talk on...

 Today was an eventful day for me.  First we went to church, my first time back since my hospitalization in January. There I was able to touch base with several friends and introduce my husband to those who didn't know him.  Also, of course, we enjoyed a blissfully beautiful worship service.  My son and granddaughter joined us which made it even better.  In the afternoon we had dinner for ten, the first time I had been involved in any kind of hosting since January.  The party included my son and granddaughter and myself and my husband, his son, daughter-in-law, two granddaughters and one boyfriend.  What pleased and amused me was the fact that we sat at the table and talked and ate for over three hours.  Let me assure you, the art of conversation is not dead, and I didn't have to start any of it.  Topics ranged from gross injuries seen by those who are in the medical field to modern music and how the boyfriend of one step-grand has know my granddaughter for ten years because they were both in FW Children's Choir.  This included a few shared memories of choir trips they had taken together. Then there was robotics and the competition season that is just finishing. I was sitting in the middle on one side of the table.  When I tuned in to the older adult end of the table, conversations were ranging from a new job to an old dentist to a late paying tenant, laced with lots of praise for the deviled eggs provided for the feast in the cutest bunny shaped deviled egg tray I've ever seen.  We also caught up on what absent members of our families were doing (leading a high school class tour in France and teaching high school math in Florida).  That led us into a brief discussion of math majors we have know. By the way, all of the food was delicious, thanks to my Wonder Spouse.  But I was most amused when the conversation turned to the topic of forks. Specifically the difference between salad forks and dessert forks. Why some are three tined and some four, and why some have little notches at the tip of the left-most tine? We may have had more than enough wine by this point (or I may have) but I found this discussion quite fascinating.  Needless to say, phones came out and sources were checked.  Please note, if you haven't already, that there was no discussion of politics or religion.  What a great dinner party.  I hope you all had a fine Easter celebration also.  

Playing house...

 Ever since I was a little girl and my mother showed me where the knife and spoon and fork go, I have enjoyed setting the table.  As I grew older one of my favorite parts of getting ready for a dinner for family or friends was setting the table.  Today I was able to enjoy the same experience.  My husband and I are having Easter dinner for ten tomorrow afternoon (some from my family and some from his).  Because we don't have small children I was able to set the table today.  We're eating at the dining room table which easily seats ten, and it gave me great pleasure to get out my china and stemware and set the table in my new home.  It was also reassuring to see that nothing had been chipped or broken along the way.  

 
Here's the finished product, just waiting for the food and guests. If  you're wondering why I seem so calm it should be obvious to those of you who are regular readers.  My Wonder Spouse is doing the cooking.  Ham, sweet potatoes, coleslaw (with his homemade dressing) rolls with butter and jelly, and, from my son-in-law, deviled eggs.  Wine, water, coffee, etc.  Wishing you all a Blessed Easter.  

a little break...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "No Homework Day" and also "National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day."  In honor of those two events and because I've had a long and sometimes frustrating day, I've decided that this blog is the closest thing to home work that I have, so I will cut it short for today.  I think I'll go eat some cake.  I hope everyone has had a blessed Good Friday.

a plot???

 It may have been coincidence, but I suspect collusion.  I had my taxes 'done' this morning and all went as I anticipated.  I owe a teeny dab to the IRS ($47 if your curious) and a little more to the state of Indiana.  I was anticipating this so no problem.  My very nice H&R B tax man gave me a voucher to mail to each entity with a check.  I came home and put those papers away, knowing there was no rush, and I couldn't pay them yet anyway.  The reason being I was checkless.  Here's where the plot thickens.  Almost three weeks ago my ever patient spouse and I visited the two financial institutions where I have checking accounts, provided all necessary proof of marriage and legal name change, and, as part of the process ordered new checks.  Time passed and I received emails that the checks were on the way but none appeared.  Yet today, after my taxes were filed and accepted, they miraculously appeared in the mail.  It's obvious to me that the IRS is taking no chances that they won't get paid.

Good eating...

I've commented several times in this blog about the excellent meals I've eaten at various restaurants.  For example, yesterday evening we had supper at Shigs n Pit.  I had the rib dinner and it was excellent.  I do not want anyone watching me when I eat ribs.  It is not an elegant sight. But today I want to comment on home cooking.  This morning my dear husband surprised me by making French toast.  It was  delicious, served up with butter, powdered sugar and pure maple syrup.  My spouse is allergic to anything with corn syrup in it so we always get the good stuff. Yummy!  One of the things I particularly  appreciated was that he served the toast one slice at a time, so I could eat all I wanted, all piping hot.  Needless to say, I did not stop at one. I do not want to weigh myself tomorrow.

And speaking of sweet treats, a girlfriend made this cute Easter treat and gave one to each of us at a recent lunch. The car is made of a twinkie with with Golden Oreos for the wheels, a sprinkles covered pretzel stuck down in the middle for the steering wheel, and of course the marshmallow bunny.  I just thought this is so clever that I had to share,

it's taxing....

 I spent several hours today sorting through all of the papers I had put in my 2023 tax folder during the past year, to sift out the really pertinent forms and information.  I'm meeting with my handy dandy tax man from H&R Block on Thursday and wanted to have things as organized as possible for the meeting.  Many years ago my first husband always did our taxes.  We were never audited so I assume he did a good job, but almost every year he would say to me "You really should learn to do this in case anything ever happens to me."  To which I would reply "Hah! If anything ever happens to you I will pack up all my papers and take them to H&R Block (that being the only tax firm I had ever heard of) and that's exactly what I did.  But fast forward to today - the sorting of paperwork went very well until I realized that one 1099 form seemed to be missing.  In my file of many papers I had tucked away a multi-page document from a company who took over distribution of one of my pensions way back in February 2023.  I also found a letter from said company telling me that my tax form would be mailed to me.  It told me that, if I had any questions or hadn't received my form, to call the company using my previously activated PIN number (which I had never set up).  I was really beginning to panic when I decided to look through my papers carefully one more time and found, to my intense relief, the form I needed with the name of the company printed in teeny tiny font, not anything like the bold letterhead I had been looking for.  So, hooray, all is well, unless I learn differently on Thursday.   

do it yourself...

 I love brunch, particularly when it's served in restaurants, and one of my favorite meals for brunch is a half order of biscuits and gravy with one over-easy egg on top.  So good!  Usually the meal comes just as I order it, but there is one exception.  Klemm's Candlelight Cafe, which is a very good neighborhood restaurant, does it differently.  It happens that we have a gift card for Klemm's (yes, a wedding gift) so we went there for brunch this morning.  I ordered my usual and it came, not as I had envisioned it, but in do it yourself style - one large unsplit biscuit, one small bowl of gravy, and two eggs (yes two) over-easy just lying on the plate, by themselves.  Once I had assembled my meal it was really quite delicious.  I guess "making" my own breakfast isn't that bad.