off to a good start

 I know it isn't the new year quite yet, but, based on today, I have high hopes.  Good things have been happening all day.  In no particular order:  I got a good hair cut.  I had brunch with a friend (pancakes and bacon, yum).  Ball State won there first ever bowl game.  My niece texted me that she and her long term boyfriend got married over the Christmas break.  Also she and her new husband are buying a condo in Myrtle Beach SC as an investment property.  I'm hoping that, if I and some friends want to vacation there, we can get the friends and family discount.  Also, and this is a big one, my grandson shaved for the first time all year.  No, he didn't get a hair cut but one step at a time.  Happy New Year everyone.  2021 here we come.  

shopping spree

 Every Christmas for the last 12 years I have gifted each of my four grandchildren with an after Christmas shopping spree and lunch. One on one.  Over the years we have lunched at Chuckie Cheeses, Cracker Barrel, Red Robin, and many more.  We have shopped at Glenbrook and an antique mall and Menards and on and on.  Over the years interests have evolved from Build a Bear to Victoria's Secret and shopping for soldering irons and car repairs.  This year we had to make a change.  Since shopping anywhere in public is still problematic, I offered each of them a virtual shopping spree.  They can shop on line for whatever they want (within their set limit) send me the list, with all the order information, and I can  order and pay for the items and have them shipped directly to them.  We will find time for lunch later in the year.  Two of them have taken me up on the offer so far and I have been able to order everything on their lists.  Approximate delivery times vary which should keep them entertained with anticipation for a while.  Ho, ho, ho.

a word to the wise

 This morning on the TV news there was a short segment about new and unfamiliar words that have become commonplace this year.  Words like Zoom, Covid and coronavirus are no surprise.  We've learned about live streaming, social distancing and of course masks but my favorite new phrase is 'doom scrolling'.  Doom scrolling refers to spending hours on social media and other 'news' sources absorbing all the worst news about politics, illness, etc.  When I heard the word, I immediately thought of a good friend of mine, a retired nurse, who spends endless hours reading the sad posts of nurse friends and then wants to tell me all about the people they know who are sick or have died.  I don't mean to sound callous but I just think a steady diet of gloom and doom can't be good for a person.   So I am going to focus on the uplifting.  Here we are, swiftly, gratefully sliding into 2021.  I may even invent my own new phrase.  How about Happy hunting?  Serenity searching?  Polling positivity?  I'll keep working on it but you get the idea.  Let's turn our minds to something positive.  And if that makes me an ostrich, so be it.

return time

 I went to the mall today.  I know, I know, I was taking my life in my hands but I needed my calendars.  I wore my mask of course, and stayed six feet away from people whenever I could.  It's pretty easy in the mall which is a big place.  Every year I get two 'day at a time' calendars, one Sudoku and one of a variety of brain building puzzles (approved by Mensa no less) so I can work on puzzles while I eat breakfast.  I always wait until after Christmas to buy these puzzle calendars in case someone in my family takes the hint and buys them for me.  But this year, as you know, they all invested in my Roomba so I bought my calendars myself.  In case you're wondering, Rhoda is feeling well since I cleaned her rollers and did a great job vacuuming the guest bedroom.  Sadly, when I sent her the message to stop cleaning and go home she bumbled around a bit and then admitted that she couldn't find her way home.  When I carried her into the living room she managed to dock herself perfectly.  But I digress. While I was at the mall I noticed that a lot more people seemed to be returning than buying.  The longest line I saw, people carrying packages and waiting patiently, was outside Victoria's Secret.  So then I started wondering what people were returning to Victoria's Secret. Lacy bras? Fancy panties? Slinky pajamas?  Those all sound like great gifts to me, or would have in my younger days.  Of course maybe they were returning thongs.  That I could totally understand.

catching up

 Rhoda explored the guest bedroom (my weaving room) today and got all choked up.  Possibly a reflection on my housekeeping but I'll ignore that.  I have learned how to empty its little bin.  Tomorrow I will learn how to clean its beaters because it spoke to me and told me to do that.  

On a totally unrelated subject, today is National Fruitcake Day.  I am one of the probably four or five people in the United States who like fruitcake.  I've heard all the jokes about using them as doorstops and regifting them year after year.  There is one legend that says that there is really only one fruitcake that just gets passed around from person to person and year to year.  When I told my west coast brother that I actually like fruit cake he admitted that so does he.  We decided it might be genetic.  Sadly, when I did some grocery shopping at Kroger's today I couldn't find any fruitcake.  Maybe I should check Trader Joe's?  

continuing the adventure

 Well, I plugged in my Roomba and followed the 'simple' on line directions to get it set up.  Then I realized my wifi connection wasn't good in the bedroom so I moved the whole set-up to the living room and did the set up all over again.  I still don't have all of the possible programming finished but I was able to get it (sorry, that's Rhoda, I had to give it (her?) a name) to vacuum the living room.  Sort of.  I envisioned Rhoda rolling slowly in straight lines back and forth across the room.  Instead she zigged and zagged around the Christmas tree and several other obstacles.  She did a fine job of vacuuming under the couch but had to be rescued when she got stuck in a corner under there.  All in all I only spent twice as long as it would have taken me to vacuum the whole apartment.  

Ho Ho Ho

 Well, I got my Christmas wish.  My children went together and bought me a Roomba.  What, you may ask is a Roomba?  Or you may not ask if you see the TV commercials.  A Roomba is a robot vacuum cleaner.  It's small, round, less than 4 inches tall and about 13 inches in diameter, and, once I have it programmed, it will zip around and vacuum my whole apartment.  I decided to wait until tomorrow to do the programming.  I think it's good to be awake and alert for something like that.  I did. however, take time to read the warnings and instructions and I learned some interesting things.  First, the instructions are written for young people with good eyesight.  But I found my handy dandy magnifying glass and overcame that obstacle, I also learned that it's so simple even an eight year old can operate it (after he's properly trained).  I also learned that I mustn't ride on it and I shouldn't let it out on the balcony.  Friends who have these devices tell me they are wonderful and assure me I will love it.  Check in again tomorrow evening.

couch church on Christmas Eve

I have been attending Christmas Eve services at First Presbyterian Church for 40 years.  I remember years when it was so crowded that you had to come an hour early to get a good seat.  I  remember wiggly children who evolved into candle and banner carrying acolytes and grandchildren who dozed off with their head on my shoulder.  Early on the services ran from 11pm to 12:30am.  In later years the service started at 10pm, perhaps a nod to our aging congregation.  Always there was glorious music and enthusiastic singing and the old familiar scripture readings.  Like so much else in 2020 this evening's service was different.  It was prerecorded so I could choose my own start time.  7:15 worked for me.  The songs were still lovely, the scriptures familiar although the only occupants of the sanctuary were the organist, soloists and pastors, plus the sound and camera people.  While it felt very different to be sitting here in my living room attending Christmas Eve service, I find that .there are some things I really do appreciate about 'couch church.'  I like to feel that the pastor is speaking right to me and I love to watch the organist play thanks to a well placed camera in the balcony.  A nod to our Trinity English neighbors, my favorite prelude piece this evening was Robert Hobby's "Fanfare on Hark the Herald Angels Sing."  As always with my couch church attendance, as I relax and tune out the world it does become a worshipful experience and for that I am very grateful.  Joy to the World everyone, enjoy this Silent Night and have a blessed Christmas.

ready to sift

 I dropped off some Christmas gifts at my daughter's Covid infested house earlier today.  She and her daughter both have it now but her son and husband have both tested negative.  Not sure how that happens.  It's a weirdly selective virus.  I was able to make the gift transfer with my son-in-law without coming within ten feet of each other and all outside so I'm not worried about that.  In addition to some gifts which I haven't opened yet, I was given a birthday gift by my granddaughter.  She gave me a sifter (that's sifter not snifter) because she remembered that my old one had fallen apart earlier this year when I was baking something.  I was sifting flour according to the recipe I was following when suddenly I noticed strange little black and metallic pieces in the flour.  Thankfully I saw that before I baked anything.  Anyway, as I looked closely I realized that the inner workings of my sifter were disintegrating.  So I threw everything away and mentioned to my granddaughter that my old sifter had died.  To its credit, it had served me well for over 40 years.  I was amused that she remembered about the sifter.  The new one is a little larger and seems very sturdy.  Of course it's not something I used every day but it's nice to know I have one when I need it.  If it lasts as long as the last one she can inherit it some day.  Don't laugh.  It could happen.  When I was stirring up cookie dough yesterday I realized I was using a wooden spoon that had been my grandmother's.

cookies any one?

 Today is National Cookie Exchange Day.  As it happened, I actually baked some cookies today, Snickerdoodles - one of my favorites.  I won't be exchanging these with any one though.  I will take some to my son and daughter for Christmas.  The grandchildren like them and are not too picky. They are teenagers after all.  Which is good because these are some of the ugliest cookies I've ever baked.  I do know how to bake and I followed the recipe, which I have used many times before, but something went wrong.  I evidently need a quality control person to supervise.  When my grandchildren were young (and able to visit) they would help with these cookies by rolling the dough into nice little balls and then rolling them in a sugar/cinnamon mixture.  They always baked up just right.  Not today though.  They came out flat not puffy, with wildly differing amounts of cinnamon sugar on them.  Some were round while others were basically blob shaped.  On the plus side I bagged up the best, make that most normal, looking ones for the two families (18 each) and I was left with a fair amount of misfit cookies.  Did I mention they taste really good?

Short people....

 Well actually only one short person.  Today is the shortest day of the year and, appropriately, Short Girls Appreciation Day.  I have a long history of appreciating short girls.  Most of my friends in high school and college were about 5'2".  Since I'm 5'10" I tend to notice these things.  My shortest short girl friend is my sister-in-law who is 4'11" which makes her an interesting life companion for my brother who is 6'6" tall.  When he stands on his knees he is taller than she is.  They have obviously made it work though.  They do have five children.  When they were first married they came from Spokane to visit in Fort Wayne for Christmas one year.  I took my sister-in-law to Glenbrook Mall. At that time there was a petite shop there that she wanted to check out.  Sadly, the skirts there were too long for her.  As I roamed around the racks with her I felt like Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians.   When we checked out (she did find something she wanted to buy) she pulled out her wallet and the clerk looked at me like it was so cute that I was letting my little girl pay for her own purchase.  

 

a Christmas muse

 Since I couldn't mail out all of the Christmas greetings I wanted to this year, I've decided to share this year's muse electronically.  Merry Christmas everyone.

OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS

By

Luci Foltz

 

I’ve learned a lot in 2020,

How to lament a brother’s death

And still celebrate his life.

How to stay at home.

Who knew I had an inner hermit?

While reading and weaving filled my days

I did not feel compelled to deep clean.

Some things do not change.

I was introduced to Zoom.

Did you know that you can

Chat with friends and family,

Attend all your regular meetings

And friendly gatherings, at home by Zoom?

And it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing,

As long as you look good from the shoulders up.

I’ve learned to livestream church services.

Couch church is not so bad.

I’ve also learned that I love wearing a mask.

Not only does it help to keep me and others healthy,

It also covers most of my wrinkles and my saggy chin.

Definitely a win/win.

And I’ve learned the wisdom of my mother’s admonition

“This too shall pass.”

Merry Christmas everyone,

And a blessedly better New Year!

 

 

plans change

 I thought I would be spending Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day with my daughter and her family but today I learned that my 18 year old granddaughter has tested positive for Covid.  It looks like it will be a relatively mild case, headache, fever (gone now) and congestion.  She's sleeping a lot which is good.  Obviously I'm concerned and my first impulse is to rush over to see her and hug her and make it better.  But this is not the year for hugging or even in person visits.  I am, they tell me, in a high risk category being over 65 (way over) and with a mild heart problem.  So now I'm debating what to do.  I could deliver their gifts to their garage and pick up mine from them, waving and talking from a safe distance.  I can take them the sweet potato casserole they requested, and some cookies.  Better than nothing I guess, but it sure won't be the same.  Or I could throw caution to the wind and just go spend Christmas with my family, at least half of them.  Stay tuned.

true confession

 Well, it was bound to happen sometime in December.  Today is National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day.  I have never been accused of being sophisticated and I have frequently admitted to being easily entertained so this confession should come as no surprise.  I like Christmas sweaters, and Christmas sweatshirts for that matter, and I don't think they're ugly.  They are brightly colored - lots of red and green, and usually have a fun picture.  It might be Santa, or a reindeer, or a snowman or a Christmas tree or bells or stars or even angels.  In my personal collection I have holly, Charlie Brown with his Christmas tree, a penguin wearing a wooly cap and scarf, a Christmas tree, and a snowman,  and I wear them with pride, or at least with no apologizes.  Have a silly, fun Christmas season everyone.

family history

 117 years ago today the Wright brothers flew for the first time.  That sounds like such a long time ago.  My mother-in-law was born in 1898 and died in 1994. It has always intrigued me to think about all the history she lived through from heavier than air flight to man walking on the moon.  Family history says that we are related to the Wright brothers.  Distant cousins.  My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Wright.  We were also told that we were related to Frank Lloyd Wright and that turned out to be true.  I'm not clear on the circumstances but when I was a pre-teen my mother was tracked down by lawyers.  Turns out she was one of many of Frank's descendants and his estate was evidently being divided among all of them.  Before you get all excited about our inheritance I believe her share was $35.  

Wrapping rhings up

 I spent part of this evening wrapping Christmas gifts.  I don't have too many to wrap this year because I will only be seeing immediate family members.  I will probably finish this part of my holiday preparations before the weekend.  It's nice to know I'll be finished in good time but still I miss the drama of years gone by.  When our children were young I always seemed to be wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve after the late service at church.  I didn't usually get much sleep on Christmas Eve but it was worth it to watch the kids tear into those packages in the morning.  There were some memorable gifts like the German Cabbage Patch doll and the science kit that we gave our son a week late because we forgot where we had hidden it.  And of course there were Legos, lots and lots of Legos. Sweet memories. 

an excellent brew....

 Today is International Tea Day, definitely a day that I can appreciate.  I love tea.  I brew a pot of tea every morning in my Mr. Coffee (shhh, don't tell the Mr. Coffee people).  I have been told many times by doctors and my dentist that tea is good for me, and I believe it, but, actually, I drink it because I like it.  When I was a child we were never allowed to drink coffee (not good for children), which was ok with me.  Mom's coffee smelled wonderful but was strong enough to strip nail polish.  On the other hand she considered tea perfectly ok for kids, with plenty of milk and sugar of course.  It was our usual breakfast drink.  Happily, I've been able to carry on the tradition with my grandchildren who, even in their teen years, ask for hot tea when they come to visit.  Australia, New Zealand, England and Scotland are high on my list of favorite countries to visit because they always have brewed tea available in restaurants and, in the evenings, in most hotels.  Always with milk of course, not cream.  Cream tastes great in coffee, but not, in my opinion, in tea; milk is better in tea.  Happily, the British agree with me.

decisions, decisions.....

 To fry or not to fry, that is the question.  I was shopping earlier today, trying to carefully social distance, wearing a mask of course, and looking for a perfect gift for my son-in-law.  He does most of the cooking for their family so when I came upon a shelf full of air fryers I thought maybe he would like one.  I've never tried one but friends who have them say they're great.  As I stood in the store, I texted my daughter to see if this would be a suitable gift.  No answer; I realized she was at work.  So I decided to buy one that looked good, not too big but workable.  I could always return it, right? After I got home I heard from my daughter.  It turns out that her husband already has an air fryer.  So now, because I am intrigued by this thing, I must decide if I will return the air fryer or keep it for myself.  I supposed I really should open the box and read the instructions before I decide, maybe plug it in and do a trial fry????

Happy birthday....

..to me.  Today I am 76 years old which is much better than the alternative.   A friend suggested that, considering what a year 2020 has been, I should demand a do-over, but really, there's not that much difference between 75 and 76.  Except last year, as I pondered turning75, all I could think of was 'three quarters of a century' yikes.  This year the refrain that keeps running through my mind is the song '76 Trombones,' much more fun.  No big party this year, although I was taken out to dinner on Friday. Yum. Today's birthday greetings were all by Zoom, phone, Facebook and text.  All very 2020ish.  I did receive some actual birthday cards earlier this week.  One of my very favorites showed pictures of about 20 variations of the VW bus on the front.  This brought back floods of memories of many, many camping trips.  During the 13 years we owned it. our VW camper conversion carried us on trips to all 48 contiguous states and parts of Canada. Sweet memories, indeed.  

a great day for food

 Today is Poinsettia Day, also Gingerbread House Day and Cocoa Day.  It's also 12-Hour Fresh Breath Day.  A friend told me this week that this has been a really good year for Poinsettias and that the ones that were recently delivered to the church are much larger than usual.  I find it encouraging to think that something thrived this year,  Obviously gingerbread (house shaped or not) and cocoa are delicious and I'm finding, as usual, that there is way too much good food to enjoy at this time of year, Covid or no.  One of the best side effects of this year is mask wearing, for many reasons.  12-Hour Fresh Breath Day reminds me of one more.  I still brush and floss and swish regularly, but I find it very reassuring to know that, when I'm wearing a mask, nobody will be offended by my breath.  I may just wear masks forever.  

Happy Chanukah

 Actually Chanukah started yesterday, December 10. this year and will end on December 18.  Thinking about Chanukah and other Jewish festivals always reminds me of the year I spent teaching in upstate New York.  Monticello, New York was, and I'm sure still is, a lovely little city in the Catskills.  It's population was fifty percent Jewish, thirty percent black and the rest of us.  It was a real learning experience for a young art teacher from a small town in Indiana and my first exposure to being a minority.  And speaking of learning experiences, I learned that you never put a white Star of David on a green background.  When my good friend, fellow teacher, and guide to all things Jewish, Sam explained this to me I had to completely take apart what I thought was a really good Winter Festival bulletin board showing a Christmas wreath around a Star of David.  It went with the Holiday tree set up in the entrance hall.  Happily, I was able to reconstruct the bulletin board as planned but with a blue background.  The reason I was doing the bulletin board was because early in the school year, I spotted the school principal struggling to put together a bulletin board and asked him if he would like me to do the monthly bulletin boards.  I thought he was going to fall down on his knees in gratitude.  Since most of my job all through college was designing bulletin boards it really wasn't a hardship.  One day I caught the principal taking a photograph of one of my bulletin boards.  He told me he had been taking pictures of all of them, just in case he ever had to go back to doing them himself.  I hope he was able to use them when I moved back home to get married.  

Dewey or don't we?

 Today is Dewey Decimal System Day.  My brother asked me if kids still learn the Dewey Decimal System (DDS) in school and I honestly don't know.  I know there are still shelves and shelves of books in my favorite library that are arranged numerically according to the DDS but I don't know if they actually learn the system in school or just how to Google it. Some things just aren't the same as they used to be in the library.  Computers have replaced the card catalog.  Bar codes that can be scanned for checking out your books (a do-it-yourself process) have replaced the date due stamped card which the librarian carefully slid into the pocket pasted inside the book cover. The librarian of my youth remembered my father coming into 'her' library and reading every book in the place, which made me feel right at home. While I nostalgically miss some things about the libraries of my youth (I was a library volunteer in high school), there are lots of things I really do appreciate about today's library.  Being able to renew checkouts by phone or on line, large print books, curb side pickup, 3-D printers, a coffee shop, and an amazing children's section are just a few of the wonders of the modern library.  Then or now, I am addicted to the library, and did I mention it's all FREE!!  Well. except for the 3-D printer.

Oh, happy month,,,

 I love December.  For a few fleeting weeks I get interesting stuff in my mailbox.  No political postcards, no adds to change my supplemental insurance; instead I get cards - Christmas cards and birthday cards, also little slips of paper that say I have a parcel (I love that word parcel) in the main office.  It's fun and makes a refreshing change.  Not saying how old I'll be next Sunday but the melody of "76 Trombones" keeps running through my mind.  Actually that's more upbeat than last year when the phrase 'three quarters of a century' was haunting me.  Funniest birthday card today:  on the front - 'Turning your age is a lot like frying bacon in the nude."  Inside - "You know it's gonna hurt, but you're not sure exactly where."  

Yummy

 Today is National Chocolate Brownie Day.  To celebrate, since I really didn't have time to bake brownies, I watched the Great British Baking Show this evening.  The best part of watching this show is that the beautiful cakes and other baked goods that are created are so lavish and complex that I would never even try to replicate them.  Baking is a really good spectator sport though.  More exciting than football.  The tension builds as the bakers worry that their cakes have fallen or the glaze on their frosting isn't quite shiny enough,  Real nail biting tension.  But I wouldn't want you to think that I never bake.  I actually have an excellent recipe for chocolate brownies: buy one box of Ghirardelli's dark chocolate brownie mix and follow directions.  Delicious!

menu request

 My son and his family are going to spend New Year's Day with me, assuming we are all well and stay carefully spaced, and my son has told me that we must have sauerkraut.  It seems he didn't have any last January 1, and we know how this year turned out.  So I bought a jar at Kroger's today/  Now I need to decide how to cook it.  We have two family traditions.  My step-mom drained it, stirred in some fried polish sausage and baked it, then served it over mashed potatoes.  My mother-in-law drained it thoroughly and fried it in lots of butter and brown sugar. Sounds weird but it's really good.  This can also be served over mashed potatoes.  I like sauerkraut so either way tastes good to me.  Decisions, decisions.  One way or the other we will have sauerkraut on New Year's Day.  We really don't need another year like 2020.

To be or not to be...

 vaccinated, that is.  We had an interesting discussion in our Zoom adult Sunday School class this morning.  We follow a class series called Wired Word which deals with current events.  Part of the discussion today was about the question "Will you or won't you get the Covid 19 vaccine when it's available?  Personally I tend to be pro vaccines but I know a lot of people aren't.  They said a recent survey showed an almost 50/50 split among wills and wonts. I remember getting the polio vaccine when I was in elementary school. My mother was thrilled when it became available.  A headline in this morning's paper asked SHOULD VACCINES BE MANDATORY?  My first response was to think that it would be impossible to enforce. We can't even make everyone wear masks.  Then I read the article and realized they were talking about requiring that all health care workers in the Parkview and Lutheran systems be vaccinated.  Seems like a good idea to me.  So, assuming everything works out and there's plenty of vaccine available, will you or wont you?

Really? What's that?

My brother informed me that this is "Krampusnacht."  I do have quite a bit of German in my DNA (about 80 percent?) and I'm pretty sure nacht means night but I have never heard of Krampusnacht.  I must admit, when I first read the word it sounded like something painful.  Turns out I was kind of right.  Of course I turned to Google to find out if this is some sort of celebration I'm missing out on.  It turns out that a krampus is a horned  anthropomorphic figure described as half goat, half demon who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have been bad.  Sort of the opposite of Santa Claus.  The preferred punishment seems to be to give the child a stick instead of a gift.  So, my children, if you put your breakfast plates on the table this evening before you go to bed, the krampus will come during the night (not sure if he does the chimney thing) and leave a gift on your plate if you've been good or a stick if you've been bad.  Sweet dreams.  

a new adventure

 Well, it's official.  I'm on the doctor's schedule for cataract surgery starting in January,  I've gone to this eye doctor for many years.  He did surgery on each of my eyes eight years ago to fix my glaucoma problem and that has worked out very well.  The only catch is that cataract surgery can sometimes undo the glaucoma correction.  So we agreed to start with my left eye which has had limited sight for some time now.  Basically my vision in my left eye is always blurry.  While nothing will repair the peripheral vision in that eye it would be nice to see clearly while looking straight ahead.  So the plan is to start with my left eye, surgery scheduled for January 13.  Then we will wait three weeks to make absolutely sure everything is working well before he starts snipping on my right eye.  Supposedly the special lenses he will implant will not only fix my vision but also repair my astigmatisms.  Theoretically this will do all kinds of good things for my vision.  Fun fact, for the three weeks after my left eye is fixed, I will wear my glasses without a lens on the left side.  Any one want to guess how many times I will accidentally poke myself in the eye? On the other hand, that side of my glasses won't fog up when I wear a mask.  There is always a silver lining.

Finally!

 We've waited a long time for Trader Joe's to open a store in Fort Wayne.  Some of us were more anxious than others.  My daughter-in-law, for example, who learned to love Trader Joe's in Phoenix, made regular trips to the TJ's in Indy until we got one of our own.  Today a friend and I decided to see what all the fuss is about.  Our first impression when we walked in the door was "Oh, it's kind of small." and I guess it is compared to the two super Kroger's in town,  But the really nice thing is it's full of groceries.  You can't buy clothes there or Christmas wrapping paper.  It's just a place to buy food (what a concept, right?) and it has plenty of space for interesting goodies.  My friend found little boxes of assorted syrups that he bought for gifts.  He also looked longingly at some delicious looking cookies but he exerted his self control and passed on those.  I bought celery and tomatoes and something called olive stuffed chicken nuggets.  I haven't tried them yet but they sound delicious.  I doubt that I will ever be as big a fan of this store as my daughter-in-law but I am intrigued enough to go back.  The fact that it's located right beside De Brand's doesn't hurt, If you get weary shopping you can always slip in there for a hot chocolate.  Ho, ho, ho!!!

really not the same

 When I have TV on I tend to listen to commercials with half an ear because I'm usually doing something else, like playing a computer game, or eating breakfast or something.  So this morning when I heard a commercial with Christmas music in the background saying that 'made from scratch memories are the best' my mind drifted to homemade pumpkin pie, the amazing cookies my college roommate's mother used to make, my mother's spaghetti and so much more.  Then I realized that the commercial was selling scratch off lottery tickets.  I'm sorry, that's just not the same thing at all.  

just for fun

 I've been Zoom tutoring a 4th grade boy for the last few weeks and I readily admit that he is teaching me as much as I'm teaching me.  For example, Monday afternoon, when we got "put into a room" for our session, I noticed that instead of seeing his living room wall behind him, I was seeing a glorious view of the Northern Lights.  When I commented on it he did something magical with his computer and suddenly he was on a sandy beach with ocean waves and palm trees in the background.  As I watched the swaying palm trees and rolling waves I almost forgot what I was supposed to be doing.  He explained how he was changing the backgrounds and it doesn't sound too hard.  I think I'll try to surprise my book group friends tomorrow morning, just for fun.