And more laser tag

Who knew there were at least two places to play laser tag in Fort Wayne?  We enjoyed the second one today (more coupons to use up).  Today the other grandma and I had planned to take the girls to Skyzone to jump on the trampolines but, since they had never been there before, a signed release from a parent or guardian was required before they could bounce; grandmas didn't count.  So off we went for another round of laser tag.  They ran around wildly for an hour "shooting and being shot at" while we who are older and wiser sat and visited.  Not a bad way to pass an hour.

Sleep Overs and Laser Tag

It's spring break and two of my granddaughters and their other grandma are having a sleep over with me tonight.  We've eaten popcorn, played games (real games around a real table), watched TV and generally done everything we should to make it a real party, and now we are all in bed and it's not even midnight.  Now that's my kind of sleep over.

There are two things the girls want to do during this holiday: 1. play laser tag, and 2. go to Skyzone to jump on the trampolines.  We did the laser tag today and it went very well from my perspective.  We bought the tickets, the girls were whisked off for two half hour sessions of tag, then played arcade games for another hour while we two grandmas sat at an out-of-the-way table and had a great visit.

Tomorrow we're heading to Skyzone and I'm looking forward to another fun day of watching other people exert themselves.  

a great musical

I saw a great musical this afternoon, "Memphis" is a amazing play which I recommend to everyone, but maybe especially those who remember the early years of rock and roll.  After I saw the play I read in the program that it was a Tony award winner in 2007 for best musical and I can certainly understand why. I also enjoyed the venue.  For months I've been hearing TV ads for a variety of shows being presented at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Van Wert, Ohio, but this is the first time I've ever attend a show there.  It's a 45 minute drive from Fort Wayne and well worth the trip.  They present professional programming from touring companies and the quality we saw today really was excellent. So kudos to "Memphis" and Niswonger.

It's for a good cause

That'a my story and I'm sticking to it.  I spent today baking some yummy desserts (4 ginger breads and 2 carrot cakes), but they are all for a good cause.  We;re having a bake sale at church tomorrow to raise funds for Vacation Bible School.  Of course I did have to do some taste testing along the way. I wouldn't want to take anything to the sale that wasn't tasty, would I?  I'm happy to report that everything tasted fine, especially the new recipe I tried for brown sugar cream cheese frosting.  It was yummy.

a salute to Sayaka Ganz

Today was the day I had set aside to organize all of my tax information before my appointment with my CPA next week.  Well, I got a little tax work done but only after a lovely day of lunch with friends (planned, although I didn't expect to spend 21/2 hours at lunch) and a browse through the Botanical Gardens (not planned).  I have a friend who is teaching me to be more "spur of the moment". I'm a planner, she - not so much.  She decided that we should go see the exhibit at the Botanical Gardens this afternoon and I'm so glad she did.  I had forgotten that sculptures by Sayaka Ganz were on display.  I love her work.  It's fun because she uses an amazing assemblage of found/recycled items to create her sculptures but even more so because her sculptures are flowing and colorful and beautiful. You can stand and marvel at a beautiful dolphin or fanciful jellyfish, then move a little closer and notice the spatula and toy car forming the dolphin's flank or the plastic wine goblet sliced and twisted into jelly fish tentacles.  The sculptures are hung from the high glass roof of the seasonal garden, currently ablaze with tulips and other spring blooms.  As I walked under "swimming" dolphins, whale, and jellyfish, and among "coral" and "kelp" I enjoyed a delicious under  water feeling.  Altogether a lovely experience.  The show goes through April 5 if you want to see it.

Extreme optomism

It was cold yesterday, 40 something degrees, nasty winds, winter coat weather even though it was officially the 4th day of spring.  I was waiting with my granddaughters after school, as one of them got ready for her piano lesson, when I heard, in the distance, a tinny but musical rendition of "Pop Goes the Weasel". As the music got louder I realized it was an ice cream truck touring the neighborhood.  Really?  An ice cream truck out and about on March 25th?  I guess she's getting a jump on the competition.

Answers I don't want to hear

I retired five weeks ago and so far I'm enjoying it very much, but two days ago I heard something that shook me up.  A 100 year old man was interviewed and asked the inevitable question "To what do you attribute your long life?" His answer "Never retire." He's a car salesman who still works six days a week selling cars.  No way I'm going back to work, especially selling anything. So much for that route to a long life.
Yesterday, a sweet little 104 year old lady was interviewed and asked the same question.  Her answer? She explained that she drinks at least three Dr. Peppers a day, and has done so for the past 30+ years.  Presumably she started drinking Dr. Pepper when she was 70 something.
Well, I am 70 now, but I don;t drink soda, and believe me if I do decide to drink 3 of any drink every day it won't be Dr. Pepper.  There goes another option.
I'd like to live to be 100 so I can come up with a really ridiculous answer when I'm asked "the question."

A salute to excellent engineering

Today my daughter helped me assemble a bed frame for a new set of mattresses I had purchased for my guest bedroom, and I think we were both really pleased at how easily it went together.  I had assumed that assembling the frame would involve some tools, but not so.  The cross pieces were hinged to the long side pieces and unfolded similar to unfolding the legs of a card table. Once the cross pieces were unfolded (and the little glides were popped on the bottom of the legs) it was just a matter of sliding the correct bolts, already attached, into the correct holes, sliding the pieces to lock. popping in two little plastic pegs, and hey, presto, it was done. Thank you to whoever designed this.  Well done!

and the battle goes on..

Have you noticed that, when the first snowfall of autumn is a pretty snow that covers the grass and sugar coats the evergreens, it's exciting and beautiful, but, when the same exact kind of snow fall occurs on what is supposed to be the third day of spring, it's just not?

I was reminded today, as the windy, cold, spring snow came down, of a cartoon I saw when I was about 11 years old.  I was probably too old for cartoons but we turned them on for my baby brother.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) The cartoon was an old black and white one, in the "Steamboat Willy" style, set to some classical music which I remember as being very dramatic.  It depicted the battle between winter and spring.  Blustery winds blowing warm and cold, little gnomes under ground trying to push plants and flowers up through frozen ground, and on and on the battle raged.  I'm happy to report that spring won in the cartoon.  Hold that thought.

FAME

I attended the FAME exhibit this afternoon with a young friend of mine who was one of the exhibitors. It took us a while to find his painting but it was well worth the search.  We saw lots of excellent elementary, middle school and high school art work on our tour, heard some beautiful music, and discovered, when we finally found his work that he was a silver star winner. We also discovered that the work on display was a copy.  We were told that his original, along with several other winners, is on display at Art Link Gallery. Congratulations, my friend.
It was fun to see the exhibit and also to remember that many years ago, when we had moved back to Fort Wayne, and I was working as a long-term substitute art teacher, I was involved in hanging up paintings and drawings for one of the early FAME exhibits in Fort Wayne.  I'm so pleased to see how the program has grown and evolved over the years.  Music, visual arts, dance, it's gratifying to see them all celebrated and to appreciate the quality of art instruction in our area.

Giving blood and a personal pet peeve.

I gave blood this morning as I do every 8 weeks or so.  They keep calling me back so I presume my blood is still useful - good to know.  While there, going through the checking in process - iron test, blood pressure, all the usual - I was presented by one of my pet peeves.  I know I'm "elderly" gasp - grey hair and all, but I do not like being called "honey".  I find it somehow demeaning and condescending.  After being called Honey multiple times, throughout the process, I finally snapped.  I told the friendly,40-something nurse that I really didn't like being called Honey and asked that she call me Luci instead.  I tried to be nice about it of course, and she responded well.  She said it was a habit and that she calls everyone Honey.  I didn't call her on it but I really wonder if she calls women her own age Honey or only we who are seniorly challenged.  Perhaps I have made one more person a little more sensitive, or maybe I just ticked her off.  Either way, I feel better.

It's official now.

Spring has sprung!  According to the local news it started at 6:45 pm this evening.  As I was listening to this happy news, at exactly 6:45, I glanced out the window and saw two robins hopping around in my yard.  Coincidence???  I don't think so.  Several of my friends have claimed to see robins before today but these are the first I've seen in my yard.  It's a sign.

Does this make me sexist?

I made an interesting discovery about myself this week.  I enjoy meetings, social events, volunteer opportunities, etc. more when they involve men and women.  This week I attended a lunch meeting of a group I'm thinking about joining - a group of men and women - and found it very enjoyable. Also this week I received more information about another group I'd been thinking about joining, discovered it was all women, and felt my interest plummeting.  I should note here that I do currently belong to two women's groups that I find very enjoyable, so maybe it's just a matter of two being enough.  But I think maybe it's more than that.  I was raised in a family with two brothers, I've worked all of my life, in several different jobs, but always with men and women working together, so maybe it just feels more natural to me. Or maybe, deep, deep down, I'm hoping some hot 70-year-old will come along and sweep me off my feet????

Trying an experiment

I don't think I'm addicted to technology but I must admit that, between my TV, laptop, Nexus and smart phone, I do spend quite a bit of time each day with a screen in front of my face.  I keep hearing reports on TV (my favorite health news source) that people will sleep more soundly if they refrain from using anything electronic for an hour or so before falling asleep.  So I tried this last night.  I worked a paper Sudoko puzzle and read a paperback book for a while before I turned off the light, and I really did seem to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more deeply, although I do seem to remember some weird dreams.  I will try this again tonight and see how it goes, after I play one more game.

I might have to do this again.

I finally cashed in a Christmas gift today.  My son and daughter-in-law had given me a gift card for a one hour full body massage and it was wonderful.  Same masseuse my daughter-in-law goes to and I can see why. She's quite wonderful.  It had been so long since I had had a massage that I had forgotten how lovely it could be.  By the end of the hour I was so relaxed that I barely remembered my name let alone felt any urgency about going on with the rest of my day.  Happily, since I'm retired, there wasn't much on my agenda for the rest of the day.  Double bliss!!!

more on Pi and calculating decimals

A reader (yes I actually have some) has informed me that next year will be the real Super Pi Day, because the string of numbers in Pi actually round up to 3.1416, so watch for big excitement next year on 3-14-16. Now to the other math quandary of the day.  On Monday afternoons I spend an hour tutoring a 5th grader and today his math work involved dividing with decimals. Part of the exercise was being given a problem and the digits of the answer and placing the decimal point in the right place.  I knew where the decimals should go but evidently I'm not doing it the right, modern way.  I've asked the teacher to explain the process as he teaches it.  In the meantime I'll keep doing long division or common sense (or cheating and using the calculator on my phone).  Shhh, don't tell.  I did discover that one "answer" on the worksheet was wrong.  I guess the proofreader in me still lives on.

Jumping through hoops

As I clicked over to my blog account this evening, ready to attempt to write something witty or at least somewhat interesting, I was hit with an unfamiliar screen, and a demand for lots of information I don't usually need to enter.  I don't know why, it;s an on-line mystery to me, but here I am, almost an hour later, having jumped through multiple hoops, including a security phone call, ready to write, but it's too late now.  I'm going to bed.  Blame it on Google...

Pi or Pie?

I got excited this morning when I heard that today was International Pie Day. Decisions, decisions. Should I bake a pie or buy a pie or just go have a piece of pie at a restaurant? Then I paid closer attention. It's Pi Day, not pie day.  Also very interesting but not nearly as tasty.  I celebrated my birthday last year on 12-13-14 which I thought was a really fine and unique date.  But evidently Pi Day excites more people - especially those of a mathematical bent. Now Pi Day does come around every year on 3-14 but this year (one in a hundred) is 3-14-15 which carries the number out two more places.  Carrying it a little further, if you were paying attention at 9:26 am or pm, you could carry the number out three more places.  Written properly pi = 3.1415926....an on and on.  What exactly is pi you ask?  It's the circumference of a circle divided by the diameter (I think). Maybe it's the radius but I'm pretty sure it's the diameter. I've actually gone through days and weeks and years without thinking about pi so I probably won't bother to look it up, but you can if you want to.

mixed reviews

I've just finished three days of entertainment overload.  On Wednesday evening three friends and I had dinner at a lovely restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, then attended a "Maroon 5" concert at the Nationwide Arena. The dinner was quite good bur also, in my opinion, quite overpriced and I don't mind splurging every once in a while. The fact that their computer system broke down and they had to calculate our bills "by hand" taking over half an hour for the process (evidently calculating the tax was a real challenge) left me less that whelmed.  On to the concert. Adam Levine has a good voice and, with his group, put on a good show.  Sadly, our seats turned out to be in a really bad place, off to one side of the stage.  We did get a fairly close look at the performers as the came on and off stage and we could hear just fine (I'm pretty sure people six blocks away could hear it) but we didn't really see much of the show.
Thursday, two friends and I saw the movie "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and it was very good, the high point of the week for me, but not quite as good as the first movie. A not unusual problem with sequels I think.
This evening one friend and I attended a local production of the Shakespeare play "The Merchant of Venice".  It was a good production, well acted, with several very moving moments but I didn't appreciate the re-written ending as much as I probably should have.  I like my Shakespeare in the original. If it's insensitive or politically incorrect let me figure that out for myself.

I'm probably too old for this.

I'm going to a "Maroon 5" concert with some friends this evening.  Should be fun, my grandkids think it sounds cool, but I am preparing myself for the humiliating fact that we may be "the oldest ones there".  One of my friends thinks I should get up on stage and dance with Adam Levine.  I promise you, that will not happen.

Crime really does not pay.

I heard this on the news yesterday and it made me laugh.  Two youth broke into a woman's house, stole what they thought was a container of coke, tried sniffing it but didn't get a high.  After they were caught (we're not talking master criminals here) they were informed that the substance they tried to get high on was actually the ashes of the lady's deceased father.  It serves them right, but yuck!

on multiplying decimals

This afternoon the 5th grader who I am tutoring brought a math work sheet to our session.  His class is learning to multiply decimals.  Now, I am pretty ancient but I do remember how to do this - at least the way we used to do it when I was young.  But as we worked through the problems I realized that he was being taught the same process that the sixth graders I taught seven years ago (I was a substitute teacher in sixth grade math for three months) were taught in their text book.  Their way works but it feels to me like it just complicates the issue.  I was taught to multiply the two numbers (for instance 3.2 x .47) like you would multiply whole numbers then place the decimal so you have the same number of digits to the right of the decimal as the number of digits behind the decimal points in the problem.  So in this example the answer would be 1.404.  Simple, right?  Now they are taught to line up the decimals, add zeros where necessary to make everything line up, then multiply. The problem I see with this system is that students tend to get the columns out of alignment and then the answer is wrong.  I'm sure there is a logical reason for this "new and improved" process and I didn't try to retrain my student, but why, why, why complicate things??

This seems a little hard on the dogs.

I admit it.  I do appreciate accuracy in the use of language, especially broadcast language, So when I heard this comment this morning on the local news in regard to the Iditarod sled dog race it made me feel sorry for the dogs.  The announcer said, regarding the dogs, "They will travel 1000 mile when the race ends."  It seems to me if the dogs have just run 1000 miles during the race, this is asking a bit much of them.  I think what she meant to say was "They will have traveled 1000 miles when the race ends."  Sorry, couldn't resist.  Maybe it's the last vestiges of editorship coming out.

Daylight Savings time saves me..

Sometimes these twice a year time changes work out very well indeed.  For instance this evening at 9pm I explained to my weekend guests (two of my grandchildren) that since we had to be up and out at a certain time tomorrow to make it to church and Sunday school on time, I was setting the clocks ahead now, making it 10pm, and we all needed to go to bed.  I'll leave it to you to guess which of us was the most tired, but they agreed readily enough and I'm off to bed an hour earlier than usual.  Sweet dreams.

togetherness

Two of my grandchildren, ages 13 and 12, are spending the weekend with me.  We did have supper all together sitting at the table, very traditional,  and now we are gathered together around the TV in the family room (such a lovely family scene) with one small glitch - each of us, except the cat, is sitting here with our own laptop computer in front of us.  It's a strange kind of togetherness but everyone seems happy.  Is this the 21st century version of game night?

a lumpy bumpy mattress

The time had come.  I finally had to admit that my good old "memory foam" mattress simply isn't comfortable any more - too much memory, not enough foam?  So earlier this week I ordered a new mattress which will be delivered on March 14.  Now suddenly (is it just in my mind?) my old mattress seems more uncomfortable each night.  Ah well, I'll be visiting a friend part of next week so only 7 more nights.  I did not, by the way, order a fancy schmancy mattress with dual comfort settings.  Since there is only one of me that didn't seem necessary (sorry, the cat doesn't count), but I did "test drive" several models with the help of a very patient sales lady.  I was actually surprised at how different several firm mattresses could feel, but when I stretched out on the one I eventually ordered, it just felt right.  She was patient but discouraged me from coming back to nap on the model each day.  Ah well...

Hooray! I got one comment..

and no, I haven't found anything that appeals to me on TV after 11pm.  Actually, there are things I enjoy on Netflix that I can watch any time but I don't have Netflix on my bedroom TV.  Now that I think about it, doesn't that sound like I'm spoiled?  Boo hoo, poor me.  With TVs in the bedroom, family room, kitchen and basement, I really don't have anything to complain about (except for nothing decent to watch after 11:30pm.  Ah well, thankfully there's an endless supply of good books at my local library.

An icy, icy morning

I truly do feel sorry for anyone who had to drive anywhere this morning.  It was a nasty, icy mess for a while with lots of slide offs.  I woke up when I heard sleet on my window, panicked for a minute, then remembered I'm retired and rolled over and went back to sleep.  I'm loving this.

Leave a comment, please.

Every evening, almost, I write a little blog and every day I check to see how many people have read it. The numbers vary but there's always someone reading it, but no one ever leaves a comment.  I don't want to believe that's I'm not writing anything worth commenting on, so I've decide that it must be that people just don't know the process for leaving a comment.  so hear goes -  click on the title, scroll down on the page that opens, and you'll find a box where you can leave a comment.  Please.
On another subject - I heard on TV this morning that people who sleep too long (more than six or seven hours) are more likely to have strokes.  Wouldn't you just know, I'm finally retired, able to sleep in in the mornings and now I hear this.  I guess I'll just have to stay up really late at night.  Jay Leno, where are you when I need you?

An agonizing decision...

Tonight was the last night for "Downton Abby" for this season. It was also the finale of "The Great British Baking Show".  But, on another channel, it was the season opener for "Madam Secretary" and "The Good Wife".  What to watch?  What to watch? I made my choices but it was so hard.  Is this a sign that I'm really getting into this retirement thing, that my toughest decision is what to watch on TV?  Life is good.