Am I doing something wrong?

My tree is up and decorated and my Christmas poem is almost ready to mail, I've even strung some lights on my balcony railing.  But, according to the media I've missed out on the most important steps. I didn't shop on Black Friday, I didn't shop on Small Business Saturday and, so far, I haven't shopped on Cyber Monday. Since I'm retired and can shop when I want to, I think I'll wait for "The Mall's not Too Crowded Today Wednesday."

High tech, low tech, no tech

I spent much of this evening addressing envelopes, by hand, to mail our my Christmas poem by snail mail.  All very low tech by today's standards and yet 50 years ago a ball point pen was considered very forward thinking.  I searched for addresses in my address book and other paper directories, no tech, and on my phone, high tech by my standards, and even went back to my good old Sharp Wizard to find names and addresses still stored there.  I think I got my Wizard about 15 years ago as a Christmas bonus at work. Everyone in management got one and they were seen as cutting edge.  Not only could you enter data like names, addresses and phone numbers of your clients in this nifty little hand held devise, you could also keep your calendar, notes from meetings, expenses, and even check the time.  For some reason mine is showing the time in Norfolk, VA and Chicago right now and also a date of September 22, 2003. Obviously I didn't use that app much. I guess it was just quicker to look at my watch.  Of course the wonderful Wizard didn't make phone calls, send texts, access apps and games or other internet sources or allow you to check your email. So my little old Wizard has been relegated to the land of low tech which is probably why I'm still using it.

50 years and counting

I went with friends today to celebrate with other friends their 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a fun afternoon of seeing old acquaintances, admiring the grandchildren of the celebrating couple, and eating cake, nuts and mints (the ingredients of a successful reception). My daughter-in-law has commented that she thinks I'm very lucky to still have good friends that I've know since college, and, in some cases, since elementary school. I agree, I'm very blessed.  I've been trying to remember how four of us and our husbands (who all knew each other since college or soon after) started getting together almost every year, allowing us to stay close friends. The group pictures we've accumulated over the years show us gathered at everyone's houses or lake cottages or in mutually agreed on vacation spots, young, slim newly weds, parents of toddlers, posing with our teenage children, at each other's children's weddings, and on and on.  The pictures seem to prove that we really have known each other for over 50 years, but I'm still puzzled about how 50 years can possibly have gone by so quickly?  A joyful mystery I guess.

not too old yet

I invited my four grandchildren to come to my place this afternoon to help me decorate my Christmas tree.  This has become a tradition over the last many years, but this was the first time in my new apartment. Some years it's not all of us, sometimes one or more of their parents pitch in, but every year I have some help.  This year however I found myself wondering if they are getting too old to want to help.  At 14, 13, 13 and 11 they're not babies any more and there was a little bit of grumbling last week when I mentioned the idea. But, once we were all together they pitched right in, got all of the ornaments on the tree in two hours, snacked, laughed, teased each other, and ended up on the floor playing a rousing game of Jumping Monkeys. My tree looks just as cluttered, busy, messy, sparkly beautiful as it always does. I'm glad they're not too old yet.

One more thing to be thankful for...

Happy Thanksgiving.  I had a very pleasant Thanksgiving Day, full of the usual family fun, delicious food of which I ate too much as is traditional, and general good feelings all around.  Then I came home and watched a PBS special about the Pilgrims, their early years and the first Thanksgiving, based heavily on William Bradford's journal "of Plimoth (his spelling) Plantation".  This was a fascinating program and has left me feeling very, very grateful that I'm living now, not then.

Thanksgiving Eve

I'm really enjoying the fact that I'm not cooking Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  My son and daughter in law are hosting and my daughter is bringing dessert - mint chocolate cake and two apple pies. I'll be bringing sweet potatoes.  Up until a few hours ago I thought that would be my only contribution. Then I got a call from my son asking if I had a card table.  As a matter of fact I do, so I'll be taking that.  Just a little while ago I got another call asking me to bring two special serving dishes, so they are packed up and ready to go. It's good to still be needed, especially for the easy stuff.

never say never

I remember back in the 1980s when we bought our last house.  The buyer of our house in Ohio got a VA loan at 17%.  We were able to assume a mortgage to buy our house and got a read deal at 11%.  Soon after we moved I got my first job as a mortgage loan officer and was introduced to an amazing array of creative mortgages.  Adjustable rates and negative amortization loans were common place and the wisdom of the day claimed that we would never see single digit mortgage rates again.  In the last several years mortgage rates have held right around 4%.  So much for the wisdom of the '80s.  Now we are enjoying a drop in gas prices and I know I personally never thought I would see gas prices under $2 a gallon again. It's really fun to fill my car's gas tank for less than $20.  I think one gas station couldn't quite make the adjustment though. I was driving on the day that gas prices really started dropping and every gas station I passed had $1.99.99 posted as their price, except for one station. The price posted there was $9.99.99 a gallon. I thought maybe they didn't have any ones in their stock of numbers but my granddaughter theorized that perhaps they were trying to appeal to rich people - those who don't care how much gas costs. Interesting theory but I noticed by the next day they had corrected their price. Enjoy it while it lasts.

a fair weather walker?

I've been so proud of myself during the last several weeks because I've been walking to meetings at church and other places during the week.  Today, however, I decided to drive myself to my tutoring session because it was cold outside. How wimpy is that?  I guess I'm a fair weather walker - at least outside.  I think it's about time to explore the exercise room downstairs.

enjoying Korean cuisine

Today at church our Korean congregation hosted us all and honored US Korean War veterans at their annual Korean Thanksgiving Dinner, yumm. Since my husband served in Korea when he was in the Army I always try to go to this event.  Today I was scheduled to take the young man I mentor out to lunch.  It turned out he wanted to attend the Korean dinner, so, in addition to enjoying a delicious lunch, we also enjoyed a free lunch.  Truly a  win win situation.  I'm always somewhat surprised at how much gratitude the South Koreans still seem to feel for the American soldiers who served there. A Korean friend wrote an interesting booklet describing her life in South Korea during and after the war.  One of my favorite of her stories involved US soldiers.  She tells that when, after months of very restricted living, it was finally safe to go out into the city, her parents took her and her sisters (all dressed in their Sunday best) out for a walk. While walking they met a couple of US soldiers who made a little fuss over how cute the girls were.  After the soldiers had walked on my friend asked her mother who, actually what, they were because they looked so strange to her. Her mother answered "They are our angels."  For years after that's what my friend thought angels looked like.

Well behaved snow

We had a lovely snowfall today.  It behaved just like I think snow always should.  It coated the grass beautifully, flocked the bare tree branches, made the riverbank look pristine, and, most importantly, stayed off the streets What more can  one ask?  On a ride down in the elevator this afternoon, on my way to recycle some cardboard, I struck up a conversation with the young couple sharing the ride.  I asked them the same question I asked others in the last few days "What do we do with snow that accumulates on our balconies?" The young lady replied "I don't know.  I don't have a balcony." The young man replied "Everyone is required to build a snowman."  I liked his answer best.

I've become a cart lady,

not to be confused with a bag lady. I'm not homeless and I certainly have plenty of stuff.  It's the stuff that made me realize that living in this apartment required a change of habits.  My garage and laundry room are both 10 stories down, and, even though I get there riding an elevator, I realized early on that I didn't want to have to make multiple trips to carry baskets of laundry and bags of groceries from the ground level to my apartment. Hence my cart. I bought mine at Kroger's for about $16. I figured that was a good amount to invest to see if the idea even worked. I was concerned about the image problem (will I look like a little old lady with my cart?) until I discovered that almost everyone here has a cart.  It's fun to see the variety of styles, sizes and colors. As I was walking out to my car today with my cart, since I was on the way to the grocery store, a young lady coming in from the garage, carrying two heavy looking bags looked at my cart and said "I have to get one of those." While I was in the laundry room this afternoon a lady about my age came in with her puppy riding on top of the clothes in her cart.  She looked at my cart and said "I need to get a larger cart like yours." Huh, cart envy?  Who knew?

snow confusing

I'm always excited by the first snowfall of the year and, according to the weather reporters, we're going to have some on Saturday. What I find confusing, or maybe just amusing, are the variety of possibilities concerning this anticipated snow. Will we have two inches or three inches or will it all turn to rain or will it just kind of disappear before it hits the ground, or my balcony for that matter? I've heard all of these possibilities predicted.  Now this raises another question.  What do I do with snow that piles up on my balcony? Do I sweep it off (I didn't bring a snow shovel with me) and trust it won't hit someone below, or just let it pile up, or build a snow fort against the railing? Or, maybe, there will be enough to build a snowman? I suspect it won't be a problem this weekend but who knows what might come.

shedding a little light on the subject...

I did a little light shopping today.  Actually it was lamp shopping. I decided I wanted some new lamps for my living room because the old ones were, well, old. The new lights, one for each end of the sofa, have lovely white translucent shades and it's amazing how much brighter the room is. I bought the lamps at a place on Covington Road called Lamps, etc. Just coincidentally, my daughter (and decorating consultant) had a coupon so better and better. The only down side to this purchase is that now I want to replace all my other lamps - luckily, common sense and my budget will keep me from doing this in the very near future.

holding babies

One Tuesday morning a month I volunteer, with two or three other ladies, to baby sit a gaggle of toddlers while their moms attend a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. This is very good for me.  I get my fill of holding crying babies while they adjust to the fact that their moms have abandoned them, perhaps never to be seen again. This often takes as much as 60 seconds after which they are off and running, crawling, walking and finding the nosiest toys to play with. Two long hours later, after several melt downs. when someone realized all over again that mom wasn't there, an animal cracker snack, and a lot of toy picking up (great bending, stretching, lifting exercises) all 11 moms (one had left 2 little ones with us) came back and claimed their children. Great rejoicing all around.  Tomorrow I will pick up my 11 and 13 year old granddaughters after school and eye the time they spend quietly working on their I pads with new appreciation.

An eternal truth

Women of all ages love new clothes.  I was reminded of this truth when the 4th grade, recently turned 10 year old girl who I tutor on Monday afternoons came strutting off the bus and into our meeting room.  I though her outfit looked new and it was confirmed when she proudly told me that she and her mom had gone shopping this weekend and these were her new clothes. She is one of seven sisters so I suspect a shopping trip alone with her mom is a pretty special occasion. Her new outfit consisted of a "Minion" t-shirt (Minions are very popular with my granddaughters so I recognized this) and dark blue denim overalls decorated with silver studs. Altogether a perfect outfit for a ten-year-old.  I think, to celebrate her excitement, I should go shopping. It seems appropriate.

as heard on TV

The cute young lady reporting the weather on a local TV station last night said that the weather for the next few days would be "seasonable". Really? Seasonable? Does that mean I can sprinkle salt and pepper on it?  I assumed she probably meant "seasonal" but then I got to thinking, maybe some weather is seasonable.  In the winter we sprinkle salt on icy sidewalks. Does that count?

a new taste sensation

I went with a friend to an event at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art this evening. After the event we decided to stop at a nearby restaurant for a snack. We shared a nice tasty little pizza but the real treat of the evening, for me, was a peach martini.  Who even knew there was such a thing? I've never liked the very few martinis I've tasted before but it turns out, if you add some peach liquor, peach juice, a slice of peach, and sugar around the rim of the glass you get a really tasty drink, sneaky too, but I managed to walk out under my own power. Next time I may try their chocolate martini.

What if the power goes out?

Another elevator conversation, two of us were discussing the weather forecast for tonight - possible high winds that could result in power outages. The lady in the elevator said if the power goes out we'll have to walk down 10 flights of stairs.  My immediate thought was "Why?" And then I realized she is probably one of those unfortunate people who have to go to work in the morning.  As for me, I found my super good little flashlight and will stay put until the power comes on again. How's that for a plan?

my comfort dilemma

I overheard two people talking in the elevator yesterday. They were discussing the high electric bills here in the apartments and how they cope. I had heard, before I moved in, that the electric bills can be pretty high in these total electric apartments. It was one of the negatives on my list of pros and cons but I decided to move here anyway. One of the two people in the elevator mentioned putting insulating strips around her windows, another said she had unplugged all of her heaters. I think that last sounds a little extreme.  My apartment has three heating units, one in each bedroom and one in the living room, plus a space heater in each bathroom. Earlier this month I had shades installed on all my windows and added curtains in the bedrooms and these seem to be doing a good job of holding in the warmth on these chilly evenings.  I haven't had to run my bedroom heaters much at all.  Now I know colder days are coming and my bill will go up.  I just paid the October bill - $32.00.  My problem is I really like the view, night and day, from the big wall of windows in my living room. Do I close the shades or do I pay the big bucks?  Time will tell.

cannon booms and foreign flags

Another unexpected view from my balcony - Saturday morning I looked out and saw a strange, unfamiliar flag flying over the old fort.  It was bright red with a small union jack in the upper left corner.  I don't know what time in history the flag was from but I'm guessing there was a re-enactment going on at the fort because later I heard several loud booms as cannons were shot off. I'm assuming they were firing blanks because I didn't see any cannon balls zooming across Spy Run or splashing into the river. That would have been something to see though.

beautiful music

I saw a performance by the Fort Wayne Children's Choir this afternoon. Every song they performed was beautiful and I really enjoyed all of the music but most particularly that performed by the Concert Choir.  Of course I may have been biased because of the beautiful red head in the second row from the top.  It was fun to watch all of the younger choirs and remember the stages that my granddaughter has gone through to get where she is now.  Sing on!

the perfect paper route

Did you have a paper route as a kid? My husband did and he had memories of lots of snowy, cold dark mornings and people who wouldn't pay their bills.  I'm sure there must have been a few lovely early summer mornings but I didn't hear about those memories.  When I lived on Tonkel Road my paper person drove a truck and had fun making me guess where the paper might be - in the snow in the driveway? in a bush? maybe in the paper box? Every Sunday morning was an adventure. Today I was explaining to a friend that every Sunday morning my paper is left in a plastic bag neatly hanging from my apartment door doorknob.  We both agreed that delivering papers along the indoor hallways of an apartment complex has to be one of the best paper routes ever.

new lights on the horizon

One part of the view from my balcony that I always enjoy in the daytime are the colorful chimneys on the Science Central building. I'm not sure who the genius was who decided that the remnant chimneys from its days as a power plant should be painted in brilliant "crayola crayon" colors to celebrate its current use as a children's hands-on science museum but I salute her (or him). Now, brand new tonight, they've added lights!  Those colorful chimneys are glowing on my horizon.  Quietly awesome!

bridge vibrations

As I was spending one of my relaxing times on my balcony today I noticed an interesting phenomenon. The river was very still - if this river flowed any more slowly it would be a pond - and the reflection of the bridge was sharp and clear in the water. Then the light changed, cars started to move across the bridge, and under the bridge the water was vibrating, rippling in a curious cross current kind of way in time to the traffic overhead.  Who knew bridges vibrated so much? I don't know if I like the idea of the bridge vibrating beneath me when I drive over it tomorrow. Maybe I'll just go really fast.  "I'm sorry officer, I just wanted to get across before the bridge collapses."

The results are in

I did my duty, found the right place and voted - and in the process discovered that the senior center has a shuffle board court and a pool table. I won some and lost some in the election but at least I exercised my right to vote and I'm pretty sure the city will carry on without too much trouble.

a gaggle of geese

I watched a gaggle? group? bunch? of Canadian geese yesterday morning apparently getting organized to fly south for the winter.  It reminded me of a conversation I had recently in the elevator. I am enjoying my elevator mini-conversations. Anyway, in this case one young lady in a group was from Canada.  I'm not sure how the conversation got around to geese but the young lady informed me that in Canada they call them Canadian geese. Then she got off the elevator before I had a chance to tell her that that's what we call them here too.
But back to my nature observation.  It was fun to look down on the geese from the 10th floor.  While they eventually flew above the tree tops they never got as high as my eye level. There must have been at least 30 of them and they flew up, circled around, landed in a grassy area along the river and repeated the whole process at least four or five times before eventually getting their act together and flying off - west not south.  Perhaps a failure in leadership?  The whole process reminded me of what is going on in the Republican presidential race these days.