Goodyear

That's my new nickname after the holidays 

    I may have gained 150 pounds in the past week.  I have so much gas, you could launch me and use me for aerial coverage of football games.

    I have devoured cookies, candy, hot chocolate, cookies, more candy, turkey, ham, beef, more cookies.....OMG, I can't stop!

    If I see it, I eat it.  I guess that is literally a see food diet.  Throw in some egg nog and you can guess why I have had stomach issues the past couple of days.  

    I am out of control.

    We had my nephew Mike, wife Megan and their boys Ben and Michael here for a visit today.  They live in Switzerland and I did not get a chance to see them when I was there.

    We had some beef from Portillo's and ...... chocolate cake!  Of course, I ate some.  Then some more.  But it tasted so good.

    It was great catching up with them.  The boys have gotten tall!  They went over for 3 years alnost 10 years ago....could have been 2011 or 2014, I can't remember.  It seems 3 years in Switzerland does not translate to 3 years.  Julia went for 3 and stayed for nearly 20.

    Now I need to start cleaning up.  I have boxes all over the place.  I will be cutting them up to put down in my expanded wildflower garden in May.  Plus I have to look through all the tossed Christmas wrapping paper for my Starbucks gift card.  I know I will find it. 

    And I think the tree will  be going down soon also.  It is dropping a lot of needles.  Normally I hate taking trees down, but this one just isn't lasting.  I did forget to close the heating vent behind it, which may be part of he problem.

    3 more days to 2021.  It seems like it just started.  The past 2 years have been a real challenge, I  hope better days are ahead.

Peace and Love

busy, busy day

 This was a pretty active day

    Julia's household goods arrived.  The company called at about 8:15 and they were down at the storage unit.  She went to let them in, watch 4 of them unload the container and load the wine into another truck.

    That truck came to the house and the two men carried the wine to the basement.

    She had about 66 boxes of wine.  Most boxes had 6 bottles, a couple had 112.

    What was neat was they carried the boxes on their backs!  They hunched forward and had the boxes balanced on their backs!  I don't how they got them off carefully, but there were no broken bottles, at least from what we saw.

    As they were making trips through the garage and into the basement, the fireplace guy showed up.  Lately when we run the gas fireplace, it shuts off for a few seconds then comes back on.  That did not see safe, so we had it checked.  It seems we need a new ignition control panel, or something like that.

    After everybody was gone, I had to help her sort the wine.  We have stacks of champagne, white, pink, and red.  When she builds, they will have to be moved again but I don't think it will be by me!

    I spent about an hour looking for a Starbucks gift card John and Emily gave me.  I have the card holder, but no card.  These are the shape of a coffee cup and smaller than the regular card.  So far, I have not found it.  

    I also went to DeKalb to pick up some beef for tomorrow and ended up buying 12 packages of Christmas cookies at Aldi's.  I love these cookies!  I freeze them, and then starting in June or July I take out a package every couple of weeks for my afternoon tea.  

    I don't think our Christmas tree is going to be up much longer.  The needles are dropping like crazy.  We like to keep it up until Jan. 6, but I don't think that will be possible this year.

    And my trial for the day came in Aldi's when my mask got tangled in my eyeglasses and the glasses fell off, and the left elns popped out.  I put it back in, but I don't think it is right.  Guess I call the eye doc tomorrow.

    Finally, we finished season one of Ted Lasso.  It took a while for us to get into the show, and truthfully I have a hard time understanding some of the cast even with my hearing aids.  But we do like it and can't wait until we start season 2.

Peace and Love

post blues

Today was a strange post Christmas day 

    Usually I rush off to Aldi's to pick up Christmas cookies, hopefully at half price.  But today, I just was tired and kind of funky feeling.  I prety much sat around most of the day, but about 2 I get energetic and did some chores.

    Supper was leftovers, which I am happy to eat.  But eventually turkey gets tiring and we will need a change of taste.

    Speaking of taste, (great transition, eh?) not everyone appreciates my art.

    I don't like wrapping paper.  I think it is pretty wasteful.  So several years ago I bought an end roll of plain newsprint and I wrap my presents in those.  Years ago, when I could get the Trib delivered to the house, I would start saving the Sunday funnies in about July and by Christmas I had enough wrap presents.

    But now I use the plain, white print.

    To make it more festive, I draw Christmas scenes...sort of.  Sometimes they are amazing....but you may not agree.

    Here are some from this year.

This started out as a rabbit, but it later became a guinea pig or a boxing mouse

Hard to clor white on white...so I outlined his beard

Julia recognized the Matterhorn right away

Jackie also got artistic with the cheese and sausage

    I am just surprised they don't save my art and hang it on the fridge.

Peace and Love

tired, but happy

 This was a nice Christmas

    Julia, Emily and john did the bulk of hte cooking, the dishwasher did the bulk of the clean up, and it was  a great day.

    We got to talk to relatives via Facetime and Skype, had friends over for dinner, opened lots of neat presents, and I only got upset once.  Technology frustrates me, and during one of our computer times I  got very upset at my lack of knowledge of how things work.  Other people figured out the problem, and they will work with me to prevent that problem from happening again.  I think it is called learning.

    But the day was great.  

    Now I am hungry, tired, and happy.  It was even less stressful than normal because Julia is not leaving in a week.  And that is a great gift.

    Hope you had a Merry Christmas.......now, let's get a New Year going that is healthy and happy!

Peace and Love

'twas the night before Christmas

 And I am getting ready

    I have my egg nog with a little rum, I know where "It's a Wonderful Life" is, the basement is free for me to wrap presents, and most of the cooking for tomorrow is done.

    Jackie and I went to church tonight, for the first time since Covid raised it's ugly head.  It was great to see the people in person.  Many have gotten taller, all are a little older, some a little chunkier (me!) but all were welcome faces.

    I have once again struggled with gifts, never knowing which is too much and which is too little and which is just too weird.  I know it is not the giving, or the receiving, but the reason for the season that is the most important.

    At the same time I also get sad.  We have ample, but many people are struggling now.  Families are homeless, people are hungry, and we are all a little bit anxious as to what the new year will bring.

    Truthfully, I miss the family that can't be here...my mom, dad, brother Dennis, and all the aunts and uncles and grandparents that created the Christmas memories I cherish.

    And I rejoice in the family that is here, some near, some far, but always in my heart and thoughts.

    I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and a healthy holiday.  Peace be with you this holiday and each day in the upcoming years.

    And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all.  And to all a good night."

Peace and Love

dang it

 Sometimes timing is everything

    I have a degree in journalism.  I write for a newspaper.  I can take pictures.  Newspapers love a good photo.

    Today I was taking Jackie to a hair appointment.  We were on Flagg Road by the Lutheran Church and there was an accident. 

    It looked like one truck  crossed a center line and hit another truck in the left front.  The truck then left the roadway, knocked down a utility pole, and went into the field.

    It had just happened.  Two cars had stopped to help, but police had not arrived yet.  They were just turning onto Flagg Road as we passed the accident.

    I said maybe I should take a picture for the paper.  But I did not have my phone.  So I asked Jackie for her phone and remembered I had put it in her purse but left her purse in the garage.

    By the time I dropped Jackie off, circled home, picked up phones and my camera, then  drove back toward the accident everything was cleared up except the broken pole.

    What are the odds I would forget my phone and her purse?

    Actually, pretty good I would guess.

    I just hope no one was seriously injured in the accident.  

    This afternoon Julia and I cleaned out a corner of our basement for a temporary wine cellar.  

    When she shipped her goods Nov. 17, we expected it to be February or March before the container arrived.  But the container is coming Monday.

    Most of the cartons go into the storage unit, but the wine comes to the house so it can be in a relatively controlled temperature setting.

    I just hope the moving guys take it down the stairs.  If not, I will be asking for help.  

Peace and Love

say what?

 Sometimes people say strange things

    It's not only me either.

    Today I had a heart doctor check up.  The nurse was taking my history and asked if I had any surgeries since the last visit.

    I told her I had my prostate removed.

    She looked at ther computer and asked if I had the left side, right side or complete removal.  I told her it was complete.

    She paused for a minute and asked, (Seriously, this is not made up!) "Can people live without a prostate?"

    I did not know what to say, so I said, "Hello!!  I am here and I don't have a prostate!"

    Yesterday I ordered 8 pieces of chicken and a pound of cole slaw at a local fast food place.  The young man asked, "Is this for here or to go?"  I was the only one in the place!  Did he seriously expect me to eat all that by myself?

    I ordered a coffee on line at Starbucks in Rockford.  I went in and it wasn't ready.  I looked at my phone and could not tell if I ordered or  not.  So I asked the girl behind the counter.  She told me I had  not completed the order.  So I hit complete, complete again , and it was ordered,

    I told her thank you and said sometimes the techology is harder for us older folks.

    "Don't worry.  My dad is a lot younger than you and he won't even try to order on line," she replied.

    A lot?  What the hell, does the think I am 70 or something?  Oh, wait.

    I also took some used printer cartridges in to one of the big box stores for recycling.  I had 4 of them in my arms and asked the clerk if they recycled these.  She said yes.

    After a pause, she said, "Do you want to recycle those?"

    I wanted to say, no, I am just carrying them around and surveying stores.  I will just take them back out to the car and drive around with them.

    But I said yes, and she took them.

    In a way it is comforting that people say goofy things, because I am always saying goofy things.  In a sense it makes me feel better.

    And the heart doc said I was fine and he would not be seeing me anymore since he is retiring, sort of.  We always talk about biking when I visit.  I told him I was not good this summer at riding, he said he wasn't either....too hot, too busy, Covid.

    I told him I just had over 70 miles and was really bummed.  He said he was too, he only had 3,000 miles this year.  Most of his fellow riders had 5,000.

    At least if I double my amount next year I will have much satisfaction......while it will be hard for him to double his!

    Peace and Love