my popcprn recipe

For Christmas last year I received a hot air popcorn popper (I had had one years ago but it died).  Even better, I also received some blue corn popping corn which is just a little sweeter that the usual popcorn. I've been experimenting and have developed a "recipe" that I like - popcorn with butter (I know that defeats the purpose of the hot air popper but it tastes sooo good) and salt and my secret ingredient - pepper.  I like it.  I'll be giving some to my brother tomorrow so I'll have a second opinion.  If he doesn't like it - ah well, more for me.

another of life's most embarrassing moments

I was innocently driving along a very familiar street this evening when I was side swiped by another driver.  I pulled into a side street to check for damages and expected the other car to follow me.  Instead it drove away, so i am the victim of a swipe and run with a rather ugly black scar all along the side of my white car.  My daughter who was with me called the police so we could report the incident and I could have a file number to give to my insurance company.  Nothing embarrassing about any of this. While we were waiting for the police person to show up (he was very nice) I began searching for my registration.  I found last year's but not the current one.  As I was talking to the policeman I explained that I couldn't fine my new registration.  He then pointed out to me that my plate was expired, should have been renewed two months ago, and opined that I probably didn't have my registration because I hadn't renewed my plate.  Ooops!!
He urged me to do it right away which I did on line this evening.  I now at least have a transaction receipt and renewal number to prove my good intentions should some less understanding cop pull me over before my new sticker arrives. Whew! Let's hear it for technology.

well, I caved again..

I love Mahjong, at least the version on my computer.  It has 30 levels of difficulty that you can progress through and every time I play I can eventually win every level through 29, but I have never yet won the 30th level, never.  After repeated attempts I ultimately give up and restart the series because obviously I enjoy winning more than losing.  I did it again this evening.  I'm back at level one. Maybe next year!

I'm on vacation

I walked out of my office today with my work finished and even done ahead, locked the door, breathed a happy sign and realized I have two weeks off!!  I feel like a kid out of school for the summer.  I know, I know, two weeks does not a summer make, but hey, every little week counts.  I think I'll treat this as two weeks of early retirement.

Would you risk this?

I'm watching "America's got Talent" which is one of those fun shows with a wide variety of talents on display. This evening I have watched a man let spiders crawl all over his face, several singers, a contortionist and more.  But the act I just watched gave me pause.  Would you, as a parent, let your 7 year old son throw knives at you?  His dad survived and they put him through so next week, he says, he'll be throwing knives at his younger sister. Sharp knives and siblings?  I don't think so.

A Stratford Weekend

I've just spent a weekend in Stratford, Ontario seeing a variety of plays.  I went with a bus load of close friends, casual friends, strangers and family and had a wonderful time.  We saw four plays, all excellently performed.  I'm trying to think of three word descriptions of each one: Man of la Mancha, hope, dreams, courage; Mother Courage and Her Children, grief, love, survival; A Midsummer Night's Dream, bawdy, hilarious, current, Crazy About You, predictable, funny, dancelicious!  You may question that last word but that's what it was..

VBS - Day 4

Well, my part of Vacation Bible School is finished and i survived it.  Someone asked me this afternoon why they call it Vacation Bible School?  I don't know.  Maybe it's because after it's all over, the sand and cheerios are cleaned up, the sticky residue from the marshmallow mouth stuffing contest is wiped up, and all the materials are tucked away, I need a vacation!

VBS Day 3

Where are those street people when you need them?  Yesterday we focused on sharing and made little bags of snacks (83 of them - we may have gotten a little carried away) and decorated covers for water bottles.  Today we went outside to hand out our creations.  On any given day you can depend on 20 or more people hanging around outside the library across the street plus others in a little park area.  Not today, it was hot and muggy outside and recipients were scarce.  We did give away our treats to a few workmen tearing up the sidewalk and a few library patrons but there's a lot left over.  Happily, the youth are doing a project at the rescue mission next week and say they will hand out the rest of the treats then.  I guess delayed sharing is still sharing.

VBS - Day Two

Yesterday it was sand all over the floor in our classroom.  Today it was Cheerios as we learned a lesson on sharing.  Kudos to Michelle who was there with the vacuum cleaner almost as soon as the last student left the room. Tomorrow we're coloring.  It sounds so peaceful???  Stay tuned.

VBS - Day one

Well, I survived my first day of Vacation Bible School for this year.  I helped register kids and taught 5 classes, three to preschool groups, and two to grade school age.  My area is called the "Slug a Bug Swamp" We hunted for seeds in sand, planted Morning Glory seeds and generally had a good time, with relatively little mess, and even got a little bit of discussion about God in there. 'nuf said, I'm going to bed...

VBS

You know it's really summer when it's time for Vacation Bible School.  Our's is scheduled for this coming week and I spent this morning at church with several other volunteers decorating for the week.  It's a jungle theme this year, so we hung paper vines and colorful paper parrots.  We even have a zebra and a tiger (cardboard, of course).  It all looked pretty good by the time we were finished but I do wonder about the reaction of people coming to church later today. There was a wedding scheduled this afternoon.and a graduation party this evening.  We'll assume it just added a festive touch to their celebrations.

Walking across Indiana

Some friends and I toured Swiss Village today.  It's an outdoor museum featuring several buildings and fixtures from the earliest Swiss Mennonite settlers to come to the Berne, Indiana area, things dating from the mid 1800s.  From the pump organs to chamber pots there were many things that I was familiar with.  I'm not that old but I was the only one in the group who had ever used a chamber pot.  (That's another story.) It was a bit of a shocker when we walked into the one-room school house (brick, with walls 3 bricks thick) and saw it furnished with the same kind of desks I sat in as a child.
We toured the grounds with a young docent who needed to refer to notes from time to time but was quite charming and obviously enjoyed her job.
One of the intriguing thoughts i came away with was this:  in the mid-1800s it was said you could walk from one side of Indiana to the other and always touch a tree.  Isn't that a fascinating description of wilderness?

mixed feeings

On the news this evening they reported on a woman who was upset because she was asked to cover up while she nursed her baby in a public place.  According to the news report, it is the law in Indiana that a woman can nurse a baby anywhere in public and there's nothing in the code about covering up.  I nursed both of my babies until they were each a year old so I'm obviously in favor of mothers nursing infants, although it was a different era and I didn't nurse in public. I am curious about how uncovered this woman was though, because evidently several patrons complained to a flustered sales person about the nursing mother before he asked her to cover up.  When interviewed, the owner of the company said she was going to provide training for her staff on how to deal with the situation because she said "We have nursing mothers in here all the time."  If that's the case, and presumably no one had complained or been offended before, I'm really curious about how uncovered this woman was.  Ah well, I guess I'll never know..

learning to use my new phone

As I mentioned a few weeks ago I have finally moved a little way into the 21st century with a phone that can text and take pictures and, yes, even make phone calls.  But this week I discovered another phone delight - games!  Who knew you could play games on a phone?  My current favorite is backgammon. Hmmm, I think I hear my phone calling now.

Congratulations to my daughter-in-law

My daughter-in-law passed the state exam today and now qualifies to teach Sociology as well as French at the high school level.  She studied hard and has earned her reward.  Now I just need to figure out what exactly sociology is.  I already can't understand one of her subjects.  It will be too sad if I can't understand the other one either.

Happy Birthday

My oldest granddaughter turned 12 yesterday and we celebrated with a family birthday lunch today.  While I'm thrilled that she is growing into a lovely young lady I am also saddened that I seem to be approaching the end of a era.  No more puzzles, games and toys.  Now the gifts of choice are gift cards and money, and it looks like the same will be true for all of the grandchildren within the next y ear or so.  Now the question is do I comply with their requests or do I go shopping for the most outrageous gifts I can find.  Now that sounds like fun.

a different kind of beep

As I was locking my car today I heard the chirpy little beep it gives to assure me that it's secure, and at the same time I heard someone's car alarm going off - a rather annoying beep.  Unless it's my horn or an alarm, I seldom notice car horns because you hear them so often. When I was a teen, 50 some years ago (and yes, cars had been invented then) a beeping horn meant that a friend or cousin was driving by our house.  If I was walking along the sidewalk in our small town and someone beeped, it was a friend or family member saying  hello, usually with a wave.  Horns were friendlier then.

Walking in the woods

i went for a walk in the woods today.  It was an absolutely beautiful day for it. A friend and I went to visit a recent ACREs acqusition, a wooded area where an old resort called Blue Cast used to be located.  In it's heyday, during the early 1900's, Blue Cast boasted a spring of copper laden water -hence the name Blue Cast - that was very popular as a "cure"; so popular in fact that it was bottled and sold around the tri-state area.  Blue Cast also had a sulfur hot spring where people could soak their troubles away.  Now it's just a lovely wooded area, with a few foundations, some Indian burial mounds, and a lovely trail through the woods and along the river. There's an island in the river where blue herons are nesting.  We could hear them but we couldn't see them.  All in all a very satisfying hike, and thanks to a liberal application of bug spray - bite free.  While I don't mind taking my nature in small bite, I don't want the bites coming out of me.

pedicure paradise

I had a pedicure today.  I have one, sometimes two a year, usually before or during sandal season.  A pedicure is one of life's great treats - a little mini spa in an hour.  Having been soaked, massaged, buffed, wrapped, polished and more, my feet are very happy tonight.  I recommend it!

a long term summer vacation

All four of my grandchildren are finished with school for the year and facing those long lazy days of summer.  I remember summer vacation days as seeming to go on and on for ever. It wasn't all fun and games of course.  I remember parts of summer days spent weeding strawberries, mopping floors, washing windows, but still there was always time to read a good book, take a nap, play outside - climbing trees, riding bikes, exploring the woods and creek and on and on.  Now I find that my days slip past so fast I hardly remember what I've done.  But in nine months I will be retired and, while I know there will still be chores to do, I'm looking forward to blocks of lazy time, time to read or nap or walk in the woods.  I'll probably pass on the bike riding, unless I get myself one of those giant tricycles.  Hmmm??? Wouldn't that be a sight.  Nooo, I don't think the world is ready for that.

Bald is beautiful

Last night on his blog my son revealed, with pictures, that he had shaved his head.  I think he faced the inevitable, that he had a hairline like his father, and decided to go boldly bald instead of easing into it.  Fortunately he has a nicely shaped head with no unusual bumps or scars.  I think he'd better stock up on powerful sunscreen, but he'll save a bundle on shampoo.

going to "the lake"

I'm going to the lake tomorrow.  We're having our annual staff outing.  I enjoy going to the lake and I will sit and visit with my co-workers, enjoy a lavish picnic carry-in lunch, perhaps ride in a boat, enjoy the cool breezes and view across the lake, but I will not swim.  I am not a lake swimmer.  Weeds and yucky muck cover the bottom of many lakes, and strange beasties swim around in there.  When I was a teen I was swimming in a lake with friends when something bumped me on the shoulder.  It turned out to be a dead turtle floating by.  That was the beginning of my aversion to lake swimming.  Give me a nice clear pool every time!

a movie review

I saw a movie this afternoon with a friend.  I love to go to funny movies with this particular friend because she laughs loudly and freely, encouraging me to laugh out loud too.  The movie we saw today was "One Million Ways to Die in the West" and we thought it was hilarious.  Unfortunately the rest of the audience didn't seem to agree with us.  No one else seemed to be laughing (admittedly there were only about ten other people in the theater but you would think we would have heard someone else laughing.  Before you rush out to see this movie you should know that it is very crude, full of out-house humor, sexual references and foul language.  I would definitely not take children to see it.  It's probably rated "R" for rude.  Having said that, it is a wonderful spoof on every old romanticized western movie you have ever seen and uses every cliche you can imagine.  Definitely not high-brow, but very funny.