Happy Easter

 It is Easter, right?

    I seem to be getting confused a little., lately.  (I know!  Some of you think I have been confused for a while!)

    I took my Saturday pills on Friday.  When I woke up Saturday and went to take the pills, they were gone.  I thought it was now Sunday, which meant I some how missed Kathy and John's visit and Saturday in general.

    But not to worry!  I just took Friday's pills on Saturday and all was well.

    Emily and Julia went shopping in Canada this weekend.  Well, not actually.  They went to visit John/JoHanna's mom and her wife in Canada and shopped along the way.

    They stopped in Frankenmuth and got me a hat.

    To show you how my mind works, when they said Frankenmuth was about 5 hors away, I was surprised.

    "Isn't it just north of Milwaukee?" I asked.

    Three faces turned toward me with astonished looks on their faces.

    Someone slowly said, "You know Frankenmuth is in Michigan and Milwaukee is in Wisconsin."

    Of course I knew that!  Why today I thought weirdly is kind of puzzling.

    I put a spiral sliced ham in the crock pot this morning.  The menu was ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli and buns.

    A pack of glaze came with the ham.  The directions said 30 minutes before serving take the hame out of the oven and spread the glaze pack over the ham.  Return to oven for 30 minutes.

    The next group  of words were directions for glazing a ham cooked on the stove top.

    At the suggested time, I opened the crock pot, cut the corner of the glaze and poured it over the ham.  Except it wasn't a glaze.  It was a mix of brown sugar and other stuff!

    No, I did not read ALL the directions, because the bottom group of words said I should mix the glaze package in water.  I would think they should have put that first.

    A few minutes ago I told Jackie I was putting the forks in the freezer.  I meant dishwasher.

    Julia bought some frozen scalloped potatoes for dinner, but the package to cook them in  was broken and little bits of black plastic were stuck in the frozen taters.

    So I started making some Betty Crocker Au Gratin ones when I had to go help Jackie.  I told Emily to please finish the potatoes by adding the milk, butter, and dehydrated potatoes, which she did.

    Some 15 minutes later I found the package of seasoning and the fake cheese.

    Em said it did not look right but she never makes them from the box So half way through the cooking we added the cheese mix, plus some extra cheese that was not a powder.

    So, unglazed glazed ham, cheeseless au gratin potatoes might have been the dinner.

    Fortunately, the hame was fine.  The potatoes were fine.  The broccoli was fine. My buns were fine.  So were the buns from the store.

    The girls brought back the good chocolate, chocolate made with milk and real cocoa.   Canadian chocolate.   I think I have a year's supply of noshes.

    Hope you all had a Happy Easter.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

The wind last night was strong enough to blow my hose cart from the top of the driveway onto the grass!

Frankenmuth is in Michigan.  

drying time

It did not rain today 

    That's a good thing because rivers are pretty high.   Retention ponds by Walmart looked pretty full too.  And the ground is squishy.  If a person wanted to roll their yard, today would have been a good day. I did consider laying down and rolling around on some of the rough spots, but I opted not to.

    The rain also brought out the worms.  For some reason, slinking up on my porch seems to be  a must do to survive move.

    But the problem is they dry out.  (The worms go in, the worms go out; the worms play pinochle in your mouth.  C'mon!  Sing along!!)

    I have tried rescuing them and putting them back into the grass or garden, but sometimes there are just too many of them!

    So I was scraping the porch with an ice scraper,  then sweeping the dead, stiff, crumbly remains into the non cement part of the property.

    It's not pleasant work, but people won't be walking around with dead worms on the bottoms of their feet.

    Friends John and Kathy came out from the city today.

    We had a great time visiting, but I think Jackie and Kathy got a little bored with our "remember when we....." stories.  

    Kathy made some great key lime pie bars!  It brought back memories of Key West.  She was able to take back her bag from two trips ago, but now I have a neat dish that they will have to come back for in a month or two.

    We had lunch from Teca, short  for  the Mexican restaurant I can't spell.  It was dang yummy!

    It was a great visit. 

    Unfortunately I also watched the Illini lose to U Conn.   I am not a big basketball follower, but this Illini team was amazing to watch during M arch Madness.

    Maybe it is just me, but they looked a little out of sync tonight.  Granted, U Conn is a great team, but I think this was a winnable game for the Illini.

    Hopefully the majority of the players will be back next season for another run, but with NLI and portals, and the NBA draft, that seems doubtful.

    I guess you could say that's the way the ball bounces.

    But I am too sophisticated for those types of cliches.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

thanks

 I had a nice experience today

    Took my new cellphone back to  the X finite people, then I went to Good Friday services.

    Jackie stayed home.  She wasn't comfortable going out with the threat of storms and all.

    After church, I stopped at Popeye's in DeKalb for some shrimp.

    The lady ahead of me asked several questions, to which I half listened.

    Then it was my turn to order.

    The conversation went something like this like this:

    M. I would like 2 orders of the shrimp, please.

    Soft speaking girl with the thick accent:  So you just want the shrimp.  That's all?

    Me : Yes.

    Her. That's 4.99

    Me:  4.99?  I thought it was more than that.

    Her:  No sir.  4.99

    Me:   What comes with that?

    Her.  Nothing.  It's just the shrimp.

    Me:  I'd like rice and beans too.

    Her::  So you want an order of shrimp and rice and beans.

    Me :   No......

    The customer in front stepped up and said:  What he wants is 2 of the shrimp  baskets.  One with rice and beans and one with fries.  Isn't that right?

    I said yes, and thank you very much.

    She then told me she works with a lot of people, helping them in her role  with a home  caregiving group in Rockford.

    So I asked her if her group allows employees to lift patients.  She said no, they have a 20 pound weight limit.  

    We then talked about various machines that could help and then her order came and she left.

    Mine took a while, and after I got it I. realized I did not get cocktail sauce.  So I asked the guy now at the counter and he said they were out of cocktail sauce.

    I got home and looking at the shrimp realized they were the smallest jumbo shrimp I have seen. 

    In fact, they looked like popcorn shrimp, which were not on the menu.

    Anyway, we were both happy with the food.

    And I guess that is all that counts these days....being happy with something.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

busy day

 This was one heck of a day

    We had a helper in the morning, and our cleaning person from 11-2.

    At 2 I went to the chiropractor, got a coffee at Cypress House, and was drenched by the rain.

    I got home about 2:55 and told Jackie I was going to enjoy my coffee but she reminded me I had a blood draw at 3:40 in DeKalb and a vet appointment with Beth at 4.  I honestly thought I had an hour!  I need to learn how to tell time.

    Got to the blood draw about 10 minutes late, the vet appointment 5 minutes late and headed to a grocery store in DeKalb.

    Beth is in great shape.  She is 25 pounds, which is 1 pound more than last year.  I wish I could say that about myself.

    I did have to apologize to the vet tech.      

    They wanted a poop sample from Beth.  I took her out for a walk between rains and she dropped a load.  A normal person would put some of it in a sealable snack bag.  But I only had the snack bag, so I put the whole mess into the bag and sealed it.

    I tell you, that dog has the stinkiest shit I have ever smelled.  I even put that bag into another bag, but the smell in the car was overpowering.

    I told the tech she might need gloves and a mask.  I don't think she believed me.

    At the store I bought some meat on sale, along with some cola and headed home.

    We had rain most of the day and the sky was still a little dark.

    I stopped to take a picture of clouds and then headed home again.

    At about 5:45 my phone rings and Jan from the museum said, "You are coming to the Chamber dinner, aren't you?"

    Well hell.  I forgot.  Dinner was to be served at 6:15, so I went into the house, asked Jack if she remembered I was going to the Chamber dinner, and started to get her supper, and Beth's supper.

    Left the house at about 6:10 for the 15 minute drive.  Not too bad, I would only be a few minutes late for dinner.  But Jan was saving me a place.

    I was on the south side of Rochelle when my radio made the strangest noise.    Then my phone rang.  And thecdty's  tornado sirens went off.

    I pulled into a gas station and Jackie said we were under a tornado warning.    I turned around, called the wrong Jan, and headed home.

    By. the time I got home the storm had passed.....thankfully without any problems.  We did get some rain, pea sized hail, and some strong winds, but nothing destructive.

    By now it was 6:40.  I t thought of heading back to the dinner, but the sky just did not look right.  So I stayed home.

    I am even wearing pants!  Not jeans!!  Real "hey I'm an adult" clothing.

    It's almost 9 and the majority of the storms have passed.  

    Lots of rain.  My porch is full of worms.  The retention pond behind our house has water in it and I think there is more rain coming.

    But we are all ok, and that is the important thing.

Peace and Love

    Especially peace

ouch...my turn

 I hit a deer today

    I went to Julia's and decided to drive back roads back home.

    One of the roads was gravel.  I had never been on it, but I knew where it connected to another road that was paved that  I could take.

    I was going about 40 mph when a huge buck walked right in front of the car!

    I hit the brakes, but the van started to skid on the gravel. 

    The deer tried to run, but I hit him in the back end.

    He was a beautiful animal, with a rack that must have been 6 feet across!  Heaven knows how many deer seasons it had survived, only to have me hit it.

    After I hit him, he did a 180 flip and landed face first on my van's windshield.  His antlers  pierced the windshield and cut my forehead!

    There I was, sitting in the middle of nowhere with a 12 point buck's head staring at me through a broken windshield.

    I felt something dripping, and realized I was bleeding and I passed out!  My face was buried in the airbag for I don't know how long.  

    Whether it was the salt in the blood or the deer's compassion, it started licking my face!  That brought me around.

    I stumbled out of the van only to. realize my coat was covered in glass, so I took that off.  But the blood was still dripping down and I looked in the driver's side mirror to see how bad the cut was.

    And I fainted for the second time.

    This time when I woke up, I saw the buck had somehow freed himself from my van, but he was woozily stumbling down the road with large chunks of windshield dangling from his antlers, sparkling  in the sun like earrings.!

    I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my head to stop the bleeding.  Yes, I was cold because it was ony42 degrees and I was shirtless!

    I saw a farm house up ahead and staggered up to it.  I pounded on the door and a naked woman opened the door and screamed, falling backward in a faint.  I stepped over her and looked in the hallway mirror.  Noticing the blood-soaked shirt, I also passed out.

    I awoke when the cold water hit my face.  The woman shrieked at me.  "Who the Hell are you?  What are you doing here?"

    I explained I wasn't going to hurt her, that I had hit a deer and needed medical help.

    "So yo took off your clothes and came here?  Are you insane?"

    I assured her I was woozy, dizzy but not crazy.

    We heard a pick up coming up the lane.  She recognized the sound and looked at me in horror.

    "That's my husband!  He's insanely suspicious of me and goes into a jealous  rage whenever I even talk to another man.  You have to get out the back door and get to the tree line and walk back to your car."

    I told her that was impossible.  Once I got to my van I could not go anywhere.

    "I'll call the sheriff anonymously.  You got to go!  Now!" she yelled, as we heard the truck stop and the engine go off.

    I raced clumsily out the back door and hotfooted it to the tree line.  I then inched my way back to where I thought the road was, constantly checking to see if anyone was following me.

    I made it back to the van and sure enough, a sheriff's deputy arrived just as I was emerging from the woods.

    He had a first aid kit and cleaned the wound, told me it was superficial, and called for a tow truck.  He also let me call a friend for a ride home.

    When I got home I had a stiff drink.  I figured I deserved it. 

    I was just glad this day was over.                                                                               

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

odds and ends

 Just some random observations tonight

    We met with our tax guy today. 

    His daughter graduates in May and she plans on going to the University of Tennessee.  During room mate match up, she connected with another freshman from St. Charles.  Small world part:  They have a mutual friend in Pecatonica!

    Then Our Guy said sometimes life was like living in a small town, like he did growing up in Genoa.  I immediately asked if he knew our friend Jen and he said yes!  Not only does he know her and her family, he coached her brother in baseball!

    And yet, the world keeps spinning.

    Watching the game the last two nights, I sort of wish the world could be more like the fans during the seventh inning stretch. There was a line of people, 3 different races, arms around each other's shoulders and just singing away. That is the way we should all be.

    Back on the baseball kick, I think Washington had a pitcher named Cavallier. He had a great mustache, neatly curled off to the sides.

    I taught school and the general rule was a C followed by an A made the C hard, like a K.  But his name started with an S sound.    And I think it was an SI sound, like civil.

    Doing Wordle the other day, the word ended in amp.  I thought cramp, but no.  Stamp? No.  I was thinking of words that rhymed with those 2 but could not.  I kept looking at the letters and realized it was swamp.

    They all end the same, but are not pronounced the same.

    English rules don't always apply.

    I listened to the forecast last night.  Rain today.  Rain tomorrow.  Rain Friday.

    I bought some grass seed to throw in the bare spots, hoping the rain and warm weather will get it sprouting.

    New forecast.  Rain tomorrow night.  And it is chilly tonight....I can see the players breath!

    Cold night at the park.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

How dat?

 I get terribly confused about finances

    For instance.  Our Comcast bill is a lot every month.  The price  included a land line, security system, high speed internet, cable, and Marquee sports.

    I went in last Friday and changed our plan.  I ended up keeping the land line with a cell phone for $10 a month.

    Julia and Emily said no.

    Their reasoning is sound.  If we have a cell phone. there is a strong possibility that when Jackie wants to get ahold of me I will not know where I left it.  And sometimes I can't find my cellphone because I put it on mute and can't hear it ringing when I look for it.

    Another reason was the phone was a Samsung.  I have enough trouble using my phone, let alone learning a new system.

    So I went back to the X Finity store in DeKalb today.  I should say we went because Julia went with.

    Can't return the cell phone until Friday.  Once I do, they will reactivate the land line.

    So, how much money am I saving? Zilch.  Our plan was a package no longer offered.  Now they do everything separate.  

    In fact, I may have to pay more!!!

    I am a poor negotiator.

    Watching the Cubs game, they identified the guy in the left field bleachers who is at every game, pounds on the scoreboard and sees to be on every broad cast.;

    He is Bleacher Jeff.  

    Wrigley has a history of characters .  Probably the most famous was Ronnie Woo Woo.  But here are other regulars who we have seen in the past:   Pink Hat Guy, who used to sit behind home plate but I understand his age and health don't allow him to get to many games.  During the stretch years ago they always showed an old lady in a Cubs shirt singing.  I do believe I was told she was a real pain in the butt.

    I am sure there are many more.

    Honestly, I miss going to games.  I miss the people, the smells, the green of the grass, and yes, the food.

    Watching on tv is ok, but it doesn't replace a day at the yard.

    Ahh........

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace