a day for cats

 For all you cat lovers out there, today is National Hairball Awareness Day.  It's also Arbor Day but, you know, cats are more interesting that trees.  Ok, I know I might get some arguments on that.  Trees are lovely and good for the environment and home for birds but, let's face it, they can't curl up on your lap and purr.  On the other hand, the trees don't hack up hair balls.  Actually Hair Ball Awareness Day has come along at just the right time.  A friend of mine. also a widow, living alone has been thinking about getting a cat and that got me thinking about cats also.  I like cats.  Over the last many years I have lived with five cats, Athena, Olympia, Claire, Frances and Buckeye (not all at the same time).  All females and all wonderful.  But every one of them, at one time or another, hacked up a hair ball.  Being reminded of that has reinforced my conviction that I really don't need any more cats.  Maybe that's why this day is celebrated.  It's a deterrent to over zealous cat ownership.

bad timing

Today I went to the doctor about the pain I've been having in my right knee for the last ten days.  I would have gone sooner but this was the first appointment I could get.  The doctor looked at my knee, bent it, rotated it, generally flexed it every way it would go and said "It's probably arthritis."  Gasp! Arthritis?  Isn't that what old people get?  He looked at me like it was pretty obvious that I qualify, but then he kindly said "But sometimes it's hereditary. Did anyone in your family have arthritis?"  Well, let's see, there was my dad and both of his sisters, but they were all old.  Oh, I think I see a pattern here.  He did order an x-ray for me, just to be sure.  I get that next week.  Also he gave me a shot of cortisone and put a band aid on my knee. I commented that I hadn't had a band aid on my knee for a long, long time.  He chuckled but refused to kiss my booboo.  He said the shot might take two to three days to kick in but it turns out that walking is good for arthritis.  Evidently "motion is the best lotion" for joints.  Then he said the nicest thing.  "Some people need to loose weight to help ease their arthritis but that's not your problem."  What a happy note on which to end the appointment.  After the appointment, when I checked my texts, I saw a note from my west coast brother telling me that today is International Dance Day and also World Jump Day.  Wow, if it wasn't for this knee.  Maybe next year.

Ha, ha, ha!

 Today is Clean Joke Day.  My west coast brother sent me this joke, What do you get when you pour root beer into a square cup?  I like clean jokes.  Here's one of my all time favorites.  It involves water so it must be clean, right?  An old man, a faithful Christian, was told on the news that a big flood was coming.  Rain came, more rain came, a dam broke and the water was rising fast.  The old man stood on his front porch as the water rose.  Suddenly, an old pick-up truck drove up and his neighbor said "Hurry up, get in the truck.  We can still make it to safety."  The old man replied, "You go on, the Lord will take care of me."  Time passed and the water was up on his porch, oozing under the front door.  The old man heard a loud noise and looked out to see a man in a boat.  The man hollered "Hurry up, get in the boat. I'll get you out of here."  The old man still stuck to his belief that God would rescue him and refused the ride.  More time passed, the old house was filling up fast and creaking and groaning.  As the water rose the old man made his way higher and higher.  Finally, he was sitting on the highest point of the roof, clinging to the chimney, while the water lapped around his feet.  As he sat there a helicopter flew over, slowed down, hovered in place, dropped a rope ladder. and through a loud hailer, a voice said "Grab on and we'll take you to safety."  "No thanks, the Lord will save me."  was his faithful reply.  Soon after this encounter, the old house floated off it's foundation, tumbled along in the current and the old man was drowned.  Suddenly he found himself facing the Lord.  "God" he said, "I've trusted in you all my life.  Why didn't you save me from the flood?"  To which God replied "My son, I sent you a truck, a boat and a helicopter.  What more did you want?"

the old fashioned way

 I had to make a quick trip to Office Depot today because I needed printer ink.  My printer had been warning me for a few days that it was low on black ink but, you know, I figured I could always print out one more page, sort of like one more squeeze in the tooth paste tube.  Today, though it just refused to go any further.  So, as I said, I was off to Office Depot where they still carry the kind of ink my rather elderly printer demands.  While I was there I decided to look for some 'white out.'  I wasn't even sure if such a thing even existed any more, but I had a couple of spots on a page that I wanted to cover so I could run some clean copies.  Anyway, I was delighted to see that they do indeed still make 'white out' in several forms even, liquid and tape (which I prefer) and in several brands.  Evidently I'm not the only person old school enough to want to quickly fix an error without the aid of a computer.  Yes, I do know enough not to paint it on the computer screen.  When I got home and was unwrapping the 'white out' I read that the little roll in the dispenser is 39 feet long.  That should last me for a while.

too much static

 Today is National Static Cling Day.  Why, you may ask, would anyone celebrate static cling? Why indeed, unless you are the inventor of dryer sheets.  Now there's a nifty little money maker.  Why, you may ask, would anyone bother to blog about static cling?  Why indeed, unless you are desperate for something to blog about.  I haven't used dryer sheets for years so I'm certainly not celebrating their invention.  Today was laundry day for me and, as usual, I dried my clothes without the aid of dryer sheets, and guess what?  There was a little static, not enough to be bothered about, but a little, so I guess you could say I celebrated the day.  

another new old trick

 As some of you will remember, a few weeks ago I gave up my land line.  I am happy to report that I haven't missed it at all.  The only real reason that I had hesitated for so long to make the change was because I couldn't seem to find the right way to hold my cell phone.  I don't mean I was holding it upside down.  I do know better than that.  But because of the shape of my phone (a flat rectangular slab) I found that if I held it so I could hear clearly often people on the other end would complain that they couldn't hear me.  I have been getting better recently at holding my phone at just the right angle so the person I am talking to can hear me.  However I do still sometimes hear that complaint. The other day though, a wonderful thing happened.  You know those cartoons where the little character has a good idea and a light bulb shows up over his head?  I was talking on the phone with a friend and she said "Just a minute, I'm going to put you on speaker phone."  And just like that I felt the light bulb flash over my head.  If I could figure out how to put my phone on speaker I wouldn't need to worry about how I hold it at all.  I hoped it wouldn't be too complicated.  As soon as we finished our conversation, I checked the screen and Eureka! there is a little symbol labeled 'speaker.'  I have used this wonderful option for every phone conversation since and it works like a charm.  Old dog, new trick. Woof!

another special day?

 Today is National Pigs in a Blanket Day.  It is, also, evidently Eeyore's birthday, but considering Eeyore's personality, that doesn't seem like much to celebrate.  I suspect he thinks of his birthdays pretty much like I do these days - well, there goes another one.  Last year when I turned 75 I kept thinking "three quarters of a century" and that was kind of depressing.  This year at 76 the music to "76 Trombones" keeps running through my mind - definitely more cheerful that last year.  But back to Pigs in a Blanket.  I used to make them for my children because, let's face it, they are easy to make and tasty.  Unless you insist on whipping up your own biscuit dough which would just be silly.  I prefer them made with little breakfast sausage links but hot dogs work too.  Although with hot dogs you might wonder how much pig is actually in that blanket. Happy eating everyone.  

back to the courthouse

 A year ago there was a lot of  protesting and some violence and destruction in down town Fort Wayne because of the George Floyd murder.  This evening was a much different scene.  A small group of people representing several Fort Wayne churches gathered in front of the court house to peacefully listen to prayers, songs and messages celebrating the recent verdict but also emphasizing the problems that still need to be faced in our town.  There was no police bashing, just some heart felt expressions of concern and encouragement to get involved.  I personally was most interested in the comments of two young women representing a group they formed called "Change Makers."  I spoke with them briefly after the rally was over, explained that I was a little past marching in protests but had been wondering for a while if there was anything I could actually do to help.  They encouraged me to check out their website, maybe share posts, possibly even make phone calls.  I can do that.  I will have to dig more deeply into what they represent, but it sounds promising.

kicking the habit

 I love to eat in restaurants and I'm really enjoying the fact that things are opening up again and, because most of my friends and I have had our shots and feel comfortable, we are going out to eat more often.  I do have a habit though that might be considered less than adventurous.  If I have found something I really like in a particular restaurant I order it every time I go there.  Seared tuna salad at Hall's for example; crispy nachos at El Azteca; Mu Shu pork at Wu's; you get the idea.  I'm never disappointed.  Today I took a friend to lunch to celebrate her birthday.  We went to Spice and Herb, my favorite Thai restaurant.  I really like their lunch special because it includes soup and an egg roll.  I also love Thai iced tea and I will not change my mind on that, but today I decided to take a walk on the wild side.  Instead of ordering my usual #1, Pad Tai medium hot, I ordered #14.  I don't remember the real name but it was number 14 on the menu.  It was a mixture of pork (you can choose your own meat - I like pork) peppers, mushrooms, cashews, and other tasty bites served in a brown garlic sauce, medium hot, and it was delicious.   But was it more delicious than #1?  I don't think so.  So now what?  Do I go back to #1?  Do I stick with my new discovery #14, or do I try something else?  Worse, will this lead to my trying something new in other restaurants?  I don't need this stress.  Perhaps I'll just stop eating out?  No, that's not going to happen. 

more physical therapy

This physical therapy stuff is turning out to be not too bad.  It does seem to be a lot of bother about a pain in my neck but after three sessions I think I'm feeling some results.  I mean if I'm feeling aches in lots of other places it must be doing some good, right?  Right?  Today my therapist surprised me with a new torture device  exercise machine.  This one let me pedal with my arms, forward and backwards.  Not quite sure how that affects my neck but I'll try anything she tells me to.  I've also been set up with an exercise app on my phone.  I can watch tiny little figures doing the exercises I'm supposed to be doing at home.  Of course I really am doing them, not just watching, at least most of the time.  But the very best part of this therapy is the last 20 minutes of each session where I lie down and she does a deep massage of my neck.  Sheer bliss, in a deep digging kind of way.  

Snow day...

 Well, sort of a snow day.  We seem to be getting that two to four inches of snow that my favorite weather man predicted yesterday.  It has been snowing steadily since early afternoon and is sticking, at least on the grassy areas, which, in my opinion, is exactly where snow should stay.  I was supposed to go to a meeting this evening.  At our church we have been having at least some of our meetings live in person for the last two months and it has been a real pleasure.  I had become heartily tired of Zoom meetings.  However, earlier today we made the decision to hold this evening's meeting by Zoom.  You might say it was because of an excess of caution.  That seems to be a phrase I hear a lot lately.  I must say it seemed liked an excellent idea to me.  I was not at all sorry to revert to Zoom, just this once. 

April showers?????

 According to the weather person we're going to get snow tomorrow night, or maybe earlier, two inches or maybe more.  Evidently there is a 'front' coming from the west.  According to my west coast brother it came through Spokane last night, big time!  A cold front with 30+ mph winds blew through his area late in the evening, ripping apart materials from a nearby house under construction, consequently knocking out power lines.  They did get their power back after five hours.  He said "The construction site looks like a giant played 52 pickup with their plywood."  While all this was going on a wild fire blew through to the west of them.  I guess I won't worry about a little bit of snow.

satisfying a need

Five church friends and I meet regularly, on the fourth Sunday afternoon of each month.  We gather to share food and conversation. sometimes listening to something motivational or controversial to get the conversation going.  For many months we have met by Zoom which has been better than not meeting at all, but today, since we are all of a certain age and have been vaccinated. we met in person. I hosted (we take turns).  We snacked on a variety of goodies that various people provided and we talked and we talked and we talked and we talked.  The dam had broken.  There is something about talking in person that feels liberating.  We reminisced about work camps our children had gone on.  One friend was a leader on several of these trips.  I remembered waiting for our children to return from one trip, watching as they piled out of the van, and noticing that a friend's son was sporting an earring.  As I recall that did not last long. We talked about other church history, the news sources we like on TV, job problems, health problems and so much more.  Our recent Zoom meetings usually lasted about 45 minutes.  Today, two and a half hours later we were still going strong.  They might still be here if one lady hadn't had a supper commitment she had to go to.  That broke up the meeting but left us all feeling satisfied.  We really needed to talk.

Bats and more bats...

 Today is Bat Appreciation Day.  Not the baseball kind, the flappy winged kind.  I'm not sure how much I appreciate bats but I have had a few close encounters with them.  I have seen the clouds of bats flying out of Carlsbad Caverns at sunset and that was very impressive.  When we lived in Ohio a bat got in the house and was zipping around when I went downstairs to let the dogs out early in the morning.  It was a clever bat though and headed for the great outdoors as soon as I opened the door, so nothing scary there.   Bats do really eat lots and lots of nasty insects so some cities encourage them to hang around.  For instance Sidney, Australia.  And they have really big bats.  We stayed at a nice hotel there.  Our room was on the second floor.  We had been told that big bats hung in the trees but not to worry, they wouldn't bite, and they didn't.  However, at three o'clock in the morning I was awakened by the most incredible din.  A loud squealing, chattering noise that went on and on.  I looked out the window and saw by the light of a nearby street light about a billion bats (well that might be a slight exaggeration) hanging from every branch of a tree right outside our window.  They were hanging from every branch.  No Christmas tree has ever been so thoroughly decorated. After about a half hour they quieted down and I went back to sleep.  Who knows what woke them up?  Things are very strange "down under."

What a dirty trick...

 I think I mentioned in a blog last week that I had a physical therapy appointment because of a pain in my neck (the physical not the metaphorical kind).  After that first session I was approved by my insurance company for 12 more sessions.  So today I had my second half hour with Nicky.  Last week she focused all her efforts on massaging my neck, trying to figure out what was going on and I thought it all felt wonderful.  Today her true colors came out.  Think drill sergeant dressed in a fluffy bunny suit.  She did get around to massaging my neck toward the end of the session but first she put me through my paces.  No more just lying around on the table.  I did arm and shoulder exercises with weights and giant rubber bands, and a little goodie called seated isometric cervical side bending.  There was more but you get the idea.  But the lowest blow of all was that, after I had performed all the tricks, she gave me a lengthy printout and informed me that I only need to do these exercises at home for about a half hour a day.  Home work?  No body said anything about homework!  She even gave me my own giant rubber bands, blue and green, to use at home, so no excuses.  Darn.

the 15th of April..

 Today is tax day or it would be if it wasn't for the Covid delay.  I'm feeling a little smug because mine are done early for a change.  Ironically, today is also 'take a wild guess day.'  Wouldn't life be easier if we could do our taxes that way?  The form could just read something like "Your taxes should equal about 15% of your income.  Take a wild guess and send it in."  Perhaps I'll write to the IRS and suggest it.  Just think of all the paper work and anxiety it would prevent.

Southwest shopping...

 For thirty-plus years I lived with my family on the north side of Fort Wayne and after I moved downtown my view is still looking north, so it should be no surprise that whenever I need to shop I head north.  Clothes, shoes, books, groceries, gas... I can find them all on the north side of town.  Every once in a while though, I get pulled out of my comfort zone and must head southwest.  North has Glenbrook Mall, southwest has Jefferson Point, the two largest shopping areas in Fort Wayne.  Today a friend asked me to meet her at Panera's in Jefferson Point.  Since she lives southwest and usually comes downtown to see me, it seemed fair that I should make the drive for a change.  And I had an ulterior motive.  Not so long ago a new grocery store, Trader Joe's, moved into Jefferson Point, next door to Panera's.  My daughter-in-law is a huge fan of Trader Joe's, having shopped at one frequently when they lived in Phoenix.  My west coast brother is also a fan.  They have one in Spokane.  Both my brother and my daughter-in-law have told me several times how wonderful Trader Joe's Ginger Snaps are.  They know that I have a great fondness for ginger snaps and have tried a couple of kinds.  I know I can bake my own but that doesn't happen very often.  In case you are curious, Kroger's ginger snaps are better that Nabisco.  But having tried Trader Joe's I must tell you they are really good.  They contain chewy little chunks of real ginger.  The down side is that they are bite size and seem to just hop right from the container into my mouth which means that I will probably be shopping southwest again fairly soon.  

Bring on the books...

 Today is National Library Workers Day.  A day that I will happily help celebrate.  I like to read so much that I sometimes wonder why I didn't become a librarian. It might have had something to do with role models.  The only librarian I knew growing up in our small town was Miss Naomi Tremp, the same person who was the librarian when my father was growing up.  She was quite elderly.  The other librarian in my youth was our high school English and French teacher.  Running the library seemed to be only an extra job for her.  I did volunteer to help in the high school library whenever I could.  I loved the library. In college my part time job was in the library.  Not checking out books.  I helped create bulletin board displays that teachers could check out and hang in their classrooms.  I never got to stamp the due date on cards and slip them in the little pockets stuck inside the front cover of books.  Miss Tremp always warned us never to take the card out of the pocket but that was just silly.  They made the best and most obvious bookmarks.   I have a friend from that same small town who, after 55 years in an office job, plans to retire.  She will be 78 so it's probably about time.  She loves to read even more than I do, and informed me recently that her local library in Ohio has offered her a part time job when she retires, and she is going to take it.  I think Miss Tremp would be proud.

Say cheese!

April is turning out to be a very cheesy month.  Yesterday was Cheese Fondue Day and today is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.  I must admit I'm much more likely (like 100% more likely) to fix myself a grilled cheese sandwich, or toasted cheese sandwich as I've always called them, than to whip up a fondue concoction.  I don't know if 'toasted' and 'grilled' are the same kind of sandwich but they must be similar, right?  It's thanks to my late husband that I like toasted cheese sandwiches.  They were one of his favorites so I learned to make them after we were married.  Yes that was the 'good old days' when I, at least occasionally, cooked for my family.  For all of my school years I intensely disliked toasted cheese sandwiches.  It wasn't until I was doing my own cooking that I realized two things.  One, my toasted cheese sandwiches aren't soggy.  Cafeteria ones tend to loose their crispiness.  Two, you don't have to eat tomato soup with toasted cheese sandwiches.  In school they were always served together on Fridays.  I'm not sure why, because I'm really not a picky eater, but tomato soup is the one food in the world that I really loathe.  Once I realized that the two didn't have to be eaten together. and, by the way, that you can use cheeses other than Velveeta, I became a lifelong fan.  Let's hear it for cheese!

Food Fads

 Today is National Cheese Fondue Day.  I used to have a fondue pot.  I think it got sold when I down-sized but I hadn't used it for years before that.  At one time fondue parties were very popular.  A group of six people (I only had six fondue forks) would sit around a table sticking chunks of bread (or cut up vegetables or meat) on long handled forks, then swirling the bread or whatever, in a melted cheese concoction and eating it one bite at a time.  My fondue pot was an electric one and keeping it plugged in while on the table was a bit of a challenge.  For extra fun we could also do dessert fondues.  Melt a pot of chocolate and you can dip all kinds of things in it, fruit slices, marshmallows, cookie pieces, and of course those ever present chunks of bread.  I'm trying to remember why I stopped using my fondue pot.  I suspect it was because I decided it was a lot of bother chopping up all those bits and pieces of stuff to create a semi-satisfying meal.  It was easier to make a pot of spaghetti.  

Oh brother....

 Today is Siblings Day.  I have a sibling; he's 65 years old and lives in Spokane.  Yes, he's the same one who put a dead snake in my car when he was a child but I still love him.  My husband, on the other hand, was a peace loving only child.  When our two children grew old enough to play together he was shocked when their play sometimes evolved into squabbles.  Somehow he had imagined that siblings always played happily together.  Ha ha ha ha ha.  He looked astonished when I explained that my brothers (back then I had two) and I occasionally argued, to put it mildly.  He kept preaching to our kids that they should be each others best friends.  Of course sometimes he was yelling it over their raised voices but eventually it must have sunk in because, I am happy to report, they do get along very well these days.  Of course it's easier since they live in separate households.  Yay, siblings.

The rest of the story

 A friend, referencing yesterday's post, reminded me that I was in another accident that might have created a neck problem.  I don't think so but it was a rather spectacular accident so I thought I would tell you the whole story.  The year was 1965.  I was heading back to college after spending a weekend at home.  It was near the end of my college career, I had a teaching job waiting, and finals looming.  A month before, I had bought my first car ever, a 1961 Chevrolet Corvair for $800.  Yes, that's right, one of those infamous "unsafe at any speed" Corvairs that were know to turn turtle, as a friend told me after my accident.  Well, it did.  I was going around a curve on Highway 101, and was never sure exactly what happened but the next thing I knew I was sitting in my car in the middle of a corn field (harvested not standing stalks) facing back the way I had come, and looking at my windshield which was rocking gently on the ground about twenty feet in front of my car.  The car had rolled over and up on its wheels again.  My first thought was to wonder if I could drive it without a windshield.  Ironically or miraculously, depending on your point of view, I walked away from that crash with only a scratch on one knee because my ever cautious mother had sent me money two weeks before to have seat belts installed and I was wearing mine.  They were a fairly new idea and not standard.  Needless to say, I have been a firm believer in seat belts ever since.  I walked across the road to a farm house where a concerned lady let me use her phone to call home.  My father answered, I told him what had happened and he said "Are you ok?" I said yes and he said "That's all that matters."  You've got to love a dad like that.  He came to pick me up, loaded my books and a loom in his car and drove me to Ball State.  Later that day I had a physical, required to get my teaching license.  Out of curiosity I asked the nurse if my blood pressure was ok.  I explained about the accident and wondered if it might be a little high.  Actually it was low and after hearing my tale of auto woe she gave me a very thorough check up to make sure I was ok.  I was.  The car not so  much.  I was on my parents' insurance at that time so my father took care of the claim.  Since he had never had an accident in his life (he started driving when he was 12) he was upset when the agent said they would call it totaled and pay me $400.  That didn't seem fair to Dad so he asked what alternatives there were.  They said they could pay to fix it and he said "Fix it." so they did.  Total repairs cost almost $2,000.  I ended up with a 1961 car with a 1962 top.  I drove that car for six more years.  No more accidents.  With the engine in back it was a perfect car for navigating the snowy hills of upstate New York and good preparation for my next car, a VW bus.

a new twist

 A few weeks ago my doctor recommended that I go to a physical therapist because of some pain and stiffness that I'm having in my neck.  Today was my first appointment with Nicky, or maybe Micky, it was hard to tell through the mask.  She rubbed and poked and prodded gently but firmly and noted my responses.  Happily very little pain, but when I mentioned that some places she was touching made me feel dizzy (I was lying down at the time) and slightly nauseous that got her attention.  Evidently those aren't good reactions.  She is going to contact my doctor about ordering some scans to see what's going on in my neck.  Bottom line seems to be that I have arthritis in my neck. Doesn't that sound like an old  person's ailment?  What a surprise.  During the session she asked me about any possible neck injuries, like in a car accident.  I couldn't remember anything like that but after I got home I remembered one possibility.  No car involved but a few years ago I was walking along a London sidewalk, really tired after a long day of "touristing," when I fell down hard and smacked my face on the sidewalk which rushed right up to meet me.  That was at the beginning of a ten day vacation and for the next nine days I sported a really excellent bruise on my left cheek.  The one on my face - stop laughing.  Not sure if that fall was enough to cause a neck injury.  I never thought of it at the time, but I will mention it to Nicky at our next session.  Not the best travel memory ever, but that evening, after we put some ice on my face and I took a nap, we went to see the musical "Kinky Boots" and that was worth falling down for any time.  

Double Dip

 Today is a fine day on two counts.  First it's Beer Day and, thanks to the generosity of the staff here, I had a beer and it was good.  Secondly, and this is really important, today is National No House Work Day.  Not only is this a day worth celebrating, but I'm pretty sure it should be celebrated more than once a year.  Possibly it should be a weekly or even a daily event.  I'd be willing to celebrate a day called National Do That Housework Day once a year, possibly with a beer to help make it more enjoyable.  I wonder who I should contact about creating a special day.  Perhaps I should start locally.  Does anyone have Mayor Henry's phone number?

first the answers

 A receding hare line.

Hot cross buns.

No more riddles.  However today is New Beers Eve.  I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but the staff here are hosting a beer party tomorrow evening.  I suppose that tomorrow must be New Beers Day. I might stop by for a beer.  That would be my second for this year.  I know, I know, I'd better take it easy.  

Today is also National Jump Over Things Day.  Perhaps ten bunnies will come by (more likely to happen after a beer or two) and jump over things because I certainly am not going to be jumping over anything.  And there we shall end the bunny theme.

I'm back...

 I've just spent four days hosting out of town company and hosting Easter dinner for my family.  There were nine around the table this year.  Most of us were fully vaccinated and, I will admit, some hugging went on.  Don't tell the CDC.  Today the exercise class that I used to attend resumed live, in person classed.  In the ongoing spirit of Easter treats, and because I really don't want to think about all the bending and stretching, I will share the best jokes told in class:

What do you call a straight line of ten bunnies walking backwards?

What do you call ten angry bunnies walking across the desert?

I will leave you to ponder these while I go catch up on my sleep.