and clothes and everything else you can imagine wanting for Christmas - ah, sweet memories...

They sang like angels

I had the pleasure of attending the fall concert of the Fort Wayne Children's Choir this afternoon and they were wonderful.  My granddaughter was front and center in the Treble Choir and, quite naturally, I thought she was the best of all, although I admit there were some pretty awesome soloists in the older groups. Kudos to everyone involved.

it started with a shower

Three years ago I wanted a new floor in the bathroom/ mudroom near my kitchen, but I realized that the new flooring would have to extend into the laundry room, hallway and kitchen. /Well, I couldn't just put a new floor in a 40 year old kitchen, So I ended up with a whole new kitchen, new sink and toilet in the bath room and, within a few months, a new washer and dryer.

Now it's happening again. I decided that the 40+ year old blue bathtub in my master bath had to go, so I arranged to have a wonderful new shower installed instead.  It's not in yet but it's coming this week. Well obviously that meant the old blue toilet and the blue sink and ugly vanity also had to go. They've been torn out and a new toilet and vanity (both white like the shower) are waiting in my garage until they can be installed (after the new floor goes in of course). I am painting the walls a pastel yellow, and spent way too much time scraping off the old blue flowered wall paper which seems to have been put on with super glue.  Well, it quickly became obvious to me that I also needed to de-wallpaper and paint my bedroom and then I would have to have new carpet.  It occurred to me that If I was getting new carpet for my bedroom I might as well go ahead and re-carpet the other two also, so I ordered the carpet this week.

Heaven only knows what will happen when I start on my basement family room.

The Catholics have done it again.

Everyone knows that Catholics do Bingo very well but this evening I attended a Catholic bingo party with a new twist, it was Purse Bingo.  Every prize was a designer purse.  The prizes included purses by Michael Kors, DKNY, Coach, Vera Bradley and more. This was the first year that Bishop Dwenger High School (where my daughter-in-law teaches) has hosted this event but I predict that it won't be the last.  I'm happy to say that in our group of four - my daughter-in-law, her mom, my daughter and myself - we had two winners.  My daughter won a purse and my d-i-l's mom won some Pampered Chef goodies in the raffle. Yes, of course there was also a raffle and a 50/50 drawing.  So many ways to be a  winner but, sadly, I didn't win anything. There's always next year though when I am already planning to play four cards instead of two.

but I need it

Isn't it funny how wants can change to needs?  For 30 years I had a fine old refrigerator without an ice  maker.  Ice cube trays were all I needed. But now, I need my ice maker. It's so handy to reach in the bin and scoop out some ice for my ice tea and it's really great when I have visitors. I came home from my vacation and discovered that it wasn't working. The nice repairman came today, diagnosed and ordered parts. It will be fixed next week which is a good thing because I need my ice maker, which I never even knew I wanted until I had it. I think needs and wants are easily mixed up in this world we live in.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Cecelia

Today is my granddaughter's birthday.  She is 12 years old today and becoming quite a lovely young lady but I was reminded of another birthday seven years ago.  She and her brother were living with me while their mom was in Iraq and she informed me a few days before her birthday, when we were planning a little party for her, that she wanted Chinese food for her birthday.  I was surprised.  My grandkids liked, still like do like, Chinese food but I don't cook Chinese.  We always had Chinese at a local buffet restaurant.  I decided to delve a little deeper so I asked her what kind of Chinese food she wanted precisely.  Her reply "Chocolate pudding and jello."

I'm thinking about retiring.

Actually I'm thinking a lot about retiring.  Only 17 weeks until I gleefully, eagerly retire (for the third and last time). I'm pretty sure it will stick this time and I'm looking forward to sleeping in, long leisurely mornings drinking tea and gradually getting busy doing something around the house, or nothing much, depending on how I feel at the moment. Only one little thing is bothering me.  Many of my friends who are already into this retirement thing have told me that they are busier now than when they were working.  Really?? There's something wrong with this picture.  I think I need to study up on how to manage a really relaxing retirement routine.  Perhaps I'll write a how-to book.  Oh wait, that would be another career....

home again, home again

We had perfect weather until the morning (the very early morning) that we left Venice and even that was a bit of an adventure. A boat taxi picked us up on the Grand Canal in front of our hotel and whisked us off to the airport for the beginning of the 24 hour marathon trip home. Our last view of the old part of Venice was seen through a sheen of misty rain. Even that seemed exotic.
Once at the airport we had a chance to explore the sack breakfast that the hotel had packed for each of us.  We had lots of interesting and delicious food on the trip but the sack breakfast was definitely the most entertaining.  There was a bottle of juice and one of water, a packet of crackers and a small packet of Nutella, two wrapped sweet rolls, and two candy bars and an apple. I had the distinct impression that the kitchen staff had just tossed whatever they could find in our sacks. But throughout the day those little bits and pieces were quite good. And that's the end of my travelling tale.

a nod to the Al Piave Hotel

On our first afternoon in Venice a local guide took us on a walking tour over the bridges and through twisty narrow little streets opening into sun drenched private little courtyards. As we walked, the area reminded me of the Al Piave Hotel, a little 3-story (no elevator) hotel where we stayed 5 years ago on my first trip to Venice.  I asked the guide if she knew the Al Piave, thinking the chances were slim, but she knew the place.  Turned out we were close to it at one point but we had gone too far before I mentioned it to her so I didn't get to see it.  She knew the family however and told me that the son, in college, was coming home on holidays now and was planning to take over running the hotel within a few years. She seemed quite pleased about this.  She went on to explain that mainly because of the cost of housing the population of Venice is declining as young families move to the suburbs.  She also said that the average age of people living in Venice now is 70.  I think the operative phrase there was "living in".  There were lots of younger people wherever I looked.

Venice, beautiful Venice

After 11 days of traveling around Croatia and adjoining countries I was tired;  As we went to bed in a hotel near the Marco Polo airport, I fount myself wishing that I hadn't signed up for the extra two days in Venice and could just head home the next morning.  But in the morning we eight who had opted to stay were driven to a lovely hotel, the Monaco Grand Canal, which was the nicest hotel of our entire trip (which is saying something) and, as the name implies, right on the Grand Canal.  All I needed was one sighting of the Grand Canal and I was so glad I stayed.  Venice is a magical city, timeless and beautiful.  I have been there once before but this time I did go on a gondola ride, touristy but fun.  We also took a boat ride out to Murano Island and saw a glass blowing demonstration and toured one of the beautiful showrooms of Murano glass.  I wasn't tempted to buy anything until I saw a lovely vase, very smooth sleek design like an elongated oval,about 24 inches tall, with swoops of color inside the clear glass form.  it was truly lovely and I asked the helpful young man who had led us on the tour how much it was.  His reply "You have very good taste." I knew I was in trouble.  "How much?" I said again. "Twenty-five hundred euros."  Ouch, I gracefully declined.  "Perhaps" he said "we could negotiate the price."  "Can you negotiate it down to 500 euros?"  The poor man blanched and sadly walked away.

Wine tasting in Slovenia

One of our lasts stops before we finished our tour with two days in Venice was a winery in Kopar, Slovenia.  It was a fun tour with a view of one of the world's largest wine barrels among other things.  After the tour we had a wine tasting (nice wine, especially the white, but honestly not better than what I've had here at home).  The wine tasting was greatly enhanced by one of our traveling companions from England.  He put on a very James Bond-ish posh British accent and did a hilarious imitation of a wine connoisseur. He swirled, he sniffed, he sipped, then offered outrageous suggestions about what the wine might contain, never loudly enough of course to insult our tour guide who was justifiably proud of her family's wine business.

Ljubljana and Bled

Working our way back north near the end of our trip we spent two days in Ljubljana, Slovenia, a lovely city with a canal running through it. The city was full of college students but we never saw the college; actually we did see bits and pieces. Ljubljana has an excellent university, it just doesn't have a campus.  College classes are in buildings scattered all over town. I really enjoyed Ljubljana and the fact that their were lots of gelato stands made it even more fun.
After Ljubljana we traveled to Bled and were taken across the lake there in a pletna boat to visit a beautiful 17th century cathedral (modest on the outside, beautiful Baroque interior) where we took turns ringing the "wishing bell" for luck and admired the flight of 90 steps leading up from the docks to the cathedral.  Traditionally, grooms carried their brides up the 90 steps to the wedding.  Makes "over the threshold" seem like a piece of cake.
While we admired the view of the cathedral and the castle across the lake, we also, I must admit, enjoyed the view of our plenta oarsman.  The plenta is a sort of super-size gondola that holds about 18 people and is rowed by a man standing at the back, a very good looking, extremely fit young man in our case.  Obviously standing up and rowing a big old boat back and forth across a lake is a wonderful form of exercise.

Now that's interesting.

Here are a few interesting bits of information picked up on my Croatia trip:
Marco Polo was technically Venetian because Croatia was ruled by Venice at the time but he was actually born on an island off the Croatian coast.
Nicolo Tessla was born in Craotia when it was part of Austrio Hungary.
Croatia's first king was named King Tom (well Tomeslav actually,but they call him Tom).
They have some interesting road signs in Croatia.  One of my favorites was an inverted triangle with a giant snowflake in the center.  This one was in the mountains of course.
"I need ti examine the tiles." is a euphemism like "powder my nose" (does anyone use that one anymore?) for going to the bathroom since all of their bathrooms are finished with tile on the walls, some rather nice.
The necktie was invented in Croatia.  It was originally part of their military uniform with a name that sounded like 'cravat'.

a culinary feast

"a culinary feast prepared in the way of their ancestors" that's what we were promised in Cilipi at our second dinner at a family owned agrotourist establishment.  The food was delicious to be sure and the singing (by two men of the household) was highly entertaining but I found myself thinking that their German/Austrian heritage was showing.  This and several other meals consisted of a very nice salad, usually with cucumber and tomatoes, meat, potatoes and some kind of greens (chard or spinach) and a fruity coffeecake type dessert, with plenty of wine, of course.  It was delicious but no better that many meals I remember as a child cooked by my mom or one of my aunts "prepared in the way of their ancestors".  I guess I didn't know how good I had it.

They weren't wearing white robes and halos

but they might as well have been.  They sang like angels.  This evening I heard a performance of the American Boychoir from Princeton, NJ and they were wonderful.  This group of 30+ 4th-8th graders presented their concert at Trinity English Lutheran Church, a fine old church in downtown Fort Wayne that proved to be a perfect venue.  The choir opened with a Gregorian Chant called "Ave Maria Stella" and they stood in the two balconies on either side of the nave for this song.  This created an amazing effect.  At one point in the performance they were joined by the Fort Wayne Children's Choir and they made beautiful music together.
Their director told us that they have recently performed in a movie called BoyChoir staring Dustin Hoffman and Kathy Bates.  Not sure when it's coming out but I am looking forward to seeing it. According to information in the program, it received rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival.

from Ston to Split

From Ston we continued on to the second largest city in Croatia, Split.  The awesome site/sight here was Diocletian's palace from about 300ad or 300ce if you prefer.  Diocletian was the last Roman emperor to persecute Christians.  He was actually also the only Roman emperor to retire. The others all died in office, from natural or not so natural causes. The palace in Split was his retirement home. Constantine came next and he became Christian, which meant hey presto so did most of the population of the Roman empire.  The basement of the palace has been excavated and is a great example of Roman architecture.  Of course, above ground lots of "new" buildings, churches, etc. now stand where the palace once was.
Another interesting thing about Split according to our guide is that there are lots and lots of tall people living there. I felt right at home.

The Great Wall of Croatia

On our way to Split, the second largest city in Croatia, we stopped for the morning in the little town of Ston (pronounced stone) not to be confused with Mali Ston, the next town over.  Ston, near the sea coast but still up in the hills, is famous for its salt flats, but the most amazing feature, built 1500 years ago, is a defensive wall which wanders up and over the hillsides for several miles.  It looks just like pictures of the Great Wall of China in miniature.  In fact, our guide said that a person on one tour asked him (seriously) if it connected to China's Great Wall.  A wall from the Adriatic to China?  Now that would be "great".
It was also in Ston that I truly first appreciated the Croatian practice of enjoying leisurely cups of coffee. The coffee there is very good but the idea of a "to go" cup is practically unheard of.  In Ston we had time to actually sit still for a half an hour or so on a typical restaurant terrace, shaded by a grape vine "roof" and simply enjoy the view, the cool breeze and the small heard of cats roaming around.  As I sat there I could feel myself relaxing. It was probably good that my friend Sandy wasn't on this trip.  She would have wanted to adopt the cats and bring them home.

A little place in the mountains

One interesting fact that came out on my Croatia trip was that, from prehistoric time, the people of the Croatian area lived in villages built high in the hills.  Even though there are miles of beautiful sea coasts there were also constant threats of pirates.  Living in the hills was safer.  On one of the early days of the trip we were driven high into the hills to a farm for a lavish afternoon dinner.  The food was delicious and I appreciated the way it was served.  We were seated at long narrow tables and as each course was served a platter of food was put down between every four people at the table (two on each side) so, while it was essentially being served family style there was no need to pass anything.  Each of the 4 people could easily serve themselves, very nice and simple.  many of the meals we were served on the trip consisted of meat, often veal, and potatoes and greens cooked together, also lots of good cheeses, fresh vegetables, and one of my favorites - octopus salad..  We didn't have octopus salad on this farm trip.  The Croatian government is encouraging agrotourism and our dinner at the farm was an example of that idea.  We were at a private home that has opened its doors to tourists.  I remember thinking, as I stood outside after the meal enjoying the vast rolling landscape in all directions, that if my bother, who has a farm on a hillside near Spokane, Washington, was Croatian this would be his place.

one strikingly different feature

One feature about the old city of Dubrovnik that roused my curiosity was the width of the main street through the old city.  I've had the pleasure of walking through several old cities but I don't remember any where the streets were 20+ feet wide. Usually they are much narrower.  I finally got the explanation from a guide - turns out that what is now the main paved streets (paved by the way with shiny light limestone that has become so polished with use over the ages that it looks like marble) used to be a canal separating two competing cities.  According to the legend (there is always a legend), people from the two different cities began to meet and marry at such a rate that having to go to bridges to get over the canal became such a bother that they decided to simply pave it over. good decision.

Is that a pirate ship on the horizon?

On the evening of the same day we got "lost" in Dubrovnik we walked back through the old city to the water front for our sunset cruise.  We're all standing around looking at the fairly normal looking boats tied up at the docks when what should appear gliding into the harbor but a big brown sail rigged boat that looked for all the world like a pirate ship.  Even our faithful guide Steve was surprised when it turned out that this boat was the one we would be cruising on.  Usually up to 100 people sail on one of these little ships but on this evening it was just 25 of us who had opted for this extra excursion.  It was a lovely little cruise and we all enjoyed the sunset over the water and the story of the vindictive monks.  Seems the Hapsburgs, when they came into power in the area coveted an island owned by a group of monks so they forced them our, but the monks, being a little miffed at this turn of affairs, walked around the island several times with upside down candles dripping wax and curses, and no owner since has lived to a ripe old age.  Be warned, it's not good to covet your neighbor's island.

It wasn't our fault

Well, not entirely.  We were dutifully following our local guide into the old walled city of Dubrovnik, another beautiful UNESCO site, listening intently on our little radios to her voice, when another group swirled among us in the crowded entrance and somehow six of us got separated from our group.  We could still hear our guide and it took us a while to realize that she and the rest of our group were nowhere in sight.  We knew they couldn't be too far but, no matter how many corners we turned, there was no sign of them.  Finally, after about a half hour of aimless roaming (with several stops for picture taking of course), the wife of one of the men in our little group came rushing up and lead us back to the rest of the group. We had assumed he was married to one of the other ladies lost with us, but that's another story.  Our guide was a little huffy with us, as though we had wandered away on purpose.  While we were apart the guide had acquired a sign on a long pole.  If she had had that in the first place we probably wouldn't have lost sight of her.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

the waterfalls

After two days of enjoying old buildings and historic sights we were taken inland to Croatia's most beautiful national park, a UNESCO World  heritage site called Plitvice Lakes.  It's a beautiful forested area with 16 (according to the guide book) terraced lakes.  Because the lakes are on different levels everywhere you look there are waterfalls - not huge Niagra Falls type waterfalls but long beautiful streams of water plunging from one lake to the next.  We took a two hour walk around the lakes and saw countless falls, sometimes 20 or more along the wall of rocks between one lake and the one on the next lower level.  Some of the falls were babies, only 4 or 5 feet tall while others appeared to be at least 30 feet or more. It was a lovely place to visit and we stayed overnight in the hotel there.  Our guide commented that, being a state run facility, it still had something of the communist feel about it and I could see what he meant, everything was perfectly clean, the food was good but not exciting, the people who worked their didn't seem to smile as much as in other places we stayed.  Maybe the falls themselves used up all the exuberance that was allowed.

the second largest coliseum...

On the second day of our adventure we explored the small city of Pula on the Istria Peninsula, where I took many, many pictures of the world's second largest Roman Coliseum.  Unhappily, I'm not able to share any of those with you this evening.  I attempted to download the 813 pictures I took on this trip onto my laptop.  However it only wanted to download about 25 of them, for some reason couldn't download the rest.  The ones I was able to transfer came from much later in the trip, so no pictures tonight but I will continue to try.  In addition to seeing the coliseum we walked through the lovely old city. All through Croatia I was interested in the variety of architectural styles.  It's easy to see proofs of 15th century Venetian domination and 17th century Austrian rule.  Unhappily, the signs of 21st century independence are usually found in the form of bullet holes in the walls of old buildings from the fighting in 1991.

I'm back!

I've just returned from a lovely two-week vacation to Croatia with side trips to Montenegro,
Slovenia and Venice. It was a fine trip, led by Collette Tours.  We had an excellent guide, a skilled, comfortable bus driver, really good local guides, (even Miss Croatia of 1998), good accommodations, good food (that I didn't have to cook). Altogether, an excellent adventure.
Over the next several days I plan to hit the highlights., perhaps with pictures as I get them sorted out
Tonight just a few good words about Collette.  After an overnight flight from the US, and a transfer in Amsterdam, we landed at Marco Polo Airport in Venice and were led to our bus, met our Italian driver, Marco, and were driven around the northern edge of the Adriatic Sea to our first stop, Opatiji, Croatia.
The first evening we met our fellow travelers - 43 of us - from Canada, the US and Great Britain.  Several couples and several single women, ages ranging from 50-80 (I'm guessing here). Not an eligible man in the bunch (not that I'm looking but just saying).
Our guide, Steve, seemed and proved to be very well organized and extremely patient, even with two rather demanding travelers.  They were a mother/daughter couple who made their first impression on the group by showing up to the bus a little late the first morning, then about 20 minutes into the drive, the mom loudly announced to the entire bus that she couldn't find her glasses, must have left them at the hotel and seemed to be waiting for Marco to turn the bus around. Steve calmly went back to her seat, looked around, found her glasses on the floor. He also, I thought with great restraint, went on to explain that it was important to everyone that we leave promptly in the mornings and once we leave a place we won't go back.
That did seem to improve their promptness - I think he was secretly hoping they could be left behind.

taking a break..

I've decided to take a break from this blog writing endeavor.  When I started I envisioned writing about something humorous each evening, but my blogs seem to have become more serious, so I want to step back for a while, maybe a week or two and ponder my next direction.  See you in a week or so.

a treat for my tickly toes

Once or twice a year I indulge myself with a professional pedicure.  It's hard to beat as a feel-good experience with the soaking and massaging and shaping  and painting.  And, wonder of wonders, while my tootsies are being pampered the chair I'm sitting in is massaging my back, bliss!!! And my toes look really pretty now. They'll look great in sandals.  Unfortunately we're supposed to have a high in the 40s on Saturday so I suspect my sandal wearing days are about over for this year. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.

Trying something new

It's my turn to take a treat to a meeting tomorrow morning so I baked some gingerbread.  Nothing new there, I love to make gingerbread but I decided it needed an interesting topping.  I flipped through my cookbook and discovered "hard sauce>" Turns out hard sauce, unlike ordinary sauce doesn't need to be served warm.  It's supposed to have a consistency like firm whipped butter.  Actually, it is whipped butter with a bunch of powdered sugar and orange juice mixed in.  So then I thought "how will I serve this tomorrow, seems a little time consuming for people to have to spread it on their gingerbread."  "Huzzah," I thought, "I'll spread it on the gingerbread like frosting." and so, now that the GB is cool, I'm going to do that right now.  Then I will arrange some orange slices on top, and hey, presto, an easy fancy dessert.  I love it when something new works out.  Let's hope it tastes good.

blogger's block

Nothing funny happened today. nothing strange or rare, no new exciting medical facts, nothing wildly interesting.  It was just an ordinary day.  On the up side, I wasn't in a car accident, I did accomplish quite a bit at work, I did pay several bills, and joy of joy, had enough money to pay them.  I set up a pin number for a new travel card and it worked the way it was supposed to.  All in all, not a bad day, in fact a very good day except for this pesky blogger's block.  Ah well, tomorrow is another day.

Eureka, I've done it.

I've been enjoying learning to use my new 'smart phone' lately.  I gave up my old flip phone recently when my son introduced me to a very affordable monthly plan for a more modern phone.  So, I've been enjoying texting and taking pictures and sharing pictures, even playing games.  It took me a while to figure out how to make a phone call.  It's a little flat rectangle that doesn't look like a telephone, but I can make calls now.  It occurred to me last week though that I hadn't been having any success answering my phone. I finally confessed my plight to my daughter who, after she finished laughing, showed me what I was doing wrong.  It would appear that I was accidentally hanging up on people.  I am happy to report that I successfully answered a call today, woohoo... My next challenge is to learn to retrieve voice mail messages.  I'm not in too much of a hurry about that though.  I figure if someone really needs to talk to me they will call back -although maybe not if I keep hanging up on them.

Several friends have commented to me over the last couple of years,that their children are hard to reach on their cell phones.  If they really want to communicate with their kids, they know that they will answer texts.  Humm.. maybe I'm not the only one who is technologically challenged.

If at first you don't succeed...

 I saw an interesting interview on "60 Minutes" this evening.  It was with Jack Ma (not sure about the spelling of that last name) the founder of the wildly successful Chinese internet company which just recently went public in the US, Alibaba.  I admired several things about his business acumen but what I found most interesting was the fact that he failed the college entrance exam the first two times he took it, succeeded on the third try, and also failed in his first two attempts at starting up an internet company.  I think there's a moral there somewhere.

a very unusual problem

I am five feet, ten inches tall and all my life I've had trouble buying pants that are long enough.  Earlier this week I did some on-line shopping at JC Penny (they carry tall sizes, bless them) and among other things, I ordered a pair of navy blue dress pants. They arrive in the mail today and I eagerly tried them.on.  I had ordered my usual size and they fit nicely around the waist and hips but, wait for it, they were too long.  They were actually dragging on the ground, even after I put on a pair of heels.  So I've decided to stop by Pennys tomorrow and see if they have the same pants in a regular size.  If they do, and if they fit, do you know what this means?  I'm average... The world is catching up.

formerly known as..

One of my favorite places for musical entertainment in Fort Wayne is Come to Go Music Hall, aka C2G. Tonight they featured one of my favorite groups Storyman (formerly know as Guggenheim Grotto). I'm happy to say they seem to have come a long way since their first appearance in FW seven years ago, touring at much larger venues in the US and Canada. They're two Irish men, now living in New York and I think they have a really good sound.  Look them up.

Do cats show affection?

I watched a special on TV the other night about the difference between cats and dogs.  One of the big differences, according to the experts, was that dogs show/feel affection for people while cats don't.  I beg to differ.  It certainly feels like my cat likes me when she snuggles up beside me on the couch.  The expert says she's just claiming me as her possession.  Really?  How do they know? And really, what difference does it make?  If it feels to me like my cat likes me, and, supposedly, she doesn't care, then I'll accept her closeness as affection.
The other piece of information that I found really fascinating is that cats don't "talk" to each other.  I know this is true.  When I had three cats I hardly ever heard a meow out of any of them, but now that I'm down to one cat, she meows at me all the time.
I'm pretty sure, based on how mine acted around each other, that cats don't need to talk; they read each other's minds. They only "talk" to people because we don't have their telepathic abilities.  It's thoughts like that that keep me humble.

the evolution of diapers

I was reminded today that when my first child was born, 43 years ago, disposable diapers were a fairly new invention.  Fort Wayne was a test city for one brand - I think it was Johnson & Johnson - and I really liked them.  We couldn't afford to use disposables all of the time so I bleached and washed a lot of diapers and used the disposables only at night and when we were traveling. We drove a VW bus camper conversion back then, and when the kids were still in diapers we would load the little closets at the back of the bus with as many disposable diapers as we could squeeze in. As the closets emptied out we knew we were coming to the end of another vacation.
Now, of course, disposables are everywhere, but a "new" trend is evolving. A friend of mine is pregnant and planning to use cloth diapers. I was really surprised to hear this, and even more surprised, when I explored the bumgenius web site, to find out what cloth diapers look like these days.  They aren't flat white rectangles of soft cloth that can be folded to different sizes.  They are a system with absorbent washable inserts that fit into colorful pants that close with velcro. Very cute, and apparently easy to use, but I have a feeling that the diaper pail will still be a big part of the process.

old ideas sounding new

"Five things that can cut your chance of having a heart attack>" I perked up my ears when i heard that lead in on the TV news this morning.  The Dr. expert said that following these steps could cut your chance of having a heart attack (man or woman) by 86%.  What were these 5 magical steps?
1. Eat a healthy diet.
2. Quit smoking.
3. Moderate alcohol intake.
4. Exercise.
5. Keep your waist line in check.
I'm ok in four out of five areas, but I think I need to start drinking.

so which ones are artificial?

"Artificial sweeteners lead to obesity and glucose intolerance (diabetes)."  It must be so; they explained the research on TV yesterday morning. Actually, it makes sense to me.  I've seen lots of overweight people sucking down diet sodas.  But what is artificial?  Some are obvious: the pink packets, the blue packets and the yellow packets. But what about so-called natural sweeteners like Stevia, which comes from a root, or some syrups like Agave?
Many years ago I read a book called "Sugar Blues" - not sure if it's even in print any more but it was a fascinating book.  Way back then, it deplored the evils of too much sugar but did not recommend any artificial sweeteners.  The basic premise of the book was that the only sweetness you should ever put in your body is what you find unrefined in fresh fruit.  Over the years, when I see my weight inching upwards, I know that I will be fine if I cut out sugar.  I don't pretend to keep it up all the time but I know it's good for me. Sadly, we're sliding into the sweet time of year (Halloween through New Years), so I will not be too hard on myself but I know what one of my New Year's resolutions will be.

and a proud mom again...

Finally, my daughter is home again.  She has been gone for six weeks, going through chaplain assistant training with the Air National Guard.  She graduated third in her class - great job - and even better, from my perspective, she's home!  Now I will admit that spending six weeks training in South Carolina didn't cause me the concern that her two deployments ti Iraq did, but still and all I'm glad she did well and is safely and happily home.

a proud mom

Just being a proud mother as I write this.  I attended a banquet this evening with my son and daughter-in-law and watched as my son received an award as K-8 Science Teacher of the Year award.  Now his name may be submitted at the state level.  Win or loose there, I'm very pleased for and proud of him this evening.

Taking the plunge into redecorating again

I decided today, after some influence from the Parade of Homes last week, that the time has come to tackle the last rooms on the main floor of my house that have not been repainted and re-carpeted at any time in the whole 32 years that I have lived in this house - my bedroom and bathroom.  I signed a contract today to replace the virtually useless old blue bathtub with a lovely new white shower, with a seat in it.  I have always wanted a shower with a set in it, what luxury! Now all I need to do is buy a new toilet and vanity and sink and arrange to have them installed, pick my colors, strip the old, old wallpaper, paint the bath and bedrooms, and arrange for new flooring in both rooms, and then the really fun part - a new comforter and ?? window treatment.  Funny how these little projects billow into hugeness.

other fascinating factoids

Still watching the Roosevelt saga. Lots of fascinating facts this evening about the "new deal". But one of the bits I found most entertaining was the fact that Eleanor had the freedom to go on a driving trip with a girl friend while she was First Lady, without any security force accompanying them.  She was required to take a pistol with her but didn't take any bullets along for it.  FDR also was able, in a car he had modified to have only hand controls, to drive around the countryside near Warm Springs and visit with the people who lived in the neighborhood. I can't imagine any recent president or first lady getting away with just taking off on their own.

So many things I didn't know...

I've been watching the PBS series "The Rooselvelts, An Intimate History" and I am amazed at how little I knew about these people.  Eleanor became quite the "women's libber" long before FDR became president. After Franklin contracted polio he started a clinic called Warm Springs where many, many polio sufferers came for therapy and swims in the hot springs.  Franklin not only founded the clinic but also led many of the therapy classes himself and was much loved by the patients there.
This 'true history' competes very well with "Downton Abbey".Infidelities, traumatic and dangerous episodes, wars, life threatening situations, romance, the great depression, this series has it all.

learning more new traffic tricks

Over the last several months I have overcome my fear of facing new driving situations and learned to drive through the three traffic circles on the fastest route from my house to my daughter's and to the school two of my grandchildren attend. The difference between using the traffic circle route and a parallel route, that in the same eight mile stretch has nine traffic light intersections, is twelve minutes.  I can make the traffic circle stretch in 13 minutes, the traffic light road takes 25 minutes (on a good day), so I've become a convert to the efficiency of the traffic circle.
But now, within two weeks, I will have a new driving challenge to face - a diverging diamond intersection - a new configuration at the junction of Interstate 69 and Dupont Road.  A diverging diamond?? I've studied the diagrams printed in the local newspaper and I still don't understand how this will work.  My brother assures me it will be easy and wonderful but I'm still skeptical. Will I learn this new trick?  Only time will tell.

The Roosevelts, as seen on TV

This evening I'm watching the second episode of "The Roosevelts, An Intimate History" on PBS. It's a fascinating look at the early years of the 20th century and the roles played by Theodore, Eleanor and Franklin and many more family members.  The series certainly doesn't seem to be sugar coating anything, but still the three are coming across as "heroic" people weaving their influence through some amazing years in our country's history.  While I highly recommend the series, it does not leave me wishing for more wealth, influence or power.  Well, ok, maybe more wealth.

A technlogical look back

As I was texting a note today to my granddaughter, who in now 12, I started thinking about how I communicated with my friends when I was 12.  For the first few years after we moved out of the town of New Haven to an old country house near the small town of Woodburn we had an old style wall telephone, the kind of big box phone with a crank on the side, an ear piece that dangled on a cord, when it wasn't hung up, and a mouth piece that jutted out of the box.  This was an old fashioned phone even by the standards of the 1950's but it did have some advantages.  We had a party line, with several homes connected to the same line, so we had to listen for our distinctive ring tone to know a call was for us.;  Ours was "two longs and a short" ringgggggggggggg, ringgggggggggggg, ring! When we heard that ring we would pick up.  The catch was that anyone else on the party line could simply pick up their phone and listen in.  There really wasn't any such thing as a  private call.  The advantage to this system was that when my girlfriends and I wanted to talk, one of us called another, others picked up and we could have a three, four or five way conversation. Of course all of the phones were hanging on kitchen or living room walls, areas where family assembled, so these calls couldn't drag on too long, and you couldn't say anything that you didn't want someone in your family to hear - especially a little brother.

Happy Birthday times two

Today we had a birthday supper here at my house for my son and his mother-in-law who share September 13 as their birthday.  It was a fun relaxed evening; I cooked some old favorites, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  I couldn't help remembering though that my husband and my stepmom shared a birth date, and for many years we celebrated their birthdays together - usually at my house.  All seemed well then too.  It wasn't until a few years after my stepmom died that my husband confessed to me that he had often resented having to share his birthday celebration. I never knew.  However, I don't think the same thing will happen here, mainly because my son and his mother-in-law really seem to like each other.  It makes a difference.

another funny play

Went to another play this evening, this one a Civic Theater production called "Over the River and Through the Woods" from the old song "to Grandmother's house we go." It was a fun play centered around Sunday visits and eating at the grandparents' house.  Lots of funny lines and home truths.  Tomorrow I'm cooking dinner for my family and I'll be thinking about scenes in the play, although my grandchildren aren't quite old enough to leave home yet. I guess it's inevitble - I'll be the old granny any year now.

A parade of homes

Why do they call it a "parade of homes" when the homes just sit there and we do all the walking.  A friend and I went to the Fort Wayne Parade of Homes this evening.  We toured seven houses and two villas, all priced over $400,000, all very nice obviously, and interestingly decorated.  I went with the idea in mind of getting some decorating ideas for my bedroom.  It's painted light blue now, fairly blah and boring.  I thought maybe I would see some bright exciting color combinations. Not so.  House after house had interior walls painted light taupe or light beige or light greyish seafoam, with white or natural woodwork. Ho hum. Things were attractive but not exciting.  It was interesting to see lots of great room ceilings with wooden (natural or painted, straight or intersecting) beams that looked very much like the beams in my (40 year old) family room.  But the best idea I saw, this I thought was a stroke of genius, was a lift installed in a garage.  It was an open platform elevator on which you could load things, like boxes of Christmas ornaments, destined for attic storage. Push the button and the lift goes up into the attic.  Meanwhile, you climb the traditional pull-down stairs, walk over to the bin or box that has arrived in the attic and shift it to its storage spot.  No more lugging boxes up those stairs. Isn't that a great idea?

winning for a good cause

Doing work that really helps someone is very satisfying. This evening my family, friends and I worked together on a Kids Against Hunger assembly line packaging nutritious dried food to be sent to Haiti.  This is a really good program and if your church or other group is looking for a fun, satisfying way to help fight hunger around the world I highly recommend it. Even more satisfying is to be the team that fills 12 boxes first (that's 432 bags of a dried vitamin-rich, protein-full mixture. Each bag makes six meals, so 2,592 meals), and wins free t-shirts and bragging rights. We went on to fill several more boxes but were the first to 12, so yea! us. I never think of myself as particularly competitive, but I must admit I love to win.

How does he do that?

I love a good magician.  I know it's a trick.  I know there's a logical explanation, but how does he do that? I've been watching America's got Talent and they have three magicians in the top 12 this year, all of them very good and all very imaginative.  Not one of them has sawed a girl in half or stabbed swords through someone stuck in a box.  I tend to enjoy the close up sleight of hand tricks most, In fact I find myself thinking that a magician might actually win this year, until I watch the dancers, and listen to the singers. Who knows?

fashion confusion

Last week I was reveling in the fact that I am among the first generation of women to wear blue jeans and this week I hear on the news, in a fashion piece, that jeans are out and skinny yoga pants are in.  Don't they understand that jeans hold you in and make you look skinny while skinny soft yoga pants will stretch in all the wrong places.  I think, for women of my age, it's going to be a very slow conversion.

Exercising my talent..

A few days ago I commented on the fact that my best talent is as an audience, an appreciator of other people's talents.  This weekend I had an opportunity to exercise my talent twice.  My friends and I saw "The Foreigner" at First Presbyterian Theater on Friday night - a very funny play - we enjoyed it thoroughly.  Then, on Saturday night we saw a musical performance by Fernando Ortega, the first program for this season of the First Pres Music Series.  What a great start to the season!  Next weekend I'm going to another play.  Practice, practice, practice....

The sock monster lives!

I've always suspected that there was such a thing as a sock monster. After all, socks can't just disappear into thin air can they? On the news this morning there was proof positive - the species exists.  A family discovered, after their large dog started displaying symptoms of severe stomach distress and was x-rayed, that their was a large lump in his stomach.  After the lump was surgically removed it was the vet found that it consisted of 45 socks (none of them matching of course). The dog is fine.  No comment on the condition of the socks.  Now I don't own a dog but I have missed a few socks lately. My little cat seems fine but she has been looking a little chubby..  Hmmmm?????

I can't believe I missed this holiday!

I was glancing back at the August calendar in my now favorite magazine, GLO, and discovered that August 6 was "Wiggle Your Toes Day".  I am a world champion toe wiggler.  In fact my husband used to claim that when I was barefoot (my usual state in the house) my toes were never still. It drove him crazy. So how could I have missed this holiday that was so obviously intended just for me.  I'm not sure how I would have celebrated. possibly by wiggling my toes in an ocean or lake or on a beach, or into a lovely new pair of shoes, but I'm sure I would have thought of something appropriate.  Ah well, at least I have plenty of time to plan for next year.  You can be sure I've marked this on my 2015 calendar.

I've found my true talent.

Over the years I've had plenty of time to inventory my talents and figure out what I'm best at.  I have talents. I can cook, but not amazingly.  I probably could improve my piano playing, but never to concert quality.  I can paint a little, draw a little, weave a little, write a little, act a little, but I haven't created anything outstanding. After careful analysis, I've decided that what I really excel at is being an audience.  I am enthralled by great performances, or even good ones, be it music, theater, a good book, or a gallery show, and I show my appreciation.  I cry, I laugh, I respond appropriately. Performers need an audience. It's good to be needed and, as an added bonus, I'm not creating stuff that no one needs.

on wearing blue jeans

I've long suspected that my generation were the first little girls to wear blue jeans, denims, Levi's, call them what you will.  I distinctly remember wearing a pair of wonderful, plaid flannel-lined jeans when I was only seven years old. That would have been in 1951. As the years progressed, I climbed trees, roller skated, rode bikes, always wearing jeans (or shorts or cutoffs in summer) but I don't ever remember seeing my mother or my aunts in any kind of jeans or slacks. My mother-in-law wore her first pant suit in her 70's. My classmates and I wore jeans regularly (of course never to school, we had to wear skirts always in school),
In our teen years we wore our jeans cuffed with bobby socks and saddle shoes.
This morning on TV, in a historical look back at the Levi Strauss company, one interesting fact that came out was that the company made their first pair of women's jeans in 1934, so while we may not have been the very first, we were among the pioneers.
In an interesting bit of history repeating itself, three years ago my brother and his wife gave me a pair of flannel-lined jeans for Christmas and they are just as wonderful as I remember.

The excuse I've been looking for...

I watched an interesting report on 20/20 this evening about aging.  Among other things it examined the habits of people living well into their 90, with good health and mental capacity.  Some things I picked up on - one or two cups of coffee a day are good for you (I'm assuming tea works the same way), a glass of wine, or any kind of alcohol really as long as you don't over do it, in the evening is good for you, and - wonder of wonders - it's not healthy to be too skinny as you get older.  It's better to gain weight as you age. Again, there's a caveat, you're not supposed to get obese, but some weight gain is ok. So goody; bring on the donuts and cookies (except then I run the double risk of diabetes and needing a whole new wardrobe (although that second one wouldn't be all bad).

Bacon, beautiful bacon!

I learned this morning that today is National Bacon Day.  Sadly, I wasn't prepared. I didn't have a single strip of bacon in the house and no time to shop. Alas! So I ate a pork chop for supper.  Close enough, right?  Believe me, I have noted this date on my calendar and will be prepared next year.

Some teachers need to go back to school.

In the last two weeks I've heard two news reports about different teachers - one woman, one man - having sex with older (17-18 years old) students on school property.  A school administrator said "We may have to revisit our ideas about sexual behavior at school." Really? That makes me wonder what the current ideas about sexual behavior in school are? Don't get caught?  Then this morning a teacher tweeted that she would like to stab some of her students. She later said she was just kidding. That's reassuring?

I know we can't legislate morality, or so they say, but wouldn't it be good if we could teach common sense?.

the joys of Netflix

When my grandchildren were visiting last week we spent a little time surfing through the movies available on Netflix.  As they were scanning the available options I spotted one I hadn't thought of for several years but it's one of my favorites. So this evening, a home alone evening for me, I treated myself to "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day", a true classic in what I think of as the "chick flix for old ladies" genre. It was every bit as good as I remember.  I recommend it!

the impulse to keep stuff

I am not a hoarder, but I will admit that I frequently have internal dialogues (talk to myself) about what to keep and what to throw away.  I was not a child of the depression but my husband was and the time honored opinion "We should keep it.  We might need it again sometime." was often expressed at our house. In the last few years I have become much better at getting rid of stuff.  Recycling helps.  It somehow feels more virtuous to dump something in the recycling bin that in the garbage bin.

This impulse to keep stuff even extends to institutions.  The church where I work was designed with lots of closets and storage rooms.  They are all full.

Today I was standing outside the church building with a friend who also works there.  We were eyeing an attractive old sign that has hung beside one of the entrances for many years, but which no longer is accurate because the name of out book store has changed.

I'm standing there thinking "Pitch it and make room for a new sign." as my friend utters those familiar words "Maybe we should keep it. We could store it in a closet." "Or maybe," she went on "we could put it in our history museum."  Wow, maybe that's what I need.  Perhaps, instead of continuing to clear out my basement, I'll just call it a museum.  Anyone want to buy a ticket?

Life's cruel moments

Tonight I was taken out to dinner by two good friends who were celebrating their 48th wedding anniversary.  I was the maid of honor in their wedding and the brother of the groom, who was the best man, also went to dinner with us.  We had a very pleasant evening, excellent food, fun conversation, except for the pictures.  My friend had brought along her wedding album so we could all see what we looked like 48 years ago.  No surprise, we looked a lot younger then and pretty good if I do say so.  But then they brought out their phone and took some pictures of all of us now.  That was the cruel part.  Ouch! Who is that old gray-haired lady with the crinkledy face?  I much preferred to look at the 21 year old me. I know time marches on but did it have to trompple all over my face in the process?

another travel memory

Here's a memory from my second trip to Hawaii:
A couple of years ago a girlfriend and I spent a week in Hawaii and since she was providing the time share for the week I took care of the car rental.  When we got to the rental place we were told that the only car available was a convertible so I said ok.  When we found the car on the lot we discovered that it was a bright blue mustang convertible.  We were smiling all week as we drove that car around.

.sweet memories

I've been answering questions for an article about my travels today, and this is one memory that was stirred up: When my husband and I were vacationing in Lahaina, on the island of Maui, we saw a beautiful painting in a gallery window.  We both loved it so we walked inside to see how much it was.  We sensed we were in trouble when a lovely young lady whisked us into a small dimly lit room, seated us on comfy chairs, served us each a glass of wine and set up the painting, perfectly lighted, on a velvet draped easel.  It truly was beautiful, but when she quoted the price, $35,000, we made an embarrassed and hasty retreat.  I now have two modestly priced little prints of Maui seascapes (bought at another shop) hanging on my family room wall to remind me of the one that got away.

Laundry times three

When I bought a new washer and dryer two years ago one question the salesman asked me was how many loads of laundry I do in a week to which I replied three, sometimes four.  He was astonished that the total could be so low (he's the father of three boys) but I reminded him that I live alone, except for my cat and she doesn't require much in the way of laundry.  Today, as I was washing a weeks worth of laundry for the two grandchildren visiting with me, I was reminded of how it used to be when I had two kids living at home.  I don't understand how three people can generate five times the laundry of one person. It doesn't seem mathematically sound, but, never-the-less, it happened.  And we won't even mention the astronomical increase in socks without partners.  As Irma Bombeck once said "It's a sad but true fact that socks do not mate for life."

why do they call it that?

I was having a conversation today with the young lady who cuts my hair and we got on the subject of school dances.  My granddaughter will be attending her first school dance next week and we got to talking about what dances were like when we were in jr high and high school.  We both agreed that younger boys seldom want to dance and that often clumps of girls gather in one area while boys gather in another - never the twain to meet.  I mentioned that in my day (I'm at least 30 years older than my beautician) we called them sock hops because we couldn't walk on the gym floor in our street shoes so we danced in our socks.  She said she had heard of sock hops all her life but didn't know that was how they got their name. I think that's how they got their name.  That's how I remember it. Does anyone have a different idea?

the school dance

My sixth grade granddaughter is eagerly anticipating her first school dance.  It will be after school next Tuesday and there is a special boy she would enjoy dancing with.  I went to the Carrol Middle School website today and printed off the information posted there about the dance.  So now I know the time (right after school), the dress code (they wear what they wore to school) the cost and other details.  I think whoever planned this social event really understands Jr High kids, especially boys.  Consider these comments: "Students do not HAVE to dance." "There will be open gym and a game room during the dance." "Students do not get a 'date' for the dance." "Students can visit the concession stand..."  My question is how many boys do you think will actually dance at all?  I can't wait to find out.

What's that again?

Comment made by a politician turned college president earlier this week after receiving strong criticism of some remarks he had made about local colleges: "My comments were too concise and too general." Say what?  I think that must be politico speak for "I said something really stupid and now I'm trying to minimize the fall out."  Once a politician, always a politician, I guess.

de ja vu all over again

This evening I took two of my grandchildren for a quick supper at Pizza Hut.  They had been very good and quiet this evening, sitting through a 2 hour meeting that I had to attend.  They even got their home work done so they deserved a treat, and they certainly seemed to enjoy themselves, while I was catapulted back in time to the youth of their mother and uncle.  When my two kids were in their pre and early teens they had a way of setting each other off in restaurants, getting gigglier and gigglier, not really doing anything wrong but just being a little louder and sillier that is polite and generally managing to thoroughly embarrass their parents  Well, it's probably genetic but the grandkids were pulling the same antics as the previous generation while I sat with bated breath expecting ice water or ice tea or root beer to go flying across the table at any moment.  It didn't of course, but it was a close thing.  The though the kept me serene through all of this was that it's payback time for my kids. Justice is sweet.

homework

This evening was the first evening that my two grandkids who are staying with me temporarily had real home work, so we all sat down at the kitchen table, and I tried to help where I could.  My grandson (8th grade) was working on Algebra and I checked his work, spotted a few simple math errors, which he quickly corrected and then got stuck on problem 31.  "We" finally worked out the answer on that one - x over 231 = g.  Then it was time to help the 6th grader who was working on definitions.  Each of four words had four steps to be completed: 1. write the dictionary definition of the word, (no problem)  2. write a definition in your own words, (still doable) 3. write some synonyms of the word (bring on the Thesaurus) and 4. draw a picture illustrating the word. Really?  How do you draw "implication"?

Take me out to the ball game...

Two of my grandchildren and I went to a Tincaps game this afternoon.  It was hot and muggy at first and not particularly fun as the other team scored the first point (or whatever you call it in baseball).  But I had promised that after the third inning we would go looking for refreshments.  We bought nachos and frozen lemon ice, and, even better, while we stood in a slow moving food line (other people evidently also like a 4th inning stretch) the sun moved just enough west that when we got back to our seats they were in shade. Things were definitely looking up.  Sadly, by the top of the 8th inning the other team was leading 5-0.  In the bottom of the 8th there was an exciting moment when the /Tincaps had the bases loaded, but, sob, only managed to get one run out of that. So it was a fun day for us but not so fun for our team.

the great shredsperience, phase two

Last night, after all the sorting and de-paperclipping, we loaded up my car with one box and 8 grocery bags full of old files, ready to be shredded and past ready to be out of my house.  Today we drove to the Afdent parking lot where three semi trailers were sitting, ready to be loaded with shredded paper.  After all my worry that I might be bringing too much paper or it might take a really long time to shred, or I might have to haul the bags to the shredder with the help of my two loyal minions, it was embarrassingly easy. I drove in, being directed by helpful people all the way, willingly made my donation to their scholarship fund, and proceeded on to the shredder. Four burly men and one willing woman opened the back end of my car, dumped all of my paper into two garbage bins (it filled them both), dumped the bins into the hopper and hey, presto, the shredding commenced and I drove away, feeling blissfully lighthearted. Hooray for powerful technology.

The great shredsperience, phase one!

Tomorrow my grandkids and I are taking some papers to be shredded at a "free" shredding.  Free, but donations to a scholarship fund will be accepted, which I will happily give to get this job done.  Last night I dragged all of my old real estate files up out of the basement; this evening we got everything sorted and bagged - nine grocery bags and one box full, and loaded into my car. Tomorrow we will take them to the site where an Iron Mountain shredder will be waiting to work its magic.  An Iron Mountain shredder sounds impressive to me.  let's hope it's up to the task at hand.  I want to come home with an empty car, except for the kids of course.

cooking up a storm

I have two grandchildren staying with me for two weeks, ages 11 and 13, the eating years.  Since I usually live alone, I'm fairly relaxed about cooking for myself.  I have cooked more in the last three days than I usually cook in a month.  I'm a little surprised I still remember how, but they're eating everything I put in front of the them so it must be reasonably edible.  A not too surprising side effect of the cooking (which they do help with, by the way) is the marked increase in dirty dishes.  I'm running my dishwasher once a day instead of my usual once a week. But tomorrow, I've told them, we must eat out, because Dairy Queen is making a donation to Riley's Children's Hospital for every Blizzard sold.  So, not only must we eat out but we must also have dessert.  I think it's incumbent on us to do our bit, and they have agreed since it's for a good cause.

Home Alone I

I did something this evening that I have never done before.  I left two of my grandchildren at my house, alone, while I went to a meeting.  I was gone for less than three hours, and they are certainly old enough to be at home alone, but still I was a little apprehensive.  With a little imagination I could think of at least 20 things that could go wrong ranging from a stranger coming to the door to the house burning down, but only one thing did.  My granddaughter got a small burn on her arm when reaching up past a light fixture to clean up a spiderweb she spotted in the corner of the bathroom she's using. (What a good child.) She knew enough to put cold water on it and we put some ointment on it when I got home so all is well.  On the positive side, they had both taken their showers and were ready for bed when I got home.  Tomorrow being the first day of school was a bit of a motivator there.  I guess they really are growing up, but happily, for me, I don't need to leave them alone again for the whole time they're visiting with me.

consider the word 'advanced'

'Advanced' as a word generally carries a good connotation.  Consider the phrases 'advanced technology' or 'advanced engineering'.  Think about 'advanced placement' in college.  All positives, right?  Then think about this: a friend who is my age was told this week that she was having trouble healing from a recent surgery because of her 'advanced age'. Yikes, that doesn't sound good at all.