next year

 Well, my Cubbies are done

    They picked a bad time to fall apart.  My hopes, our hopes, were built up and then smashed, flattened, like a blind, deaf skunk on a 4 lane interstate.

    There is always next year.  As a Cubs fan you have to accept that.  I am just happy that once in my 75 years I saw them play and win a World Series.

    I will be pulling for Baltimore and Atlanta to make it to the Series.  I think Atlanta will win it' all,  if they get their pitching healthy.

    We had some margaritas tonight.  Julia made them along with fajitas and a couple of us sat around and talked, drank, and ate.  It was a lovely evening.

    Aside from that, it was pretty much a normal day, if anything is ever normal around here.

    Tomorrow it's off to the cemetery!  And no, I will not be staying.

Peace and Love

shots shot

 Jackie and I got our shots yesterday

    No, I did not get distemper and kennel cough , although maybe I should.

    We got our Covid and flu shots.  Emily was very gentle in giving them to us.

    The mystery of the tree occupied much of my mind time yesterday.  Well, that and watching the Cubs blow another one.  We got so discouraged we switched it off and watched the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building.  By the way, if you have not watched it, it is on Hulu and is a neat series. It's funny, and mysterious, and has three great stars in Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez and I think I spelled her name wrong.

    But I digress.  Again.

    I felt a little uncomfortable in the middle of the night.  I slept, but was up about 4 times for various reasons. I did keep checking the back yard for deer, bears, and Yetis.  Non appeared.

    When I woke up this morning every muscle in my body hurt.  I felt queasy and was tired.  Jackie, on the other hand, was fine.

    I took it easy because I hurt so much.  At about 2:30 I sat in my chair  to read and ..... well, I did not read much.

    Julia had an appointment at 4 and left about 3:30.

    When I got up, I looked around and noticed there was no Julia.  Jackie was watching TV but she did not know where Julia was.

    Julia had come upstairs from work, showered, dressed, let the dog out, and left.....and Jackie and I slept through it all.

    Funny thing is, I am still tired.  My muscles don't hurt and I am not queasy, but I am dragging my butt around the house.

    Hopefully this will be short term.

    I did go out and take some pictures of fungi in the front.

    I lay down on the ground for a better angle......poor choice for a 75 year old.  Getting up was hell!

Peace and Love

Looking down

Please, Mr. Holmes?

 I have a mystery to solve, I need Sherlock Holmes

    I don't function well in the morning.  I don't get up early.  So the details may be a bit fuzzy.

7:45

    Knock on the bedroom door.

    "What, what's going on?  What's wrong?"

    Door opens.

    "Dad, your tree is gone."

    "What?"

    "Your tree is gone."

    "What are you talking about?  My tree?  What tree? What do you mean?"

    "The little one in the back yard."

    "Huh?  Little tree.  I don't have a little tree."

    "That;'s right, cause it's gone.  Come, look."

    I got out of bed and looked out the back door.

    And sure as shit, my 12 foot gingko is gone.  All that is left is a 2 foot stump. And a small bunch of leaves.

    "What the hell!"

    "See, it's gone."

    Not knowing what to do in this situation, I called the nonemergency sheriff's department number.

    "Sheriff's office.  How can I help you?"

    "One of my trees is gone."

    Dead silence.

    "Excuse me?  Did you say a tree?"

    I then explained what I found.  I told them I did not expect a deputy to come out, but I wanted them to be aware of it in case someone has a similar problem or finds my tree in their yard.

    They said, "I'll make a note that you called," but I could tell by the voice it was not going to be a serious note.  At least I did not call 911.

    I showered, got dressed and went into the yard.  Julia pointed out here was a trail of leaves from my house across my neighbor's yard and toward the detention pond.  I followed it and found the stakes that held the tree in the ground, my suet feeder, the bamboo pole to keep it straight and what was left of the tree.  In little pieces.  No leaves.  

    I contacted Morton Arboretum, and they said it would be unusual for a deer to do this at this time of year because there is so much other food available.  And for sure, my hostas were intact as were my carrots.

    I don't think it would be a beaver because we are quite a distance from water.   Plus beavers generally gnaw, not snap, a tree.

    There was a green watering bag on the tree.  Julia found it and it was full of what looks like teeth marks, which leads me away from a deer because they have flat grinders, not choppers.

    I know it was not a person, because people don't eat trees.  Well, generally they don't.  It could have been a crazy person, but if that is the case we are all in trouble.

    What could it be?  A deer in rut?  A moose?  A bear????  A T-Rex?  Yeti?????

    Like I said, I need a Sherlock Holmes to solve this mystery.

Peace and Love

And pictures

there used to be leaves and branches on this part

The trail ended here

This little one was in my tomato plants and was not afraid of me one bit.....so I wondered if it was hurt or just a baby.

do unto others

I had a great day with people today 

    Jackie was fitted with a brace to try to straighten out her left ankle.

    As we were leaving the office, a man opened he door and held it for us.  I thanked him.

    As we were getting in the van, a woman parked next to us and watched me wrestle Jackie into the lift chair.  She got out of her car and asked if we needed help.  She was walking with a cane and offering help to us!

    I am a recycler.  I don't throw away dead batteries because I think they could be recycled.  I took two containers to the Battery Plus store in Rockford and asked a lady at the counter if they recycled batteries.

    She came out to the car and looked at the batteries, which were mostly AA and AAA.  She said they don't recycle these and I should just toss them in the trash.  Then she explained that lithium batteries and rechargeables  do get recycled.  She took both containers and said she would sort through them and toss or recycle as needed.

    I stopped at a Starbucks in Rockford.  I sasked the youngster if the 2 for Thursdays were still on and she said yes, but today was Wednesday so I would have to come back tomorrow.  She said it in such a nice way!  I know, that's her job.  But we had a good laugh about my inability to remember days.

    When I meet people like all of the above, I get reminded of how much good there is in the world.   We all just want to make this journey through life without bumps in the road, and being nice to others is one way to do it.

Peace and Love

oops

 We made a huge mistake today

    I set the alarm for 7:30 so I could take out the recycling.  I went aback to bed, resetting the alarm for 8:30. 

    When it went off at 8:30 I turned it off and went back to bed.

Jackie woke me up at 10:30!!!

Now, normally I would have gotten up at 8:30, but she was still asleep so I turned off the alarm, figuring the cuckoo would wake her at 9.  No such luck.

    By the time she was ready for breakfast, it was after 12:30.  

    So I had a short day.

    I did manage to partially destroy Emily's spreader  The one wheel does not turn, so I thought taking it apart may help free it up.  I have put rust destroyer on it over and over and over, so my next  course was to take it apart.

    You all know how mechanically inclined I am.  I can't get the parts off that need to come off, I can't get the parts on that need to go on, so after an hour I gave up.  I have to get a hammer to complete the dismantling of the spreader.

    Jackie said to just toss it and buy a new one.  I mentioned they were close to $300, so I have the go ahead to keep working on it.

    To recap:  The spreader plate that tosses the seed or fertilizer does not turn.  Because it does not turn, the one wheel does not turn.  It does turn backward, but I can't spread fertilizer moving backward.  There is a lot of rust on the parts and that seems to be the problem.

    So I thought taking off the wheel, taking apart the turning mechanism, and taking apart the spinner then using rust remover and then WD 40 would solve the problem.  But, and there is always a big butt, I can't seem to do what I want.

    We had  a storm tonight.  There was lots of thunder, a continuous rolling thunder in the sky.  Then lightning, which was strange because I figured the lightning would come first.  I just checked the rain gauge and we have over 1 inch of rain and that was since 5 p.m.  

    Come to think of it, now I am not sure if I emptied it after this morning's rain.

    O well.

Peace and Love

sit...stay

We had our first dog obedience  lesson today 

    It's not that Beth is not a good dog.  She is.  But she has some behaviors we want to change.

    Like jumping up on people.  Or being nicer to other dogs when she encounters them.  And staying.

    Like I said, not a lot.

    Turns out during the training she either catches on quickly or has learned some of that in her past.  But she is easily distracted, and bored, somethings we both have in common.

    Our trainer is a former student of mine.  They were in my class the year I had my real heart attack, which was 2006. It's funny that she is now the teacher and Jackie and I are the pupils.

    I managed to get my bird feeders back up and filled.  That may not seem such a big deal, but it has been over a week since I took them down so the yard could be dethatched.  I did not expect it to take me so long to get a round tuit.

    We topped off the night with a birthday dinner with a friend.  We had Chinese food from in town and it was pretty good.  I ate too much.  Emily brought some cupcakes, I think from Small Cakes?, and they were awesome.

    All it all, it was a pretty darn good day.

Peace and Love

telly time

 I did not spend a lot of  time watching TV

    I did watch most of the Cubs win.  It was an exciting end to the home stand.

    Over the seasons we have noticed people I the park.  The pink hat man who sits behind home plate, for instance.  We also noticed that unlike other years, he has not been to a lot of games.  We wonder if he is ill, or just too frustrated to attend.  He has several expensive seats and people always seem to be in them.  Just not him as often as previous years.

    I think I remember reading that he now lives in Florida and his family won't let him attend games in extreme conditions because of his health.  Then again, sometimes I remember things that have not happened.

    In previous years the cameras used to focus on an elderly woman during the seventh inning stretch.

    This year a guy in left field seems to get a lot of camera time.  He has long hair and seems to be at a lot of games.  He  bangs on the wooden part of the sign just to the left of the bleachers during Go Cubs Go and the stretch.  Today the announcers said Ian Happ gave that fan $100 for his enthusiasm.  Lucky guy!

    I watched the Bears until it was 14 - 0, did something and came back it was 21 - 0 or something like that, so I mowed the lawn.  I did not miss much.

    I am not a talent rater or a game planner, but I think I would fit in with the current Bears' staff because they don't seem to be either.

    I did watch a show that put me in a somber mood.

    WTTW started their new season of Chicago Stories with a documentary on Our Lady of the Angels.

    On Dec 1, 1958, a fire started in a cardboard trash box in the school's basement.  It took 20 minutes for flames to slowly creep up the stairs and hit oxygen on the second floor, where it flashed down the hallway.

    The second floor had 9 classrooms, but only one of them had a fire exit.  All the fire drills they had assumed the hallway and stairwells would be passable, but they weren't.

    Three nuns and 95 children died in the blaze.

    I remember that day.  I was 10 and I actually feared my school would burn.

    Fire inspectors had been at the school months before and noted some fire code violations, including no fire door at the top of the stairway.  Since the school was built before the fire codes were established it was grandfathered in and the door was not mandated.  If it had been installed, the fire might not have been so deadly.

    Several survivors of he fire were interviewed and recalled the horrors of the day, a day in which friends and siblings died.  One man lost a brother and a sister.  He jumped from the second floor window and told his sister to follow, but she never did.  He lives with that guilt.

    The priest in charge was featured in a news clip after the fire  and said the fire was "God's will."  I hate to think that God would will such a horrible fate on innocent children.

    The father of one of the survivors told his son to "Keep on believing."  Years later that boy would become a keyboardist in the band Journey.  He would draw on his father's phrase to write the band's  biggest hit.

    Good did come out of the fire.  Laws were enacted, safety standards established, inspections of schools more vigilant...........but nothing can replace the lives of those children and nuns.

    Like I said, a somber reminder on a somber night.

Peace and Love

Hello?

 My mobile phone is a curse

    I leave it places and can't remember where I left it.

    For example, someone called me tonight.  I heard the phone ringing in my hearing aids because the Bluetooth was on.  But I did not know where the phone was.

    I looked in the den, the bedroom, the car, the front porch....and could not find it.  I had Jackie call it, and I took my hearing aids out so I would hear it.  But when you leave it on silent it is hard to find.

    After I missed the call I found the phone....on the back patio where I had been reading.  And yes, I left the book there too.

    This morning I was in the basement getting things for Pickin' Station and  my  phone rang.  By the time I got up the stairs to answer it, I was too late.

    Yes, I could put it in my pocket.  But I hate being tied to a phone.  I don't want to take it everywhere I go.  And it is uncomfortable.

    At the same time, I hate missing calls or texts because I don't have it.

    I never had that problem with a rotary dialed wall mounted phone.  Sometimes I miss those days.

    Had a fun night playing euchre with friends.  I did get set once because I called trump when I did not have enough in my hand.  That was a disaster.

    And I did buy a lottery ticket.  I am not even thinking of winning, because it won't happen.  But I have to buy it because some day my numbers will be drawn.  Someday.  I may be dead when it happens, but it will happen.

    I also heard a Jimmy Buffett tune I had never heard before.  And I believe they said Paul McCartney played base on the song!  Now I am going to have to Google it to see if I heard correctly.  But I need to remember the name of the Song.  It might have b been "When my gummies kick in."  

     Maybe I need some gunnies.

Peace and Love

how?

 I have been puzzled by things lately

    When I listen to the morning weather, I hear things like highest temperature on this date was 95 in 1975, coldest was 33 in 1953.

    It seems  so long ago, but then I realize it is during my lifetime!

    That sounds lo long ago, but I was alive !  Hell, it was a longtime ago.  We have been married since 1969, or after the Beatles broke up.  That was a long time ago!

    Time just seems to be racing by.  When I was a kid it took forever to get from July 4 to Christmas, now it seems just days.

    Walmart has Christmas stuff on the shelves.  It isn't even October!

    Slow down, people!

    Speaking of slowing down, (this is a terrible transition but I can't think of a better way) I took Beth out about 8 tonight.  It was dark.  Our street is dark.  The night is dark.

    Suddenly, I heard a cough and then the flip flop of a person running.  They passed our house and Beth did not even bark.

    What bothered me was this person was in dark clothing.  No reflectors.  No lights.  No safety vest.  I hope drivers could see them, because I could not.

    It was also misting, which is another factor to take into consideration when running in dark clothing down a dark street at night.

    Oh my.

    I am starting to feel like a genius for planting grass seed yesterday.

    It rained lightly most of the day, which has to be good for the seed.  I hope it rains again a little tomorrow, which will also be good for the seed.

    The downside is I need to mow.  3 of my neighbors mowed between raindrops today, which makes me feel a little guilty.  I took a nap.

    Julia and Emily went to Cranfest in Warrens, Wisconsin this weekend.  It's a huge market with home made goods, crafts, imported items and a lot of other stuff.  Jackie and I have been in the past, but it has been a few years. I thought it was a fun weekend and I hope they find some unusual items.

    Plus they get to visit my sister in law and niece.  So, that's a bonus.

    That's it....except for some wildlife pictures.

Peace and love

The ants are leaving their nests!

I got thinking about Thanksgiving dinner today

seedy times

 I seeded parts of my lawn today

    Lucky of me, too.

    It rained just as I finished, which means the seed will get a nice bath.  Plus it is supposed to rain for the next 3 or 4 days, so I am optimistic.

    Neighbor John had a spreader I attached to my riding lawn mower.  It made the whole seeding thing possible, as I had a 50 pound bag.  I had borrowed Emily's spreader, but it seems to be locked and I can't get its wheels to turn.

    Next task is putting down some winterizer fertilizer, but it was suggested not to do that until mid to late October.  Maybe by then I can get Emily's spreader working.

    In a sense it is all kind of foolish.  I plant grass seed, fertilize, then complain about having to mow it.  Maybe I could get a couple of goats and put  them in the yard.

    I started cleaning the den 3 days ago.....and it looks worse now than it did when I started!

    I have a pile of books that I plan to read.  But it is a big pile.  I just don't seem to read as much as I used to.  Maybe when the weather turns cooler I will, but don't bet on it.

    Speaking of betting, I don't get it.  Watching the Cubs the commercials  talk about 6 under, 5 over and a whole bunch of stuff I don't get.  Funny how Pete Rose can be banned for life for betting while betting is providing a lot   of revenue to sports teams in the form of advertising and promotions.  

    Plus the commercials have to be some of the worst on air, even eclipsing the Limo Emu ones.

    Oh well, I guess I just have to live with it all.  Someday all my bets will be on under......as in 6 feet.

Peace and Love

drat!

I had a great day today, but I forgot one thing 

    A photo!!

    Friends John, Frank and Barb came out for a visit.  We have known each other since we were all knee high to tadpoles.  Except for Barb.  We were fully grown tadpoles when Frank met his future wife, but that was still a long time ago.  John's wife Kathy could not make it, and we missed her.

    A funny thing happened on the way to the Dickows.

    They stopped  at Portillo's in Sycamore to bring lunch.

    Kathy put the order in on line this morning.

    John got there a little early and they told him it would be 10 or 15 minutes.  So he went out to wait in the car.

    When he went  back in to pick up, the lady at the catering counter said, "Your order is right......." and pointed to an empty space on the pick up rack.

    She told John she had just put it there minutes ago, but it was gone!  She thought a previous customer picked up our order along with their order by mistake.

    So, they had to remake the order.

    In a sort of apology for the mess up, she gave John lemon cake.  Not just a slice, but the whole cake!

    While the food was good, the company was even better.  

    We talked about old times, the old neighborhood, kids we went to school with...it was a great visit.

    My only complaint?  I did not take a group picture!  I can't believe I did not do that.  

    Just close your eyes and picture three handsome, studly guys and two beautiful young girls and you can sort of get a mental picture of the gathering.

    It's funny.  I don't really remember much about growing up.  I can only remember a few people I went to school with, some of my teachers are blurs, and things I did, well, they are gone from my mind.  John and Frank were talking about going to dances at the local Y and I sort of remember that.  The Y on Lawrence? Or on Irving?  It's a distant memory, at best.

    And that's what photos are for.....helping to remember.

    Next time I will take the picture.

Peace and Love

One picture I did do today, Julia ordered 5 flyswatters on amazon.  This is the box in which they were packed.  Crazy, eh?

what??

 I had a hearing appointment today

    Actually, I had 2 appointments:  1 at 2:30 and 1 at 3.

    Or so I thought.

    I got there at 2:20 and told the receptionist was there for a 2:30 and a 3 appointment.

    She said, "Actually, you had a 2 and a 2:30 appointment."

    How do I do that?  I mean, I wrote it on the calendar.  I even wrote 2:30 and 3.  I don't get it.

    While I was waiting for my 2:30 appointment, the next person came in and said he had an appointment for 2:30.

    The same receptionist said,, "Actually, you have a 3 o clock appointment."

    Now, both of us were men.  We were both genuinely surprised that we had the wrong times. I was wondering what the receptionist was thinking.

    Anyway, I love my doctor.  Not love, love; but love as in I really enjoy our appointments.

    Her first words to me today were, "Hello, Terry!  How was your trip across the pond?  Did you have a good time?"

    I asked her if she had a little time for my passport story, she did, so I told it and she was as amazed as I was that a guy from Naperville found it and returned it at the baseball game.

    Yesterday my lawn was dethatched.  My plan was to buy seed, overseed the lawn, then put a starter fertilizer on to stimulate the growth.

    I bought 50 pounds of grass seed  to do t hat. I did not realize how expensive grass seed is.

    Anyway, my next idea was to use Emily's pull behind the riding mower spreader to spread the seed.  When I picked it up tonight, I found the spreader doesn't work.  It seems frozen.  Tomorrow I will douse it with WD-40 an hope that frees up the frozen parts.

    If it doesn't, I'll be asking neighbors if they have one I could borrow to spread the seed.

    The fertilizer will have to wait until the end of October.  At least that is what a couple of on-line articles said about a winterizer fertilizer.  I can't find starter fertilizer this time of year, (surprise, surprise) and my next best option seems to be a winterizer.

    I ran into an old friend today.  He was using a walker, which surprised me because he was always so big and strong.  He told me that after the cancer treatments, (Me;  What?  You had cancer?) he started getting dizzy at times and uses the walker to stabilize himself.  

    Seems we both had prostate cancer.  He had surgery then radiation while I only had surgery.

    If you know a male over age 50 encourage them to get their PSA checked yearly.  The PSA reading is a good way to detect prostate cancer.  Once it is detected, there are several ways to treat it, but early detection is key.  Pass that message on.

Peace and Love 

oops

 A lot was done around the house today

    The entire yard was detached with the remains bagged up and taken away.

    Of course, I did not do it.  I hired someone to come in and take care of that.  He ended up with 12 bags of thatch.

    My plan was to have it dethatched, then get grass seed and starter fertilizer to put on the newly dethatched lawn.  That is still my plan, but it will be Friday before I do all that.

    I did get the dining room light fixture cleaned and the stainless steel appliances all nice and shiny. 

    I actually got up at 7:30 today but did take a short nap around 1.  I think that helped with my afternoon energy.

    But I did have an "oops" problem.

    After feeding Beth dinner, I dropped her container with food, spilling kibble all over the floor.  Beth helped me clean it up.  It was actually more like a race to see who could get to the dog food first.  I think it was a tie.

    I was heading out to the back patio with a small glass of wine right after that and I spilled some in the kitchen.  I cleaned the up, refilled my glass, and promptly spilled a lot of that as I stepped out of the house.

    Tonight I had a small piece of cake on a plate and carefully balanced the plate on the edge of the counter.  That was a mistake.  Luckily it was a paper plate, but the cake splattered on the floor.

    I also started cleaning the den.  But I went to the grocery store, came home, relaxed and realized just a few minutes ago that I had not finished.  So, hopefully tomorrow.

    I say hopefully because I have 2 medical appointments tomorrow afternoon.  I hope they don't take too long.

    Finally, no, I did not get a bike ride or a dog walk in today.  

    All in all, it was a good day.  I hope you had a good day too.

Peace and Love

got cha

 The vole in the basement problem has been solved

    No, I did not catch it with a net. 

    No, Julia did not trap it under a box.

    No, my fancy new trap was not the answer.

    Beth caught it.

    At least Julia assumes Beth caught it....otherwise the critter died of a heart attack in front of the couch downstairs. It wasn't there one second, and the next it was.  So was Beth.

    If she had done that a couple of days ago she could have saved me the money I spent on the damn trap.

    I went to Julia's storage shed unit with her to help reorganize it.  

    Over the past year she has bought things and just set them in the shed.  Today we stacked, moved, and created a little more space for stuff.  At least now you can walk in it.

    We almost didn't do that.  I sat in my chair on the porch at 2:30 with the idea of taking a short nap.  I woke up at 3:45.  I did not watch the Bears lose another one, but I did watch the Cubs tonight.  Well, almost watched them.  They were being smoked in the seventh, so I stopped that.

    After helping Julia I poured a glass of whiteish wine and sat on the back patio, just enjoying the beautiful weather.

    On a down note, my knee still bothers me so I did not push it today.  Hopefully it will feel better this week so I can get in a couple of rides.

    Friend Kevin and daughter Sam brought some goodies over to share with us tonight.  They know I have a giant sweet tooth and I thank them for that!

    That's about all of my boring life for the day.

Peace and Love

weather...or not

 It was a strange rain day for us

    When the weather people say scattered showers, they don't kid around.

    We had some drops of rain at our house early, but it was done by the time we got up.  Granted, we got up at 10:30, but it had stopped raining.

    Yes, 10:30.  I know!

    We watched the Cubs to the biter end last night.  And trust me, it was bitter.  And since they are in Arizona, the game didn't end until after 11 sometime.

    So today was a short day, but a busy one for me.

    I let out Emily's dogs while she was at work, went into town to get mower gas, then mowed the lawn.

    Mower gas.  Damn, whoever designed the little cogs on the gas cans to make it harder to open must not have been a senior citizen or someone who has weak wrists.  Every time I struggle with it I tell myself to cut off those damn cogs....but I never do it.

    The forecast for today was rain, mixed with thunderstorms, in the afternoon.

    Well, when you don't get up until 10:30, afternoon isn't far off.

    By the time I got Jackie up and dressed, had breakfast, fed the dog, and everything else, it was 1.  By the time I got gas and was ready to mow  it was about 2:15..

    I wanted to get over to Autumn on the Prairie at Nachusa Grasslands, and that ended at 4.  So I was a little unsure of how things would progress.

    Since I mowed the front yesterday, I only had the back to do today. I managed to knock that off and be done by 3:10.  Nachusa is 15 minutes from our house, so I got Jackie settled and headed over.

    I was not disappointed.

    First off, the last hour of the day they don't collect parking money.

    Second off, my bison tour only had 5 people on it.  It was next to last to go for the day.

    Thirdly, Headon's had a food truck there and when I left after 4 they were selling the steak sandwiches on a buy one, get on basis.....so I bought supper.

    Lastly.....got a really nice look at the bison.

    All I have to do now if fold two loads of laundry and I  am done for the day.  And night.

    And guess what?  It did not rain here, but poured this pouring in town and at Nachusa.  It is spitting rain tonight , but my guess is we will not get much.

Peace and Love

The cinnamon calf stayed close to mom.  It was born maybe in July, according to our tour guide.

 Leadplant?

booooiiiing

 My new small animal trap was set and sprung

    Unfortunately, Beth was the animal springing the trap.  She decided to investigate and stuck her nose in it, springing it .

    She was not hurt.  But I will wait until tonight to reset it.

    Not to bore you, but I had a miserable night sleeping.

    But that is not what I am going to talk about.

    It was a dream I had.

    I was in a play.  I was not a major character, but I had three different characters in the show.

    When it was my time to go on as my first character, the chaos began.  I forgot my lines, started saying crazy stuff, and ended up walking around the stage in my tighty whiteys.  (Notice, Emily?  Tighty!). It was almost like an episode on Only Murders in the Building called the White Room.....but we just watched it tonight, and the dream was last night.

    I then went off back stage and tried to find my script.  But I could not.  People kept going on and off the stage but nothing was making sense.

    TC was there and I asked him when my fortune teller character went on and he said it didn't, because I ended the play.  The 2 hour show took 40 minutes.

    The huge cast went out for the curtain call and the audience gave us a standing ovation!  I kept yelling, "No, I ruined it.  Come back tomorrow to see the real show."  But they kept applauding.

    I went to each cast member and apologized and now it gets weird.  Almost every person I have performed with over the past 40 years seemed to be in the cast.  I saw faces of people I have not seen in years, faces of people whose names I don't remember but whose faces I do, faces of people I have not even thought of in years.

    And the audience.  The audience was people I knew.  Friends, neighbors, relatives, former students, co-workers, everyone I ever met, it seemed.   They just kept applauding.

    As I apologized  to people, they would say, "It's ok.  You're going to be all right."

    And I started crying.

    Not just in my dream, I woke up sobbing away.

    I've done a lot of self analysis.  My forgetting lines is my fear of developing Alzheimers.  Seeing all the cast members and audience cheering me is my fear of death, the pain of saying good bye.  

    Appearing on stage in my tighty whiteys is just because I am weird.

    I think Buffett's death is in there somewhere too.  I had a great times with people at the show, and I fear those great times over.  I will miss that experience as much as I will miss the music.

    Hopefully I will sleep tonight.  I am tired.  I did not take a nap.  I did some physical stuff, well, sorta.  I mowed the front lawn.  On my riding lawn mower.  So, I guess I really didn't do any physical stuff except eat.

Peace and Love

eek!!!

 We seem to have an unwanted visitor

    Over the past few months we have had a vole or two in the basement. 

    I assume they are voles....small, long tail, snout, and extremely fast.

    Well, we have one in the basement again.

    I can tell when it is seen because I hear an "EEK" every now and then.

    The little critter ran over Julia's foot when she was working.  Twice.  Julia does not like that.

    Beth is on the scent.  Last night she laid down in front of a book case and stared at it for 20 minutes, not moving the entire time.  Tonight the critter was in the middle of the floor when Julia went downstairs, but Beth was too slow.

    I was also  too slow.  I was holding a net in the last area where the critter was and Julia said, "There it goes!" but I never saw a thing.

    So, either Julia is hallucinating or I am just a bit behind.

    I would just put out a Hav a Hart trap, but I can't find my small one.  another price I pay for not putting stuff away.  I used it last winter to catch a mouse, but have no idea where I put it.  I looked in all the usual places, but no luck.

    Tomorrow I will buy another trap and hopefully catch the little guy.

    Because of its size, I can't use my ground squirrel traps because a vole would not set off the trap and could probably squeeze out.

    I assume they get in through the window wells or possibly the sump pump.  I am not sure, but I don't see how else they would make it into the house.

    Luckily they are not mice....because that would be a big problem.

    If you have any ideas on keeping them out, besides getting a cat, let me know.

    Until tomorrow, the great hunter is going to bed.  Or at least go read.  Or play solitaire.

Peace and Love

Eh...again

I know you get tired of reading about my issues 

    I talked to a neighbor today.  He is about my age and is constantly doing something.

    I, on the other hand, find it hard to even get the mail lately.

    I don't understand myself.  Nothing interests me.  I have several small tasks to do and I really don't care if I get done or not. Even supper is boring lately.

    My time is mostly spent eating junk food, doing laundry, reading the Tribune, and taking care of Jackie.

    And with the days getting shorter, my time to do anything involving outside will also shrink.

    For example:  I have not ridden my bike or walked Beth in the past 7 days.

    Part of it is my knee hurts every time I flex it.  That is not ideal for riding a bike.  Or walking.

    Enough bitching.

    Except about the Cubs.  What the hell?  Go to Colorado, which had lost 17 of their last 21 games, and lose 2 out of 3?  Not exactly what you want to see from a team trying to make the playoffs.

    I met a woman today who is a Cubs fan.  

    Now I am a Cubs fan, but she is a Cubs fan.

    From what I remember about our conversation, she has a life sized poster of Mark Grace in one of her bathrooms.  When you sit, he is staring at you.

    She asked me how many autographs I had.  I told her I had 2 Ernie Banks.  She smile and said he had something like 163 autographs from different players! Signed shirts, cards, license plates, napkins.... you name it, someone signed it.  That is amazing!

    When I was growing up I had an autograph book.  I would wait in the players parking lot, which is now where Gallagher Way is, after games.  When players came out to their cars, I would ask them to sign.I know I had Banks, Ed Boucher, George Altman and several others that I don't remember.

    Somehow that disappeared.  I don't know if it is buried in a box in the basement or a landfill in Kane County.

    It was nice to meet someone so enthused about the Boys  in Blue.  I told her Kris Bryant was still one or my favorites and damn if he didn't hit a home run again today.

    Hopefully, they play better in Arizona this weekend.

Peace and Love

What's new?

Our computer, for one thing

    I took our computer in for a check on why it was so slow.

    In case you missed it, Emily suggested that during Covid but I did not act on that.  I did two calls with Apple reps where they walked me through possible fixes and none of those worked.

    I tried making an appointment with the genius  bar, but could not.  Julia finally made one for me under the "hard drive malfunctioning" category.

    So, a nice technician named Felipe (and I am sure that is not how he spells his name) ran some diagnostics and everything seemed to be working fine. He then said he wanted to run a deep diagnostic test, which could take 3 hours or more.

    If it showed a repair was called for, they would check to see if the parts were available, then order the parts, then call me to approve a repair.

    He also mentioned ours was actually a "vintage" machine because it was 8 years old.

    We sat and talked for a while and it was a real pleasure to talk to him.  We got on the topic of stories and I told him I am a writer, but one who does not finish the stories.  He said he always wanted to write a story based on his family, with some fiction thrown in.  Unfortunately his dad died 10 years ago and all he hears from his relatives is how interesting the man's life was.

    His family is from Mexico and one family story has a distant relative a long time ago once found some people watering horses in a stream by his home.  He talked to tone man for a while, then went home.  When he got home is wife was glad to see he was ok and not hurt.  The man said he was fine and had a nice talk with the people getting water.

    His wife said, "You know the man you were talking to is Pancho Villa."  

    The relative did not know.

    I told him to talk now to the older folks in his family.  Get their stories now, because if you wait, you lose them.

    I left the store, called Jackie, and she said buy a new computer.  Julia and Emily agreed.  It made no sense to repair a computer that was 8 years old.

    Anyway, I have a new computer.

    I always have trouble finding the Apple Store in Naperville.  So I asked Siri for directions.

    At first she had me going south on 251, but I had to get gas.  After I got gas I got on 38 heading for 39.  Siri told me to go NORTH toward Rockford.  I knew that wasn't right, so I went the way I would normally go to Naperville.

    The directions helped especially in getting to downtown Naperville.  It is a convoluted route.

     I asked for directions home.

    "You have no home," Siri said.

    I told her I did.  It was in Rochelle.  We started there this morning.

    "You have no home," she repeated.

    Next, I said to take me to DeKalb.

    And Siri gave me directions.  I followed them.  Never again.

    I ended up on Il 38 in West Chicago.  

    To get to. that spot I had to make an illegal left turn, avoid getting hit by a gravel truck, turn around, get back one the right track and continue following her directions.  I assumed when we crossed over the tollway she would have a route to get on the tollway, but I guess not.

    It all worked outl.  It just took me a little longer.

    The new computer has a smaller screen, which may take a while for me to adjust to a screen smaller than the 27 inch one I had.  

    I also left the old computer with them to environmentally recycle.  Felipe said he would erase everything since I told him it was all backed up.

    We will see if that is true.

    Julia spent 90 minutes reestablishing accounts.  That was a big help, because I would still be trying to figure out how to do this blog.

Peace and Love

deja vu all over again

Funny thing happened on my way  to a normal day 

    Last night Emily texted that she had water in her basement.

    Seems the pump in her ejector pit died.  Funny, ours died about a month ago.  Or two.

    Emily's ejector pump handles waste water from her downstairs bathroom, which no on has used in months, the dehumidifier on her AC unit, and the water softener.  So, the water clean-up will not be bad, but the plumber did not have a pump on hand.  Seems he has replaced a couple in the past three days.  So she will have to wait until tomorrow for the fix to be made.

    We are now goingto order those water alert devices that can be placed on the floor near a pump pit.

    Our pumps are in areas where we don't go very often.  In fact, Emily hardly ever goes into   her basement.  

    So the warning alarms would be good.

    I know, the cow has already left the barn so locking the door now seems a bit silly.  But there is always a next time.

    We did get rain.  It was a gentle rain most of the day.  I don't think it will help the farmers or my lawn, but it just seemed nice to have it.

    Like most of us, I have memories of this date.  On one hand it is hard to believe it was 22 years ago, while on the other hand it seems like yesterday.

    In perspective, first year college freshmen were not here to experience the fear and uncertainty of the time.  While my fifth graders are in their mid 20s now,  many with families, maybe even fifth graders of their own.

    Peace be with all of you tonight.

Peace and Love

    

a new hiome?

 I think a certain sports team needs a new home

    The Berars were terrible today.  Not just bad, but terrible.

    It was as if they had read and listened to all the talk of Rogers being gone and the Packers won't be any good and the revamped Bears offense will score 70 points a game.........

    I know 1 game does not make a season, but this one was ugly.  I think it is safe to say they will not run away with the division, but could have a tough time finishing as high as fourth.  And I know there are only 4 teams in the division, I was just being snarky.

    Judging from the boos I heard, fans will not miss this team.

    I got a couple of things off my to do list, and added a few more.

    Our dining room light just does not seem as bright ever since we had the new switch installed.  Do dimmer switches come in different powers?  The light just does not seem bright.  It could be the globe is dirty, but it can't be that dirty.

    Got the mums planted.  I always think I can save them over the winter and plant them in the spring, but I never do.  

    I also realized it is a little too late to hook up my porch fountain.  All I really had to do was put the pump in, fill it with water and plug it in.  But I never got around to it.

    Story of my life.

    Someone once gave me a button with "to it" printed on it.  I asked them what that meant and they told me it was a round to it button, and now I had no excuses.  I guess I lost that button.

    So this week......clean the dining room fixture, clean up the garden, check  the water level in my golf cart batteries, check the water level in Emily's golf cart batteries, go to a genius bar appointment, help Emily with a clean up issue, and a lot of other little things I can't remember right now.

    It's not even Monday and I am tired already.

Peace and Love

ouch

 I got a bike ride in today

    That's a big deal for me this week.

    Last Wednesday I jammed my knee when I missed a step.  When I went to ride Wednesday, the pain was enough to limit me to a little over 4 miles.  Every time I flex my knee, it hurts.

    Today was better.  I actually rode 7 miles (actually 6.98, but that's close enough) and the knee did not hurt as much

    Then I took Beth on a walk.  

    I was pretty active, and I just have a little pain right now.

    The mojito might have helped, but I think the knee is better.

    Jackie and I have been watching Grace and Frankie on Netflix and tonight we finished the series.

    Now, there is a  lot of swearing in the show.  A lot.  I thought I swore a lot when the Cubs lose a close one, but all the characters swear a lot.

    The show is not everyone's cup of tea. It deals with same sex marriages, vibrators, sexual freedoms.....but for some reason we liked it.

    Sam Watereson, Martin Scheen, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda were the main stars.  As you can tell, the show did not feature a young cast.

    But it dealt with a lot of issues people my age are facing:  memory loss, sense of purpose in life, diminished physical abilities, family issues, legacies.  The final episode wrapped up the series nicely.  All the characters were dealt with in a positive way, so we, as viewers, were left with a good feeling about their futures.

    Funny, isn't it?  That I get concerned about the futures of make believe characters in a make believe world.  

    But I do.  I like endings.  Casablanca, for example.  The perfect ending.  We know where everyone is going and what they will be doing.

    On the other hand, I still wonder about Butch and Sundance.  

Peace and Love

    

sniff

 Night is an interesting, and mysterious, time

    Beth started racing around the house last night about 10.  She was barking and growling, which she normally does not do.

    So Julia put her in her harness and I took her outside on a leash.

    The smell of a skunk hit me smack in the face.

    I don't know if Beth smelled it in the house, but she was sure smelling it outside.  

    Julia had to close her window, the stench was so bad.

    I read somewhere that a skunk's smell can be noticed up to 1 mile away.  But this was a pretty strong smell, so I suspect the critter was closer.

    This morning 2 of my hanging bird feeders were on the ground.  One has thistle seed and the other has safflower seeds.  These feeders are on steel poles, and I hardly think an animal can shinny up the poles and knock them down.

    But deer probably could.  Knock them down, not shinny of up poles.  Unless they were pole dancers.

    Speaking of deer, Beth seems to look at deer poop as an in between meal option.

    So now I have to go out and rake up deer poop from the yard before the dog gets to it.

    Nothing like being licked by a dog that just ate deer poop.

    We generally eat out on Friday night.  We go for people food, not deer poop.

    Jackie wanted a pecan apple salad from a local fast food place.  I went in, placed the order, and as the girl was putting it in the bag I told her not to put in any of the plasticware.

    She looked at me and asked, "Do you want the pecans?"

    I was not snarky and said that I did, but I was thinking if I didn't want pecans would I have ordered a pecan apple salad?  

    When I got home, Jackie asked where the dressing was.

    My guess was she did not understand and when I said no plastic ware, she might have heard, "Don't give me dressing or pecans to go on the salad."

    Oh well.

    I did get an appointment at the genius bar on Tuesday in Naperville.  Julia figured it out, but it was not as easy as it should be.

    AI does not work for everyone.

Peace and Love

damn

Sometimes easy stuff is frustrating 

    I tried to order tickets for an upcoming play.  I figured out how to pick out accessible seating, and picked out two seats.   (I know, it is impolite to pick your seat in a theater.)

    Google gives you a virtual credit card so your real card numbers are not floating around in space.

    But when I entered the virtual pin, the number was invalid.  I tried several times, and it came invalid every time.

    So I went back and entered my real credit card.  

    At first, the feedback was expiration date not entered.  But  I could only enter 3 digits.  If the expiration was 12/25, I could only enter 12/2.  

    After several attempts, the correct date was accepted.

    Then it was on to the dreaded pin.  I entered my 3 digit number and it was invalid.  I know it is the correct number.  Entered again.  Invalid.  Again. Invalid. Again, Invalid.

    At that point I exited the system, frustrated by technology.

    Then I learned as of Sept. 29 my Nest home thermostat will no longer be supported.  I have no idea what that entails.  I think it means if I have a problem I am on my own.  But I am not sure.

    The reason was the cost of updating was too much.  Wouldn't you think they would have thought of that before they sold thousands of Nest home thermostats?

    Luckily I kept the old thermostat, just in case.  Course, I would have no idea how to hook it up.  And maybe I won't have to.  I just don't know.

    I need to take the computer in to see why it is running so slow.  Emily told me to do that during the pandemic and I never did.  Funny thing, ignoring the problem did not solve it.

    If I remember  correctly, I had a hard time making an appointment with Apple.  That may have been why I never took it in.

    Tomorrow's a new day and I will try again.

    I was in the car and had on Margaritaville on Serius.  They were playing a concert Jimmy did last February in Key West.  As I listened I got very sad, very, very sad, knowing we won't get to experience those live shows again.

    You never know when you do something for the last time, do you?

Peace and Love

TMI...again

Another day, another problem 

    I swear, I have itchy feet.

    No, I don't want to travel.  Well, actually I do.  Lots to see out there.

    No, my feet itch again.  They have not itched for a while, but started again this week.

    My bedtime routine is:  brush teeth, wash feet, rinse mouth, oil up feet.

    Nothing helps.

    But now I have another problem.

    I itch all up and down my legs.  Not the entire leg, just spots.  Almost like hives.

    And my eyes itch tonight.

    I must have an allergy of some kind.  Jackie has said for years my sneezing was due to an allergy, but I scoffed at that idea.  Now I am not so sure.

    I have not changed detergent, deoderant, soap, or added any new food or drink to my diet.

    I have been eating more fruit, but I have always eaten raspberries and peaches.  And I have always eaten yogurt.  And drunk tea.

    Now I itch.

    I was taking one Benadryl to sooth the itch.   But one did not cut it today,  I took two and  had relief for about 5 hours.  But now I am itching again.

    I don't have a rash, have not been outside for any amount of time, and have not done any yard work since the pre 90 temps.

    I know.  Go to a dermatologist.  Get examined.  But what can they tell me without doing extensive testing?

    Tomorrow I will not eat raspberries.  Maybe they are the culprit.  

    I just hope it is not the Portillo's lemon cake.  Or coffee.  Or tea.  

Peace and Love

pack rats

I think I am a pack rat 

    Jackie asked me about the 3 t-shirts I have sitting on a chair.  I said I am saving them for someone doing kid crafts who may need shirts to protect clothing.

    Then I started looking around.

    I have 3 tubs of old batteries.   They were in flashlights, radios, smoke detectors...and other small devices.   I took 1 tub to a battery shop in Sycamore last week only to discover the battery shop was not in Sycamore.  It's in Rockford.  

    I have a bag of paper towel  and TP rolls.  Again, saving for someone's craft project.

    My box of wine corks is almost full.  I hopefully will find someone who can use them for a craft.

    Last week I went to hang a picture.  I brought up 4 white nails and a box of larger nails, just in case.

    I used 1 white nail.  The other 3  I took back down to the basement and put in the correct drawer with the hundreds of other white nails.  I just could not throw them in the trash.

    Aluminum cans?  They  go  in a container that when full goes  to Eswood School in Lindenwood because they do a can collection to raise money.  

    Scrap paper gets saved to use for Wordle.  I make anagrams using the letters I know plus letters I think would fit.  Sometimes it takes a lot of paper.

    Plastic take out containers get stored in the drawer under the oven.   These are great for sending home leftovers and not having to worry about getting the containers back.

    But all that saving has a cost.  Sometimes the stuff piles up to the point where I have to do something, like with the 2 garbage bags of plant pots that could find new life at the high school if I contact them.

    Or the 2 boxes of wood flooring scraps I saved for use in backyard campfires.  I have had the boxes stacked in a corner of the garage since the floors were installed.  That was 2012.   Not a single piece has been burned.

    Then there is the laminate counter top that would be great for someone's workshop.

   And the 5,000 lottery tickets that I have not tossed because I want to check them again to be sure I did not win any money.  Well, maybe not 5,000, but a lot.  Several.  A few.  Whatever.

    If only I could save dollars like I save crap!  I could retire!

    Oh, wait.  I am retired.

    I just need incentive to get rid of it all.

Peace and Love

    

drat

 I will  tell you one problem with retirement

    I sometimes lose track of time.  

    For example, our friend Steve has a birthday Sept. 3.  Every year we are late with his card, mainly because we give it to him in person and people get busy.

    This year we had the card, invited them over today for dinner and cards, and when he walked in the door I said. "Happy birthday!  And we are even on time!"

    I swear...I thought today was Sept. 3!  Late again, which I know comes as no surprise to a lot of people.

    Julia has an ap on her phone that told her the Starlink satellites were going to pass over about 8:15.  So we all went into the driveway and gazed away.  We eventually saw the link pass from the west to the southeast.  It was pretty darn neat to see.

    I know in the past people have seen it and reported it as a UFO or something.  But it seems to be more well known now.  But I bet some people will still report it as a possible alien invasion.

    I believe it will be over Rochelle again tomorrow night around 8:15-8:30.  Look towards the southwest and you may see the link as it moves quickly across the sky.

    The link is actually a line of small communications satellites that will be deployed around the Earth.  The line we saw tonight had maybe 20 satellites.  It sort of lookslike a zipper streaking through the sky.

    Another technological innovation that is improving communications for countries everywhere.  

    Now if there was a way to keep me posted on what day it was........

Peace and Love

dog days

 Sometimes I think we are always in the dog days

    Emily brought Liam over yesterday, and for the most part Beth got along with him.  Yes, there was some growling at times and a little nippiness on Beth's part, but Liam generally ignored her.

    Then last night she was in her kennel and started doing this cough/bark/heavy breathing thing.  She did it for about 10 seconds, stopped and then started a few minutes later.  I got up and rubbed her neck and she seemed to be ok.

    Today we got to meet Nash, the Kudelkas' newest family member.  After initially being nice, Beth turned into a barking demon.  We had her on a leash, and Jackie said that was the reason she was acting out.  Julia was afraid to take her off the leash because she was acting so aggresively.  

    So I don't know if being on the leash helped or not.

    What I do think is we need to take Beth to some dog socialization sessions.  Maybe Tails has some.  I will have to check that out.

    Then tonight, I had something (ok, a plate of Portillo's lemon cake) and I turned around and almost fell over Beth, who was standing directly behind me.  I stumbled, yelled, and Beth took off like a shot.

    I followed her downstairs and she was afraid to come near me!  She must have thought my yell was at her, but it wasn't really.  It was a yell you give right before you think you are going to fall.

    Luckily, I did not drop the dake.

    Hopefully tomorrow will be a better dog day.

    And a better person day.

Peace and Love

family time

We had a nice family day today 

    Jackie's brother Bob, his wife Anita, and their sister Judy came out for a visit.

    Bob and Anita live in Florida and make it up every August for a couple of weeks.

    Anita has a sister in Olney, so they stay there for a while then come north to visit Judy in Rolling Meadows and any other family members that are free.  Like us.

    Usually they can escape the Florida August heat, but they ran into Illinois August heat this year.

    We had a nice time talking, laughing and eating....Portillo's beef and some delicious lemon cake.  

    At one point Emily brought Liam over to meet everyone.  Liam is a 140 pound Irish wolfhound.  He is a gentle soul, and dog Beth's barking did not even bother him.  Beth, on the other hand, had a couple of moments where she gave Liam hell in dog language.

    Beth has a toy basket.  We gave her a chew once, and she did not like it.  So we stuck it in her toy basket.  

    The first time Liam came over, not  long after we got Beth, he found the chew and demolished it.

    When he came over a second time, we had put a chew in the toy basket and he again found it.

    Today he came in and went straight to the toy basket, nosing toys out of the way until he found the chew.   It was kind of funny to watch.

    But like all good days, this one had to end.  We'll have to wait until next year to see them again.

    Speaking of endings, I was truly sad to hear Jimmy Buffett died.  I don't consider myself a parrot head, but I have been to 7 or 8 of his concerts and have had a ball at every one of them.

    So Carrie, if you are reading this, thank you for inviting me to that first Buffett show with you and Chris.  Every show has been a blast, even the ones involving mud and rainstorms.  

    I sometimes wish I had Jimmy's love of life and spirit of adventure.  But I am not that kind of person.  I tend to stay on the safe side, and sometimes that is no fun.

    He sang, "I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."  And live his life he truly did.

    I guess we are all growing older, but not up, which was Jimmy's mantra.  He will be missed by all his fans.

Peace and Love

meaty stuff

 I had 4 simple errands to run

    It should have  taken about 2 hours.  It seemed more like 2 days.

    I was going to buy corn, get milk and yogurt, pick up dinner for tomorrow and pick up dinner for tonight.

    On my way to the corn I saw friends Neil and Kim and talked to them for about 20 minutes.  Not to worry, I was on time.

    Got to the corn stand, which was north of 64 on Chana Road, and talked to the woman there for about 5 minutes.

    I drove to DeKalb, stopped at Starbuck's, went to Hyvee and then to Portillo's for tomorrow's meal.

    Jackie's brother and his wife and sister Judy are coming out and we thought Portillo's would be a nice lunch, considering Bob and Anita are in Florida and not near a Portillo's.

    Julia ordered the food.

    I went in to pick it up.  The lady gave me a box and said, "Be careful, it's hot."

    I thought that was strange because we always heat it in a crock pot.

    I got in the van and called Julia and asked her what she ordered.  She checked and saw she ordered a fast meal pack.....16   4 inch sandwiches, each in plastic wrap and  aluminum foil.  Oops.  Not what we wanted.

    So I went back in and asked the lady how we can keep this until tomorrow.  We can't because the buns will be very soggy.  "These are made to be eaten now."  Can we freeze them?  No.  

    So I ordered the frozen beef, gravy and buns for tomorrow.

    Which means now we have enough for 16 people. 

    I started toward my last stop and thought I didn't get gravy for the beef.  So I stopped, checked the order, and went back to ask for the gravy.

    The lady saw me coming.  I said I didn't get gravy.  She said I did, it was in the plastic bag with the twist tie.  I said I didn't see it.

    So she walked with me out to the van and we opened the bag and ..... voila!...gravy.  I felt pretty stupid.  But she laughed, I laughed and all was good.

    My last stop was to pick up tonight's supper, which was Mexican from a place in DeKalb.  Now I have enough food for 20 people.

    But being the creative problem solvers we are, we called Sheri, Beth, and Nadine and they came to our rescue.  We talked, visited, and ate. With Emily, Julia, Jackie and me, it made for a fun group.

    Tomorrow I get to do it all over again.

    The Mexican food?  Put off until Sunday.

    My 2 hour errand run?  Almost 4 hours,

    But it was worth it.  Turned out to be a pretty darn good day!

    And it would have been a great day if the Cubs hadn't blown the second game of the double header.  Oh well....can't win them all.

Peace and Love