Huh

 Oh no, another ramble about nothing

    I got an e mail from cousin Bob in New York.  He sent some funnies along, and I am going to copy a couple of them.

    My daughter went to a Mexican fast food and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for minimal lettuce. He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.

    That. reminds me of a time I stopped at a sandwich shop.  The guy behind the counter asked if I wanted pickles, and I said I did not eat cucumbers.  He told me they were not cucumbers, they were pickles.  I still passed, but hoped one day he realized pickles were just cucumbers in vinegar.  And if asked today, I would take the pickles because I do like cucumbers, sort of.

    My husband and I went through the McDonald's drive thru window and I gave the cashier a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her 25c.

She said, 'You gave me too much money.'

I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar back.'

She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request.

I did so, and he handed me back the 25 cents, and said 'We're sorry but we don't do that kind of thing.'

The cashier then proceeded to give me back 75 cents in change.

    Again, as crazy as that sounds I did the same thing!  My bill was like $4.25, and I gave them a $5 and a quarter.  The person ended up giving me 75 cents back along with the quarter, saying it was only $4.25, not $5.25.

    We have all heard similar stories, people who want their pizza cut into 6 slices because they could not eat 8, or who think 1/4 is bigger than 1/3 because 4 is bigger than 3.  

    Anyway, I was looking for paper hat prices (don't ask) at about 4:30 when my eyes got very heavy.  I moved to my chair and fell asleep.  Now I hope I can sleep tonight after my 1 hour afternoon nap.

    But darn it, it felt good.

    Tomorrow:  Chore Day!!!

Peace and Love

futility

 My best laid plays often go astray

    I had a blood draw scheduled for today in DeKalb.  I keep saying DeKalb, but it is actually Sycamore.  Potato, pohtato..except that doesn't work in print.

    Anyway, I had 3 stops to make.  Paint store, big box hardware store, Target,  Bath and Body Works. and HyVee.  Um...that's 5.  Math was never my best subject.

    I went to Target because they have a $10 gift card of if buy 3 cleaning products.  We are almost out of detergent, so I figured get 3 and save $10.  But they did not have the scent Jackie prefers, so I came out empty handed.

    Bath and Body works was fine, except I could not find one of the scents she wanted in soap.  I did not come out empty handed.  (Digression:  The store is in a strip mall that is almost deserted.  There is a store at one end, then empty, empty, empty, empty, store, empty.)

    Paint store was fine.  The people remember my name, and I have not decided if that is good or not.

    The Loew's stop was non productive.  I need sone trim paint for a little touching up from where I took out the garage door.  We found the color, but he asked if I wanted flat, satin or sheen finish.  I had no idea.   So I did not buy any paint.  I think it is satin, but it may be a flat.  Will it matter?

    I only bought cereal, yogurt and some crackers at the grocery store.

    I started all this at about 2, after Miriam had done an excellent job of pulling out 98 vials of my life juices.   Well,  maybe not 98.  

    I did not get home until 4:40 or so.

    Now, I did not dawdle too much, although it took e a while to find a rose bush for a container while I was at Lowe's.  It just took so much time!  

    I did make an unscheduled stop.  There is a dog food store near HyVee and I went down to get some special treats since today is Beth's birthday.

    When I got home I was going tp plant and trim, but it poured.  And poured.  And poured.

    So I did nothing.  Third day in a row.

    Maybe tomorrow.

Peace and Love

something smells

And I really love the smell! 

    We have a Miss Kim lilac bush planted just off the patio.

    Now, Miss Kims are supposed to be small.  But this one is gigantic!  And it is loaded with blooms.

    We have a couple of windows open and the breeze has been blowing the smell into the house all day.  I just love it.

    One of the best trips Jackie and I used to take was to Mackinaw Island right after school was out.  It was lilac time there and the island is full of beautiful bushes, which give off a heavenly scent.  I loved sitting on the porch of the Metevier Inn and watching life slowly pass by, with the smells of lilacs and a horse barn mixing in the air.  Cindy's stables, if I remember correctly.  It has been 15 years or so since we went.

    The problem I have is our bush needs to be trimmed back to a more manageable size.  If you cut a lilac bush, it will not produce flowers on that branch the following season.  I hope to prune back about 1/3 of the plant so next year we will still have some scents.  And flowers.

    I just hope I don't kill it.

    A happy mothers' day....or Mother's Day.

    Emily, Julia, Jackie and I had some grilled steaks and sweet corn for supper.  It was pretty good, and surprisingly the corn was good.  I did not expect that.  The girls brought hanging baskets for the porch and they are beautiful.

    Thank you for all the birthday wishes. 

    I even got to see the Northern Lights last night!  I took Beth out about 10:30 and the sky was a greenish blue.  I know there were better displays earlier in the night, but I missed them.  

    I did not do anything again today.  I even took a nap!  

    It just felt good.

Peace and Love

I admit...these are not very good.  But it is proof I saw them.  

another year older

Just me and a Terra Ma Sue

 I don't buy this 70s is the new 60s

    Now that I am officially closer to 80 than 70, I have some observations.

    The older you get, the harder it is to get up off the ground after you drop a bunch of change when taking off your pants.

    The older you get, the harder it is taking off your pants.

    The older you get, the less people appreciate you walking around without pants.

    Explain that to me, please.  Mickey Mouse is about 100 and he does not wear pants.  Neither does Donald Duck nor Clark, the Cubs mascot.  If they can get away with it, why can't I?

    The only room I seem to remember why I am entering is the bathroom.  And yesterday I may have peed in the garbage can, I am not sure.

    Strangely, I seem to remember names better these days.  I saw someone and called him Mike, another person I said Hello Mary......I don't know if those are their names, in fact I don't even know if I knew them, but I am remembering names.

    I took the day off today.  No chores at all, except doing our sheets and towels.  Yes, they still have to be folded, but they are done.

    I looked for Northern Lights last night but did not see them.  Everyone in Illinois seems to have seen them, but not me.  It was as if a cloud settled over my house and refused to move.  At one point, I was even rained on!  Maybe tonight.

    We went out to dinner tonight, Julia, Emily, Jackie and me.  Nice Italian place in Dixon. 

    One problem.  Julia made reservations and told them one person was in a wheelchair.  When we got there, they seated us in the middle of the dining area!   All was well until we left and they had to move 3 tables to make a path to the door.  I don't understand why they didn't seat us by the door, which would have made the most sense.  I felt bad for the people who had to stop eating and move.

    But the food was wonderful.  

    It was just great spending time with my family.  My girls mean the world to me and I never seem to have enough time with them.  Today was great.

    We drove out to see the bison at Nachusa and got home in time to watch the Cubs lose.  

    We do have birthday cookies, so if you want to stop out tomorrow afternoon, please do.

    But beware:  I might not have any pants on.

Peace and Love

Jose, can you see

Nature is a fickle thing, eh? 

    Massive solar storms, storms sending enough energy to make me get up off the couch.  Heading our way.

    Unplug your computers, don't plug in your phones tonight, watch out for ETs approaching.

    The end is near!

    Noting is certain but uncertainty.

    Well, I am here to tell you BALONY!

    There is one guarantee in life; When an amazing astronomical event is going to take place at night, my house will be under cloud cover.

    It happens during lunar eclipses, super moons, meteor showers and it is happening again tonight.

    With a high chance of seeing the Northern Lights, there are clouds in the sky.  Damn!  I actually predicted that as soon as the announcement was made that the Borealis might be visible  all the way down to Alabama!  

    Oh well.  I have a great picture of them on the wall where I am sitting, so I guess that will have to do.

    I read an article somewhere about a town in New England that is being pulled apart because of a public mural.

    The reason why one of the town leaders was vocal in opposition to the mural was because it contained an iris.  Yes, an iris.

    She said an iris is a dangerous symbol because Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow and the rainbow is a symbol of the LGBT movement.  Evidently using the iris in the mural was an attempt to indoctrinate young people into the clutches  of the LGBT community.

    Folks, I am not making that up.

    It is so scary it is funny.

    Then I was told there was a mural in Oregon, a small town just west of us, and that had to be altered because it featured a cigar, which could be construed as to promote smoking.  So the cigar was eliminated.

    Somewhere  I think there  is a mural that depicts the lack of common sense.  A lot of people must have been influenced by that one.

    I'm tired.  And I don't think sleep will help.

    I did 3 things on my list, but added 4.  It seems to grow the more I do. 

    Maybe I should just do less?  It's a puzzle, isn't it?

Peace and Love

Wednesday the 13th?

 I am not superstitious, usually

    But today was one freakin strange day!

    First, it was closing day for the lot we bought.  

    We made arrangements for me to go with Jackie staying home.  Turns out the sellers had a mobility issue too, but that's to come.

    I got the check at the bank, had the papers with our signatures notarized, and went to the closing.

    I was ushered into a room.  That's when it got very strange.

    Usually at a closing we meet with the title person, sometimes the seller, their attorney, our attorney....it's a room full.

    The nice lady from the title company came in and we chatted, she scooped up the paper work, and left.

    The attorney said the sellers were staying in the car.

     Thus began a seemingly endless parade of people going out to the car, back in, out, back in....the attorney joked that he should have roller skates, like at a drive in.

    All the while I sat in the room by myself.  I used the time to look at the historical maps of Illinois, including one that did not even show counties in the northern part of the state.

    I think it was an 1828 map on which the attorney  pointed out language saying only white males owning property could vote.  That was a sad look at our history.  I know, some people would rather facts like that not be made public or talked about in schools, but it is our history.

    Then I went to Cypress House for a coffee to celebrate.

    When I got home I looked at my list of about 20 things to do and started on them.

    One of the items was wrap the steaks I bought yesterday and put them in freezer bags.

    When I opened the fridge I discovered they leaked blood.  It leaked off the shelf, down the back, into the bottom tray.....it was a mess.

    Here is where plans often go astray.

    When we built he house, we put in a French door refrigerator.  Somewhere along the line, the opening for the fridge fit the fridge exactly.  which is not good, because we can not open the right door all the way.

    Which means I can't simply slide out the bottom tray to clean it.

    I had to empty the bottom trays, take off the door trays, then shift the bottom shelf on a 45 degree angle and "walk" it out.

    I worked on cleaning that s.o.b. for over an hour.  I cussed, struggled, cussed again and finally, finally, got the shelf out, cleaned and back in. 

    Then I had to put everything else back in because I basically emptied the fridge.

    By 3:30 I had done 1 job on my list.  That was wrapping the steaks.

    Next task to tackle was replacing 3 burned out light bulbs.  Easy peasy except when you can't get the cover off because you finders don't work like the used to.

    After the second one, I noticed the fan vent was dusty, so I vacuumed that...which was not on my list either.  Then I did the return vent in our bedroom. .... also not on the list.

    Hopefully I can get more done off the list......I made it for today, tomorrow, and Saturday,  at which time the rain will finally stop.  I hope.

    As long as nothing bleeds, I will be ok.

Peace and Love

olio time

 Lots of things on my mind tonight

    Sometimes I look at things and wonder how.  Like, how does that work?  

    I also wonder who.  As in, who designed that?  Who had the idea for that?

    A couple of hundred years ago somebody decided they needed a better way to ground corn rather than pounding it with a rock.  Maybe they put the corn kernels between 2 rocks and smooshed the rocks back and forth.  Then they thought there had to be an easier way to do this and grist mills eventually came to be.

    But who figured out the wheels and cogs and gears and whatever else was needed?  Did the same person go into watch making?

    Everywhere I look I see human ingenuity, intelligence, and determination in the form of machines. 

    Anyway.  I always thought tornadoes didn't hit the same area twice.  But Barnsdal OK has been hit by 2 tornadoes in the past 5 weeks.  That's a lot for a town of 5,000 to deal with.

    Trip dementia Aukland.

    How would you respond to that?

    Emily was in DeKalb/Sycamore today and was stopping for her yearly dose of Ollie's.  I told her to try the mint chocolate chip but it came out Trip dementia Aukland.  Thank heavens I read it first.  Voice recognition isn't always accurate.

    Jackie had a doc appointment today, and we stopped at Ollie's for some custard.

    It was pretty busy.

    There was a group of 3 right ahead of me and I could tell. they had. never been to Ollie's before.

    When it was their turn to order, they had no idea.  They had at least 5 minutes to look at the listings, but had no clue.

    A person ahead of them ordered a whipped slushy or something, so the girl in the group said she would have one of those.  Then a guy asked for a vanilla with mango.  The employee said they did not have any mango this week.

    He paused, then asked. for a chocolate with mango.

    The employee said they did not have mango this week.

    He finally asked for a vanilla with strawberries over it.

    The third person, also a guy, looked the worker and said, "Vanilla and mango sounds good.  I'll have that."

    When he was told no mango  he became a little flustered because there were now several people in line.

    So he ordered two things.

    The funny thing was  all 3 of t hem tried to pay!  It was chorus of "I''m paying" and I am not really sure who did.

    I did have a problem.

    I attack ice cream and custard.  Jackie is a little more passive, preferring to lick the frozen delight in a more relaxed manner.

    Which explains why I was done with my cone when hers started dripping all over....shirt, seat, seatbelt, hands.  It was a mess.

    But that was still neater than mine.

    I broke the cone taking the paper wrapper off and ended up with the custard and broken cone in my hand! So in one hand I have part of the cone and in the other hand I have the bottom of the cone., both oozing custard through my fingers. 

    But you know what?  It still tasted great.

    Topping off the day, when I got home from my meeting I mowed the yard.  I just mowed Saturday, but it has really grown.

    Like my belly from frozen custard.

Peace and Love