Jealousy

I am so jealous.

My husband got a personal letter from a beautiful woman, a former model and an individual who is a lot younger than he is.

Someone named Melania wants him to sign a pledge of support.

Oh, and at the bottom of that page, a request for a Special Contribution of money - from $25 to $5000. Note: Contributions to the Republican Committee are not deductible.

 I think he'll pass on that part.  Well, on all parts, really.

Yarn

I needed some more yarn for a project (afghan - what else?) So off we went to the big W store.

No grenadine so I found another pinkish color skein and decided it was close enough. I had a sample piece of turquoise yarn and I bought Jade because that is what I thought it was called.

Wrong shade of green/blue.

So after working the pink-like papaya into the piece, it now looks orange.

My color palette is shot. I started on the left with the dark blue, grenadine, buff (ecru), turquoise, white etc. On the right edge moving to the left is jade, buff and papaya.  Very scrapy - or crappy.

The Lost Detour

Today we drove to pick up some lunch (!) We left the café on 30th street and  drove to 23rd which leads us home. Suddenly there is a detour sign with an arrow pointing left.

So I took the turn. I am familiar with this area so it was no big deal to follow the winding streets but there was never another detour sign.

I guess strangers are on their on.

We did end up back on 30th street about a block from where we were to begin with.

Old Words

I was thinking about words my mom, dad and grandmother used that I don't hear  in conversation or on tv! The first was towheaded. I remember my mom saying, "My that is a towheaded boy." I must have been five or six. I thought she meant that his head was shaped like a toe.  Tow means unraveled fiber or light colored flax.

She also used to speak of waiting till her ship comes in. That's pretty easily figured out - like waiting for Publisher's Clearing House to call.

My dad used to call me a shitepoke which he pronounced shyt poke. When I looked it up on the internet dictionary, the recording sounds like shit poke. Shitepoke is any form of a tern (with long thin legs) That was me as a kid.

My grandmother told me that the way she got to school was by shank's mare. The information said that the word shank was used in the twelfth century!

Shank is the lower part of the leg so the meaning is that you walked wherever you wanted to go.

Clodhoppers was another goody that I like that has two meanings.

Clodhoppers were always big shoes or boots to me. The dictionary says also a clumsy youth.

And finally claptrap. This one I did hear on tv tonight! It means pretentious nonsense.

Another Trip to the Grocery Store

Many times I go into the BIG grocery store for one or two items. There were two or three cashiers there who had lanes labeled "15 items or less."  That was very convenient. No longer.

Now they have fewer cashiers and more of the self service lanes where you scan your items, throw your money in a slot, bag your items and get your change if everything works right.

So today Lee needed Zyrtec. We drive to the BIG store, I find the correct size to go with my coupon, go the frozen bread aisle and pick up a box of garlic knots for a spaghetti meal later and head to the check out area.

OMGOSH!

Memorial Day Sunday week-end afternoon at about 3:30. What are all these people buying humongous carts full of groceries. oh.  Maybe for a picnic tomorrow. I look for a lane that looks like it might have a fewer than $500 worth of groceries.

Nope.  I do not want to use those self service lines. I do not work there. So I see three employees standing and talking in the aisle near the cashiers and I ask if one of them would help me check out. I explained I had a coupon and I didn't know how to use it at that machine. (Scan it?) So this nice young man scanned my knots and my Zyrtec. I handed him the money. "Oh. This machine does not take cash."

WHAT?  Another employee (a woman!) said she would take care of it.  Another machine, another scan and I'm done.

Or not.  I start out the automatic sliding doors and this horrible klaxon sound starts going off. I'm the only one in the door way so I stop in my tracks. Sure enough, here comes a young female employee and I said, "An employee checked me out!" She looked in the bag and says, "It's probably the Zyrtec." The loud horn stopped. I laughed told her that this was embarrassing and that I'm probably on camera. She laughed and said I was fine.

I didn't feel fine. I just knew this was another weird day but I did laugh when I told Lee. Next time he can go get his own Zyrtec.

Leather Bracelet

This was a gift from one of my mother's friends to me at Xmas, 1942. At that time we called our mother's friends "aunt" instead of "Mrs." or by their first names.
At any rate, this was from my Aunt Edith Colgrove Johnson who lived in Dalhart TX. She and my mom  had been friends for years.
This was a unique item. I have never seen one since. I had kids sign it both in grade school and junior high.I don't think I wore it very often. The fact that I still have the card board it came with is amazing.

I wonder if this could indicate a hoarding tendency?

More Showers

We have nine inches of rain this month. More is forecast. We are lucky that we live in a high part of town. There are sections that are threatened with flooding. The city has provided sand and bags at a location near the area that may flood. People can go there with a shovel and fill the free bags to take home and try to protect their homes. The paper stated that there would people there to help you fill the bags if you were unable to do it. I really think this is a great service by the city.

It seems to me this month has had many more storms and high water than usual - all over the country.
I wonder if it is due to climate change or we just notice all the bad news because it is featured on the network and local newscasts.

I hope this pattern moves out soon.

The Wind and the Door

We had some strong winds two nights in a row. Thankfully they were straight winds with no twisters near us.

The first night the wind loosened this door because it had not been properly latched. It was torn loose at the top with the small screws exposed but it was still attached at the bottom.

Last night I thought I had pulled the door tight and that the latch was engaged. Well, this morning I found out I was wrong. Luckily the glass was not broken but another gust evidently finished the job with only the door prop still attached.

Why would someone install a storm door on the back of a garage anyway? It was there when we moved in but I think it will be gone now.

Monday Rumblings

It's dark and cold (50 degrees) and it is raining along with thunder. Poor Jill, the bully dog, is like most bullies, the first one to be afraid. She paces and tries to find a place where she can't hear the noise. Jack, the one who is bullied, sleeps through the whole storm.

I went to P. T. and when they asked how I was doing, I let them know the sad story of last Friday and Saturday. So today they were a lot easier on the new stuff. I guess I think that new and unusual usage of old limbs and muscles is counter productive.  We'll see. I have one relative telling to keep it up and another telling I might want to quit!

Guess I'll have to make up my own mind.

Someone is Obsessed with Doughnuts

Last night I checked online for the hours for Daylight Donuts in our town.  Closed at the present time but open Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m.

O.K. then!

We made it out the door at 7:30, drove down Main Street to 3rd near the tracks and went to the door. The sign in the window said OPEN.

The door was locked.

Don't these people want to sell doughnuts??

Rainy Saturday

Waiting for the Preakness. I'm still not sure how I feel about horse racing. Looks kind of cruel to the horses.

Physical therapy may be what does me in. The last two days have not been good ones! Maybe those days are due to the passage of time and nothing to do with the extra exercise. If that's the case, why do I hurt all over?

I don't want to sound like a whining person, but I wanted to feel somewhat better - not worse.

P T

Here it is Wednesday already! I am not a busy person but it seems going to physical therapy twice a week sure shortens my free time.

Doing the regular stuff (something to eat and keeping the house look half way decent) is the same as always. But after the sessions with the PT people, I usually need a short nap.

Then, of course, are the exercises I do at home twice a day.

That usually results in a short nap later in the day too.

Is this really necessary? I'm sure catching up on my sleep.

Doughnuts in November

We have a new doughnut shop in town. We have bought some there from time to time. One particular kind called Old Fashioned is our favorite without icing. They usually only have three when we go there in the morning. I asked about ordering a dozen. Sure!

So Saturday afternoon I called and placed the order. They even called me back to confirm it. They open at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday. I told them I'd be there shortly after 6:00.

The alarm went off and off we went. The sign in the window as we drove in said Open. Around to the drive up window and there were no lights, no people and no doughnuts on the racks. Hmmm.

From my cell I called their number. The recording said they were sorry but they were closed and would reopen November 26th.

That's a long wait for Old Fashioned plain doughnuts.

New Fangled Machines

At our local Walgreen's there are several kiosks where you can order reprints of your photos from your phone.  I used one the other day with help from the clerk.

This evening I tried it with help from Mike. We ordered four 8 x 10's.  This was the request of Lee for some relatives.

We finished out the order and the clerk said five minutes! (The screen said 45.)

She handed the envelope over and we got four 4 x 6's for $1.75.

Lee was surprised but not ticked off like I thought he would be!

Technology - Even Mike thought we did it right!

Finally Friday

I woke up feeling all the muscles that I used yesterday at PT. And a little dizzy and a little weak (!)

I think it is my body telling me that too much new exercise is not always a good thing.

So today I only did all the routines once instead of twice. I'll see how that works out tomorrow when I get up.

Blue Bag Trash?

Monday the postman left a blue plastic bag with our mail. This is done every year and this Saturday is the day the post office has their carriers pick up any non-perishable food items for our local food bank. I think this is a very good idea.

We had a can of soup called minestrone. Lee did not like it when we had it a few weeks ago so I decided to put that can in the blue bag. (That soup is $1.99 a can. Not cheap like some other brands we use!)

I had added a couple of other cans of green beans and corn and left the bag on the drier across from the shelves where we keep our canned goods. Today I bought some more cans but couldn't find the blue bag. I looked all over the kitchen and the pantry/wash room. Then I looked in the pantry. A can of minestrone soup! I knew we hadn't had two cans. Hmmmmm.

So, of course, I asked Lee if he had seen the blue bag with the cans. Nope.  He said it was no big deal as I was ranting about freaky things happening and stuff disappearing.

In a few minutes he said, "Maybe I threw it in the recycle." With full cans in it? Then, "Maybe I took the cans out and put the bag in the trash, but I don't remember doing that." Sooo I looked in the trash can and sure enough - an empty blue plastic bag under some garbage. I took it out, wiped it off, put the minestrone and the four cans I bought today in the sack and asked him to please leave it on the dryer.

We sure waste a lot of time looking for stuff. Like bags. And brooms.

Physical Therapy

PT is so much fun. I'm doing a few extra things from a previous batch of instruction sheets.

I should be stronger and more flexible in no time. It only took me about seventy years to get in the shape I'm in now - stiff in the joints, wobbly in the balance department and weak in the legs.

Wonder if it really helps?

Oh. The seventy year reference means that I was probably in the best shape at eighteen.

Storm Season

Last night we had numerous tornado watches and warnings. We also had a little hail and lots of rain.

I have the closed captioning feature turned on in my computer room tv. Sometimes funny things show up when the stenographer hearing the voice types the results. This job has to have a person who can listen, spell and type accurately! (I had to Google that to see how closed captioning works.)

We have a town here in Kansas called Arkansas City. It is pronounced the same way we say the name of the river: R Kansas City. Everywhere else it is the R Kansaw River. So last night during the weather coverage, the closed captioning person typed "Our Kansas City."  Several times. I thought it was funny.

I am easily amused.

A Coincidence

A trip to the store this morning and to the bank within the store to draw out some cash. We are so old fashioned that we use money instead of a debit card.

I already had cash in my wallet - $81 - which I knew would be more than enough to get whatever things I needed to pick up: coffee, paper towels, TP, mayonnaise, bread, soup, hamburger, milk, some breakfast bagels and some more Ensure to make me strong and full of protein.

I got to the cashier who was new to me and very friendly. The previous customer tried his charge card about six times and finally had to abandon his groceries. He asked her if she could hold them for him. I guess he was going for cash. He said he'd be back.

She rang up all my purchases and the total was $80.81. I told her she emptied my wallet!

The lesson here for me is always go to the bank before shopping for food - even if you think you have plenty of money.

P.S. $6.74 of that amount was sales tax. It's 9% here in our town.

May

May has brought showers. I thought they were supposed to be in April.

Cooler temperatures have us wearing coats. Still we see people in t-shirts with short sleeves. Age must make our blood run cold.