Communication mystery

I just found out this evening that I have a new grandpuppy named Perry. Since my daughter and her family already have two large, excellent dogs I'm not sure why they decided to rescue another one but I know that Perry has landed in a very good place.  I will get to meet him next week. But my communication puzzle is this. When my daughter told me about the new puppy I asked her to email a picture to me. She said she would, but after some time had passed and no picture showed up I discovered that my internet connection was down.  I corrected that problem, then double checked with my daughter to be sure she sent it to the correct email address. She assured me she did so here's the mystery - I have received emails from other sources this evening, but no cute puppy pictures. I even checked my promotions tab and social tab to see if the pictures (she told me there were two) had gotten misdirected for some reason. I discovered through face book that it's the birthday of someone I never heard of, and on my promotions page Sears is telling me that I need to renew an appliance warrenty on an appliance I haven't owned for two years, but still no puppy pictures. Ah well, perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps those puppy pictures are floating around in the cloud somewhere. Oh yes, the cloud, another mystery for sure.

How long does it take to get a facelift?

Well, it's crunch time again.  My high school class will be celebrating our 55 year reunion this Saturday. I use the term celebrating deliberately. I figure if we're alive, we're celebrating.  Now I've known for a while that this evening was coming, I helped plan it after all, but suddenly, with four days to go, I'm starting to think of all the things I should have done. Why didn't I exercise more? Why didn't I have a facelift? Well, I know the answer to that one. When I contemplate a face lift, I realize that to be effective, I would need to have a full body lift and where would all that excess, wrinkly skin go? Too late for that so I will go with plan B - ignore my mirror, smile a lot, and ask the restaurant to turn the lights way down low. Although it occurs to me that since our dinner is starting at 5:00pm (we are senior citizens after all) there will probably be an abundance of bright, natural light. Ah well, if nothing else I'll make everyone else feel better. They can go home thinking "Well, at leas I don't look as old as she does."

Antique Envy

I probably shouldn't watch Antiques Roadshow any more. I come away realizing that I will probably never fine a fabulously valuable antique among my stuff or at a garage sale somewhere. It's a little bit like being sure I will never win the Power Ball lottery. If you don't play, you can't win. Likewise, since I don't shop at flea markets, antique shops or garage sales I'm not likely to pick up a fabulousl find for five dollars. Since I no longer own a house I can't even fool myself into believing I might someday find a treasure tucked away in my attic or basement. Mind you, I did find lots of old stuff when I cleaned out my basement as part of downsizing two years ago. Sadly old -like a 1972 computer users manual - is not the same as valuable. Who am I kidding? I know I'll keep watching. Maybe soemday I'll see them value a mahogany framed mirror or an airbrushed painting form the 1940s, maybe???

Watching the INDY 500

As I was leaving church this morning, i spoke briefly with a friend who moved here about a year ago from Las Vegas.  I asked him if he was going to watch the race this afternoon.  He said that he probably wouldn't because he wasn't into racing much.  Then he added "I suppose it's kind of a big deal though in Indiana." You could say that. I first remember hearing about the Indianapolis 500 when I was about 12. Friends of my mother's from Pennsylvania stopped to see us on their way to the race. They were driving a Corvette which impressed me as much as the idea that they were going to some big race in Indianapolis. I have never actually attended the race but I did go to the time trials once with some college friends (that would have been about 50 years ago). Yes, cars had been invented back then. I though today's race was pretty exciting. I particularly enjoyed all the different camera angles, especially the views from cameras mounted in the cars. Rest assured though, while I enjoyed the dffect of riding in a race car, I will not be tempted to race my little Fiat tomorrow. I promise, I'll be good.

Water under the bridge....

I know that we.ve been having a lot of rain around here lately but I really appreciated how much rain over the last three days.  On Thursday a friend and I drove to visit another friend in Urbana, Ohio.  On the way over we drove through the countryside around Van Wert and I was astonished at the amount of standing water in the fields we passed.  it wasn't just little puddles but acres of water covered  fields.  We saw one farm house that was completely surrounded by water.  There were two places where we drove through standing water, not too deep, thankfully.  By today, when we drove back to Fort Wayne, taking a different route, the water had receded in many fields. One last surprise when I got back to my apartment I walked out on the balcony to enjoy the view.  I have never seen the St. mary's River so high. All of the trees along both banks are standing in deep water and the water is so high under the bridge on Spy Run Avenue that you can't float a boat under the bridge. A kayak might make it but only without anyone in it. The weatherperson on TV says we may have more heavy rain tomorrow evening. Perhaps that big ark they built down in Kentucky recently will soon be put to good use.

I was conned...

or scammed or whatever you want to call it.  It's embarrassing to admit but it happened to me. When I got off the plane on my recent flight to Seattle, late Thursdsy night, I asked the wrong person for directions and ended up having my suitcase stolen. It was a brand new suitcase filled with a lot of new and nearly new clothes because I was there to attend my nephew's wedding. I finished tallying up the list of things I lost today so I could submit it to my insurance company and the total came to over $1700. It's kind of sickening to realize how much clothing and jewelry cost. I must say here that the officers from the Port of Seattle Police Department who responded to my 911 call where extremely kind and helpful. So were the manager and desk clerk at a nearby Red Lion Inn who offered me a place to wait for the police, gave me coffee and a emergency bag filled with toothpaste, toothbrush, comb and deoderant, and called a cab for me when I was ready to head for the hotel where I was registered. By then it was about 2:30am. My own version of 'sleepless' in Seattle. The net day I attended the morning rehearsal and the rehearsal lunch in the same clothes I had worn to travel, without makeup, even. Great way to make a good first impression on my new niece. From there it got much better. After the lunch my brother and sister-in-law took me shopping for a suitable dress for the wedding and other necessities. The next day, the morning of the wedding, I asked my sister-in-law if she had any nail polish remover. She passed that request on to her sister (we were all in a block of rooms in the same hotel) and, since she had a full compliment of manicure supplies, that simple request turned into a fun maincure party on the patio with lots of family passing in and out. What started out as a fairly miserable welcome to Seattle turned into a delightful weekend. The wedding was beautiful and I like my nw niece very much.
Monday when I got home I had a call from a detective for the Port of Seattle PD who has been asssigned to my case. I don't think there's much chance of getting any of my property back but it's good to know they are working on it. It also looks like my insurance comapany will cover at least oart of the loss. Bottom line, everyone I've worked with on this situation ahs been kind and supportive and restored my faith in humanity.

Manchester tragedy

I feel so bad for the families of those killed and wounded in the recent terrorist attack in Manchester. It seems like a far away event that doesn't really impact me, and it doesn't on a purely personal level, until I remember that I will be in Great Britain in September. The event also hits home because my oldest granddaughter (almost 15) and a friend went to a K-Pop concert in Chicago a couple of weeks ago at a large venue there. Weird and wicked things can happen anywhere these days. I do think it's wonderful though, how horrible situations like this tend to bring out the best in most people. If terrorists think that their attacks will destroy a ommunity, or whole country, they are sadly mistaken. The basic impulse after an event like this for most people seems to be to help, not hide, and to come together for mutual support.  I'm not a big fan of our president but in this csse I think he has it right. People who will randomly kill and wound don't deserve a title like "terrorist".  They are really just losers.

Sunny Seattle

I have just returned from a long weekemd in Seattle. My brother's oldest son got maried and the whole affair was a huge success. The bride was glowing, the groom obviously besotted. They obviously had fun planning this wedding. The traditional touches - flower girl, ring bearer, bride's maids, groom's men, all played their parts with perfect decorum. The singer and chellist were both excellent. A fun high point came when the groom dipped the bride as he gave her a more exuberant than usual kiss at the end of the service. They also gave a fine exhibition of swing dancing for their first dance. While Seattle is traditionally rainy, it was warm and sunny every day that I was there. Perfect wedding weather. It was also great to spend time with my youngest brother (the father of the groom) and all his wonderful etended family. All in all it was a perfect weekend except for that pesky part where my suitcase got stolen

never say never

I get a little suspicious when someone says "They never do that>" or some equivalent statement. I'm going to be making a few small (three to four day) trips over the next several weeks and decided I needed a middle-size suitcase, not as large as the one I use for two-week trips but larger than my ancient carry-on. I went to Macy's yesterday because they are always having sales and checked in their luggage department. I had measured my big and small suitcases and took a tape measure with me so I could check out sizes. A seemingly helpful clerk came over to see what I was up to, and when I explained the approximate size suitcase I was looking for, not having seen any in the luggage sets displayed, she informed me in a very firm manner that "Nobody makes that size suitcase." Really?? Nobody, anywhere? Being dissatisfied with this answer, I decide to try another place today and what do you know? At Target, in their travel section, I found exactly the size I was looking for, in three different colors and two different brands. I chose a  royal blue (matches my car) model by American Tourister. It has lots of space for its size, four indipendentaly swiveling wheels, and a nice long extendable pull handle. Everything I like in a suitcase. The moral of this story is if someone tells you there is no such thing, go look for it at Target.

I'm afraid I've failed again...

and I don't even care very much. According to an article in the AARP Renew magazine which showed up in my mailbox today it is recommended that active adults walk at least 10,000 steps a day. For the record, I walked 5,269 steps (2.41 miles according to my Fitbit) today and taht's about average for me. The article also said that people over 70 should engage in at least 150 minutes of aerobic and at least two days of muscle strengthening exercises each week. Wow, I am so far from those goals that I think I need to seriously revise some of my habits. I'll start by not reading those depressing health articles any more.

A tragic situation???

First, let me say that I do know that yesterday was Mothers' Day not Nothers' Day (although that might be an interesting concept for a special day). But today I'm thinking about another situation and I will try to write about it without typos. Today is National Chocolate Chip Day. I like to honor special days whenever I can and if there was ever a day worthy of celebration this is it. Sadly, I didn't know it was National Chocolate Chip Day until I got home this evening; too late to go on a chip quest, so I shall simply think about chocolate chip trreats I have enjoyed in times gone by. There are chocolate chip cookies of course, including Chips Ahoy. My sister-in-law likes to mix chocolate chips into warm popcorn. Try it, it's yummy. Marshmallow treats are always better with chocolate chips and chocolate pudding benefits from having chips stirred in; ice cream also. Chocolate chip brownies are the best, or, let's be honest here, it's hard to beat chcolate chips right out of the bag. Perhaps I should write a chocolate chip cookbook. Some years ago my sister-in-law sent me a Twinkies cookbook. Every recipe in it was made with Twinkies. If Twinkies can have their own cookbook it seems fair to do the same for chocolate chips.

Happy Nothers' Day

It's been a lovely Mothers' Day weekend with time spent with all of my family, in person, by phone and by text; cards, flowers and great food. What more could any mom want? For some years now I've been the oldest Mom in my family, the matriarch if you will. Doesn't that sound impressivne? I really love my family nnd my position in it but I do marvel sometimes at how fast it all seems to have come around. It's hard to believe but I've been a mom now for almost 46 years. Both of my children have grown up to be good responsible adults and their children seem to be on their way to good lives. I thank God for my blessings and I would give myself a pat on the back but you know, at my age, I would probably throw my shoulder joint out.

Lyndsay's Allen County Twirlers

This evening I attended my granddaughter's baton recital. This is her 5th year taking baton lessons from Miss Lyndsay. No flaming batons yet, thank goodness, but she and two friends did a special number which was very good. It was fun watching my granddaughter perform and interesting to see how far her group has come compared to the little first and second year girls. On the down side after two and a half hours of watching girls twirl batons, dance and shake pom poms the bleacher seats at Carroll High School were getting very, very hard. On the bright side, the best perfomance of the evening by far was by a young lady who had gone through the baton school here for several years and is now in her second year on the baton squad at Purdue. Who knew Purdue even had a baton squad? She was very, very good and gave all of the little girls quite a thrill, and some of the dads also I suspect.

Shopping woes

I decided to go shopping at the mall today.  I'm attending a nephew's wedding next weekend and thought it would be nice to have a new pair of dress pants (my granddaughter assures me they are not called slacks anymore) and maybe a skirt if I found something I liked. Let me tell you right now, the stores at the mall do not cater to 72 year old ladies, at least not this one. I like the tops of my pants to come up to my natural waist, not hang on my hips somewhere around my navel. Good luck with that. Also, while I thought some of the lacy blouses I saw were cute I couldn't imagine wearing them to a wedding, or anywhere else for that matter, with jeans that are pre-torn, and in some cases (if they're really expensive) pre-muddied. I'm an equal opportunity shopper so I strolled through Macy's, JC Penney's. Carson's and Sears, plus a few other little shops. Pant lengths are interesting too. They are either too short or so long that they drag on the floor. Still not the style I'm looking for. I did spot one nice looking navy blue pencil skirt at Sears. Knee length, natural waist, but it had a split up the middle of the front that went a bit higher than seemed decent to me. I did see some short skirts, like the mini skirts were wore 50 years ago. Sadly, my legs are not mini skirt eligible any more. I want to enjoy this wedding not repel people. So, after roaming the mall for a few hours, with a Starbuck's break, I did what any self respecting grandma-type would do. No, I did not rush home and pull out my sewing machine. I did rush home and pulled out my laptop. 15 minutes later I had found what I wanted and ordered it on line. Interestingly, I had heard a report on the morning news today, saying that retail stores aren't doing very well financially.  More and more people are buying on line. Now I understand.

Prettier by night...

I love the view from my balcony and a major part of that is the muddy old river, the St. Mary's, that flows along just beyond one of the apartment parking lots. By day it's sometimes pretty and sometimes rather mundane depending on what it's reflecting. Yesterday, when the sun was shining and the river was very still, I noticed that the reflection of the tree branches that reach out over the water looked like delicate lace. Of course ducks, geese and boats also liven it up during the day time. At night, especially when there is a breeze, the reflections of all the lights from the bridge and nearby buildings dance and sparkle on the water.  Very lovely and generally very relaxing and quiet except for an evening like tonight when there is a concert going on a half block away. A whole different kind of fun but not exactly relaxing. The concert season has begun.

Hot German Potato Salad recipe

The only thing better than having people enjoy the food I cook is having someone ask for the recipe. High praise indeed. The recipe I used recently for Hot German Potato Salad (actually the cookbook calls it Baked German Potato Salad) comes from a cookbook put together by an AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) group and published in 1989. Not sure how it came into my possession but it has become one of my favorites. A quote at the beginning of the book says "A recipe that is not shared with others will soon be forgotten, but when it is shared, it will be enjoyed by future generations." So here it is:
1 cup dliced bacon (I used thick sliced bacon and cut it in small pieces before I fried it.)
1 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped onion
3 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 Tablespoons flour
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1 & 1/3 cup water
8 cups cubed, cooked potatoes (I used one bag of "Salad Time" potatoes from Kroger. They have a thin yellow skin and don't need to be peeled. Try not to over cook the potatoes.

Boil potatoes and drain; put in large bowl. Fry bacon and drain, Add to the potatoes. Return 4 tablespoons of the bacon fat to the skillet in which you fried the bacon. Add celery, onion, salt and flour. Cook gently, Add sugar, vingar, pepper and water. Bring to a boil. Pour mixture over potatoes and bacon. Mix gently. Put in a three quart baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I actually made the salad a day ahead, refrigerated it after I put it in the baking dish, and baked it the next day at 300 degrees for one hour.  This worked just fine.

I always like to make ahead when I can so I can do the clean up ahead.
Enjoy!!!

Where's the air bag?

As I was dirving my youngest granddaughter home from school today we got into a discussion about driving safety and trying to drive defensively and avoid accidents. In the discussion she asked me where the air bag was on the passenger side of the car and I have to admit I can't see where an airbag is hiding on the front passenger side. It's pretty obvious on the driver's side, right there in the center of the steering wheel but where is it on the right? It never occured to me that a relatively new car (it's a 2015 model) wouldn't have airbags on both sides. Tomorrow, while I'm waiting for her to come out of school I will be reading the manual so I can answer her question and ease my mind. To be continued......

positive attitude

I received a letter today from a former classmate who will not be able to attend our 55 year class reunion on June 3. We had corresponded by email. Actually his wife and I corresponded because he has lost almost all of his sight over the last two years. I had ssid I would be glad to read the letter to the reunion attendees but was dreading what might be a very sad letter. However, his letter was full of happy news. He and his wife gave up their home in Kentucky because they couldn't take care of the property anymore and moved to a retirement community in Florida. Happily, it sounds like they have settled in a great place, where, among other things, they go line dancing almost every Friday and Saturday night. His best line in the letter "You don't need to see to be able to dance."  I do appreciate a positive attitude.

Hot German Potato Salad

I like to try out new recipes when I have company. Probably not the best idea, but it almost always works out OK. This evening I had a small group of church ladies over. It was my first time to host the monthly meeting and my responsibility to provide the main course for supper. Others brought salad and desert. I've been hungering for hot German potato salad for a few weeks - who knows why - and this seemed like a good chance to make some. I used a recipe taht sounded good from an old cookbook of my mother's. When I entertain I like to do as much food prep ahead of time as possible so I spent yesterday afternoon boiling potatoes, frying bacon, chopping onions and celery and generally making a big mess of my kitchen. Spattered bacon grease all over everywhere. But the clean up was well worth it. Today I popped that salad into the oven in time to be warmed through for supper and it tasted great, at least to me. Everyone at the table said it was good and some even took seconds and thirds which is the real test. Now I just need ot figure out what to do with the leftovers. Ah, well.  I'm sure I'll deal with it somehow.  It seems that hot German potato salad is also really good cold, who knew?

Is this what Shakespeare had in mind?

Probably. Everyone who has ever seen it knows that "The Taming of the Shrew" is a truly funny Shakespeare comedy. I'm not sure I approve of Kate's capitulation at the end of the play, but I'm pretty sure she's just biding her time and chooing her battles. If you have never seen the play or if you have I think you would enjoy the First Presbyterian Theater production. Set in the 1970's and presented with background music like "Goin' to the Chapel" and actors wearing leisure suits, it's a feast for eyes and ears and presents the story in the bawdy, silly style that Shakespeare would have applauded.

Sweet Successes

Last night at dinner with the family I learned that two of my granddaughters have received high honors at their schools with GPAs over 3.8 on a four point scale.  Needless to say I'm very pleased for and proud of both of them. This morning I attended a Literacy Alliance meeting with the mentally challenged young lady who I have been tutoring for the last year. It was a preliminary meeting for people interested in getting their GEDs which, by the way, I learned are now called HSEs (High School Equivalency degree).  As part of the morning's program the people were tested to see if they could qualify to take classes to get ready for their HSEs. My student and I decided to go, at her request, to see if she might be ready to take the classes. When I started working with her a year ago she told me very bluntly that she was retarded - her word - and had been tested as reading at a third grade level. I've wondered about that all year because it seemed to me her reading was at a higher level. But that was just my impression. Today she tested at a sixth grade reading level. She was so excited and has been signed up for the first HSE class. Success comes at all levels.

lost and found

I received an email late yesterday from the travel agent who is handling the trip I'm planning to take to Australia next year asking me when I was going to send in my reservation form and deposit which were due last week.  I emailed her back this morning and explained that according to my notes I had  mailed the infomation to her way back on April 8. Then I checked my American Express card and discovered that nothing had been charged to it. The good result of this was that I did get my desk thouroughly cleaned off by sorting through every stack of papers that had acumuated there on  the chance that the letter had never been mailed. No letter here but this evening I received another email saying that she had found my letter. It seems like quite a bit of mail had accumulated for her while she was at an agents' meeting in Dubai (poor baby) and, after sorting through everything, she found my letter stuck inside a magazine. So the mystery is solved and we both got some cleaning done - all good.

I'm definitely not ready for this yet'...

I picked up my middle granddaughter, age 14, from school the other day, and as she hopped in the car she announced "Congratulations, you're a great grandma!" NOOOOOO.......... I am definitely not ready for this, especially since my oldest grandchild is only (almost) 16.  After my heart rate calmed down she explained that, for one week only, she was the proud mommy of a hard boiled egg named Finn. For a class assignment she had to care for this little egg, take him everywhere, and generally keep him in good shape, no cracks or other problems. To be able to bring their eggs home, each student had to provide a cushioned carrier (her's was very cute) and a small toy. On Saturday my daughter got a taste of being a grandma. She had to babysit the egg while his mom peformed in a baton recital. I'm not sure this experience convinced my grnddaughter not to rush into motherhood but I'm pretty sure it convinced my daughter that she's in no hurry to be a grandma.

Small Town, Big Flip

I heard about a new TV show coming soon that sounds a lot like shows on now that feature people buying a house in terrible condition, fixing it up and selling it for a profit (flipping). What makes this show interesting to me is that it takes place right here in northern Indiana with houses that will sell for about $150,000 instead of a million or so in other parts of the country. I think it will be fun to see what shows up in the Fort Wayne area.  When I sold real estate, a few years back, I worked with a few buyers wanting to purchase homes to flip and the process isn't as easy as it sounds. The trick is finding a derelict property that, when fixed up, will sell for big bucks because it's in a very desirable area. I'm curious to see how this plays out on this show. Will they show what the improved properties actually sell for? Time will tell.

I can be flexible, sort of.

I am, I admit it, a creature of habit. I like to have a certain amount of regular routine in my life. For example I do my laundry on Monday mornings, mainly because I don't have meetings or anything else on Mondays and the laundry room is usually deserted on Monday mornings. Today, I woke up with my day planned out, laundry in the morning, pick up my granddaughter from school in the afternoon and then a quick trip to the grocery store. Simple right? So I loaded my sheets and towels into my nifty cart and headed down to the laundry room. It was empty, as I anticipated but there was also a note on the door. It said that all of the washers were disconnected because a major water line had broken and they were working on repairs. The sign said we could use the dryers, which didn't seem very practical since I couldn't wash anything. The sign also suggested that I could use the laundry room in the other building but I really didn't want to drag my laundry over there. So, what to do. I came back up to my apartment feeling frustrated and perplexed.  What to do? It finally dawned on me (I can be flexible, it just takes a while) that I could flip my planned schedule for the day and go to the grocery store first and so I did, and, hooray, hooray, by the time I got home in the afternoon after taking my granddaughter home from school, the plumbing repairs had been made and I did get my laundry done today which is good. I do like my routine, even if it only works for one day a week.