good bye 24

I think I will miss good ol 2024 

    It was full of surprises.  Some of them good, some not so good.

    For example:  The election.  I did not think that man would get elected again.  That was a surprise.  As that. great American Mr. T would say, "I pity the fool." when talking about his supporters.

    The Bears.  Who would have. thought they would go 4-13, losing 11 in a row.  Yes, I know they have only lost 10 so far, but come on!  Do you think they even have a chance in Green Bay?  If you do, then you are as hopeless as they are.  I'll still watch and hope.

    The Cubs.  Who would have thought they would be barely above 500 with the best manager in baseball and a powerful line up?  I sure didn't.

    The Sox.  Ok, at least the Cubs did not lose 123 games.  Next year has to be better for them.

    January 1 marks an anniversary of sorts.  My first blog entry was Jan. 1 2014.  Then I said I hope to do it regularly, but I also noted I never complete projects 100 percent.

    Since that day I have 3,960 posts and 351,646 page visits.  That is another surprise:  People actually read this drivel!!  I am shocked and grateful that you have allowed me into your lives with my thoughts, fears, high points, and low points.

    I still think the first year was the funniest.

    I am especially grateful for the comments you have left over the years. 

    You honestly never know or realize how important you are to me.  I say that with total heartfelt thanks.

    Hope you all stick around for 2025.  Sounds weird doesn't it?  That is a quarter of a century.  Yikes, time flies.

    Have a Happy New Year and a healthy, fun, memorable, safe 2025!!

    Love you all!!

Peace and Love

fini!!

 I am all ready for winter!

    Porch chairs are in, bush trimmed, trees clipped a little......it was a productive day!

    Our health care worker came today which frees up my morning.

    When she came at 8, I went in the den to catch a quick 40 winks in my chair.  At 10 I got up, dressed, and went outside.

    I trimmed the lilac bush, my hope is I did not kill it with the trimming.  I also clipped some of the oak trees around the house.  

    When I was as done as I thought I could be, I showered, ate lunch, read the Trib, and sat to read a book.

    Sometime around 3 I feel asleep in my chair.  I woke up about 4.

    Determined to get some reading in, I sat back down at about 4:30.  Jackie woke me at 6.

    I honestly don't know if I will be able to sleep tonight!  Right now I feel very energetic yet very tired.  I did have a couple of small glasses of wine, so maybe that will help.  Any mistakes in this and you can blame it on the wine and an exciting Monday Night Football game.

    And for the first time in 10 days I was able to eat potato chips.  My mouth does not hurt as much as it did after I gulped scalding hot tea.  Lesson learned.

     All in all, it was a good day.

    Hopefully the rest of the year will be good also.

Peace and Love

still time

I hope to do some yard work tomorrow 

    Yes, yard work.

    Tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy with a high of 41.

    What do I have to do?

    Some trimming of bushes and a couple of trees.

    I read an article that the best time to trim trees is winter, when they are dormant.  Without leaves you can see the trees structure better, making it easier to trim.  Plus since they are dormant they are less stressed than a trim during the growing season.

    All I know is when I mow I get whipped in the face by a couple of branches.  So I am going to carefully lop them off the trees that bother me.

    I also have a lilac bush that is way out of control.  I know, the vest time t trim a lilac is after it blooms.  I am also aware that I will not get blooms on newly cut branches, so my lilac will not have that amazing smell next spring.

    But it is way too big.

    I don't think I have ever done yard work on a Dec. 30 in my life.  Strange times.

    I didn't do a darn this today.  I watched part of 2 football games, but they did not interest me. 

    We had some visitors for a while, and it was great to talk with them and their out of state son, even if it was only for a short time.  Julia took them out to see her house, which is coming along.  

    We had our third, and final, Christmas meal.  Leftovers are mostly finished or frozen.  Much to our relief.

    It was kind of a kick back day.  No laundry, no dinner dishes, no chores.  I liked it.

    I just hope I con't cut any fingers off tomorrow.

Peace and Love

on the town

 We went to see Frozen today

    The Paramount in Aurora is staging the show and Emily got tickets for her, me, and Jackie.

    I have never been in one place with so many glittery princesses!

    I am thinking. the tickets might have been a great Christmas present, because there were a lot of grandparents with little ones.  And a lot of the little ones were in some type of princess outfit.  One dad was even dressed as a prince!

    I am not a big Frozen fan, but this was a good show.  The lighting and set work was pretty amazing as was the talent that. trotted out on the stage.

    The audience was a little more talkative than usual, which is fine considering how many  young'ins were there.  There was also a steady parade to the bathrooms, again, expected when the audience is young.

    I enjoyed the show, so did Jackie and Emily.  After all, it is kind of hard not to enjoy a Disney musical, isn't it?

    If you have a Frozen fan in your house, check out show times and costs.  It is actually pretty reasonable to go to Aurora and see a play.

    I was hesitant at first because of the late December time, but it was over 40 today! No snow, ice, slush or puddles to push the wheel chair through.  That was a real blessing.

Peace and Love

holy cow

 There is a club I would like to join

    Maybe it's not a club as much as a group.  I don't think the members do much together, except the ones who are family.

    I am talking about the Forbes list of the 400 richest people in the United States.

    Of course President Musk tops the list, but there are 12 people with over 100 billion dollars of worth.  12!!!

    I always thought George Soros was rich, but he is 165 on the list.  And Mark Cuban?  231!

    There are lots of familiar names: Walton, Gates, Zuckerberg, but a lot of the people I have never heard of.  Not that I do a lot of reading or socializing with the billion dollar club.

    After I win the lottery later tonight, the $1.5 billion estimated prize will not get me into the club because the minimum this year was $3.3 billion.  That means if you had 2 billion, you were not in the group.

    Can you imagine?  A country with over 400 billionaires and we have homeless veterans, homeless people in general, food pantries looking for donations, a Social Security System that is running out of money, poor rural health care in many parts of the country, people going without medications or medial treatment because their insurance won't cover it and they can't afford it.

    Over 400 billionaires.

    I guess I am a little bummed tonight.  Normally I am not very serious when I sit down to report on my boring life.

    But if I had a teenager just starting to think about careers, I would suggest the oil field, investments, or  real estate and they too might beg able to join the club someday.

Peace and Love

Bah, humbug

 I am ready for this year to end, sports wise

    I just finished watching the Bears lose a thrilling 6-3 game to the Seahawks.  6-3!!

    The Seahawks had more sacks of the Bears QB than the Bears scored points!

    Lest you think the Bears are having an off season, I can't remember the last time they had a winning season.  I could Google it, but I would get too depressed.

    And it is not just the Bears.  Blackhawks and Bulls are not doing well.  The Sky fired their coach after a less than stellar season.  And I can't ignore the record losing Sox or the underperforming Cubs, who at least had a winning season.  Barely.  And who knows or cares about soccer?

    I think the state needs to declare an emergency and give e each team a billion dollars to sign better players and coaches.  

    Why?

    Is it the weather?

    Is it the facilities?

    Is it the Lake Michigan water?

    Is it management?  Team ownership?

    Has the city been cursed???

    I demand a federal investigation!!

    It is so frustrating to watch the ineptness of the Bears.  

    They hosted an 8-7 team at home.  How bad will it be when they go to Green Bay and face  the playoff bound Cheeseheads?  Will the Bears even score?

    I demand the mayor of the city and the gov put their heads together and figure out how to save this once proud sports town!

    If this keeps up, I may have to root for Chiefs.

Peace and Love

It was a tad foggy all day

zoom

 It's hard to believe Christmas is over

    Christmas  seemed to speed  right up to today  then fly away even faster.

    I hope your day was good. 

    We hade a very nice day, with good family, good friends, good food, and good health.

    I do wish we had a little snow, but at the same time, the weather was great for people traveling. 

    Anyway, hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Peace and Love

Our tree seems to have a lot of red lights at the top, and a lot of green on the bottom.  Lights were hung randomly.  Weird, huh?

Last winter this bird hung around my feeders. I believe my friend Steve said this was a kestrel

A few nights ago

I say

 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all

    I wish you the best this holiday season.  

    May you gather with loved ones, enjoy good food and good cheer, and find peace and happiness.

    Merry Christmas!

    Happy Holidays!

Peace and Love

3 strikes

My mind went on holiday  today

    Our health care helper came in today, so I planned to hit DeKalb for a few things.

    My first stop was Headon's for some meat.

    Now, the Pretty Young Girl that was helping with check out is someone I have known for years.  Let's call her Margaret for the purpose of this story.

    As I said, I have known her for years.  I greeted her by her name, asked how school was, how long her break was and when I was all done I said, "Have a Merry Christmas, Megan."

    I followed. that up with, "Megan?  Where the hell did that come from!  Margaret.  Have a Merry Christmas Margaret."

Strike 1.

    On my list I specifically wrote Target.

    I am standing in the store and I am not quite sure why.  So I texted  Jackie and Julia and asked why was I in Target?  Neither one of them knew why.

Strike 2

    I am a month over due for a PSA check, so I stopped at the clinic and they did a PAINLESS blood draw.  I thanked her for the great Christmas present.

    Stopped at the pet store and bought Beth some holiday treats.  Of course, I parked up on the curb at the pet store and the van was leaning at a suspicious angle, but that was ok.

    I wanted to finish t he day with a coffee, so I mobile ordered a Starbucks from the place I always go to in DeKalb.  Or is it Sycamore?

    Anyway, I go in and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Finally the barista asked me about my order and I showed it to her.

    "You ordered for the Peace Road and DeKalb Avene store.  This is the Barber Green - Sycamore roads store."

    I said to her that something did not seem right about Peace Road, but I ordered there anyway.

    When I have done that in the past, the people have said never mind, we'll fill your order here and notify the other store.   But they did not do that, so I had to drive to the Peace Road store.

Strike 3

    Topping it off, traffic into that shopping area was bananas!  I think it took me 2 lights to get out of the Target lot to go get my coffee.

    Luckily, it was still hot.

    The upside is I did find a couple of last minute items.

    And tonight we watched Meet Me in St. Louis, a movie I just love!

    Now I am having a little egg nog with a dash or 2 of rum.

    I hope I sleep!

Peace and Love

odds and ends

 Just some odds and ends to think about

    I asked my home pod:  Hey Siri, what is the temperature?

    Siri:  The temperature in Rochelle IL is currently 10 degrees.

    Hey Siri, what is the wind chill?

    Siri:  The wind chill is currently 11 degrees.

    I'm not so sure Siri is 100 per cent accurate.

    So, saying President Musk seems to get someone a bit irritated.  President Musk.  President Musk.There.

    I get Christmas cards handwritten from several people and I get so envious of their handwriting.  It is beautiful cursive!  One year when I was teaching a student came up to me and said his parents thought I had a funny name.  Seems my report cards were all signed Tenny Dickow.  My r has always looked like an n.  Still does.

    I make notes on all sorts of papers.  I write down phone numbers, addresses, names.....all on any paper I can find.  When I cleaned off my desk last week I found phone numbers with no names, partial addresses, names that made no sense and some I could not even read because of my poor handwriting.

    Dog Beth just sometimes goes out at night and sits on the sidewalk.  Meanwhile, I freeze, because I go out with her.  She needs coyote protection.  She sleeps with Julia, and last night at 2:30 Beth had to go out.  I wonder how that will work when it is just Jackie who can't walk and the guy who is half deaf and sound asleep.

    Don't you want to go out and buy 1 more present?

    I can never keep up on an Advent calendar.

    Red One is the first movie I have seen with Krampus in it.  That figure is popular in Switzerland and Germany, maybe Austria too.  I always get my picture with Krampus at the downtown Christmas market.  Trouble is, I can't find the one from this year.

    I would vote for The Rock for president.

    I made a snowman.  He had lots of brown eyes.  That's when I realized I had not picked up the dog doo.

    Actually, I did not make a snowman.  I thought it was a funny mind picture.

    No, I have not had any alcohol.  I am my normal self.

Peace and Love

yeeoouch

 Sometimes I do stupid things

    Our relative was here and I baked some frozen cinnamon rolls.

    I had to laugh because the instructions included "please use protective pads while removing hot tray from oven."  I laughed, thinking someone took a tray of cinnamon rolls out of a 375 degree oven using their bare hands.

    But I digress.

    The rolls were out, a delicious cream cheese frosting applied, and I made tea for the three of us.

    In the morning I make the tea, get Jackie her breakfast, go into the den and read the Trib on line.

    Usually when I pick up my tea is is warm, because it has been several minutes since I poured it.

    Today I poured the hot water into the cup, passed out the rolls, sat down and took a sip of tea.

    DAMN THAT TEA WAS FREAKIN HOT!!!

    I tried spitting it back into my cup, which was quite rude at the table.

    My to sue and the roof of my mouth hurt and I know the top of my mouth blistered, because I could feel  skin with the tip of my tongue.

    10 hours later and it still hurts.

    After Charlotte left, Jackie and I planned to wrap presents.  

    So at about 12:30 I got out tape, scissors, wrapping paper and a present.

    At 2:30 we had the present wrapped.

   What happened?  I had to let the dogs out at Emily's.  Julia was gone and had a delivery scheduled for her house sometime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. but they contacted her and said it would be about 130.

    I left for Julia's at 1:15.  

    The delivery guys showed up about 2 ish.  Problem was, they backed down the wrong driveway!  I was in the garage waiting for them when I heard a truck.  I did not see a truck, but I could hear the ding ding trucks make backing up.

    I looked out and saw them carefully backing down the neighbor's driveway.  I open the garage door and yelled, but their windows were closed.  So I climbed over some downed trees and headed to the truck, wondering all the while why in hell didn't I tie my shoes.

    When they got out of the truck I yelled, "Is that for Dickow?"  He said "Yes, we'll be right there." and the got back into the truck and came to Julia's.

    I got home, we wrapped a present, then we wrapped several more.  One box was big and Julia had just come home so I asked her to help me wrap her present.

    I did not get a nap, or a coffee, or a chance to read.  I did do a load of towels and a load of sheets.

    And somehow I am not tired.  

    Go figure.

Peace and Love

done?

 I think all our decorations are out

    Just in time too!  Julia looked at my train tree today and asked if I was even going to bother since Christmas was 5 days away.

    That sparked me.  I put the train ornaments on the tree and set up my German pyramid.  I even took the empty boxes downstairs!!

    Let Christmas and the holidays begin.

    We have a pleasant surprise tonight.  My niece's daughter is staying overnight on her way to Wisconsin.  Charlotte started out from work in Peoria and we made plans for her to spend the night with us and finish her 3 hour drive tomorrow. 

    Ok...I should know this.  My niece's daughter is my....what?  Niece in law?  Grand niece?  Second niece?  Or simply Charlotte? A wondering mind wants to know but did not Google the information. 

    I could ask the same question of both nephews and their children.  

    We had a little snow last night.  So I decided to use the snowblower to clean off the driveway.

    We have a guy who comes when there is 2 inches on the ground, but we did not have that much.  There was some blowing, and the driveway had half of it bare and half of it 2 inches.  

    The first time starting the snowblower is a real pain.  Yes, it has electronic ignition. Just plug it in , prime it , push. the start and off you go.

    Except the first use.  I had to go into town to buy gas.  After priming it needs to sit for a while, I guess for the gas to work its way through whatever it works its way. through.

    I added oil.   I did not see any on the mini dipstick.

    But the little sucker would not start.  I let it sit for a while, tried again, still no luck.

    So I let it sit for about 20 minutes.  When I went out, it started!  A miracle!!

    Once it started it was easy as pie.  My only problem is figuring out which way the wind is blowing.  I hate blowing into the wind because of al the snow that blows on me.

    All in all it was a pretty productive day.  But, and here's the big butt, we were supposed to wrap presents today.  My monkeying with the snowblower kind of killed that activity.  But there is always tomorrow.

    Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.

Peace and Love

confessions

I have a slight addiction

    No, it's not drugs, alcohol or tobacco products.  It is much worse than that.

    I am addicted to Christmas cookies.

    Sure, laugh if you will.  But it is a problem.

    I am not talking about the ones we bake at home.  Why?  Because we can bake them any time we want.

    I am talking about Santa Claus's Favorites by Salerno.

    These used to be called Jingles.  They are an anise flavored cookie that comes in various shapes, like trees, wreaths, bells....typical Christmas symbols.  Colorful sugar crystals cover each one and a true eating experience is licking a finger and getting the crystals out of the bottom of the container and into your mouth.

    When I was a kid growing up in Chicago I begged my parents to buy them at Christmas, and my mom usually did.

    But as I grew older, and moved out of the city, it became harder and harder to find them.

    I remember one year my co-teacher, Kim, came to school with a couple of boxes of them that she found in a store somewhere.  That was a treat.

    Now I can find them at Woodman's, although I have not seen them at Walmart. 

I bought 2 boxes last week and tonight I went to look for my cookie container and I could not find it!  Did I already eat an entire box?  I looked, and looked, and looked and then opened my second box for my nightly fix.

    Julia came upstairs and asked me why I opened box 2, and when I said I must have eaten all of box 1, she reached into the pantry and found the first container.  Now I have 2 containers!!

    My other weakness is a German cookie I can find at Aldi....Butter Specklemaus, or something like that.

    A few hears ago Emily bought me something like 54 packages of it when they went on sale over Christmas.  I nursed them through the summer, but the next Christmas I could not find them!  They are back this year and I have gone through 2 packs of those.  Now I am waiting for them to be reduced. I will stock up for the year!

    I won't even mention Malomars!

    Of course, you can't have cookies without eggnog......topped with a little whipped cream and some nutmeg sprinkled over it all.  

    Sorry, I have to go.  I hear a cookie calling.  I wonder which one will give me my fix tonight.

Peace and Love

 

role reversal

 Things really change as you age

    I would have the girls help me sometimes when I was doing something.  Granted, not a lot because I am not that kind of person.  A person who does things, that is.

    Tables turned today.  I helped Julia put a lock on her door.

    I did the holding.   That is what I used to do for my dad many, many years ago.  My, how times change.

    One of the. two girls has to help me put together a cabinet I bought in..... June.  Yes, it is still in the box in the garage.  I just keep putting off assembling it. 

    At first it was too hot, then too cold.  I missed the just right days.

    We did accomplish several chores today.

    Jackie and I went through the piles of paper I have stacked and dealt with it. No more piles, just one small stack.

    I did 3 loads of laundry because I did not check to see what needed to be washed.  Turns out, 3 loads needed to be washed.  I skipped the fourth load, which I will do tomorrow.

    Finally, I brought up the last 2 boxes of Christmas decorations.  I hope they are the last 2.

    Our in home helper took care of Jackie, which cleared me to go out to Julia's house.

    I was a little surprised to see the snow today.  We were supposed to get a dusting, but I think it was more than a dusting.  But again, it is Dec. 18 so I think snow is to be expected.

    And that's that.

Peace and Love

bye old friend

I said goodbye to a friend today 

    I have only known Sweetie for a year, but Jackie said Sweetie had to go.  Actually, she has said this numerous times, but I took action today.

    We met about 1 year ago in the produce aisle at Walmart.  She was mixed in with the other sweet potatoes, but I could tell we were soul mates.

    It's hard to describe her.  So here's a picture.

    Yes, that has been sitting on our counter since last Christmas.  I wanted to see how long it would last after it started growing.  Sweetie is still pretty solid, but it is time for us to part.  

    I unceremoniously dumped her into my compost bucket.  That's a tough way to break up.  I knew our days together were limited after Jackie told me I could not mash her for sweet potato pie at Thanksgiving.

    Speaking of Walmart, I am still dealing with unsteadiness when walking.

    I came out of the store today and a car stopped to let me cross from the store entrance to parking.

    I promptly walked into one of those huge yellow posts designed to keep cars out of the store. 

    Not only did I bang into it, I apologized!  What the hell??

    The driver patiently waited for me to decide what I was going to do, so I crossed and waved thank you.

    I am sure. they think I was drunk or something, because I just can't walk a straight line.

    Camryn noticed that when we went to Aldi Sunday an I veered left while walking to the car.  She wondered where I was going.

    8 more days to Christmas and I have no idea on gifts.  None.  But, there are 8 days left.

Peace and Love

eh

Sometimes I don't know what to write

    But I write anyway!!

    My Christmas letter this year was that way.

    I send a 2 sided letter, the front side with not so true stuff, the second side with run of the mill updates on my family.

    In the past, I thought my first sides were particularly funny.  At least, I thought they were.  But the last 2 years have been lame.  And this year's is the lamest yet.

    I have one gift I want to share at Christmas, and that is the gift of laughter.  I try to make a funny read, and usually it is.

    The first letter I sent out was a long time ago.

    I remember someone getting the card, opening the card, and putting the letter aside.  Someone else picked up the letter and started reading it and was laughing.   That is the reaction I want.  I also wish I had a copy of that letter.

    Maybe I am not funny anymore.  (I know, I am funny looking.  Ha Ha.)

    Maybe I am writing without the benefit of a glass or two of egg nog.

    Maybe the world has just gotten too damn horrible.  

    I just don't know.

    What I do know is the Bears are not a good team.  And I did not watch the entire game.

Peace and Love

frosted

Today was frost the sugar cookie day 

    Hmm.... I am tired.  Is it cooky for one?  Never mind.  We had cookies.

    Jackie and I made them Friday and we had a frosting party today.

    Our friend Sam came, her parents, Camryn, Julia, Emily, Jackie and even I got involved in frosting. at some point.

    We have done this the past few years and I think it now qualifies as a tradition. We frost, talk, laugh and eat.  

    It made for a sweet day.

    Plus, the Bears did not lose!

Peace and Love

Some of the finished products.....the snowmen with the commas were mine

That is a Christmas Llama on the left and an ugly sweater in the middle

no pressure

 This could have been a high stress day

    The VCCT gala fund raiser was tonight and I was going to host along with Terry C.

    But in the meantime, I bought tickets for Mannheim Steamroller in Rockford.  Maybe I forgot the gala dates, or maybe I did not know them.   My guess is I forgot.

    I initially thought I could see the 3 p.m. concert, race back to Rochelle for the gala, and kill 2 birds with one stone.

    The more I thought about it, the more stressed I became.  So I bailed on TC.

    As it turned out, Julia and Emily also booked tickets for a play in downtown Chicago, so I had to let dogs out at about 12:30. and again at about 6:30.  

    I would have had to drop Jackie off sometime in there, make sure she had something for supper, let our dog out,....even thinking about it now makes me shake

    The concert was great!

    Jackie has always loved this group, so it seemed a nice way to celebrate our anniversary.

    I ordered tickets on line.  I ordered 2 seats in the handicapped section.  Our seats were BB 9 and 10

    When we got there, it was apparent the online sales don't line up with the Coronado seating plan.

    BB was in the second row of handicapped seating.  For some reason, I am still not sure why, the head usher said we could not sit there, so he moved us to AA, seats 9 and 10.  That was fine.

    He came back a few minutes later and said our seats were actually one section over and we were seated in the wrong space.

    So we moved for a second time.

    Then he said we could not sit in BB 9 and 10, again, for some reason, so he put its ion AA 9 and 10.

    Again, that was fine.

    Then he came back again and asked to see my phone.  He then went to the ticket office, and came back and said Jackie was fine where she was but I had to sit in seat 6 because. a wheelchair actually takes up 2 seating spaces.

    He also offered us 2 balcony seats next to each other, but I said we would roll with separate seats and ask people to shift down one once they arrived.

    A volunteer usher told us the show was sold out....2,400 + seats.  But no one sat in the seats between Jackie and me or in the row behind us.

    So I moved back to seat 8.  

    But it puzzled me.  If those people had come, where would I sit?  I bought a ticket,  I should have a seat.

    Anyway, it was a good concert.

    And yes, I did find fault with the parking garage.  When Emily takes me we always park on the street by the river and walk the block.  But with Jackie and the rain, the garage made more sense.

    There was  one working elevator.  And a lot of wheelchairs.   And walkers.  And canes. This was for sure an older crowd.

    And the parking pay station is next to the elevator....so you have people waiting for the elevator and people trying to get through them so they can pay and go.

    But enough kvetching....... I had a great time.  So did Jackie.

    And I think all the other Rochelle people we saw there had a good time too!

    Now, I wonder how the gala went.

Peace and Love

not again

 It seems the same things happen over and over

    I can't find my car key.  Look all over. Checked pockets.  Moved stacks of papers.  Where was it?  Where it was supposed to be:  in the basket on the counter.

    I can't find my indoor shoes.  Yes, I have shoes I only wear indoors and on the front porch and patio.  In Switzerland it is pretty normal to remove shoes when entering a house.  Julia's friends always had extra slippers or crocs for guests who chose not to go in stockings or bare feet.  (Ycch!!)  I started bringing slippers along when we went to visit people.  Now I am in the habit of only having inside and outside shoes.

    I just wish I could find them.  My slippers are too hot on my feet.

    Christmas is coming in less than 2 weeks.  I am in a panic mode, trying to finish my annual WTH letter, putting the rest of the decorations out, making cookies, and looking for my shoes.

    Julia and Emily joined us for dinner tonight because another thing happens every year on Dec. 13.  We celebrate an anniversary!  Today was 55 years.  Jackie and I exchanged small gifts because, hell, it's been 55 years.  The girls got us a  Nest doorbell system so we can see who is at the door from anywhere on Earth!!  Way cool!!

    Two other things will happen tonight.  There is supposed to be a meteor shower in our area, which means it will be cloudy all night.   I know, it reads as one but its meteor shower (1) and cloudy (2).

    That's all folks!

Peace and Love

huh, again

 I get confused easily

    Last night's post was deleted by the FB police.  The reason?  I was sharing a post with the intention of getting likes!

    I am thinking, yeah, that's true.  But it is my post!

    So who knows what the AI is thinking.

    Speaking of AI, I opened a bag of flour today and noticed on the  flap it says:  "Cook before sneaking a taste.  Flour is raw.  Please cook before enjoying."

    And I am thinking, do people really eat flour from the bag?  Or is it when you. bake cookies or cakes and taste the dough?I   do that all the time.  Taste the dough, not eat if from the bag.

    We sort of made sugar cookies today.  Sort of.  The dough got mixed but we did not cut out cookies.  

    Julia and I took children shopping as part of CAN's Christmas shopping program.  We had 4 children between us, 2 girls and 2 boys.  Julia took the girls while another adult and I took the boys.  The girls were done at least half an hour before we were.

    One of the requests was for 5 T shirts, pants and pajamas.  But we found that 5 T really varies!  We picked up 2 different 5 T pajamas and one was twice the size of the other!

    A brief explanation.  CAN is the Community Action Network.  Their focus is on youngsters.  In the fall they provide backpacks with school  supplies.  At Christmas they organize a shopping night at Walmart.  In the summer they have provided bags with summer snacks and activities, if I remember correctly.

    Names for the shopping spree are  provided by teachers, social workers and others who may be dealing with families in need.

    The staging area is the Presbyterian Church, and a spaghetti dinner is offered along with cookies, a Santa visit, free shoes and coats and hats.

    Jackie and I have done this for a number of years and last year Julia subbed for Jackie.  We adults get a gift card for each child and we try to spend the full amount.

    Usually, and it happened this year, we go over the amount.  When that happens the adult shopper has the choice of picking up the difference or culling some of the items.  We pick up the difference.

    I got off easy as the other adult suggested splitting the overage, which was fine.  But next year I am going to pay more attention to prices!

    That. took up 2 hours of the day.  Another hour was spent moving tile and lighting fixtures from our house to Julia's house.

    The garage has a little more space now. 

    And the house is coming along nicely.

    Wish I could say the same for the cookies.  We will roll and cut tomorrow.

Peace and Love

Wednesday

 I am almost done decorating for Christmas

    I thought we were at the point of just picking up stuff, but I found 2 more boxes of Christmas items today.

    I guess I will bring them up tomorrow and figure out where to put all the things.

    This may be the year we don't display all our themed items.  We seem to be running out of space.

    I did get the Christmas pictures up and the non Christmas pictures downstairs.  That is a big accomplishment.

    We also made a third type of cookie today..... almond crescents.  The girls don't like them, but Jackie and I do so we made a half batch.

    Our morning help was here.  I went into the den and sat in my recliner.  Let me be clear, I slept in my recliner until about 10:30.  It felt good.

    I may have eaten too much tonight because I feel a little off right now.

    I went to the foundation Christmas party at Flight Deck.  There is a weird shaped parking lot and I ended up driving through the frozen grass because I thought I was on the pavement.  And no, I did not have anything to drink!

    But I had some snacks and a couple of desserts, then came home and had supper.  Not a smart move on my part.

    In my dreams tonight I will run some of it off by doing a marathon.

Peace and Love

    

weird

Sometimes weird things happen to me 

    For example.  We were making cookies.  I could have sworn on a stack of trump Bibles that we had parchment paper.

    But we did not.

    So I went to the store for that and a couple of other items we needed.  As I was driving, I noticed a flashing red light on my driver's side visor.  Uh oh.....yes, I was speeding.  But there was no car behind me!

    The flashing red light appeared again.  Again, no car behind me and no, I was no longer speeding.

    It hit me that it was the sun, low on the horizon, breaking through the clouds and reflecting off something, giving that flashing light effect.

    That was weird.

    I am in Walmart and a lady smiles at me and asks, "Is it still cold out there?"

    My first thought was to say, "No, since you came in the store it warmed up to the 70s."  But I did not.

    I merely said, "Yes.  It is still cold."

    We had left over lasagna tonight and Julia went to make some frozen garlic bread and ..... we only have 2 pieces.  I was not going back to the store.  Luckily, there was a third piece in a different bag hiding in the freezer.

    Jackie likes to make Christmas cookies.  Me, not so much.  But I do.  This year I set a limit of 5 different kinds, one each day.

    Today we made 2 kinds and it wore me out.

    Oh....last weird thing.  I got home about 10:30 last night.

    We have the electronic locks.  Emily has mentioned a couple of times the one from the garage into the house does not always work  I have checked it frequently and it works fine.

    Until last night.

    For some reason, Julia locked the door when she went to bed. 

    There I am in the garage, door locked, Jackie in her chair, Julia asleep, and me trying over and over and over to unlock the door.

    No, I do not have a key.  No, I do not have a front door key.  

    Eventually the lock opened.

    Today Julia had no memory of locking the door, although she did go into the garage before she went to bed.

    I do have a replacement lock....guess I better plan on putting that on.

Peace and Love

Chicago

 Emily and I went to a play tonight

    We saw Chicago at the Coronado Theater in Rockford.

    I thought it was a great show!

    But, and there is always a big butt, I did have a problem hearing parts, especially dialogue and asides.

    But the dancing and singing was truly amazing.

    Again, I wonder about these national touring companies.  They play one night here, one night there and who knows what happens in between.  This show had a band and large cast.  I know they take a bus to the next city, because there was a huge bus waiting for them.  And I know they can sleep on the bus, but they still have to have a hotel room just to get a better rest, shower, and down time.

    It would not be the life for me.  You have to love, really love, theater to do this. Oh, you also have to be talented.

    Saw friends Dan and Linda there.  I actually walked right past them but Emily saw them and waved me over.  We chatted for a few minutes, but not long enough.

    The show was longish...starting at 7:30 and. running until about 9:30.

    Jackie and I also had our first day of care with a regular care giver.  She will be coming Monday and Wednesdays from 8 to noon and it will be a big help to me.

    That's it

Peace and Love

The show is about to start.

I felt like a king in this chair

almost

 I am almost done with outside chores

    All I have left are 3 chairs and a couple of small pieces of furniture  to move into the garage.

    Problem is, I have no room in the garage!

    Yes, we have a 3 car garage with extra space in the front.

    But Julia has a lot of stuff out there.  It will go to the new house when it is finished, but right now it is just kind of helter skelter in the garage.

    Digression......I always wondered about the Beatles' Helter Skelter.  Was it a cult song used in the Tate-Labianca killings?  (Google it.) What hidden meaning did it hold?

    Turns out, it's a carnival ride!

    End of digression.

    Somewhere in the garage I have a snowblower. I know I will need that soon.  I use it for my sidewalk because we have a guy who does the driveway when 2 inches fall.  

    I just need to go out and rearrange things so I can get the chairs inside.

    Today would have been an ideal day to do that.  Beautiful weather for Dec. 8.  One of my neighbors even mowed!

    Julia and I did move the grill in, and I picked up some debris on the porch and before I knew it, the day was almost gone.  And I didn't have a nap!

    Of course, not watching the Bears after the first quarter gave me some extra time to go to the store, get a coffee at Cypress House, play with the dog, carry boxes downstairs and do a quick bathroom cleaning.

    I even sat outside at Cypress House for about 10 minutes, enjoying my coffee and the sunshine.

    Best part of all was Julia made lasagna and the four of us sat down to a delicious dinner.

    All in all, it was a pretty damn good day.

    Hope yours was too.

Peace and Love

something new

 I experienced a couple of new things today

    First off, I dropped Jackie in the bathroom.

    It was not a hard drop, I must missed her chair and she slid to the floor.

    Not a new thing, except when she went down I went with her!  Luckily I did not land on top of her.  Neither one of us was hurt but Emily had to come over to help Julia and me get Jackie up.

    There is a direct correlation between how tired I am and when Jackie gets dropped.  I had a great night's sleep, it just wasn't long enough!

    My leg muscles hurt a lot, and I think my one leg gave out, causing me to miss her chair but not the floor.  

    The new thing was JMK Nippon. 

    We had never gone there and Julia made reservations for us and Beth and Sherie.

    It was a great dining experience and I would go back again.

    We had planned this dinner last May, but things got a little crazy and we put it off.  And off.

    And maybe it was just me, but I felt it was ironic that we ere eating at a Japanese restaurant on Dec 7.  

    I managed to clear he front of mums, pumpkins and assorted other flowers today. I also was able to clear the deck of he table and herb garden.  Julia is going to help me move the grill tomorrow.

    One thing we did not do was wish my SIL Anita a happy birthday!

    I was thankful for a warmish day.  We don't get too many 50s in December.

    My goal for tomorrow is to stay upright.

Peace and Love

Julia bought this ugly pumpkin.....but it is kind of neat.

There are 2 actual pay phones at the restaurant!!!  I can't remember the last time I saw a pay phone!

my bad

 I get easily confused

    Blame it on the aging process.  Or my less than perfect eyes.  Or my habit of not reading the entire paper or sign.

    We are running low on pop.  Or soda.  Or cola.  We tend to call it pop.  Not to be confused with our fathers, whom we also called Pop.  (And if you put an extra o in it, it starts to stink!)

    I tend to shop around, because pop is a loss leader in some stores.  They sell it for cheaper to draw in customers who will but other stuff.

    That is my theory, anyway.

    I wander into HyVee and they have Pepsi products for $5 a 12 pack.  That was a terrible price in years past, but now is a good price.  So I bought some Pepsi.

    I noticed 7-Up products were buy one, get one free.  Even though they were $7.49 a 12 pack, the free one really reduced the price.

    I buy the pop, watch the register and notice the 2 7 Upers rang up at $7.49 each.  I asked the cashier and she said the computer has that price and it's never wrong.  I should have asked her if she knew a computer named Hal, but I didn't.

    I asked another person, who directed me to the customer service area.

    I  told the girl that I was charged for 2 when one should have been free.  She told me I had saved $6 or more on the Pepsi products and I said that was true, but then 7 Up was buy one, get one.  She said that was not in their computer.

    So I went back to the display and took a picture.

    Do you see the problem?

    I went back to customer service and showed her the picture.

    She looked at it and I said, "It says buy one and get one free."

    She looked at me and showed me the picture.

    "You have to buy 2 to get the free one."

    I looked at her and said, "Shit!" and we both laughed.

    I asked her if I can return the 2 and then go back and buy 2 more and get the free one.  She said just go and grab  one and take it.

    So I did.  

    I am old.  I can't read the small print.  And I sure as hell can't bend down to the bottom shelf to read the full card.

    Anyway, tonight I went downtown Rochelle for the Christmas parade.  I got a little chilled, even with the yummy complimentary hot cider from Acres Bistro.

    I left the parade and visited friend Beth at the craft fair, stoped at the museum, picked up the pizza and went home.

    In earlier years I would have been volunteering there, or walking in the parade with the Rochelle Area Community Foundation folks, but I just can't seem to do that anymore.

    Tonight we finished hanging ornaments on the tree.  The house is slowly becoming more organized, but there is still a long way to go.

    Hopefully this weekend will see it all done.

Peace and Love

Driving thru DeKalb.....there were 7 deer in the park!

memories

 I always loved going downtown at Christmas

    When I was small, I would ride a monorail in one of the department stores!  It was in the basement of the Fair, or Globe store right on State Street.  The monorail was attached to the ceiling and sometimes I would drop things on the shoppers below....but not often.

    My mom would.go into Woolworth's and buy some pine cone incense for our little log cabin incense burner.  I have about 4 of them now, and I think of those days every time I light a little cone.

    But the highlight were the window displays at Marshall Field's.  Starting on the north side of the store, the windows told stories or painted beautiful winter scenes that drew crowds of onlookers.

    Even when Jackie and I had little kids, we would take them down to Field's for the windows.  Sometimes we would have to wait our turn to view the windows and their amazing moving figures and scenery.

    After Macy's bought Field's, if I remember correctly, there was a big auction or sale of all the window display stuff.

    Macy's ain't Field's.

    True, the big tree is still in the Walnut Room, but you can only view it from t he seventh floor.  The upper floors of the downtown store are not open to the public.

    The Burnham fountain has been relocated from its courtyard gathering spot to the middle of a clothing section, with no seating.

    The amazing decorations that lined the main floor are now toned down, almost minimal, attempts to celebrate the holidays.

    Sometimes I don't like change.  I find its hard to accept and often times it takes away a comfort or tradition. that I valued.

    Anyway, I still love going there.  But I found you really can't go home again.

Peace and Love

Chicago's city hall is a beautiful building

City hall entrance

There used to be window displays at Christmas

Does anybody really know what time it is?

One of the 3 window displays on State 

Chicago Icons

Another window

And the third window....letters are missing from the message

The view from the once popular seventh floor eating area.  There are now only 2 food booths.

The dome is still beautiful

Elevator door at city hall