Arrrgh!!!

I've mentioned that I'm in an exercise class three days a week. I was the baby of the class until a woman came along who beat my record by a week. We tease back and forth, and she takes good care of Elegante Mother, who also attends the class.

When I opened my e-mail today, this was the greeting she sent:

2007

After serious and cautious consideration.....your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2007 !

It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!! LOL

My Wish for You in 2007

May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words ............

May 2007 be the best year of your life!!!

Could you ask for better wishes than that??? *G*

Thanks, Pat-of-the-Back-Row!

We have been having the oddest weather. For the past 21 days we have had weather that has been warmer than the norm. We had a GREEN Christmas! I can't recall the last time that happened. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be FIFTY degrees. I meant to plant some bulbs last fall. I have the space in mind, and the flowers should be gorgeous together, but the bulbs are still in the garage. Tomorrow, after exercise, I plan to get those bulbs in the ground!

The weatherman said that we can expect roughly ten more days of these above normal temperatures, based on what they can see to the north and west of us. We usually see two or three days toward the end of January where we have balmy days in the fifties or sixties. I bet we're below zero for those days! *G*

Dear Husband is not complaining about the weather. As far as he's concerned, I should stop tempting fate by talking about the weather. Of course, HE works outside. I can't really blame him for wanting the weather to stay warm.

One last plea.......Dear Lord, would you please not cover us with snow in April, May, and June to make up for this??

Yesterday, Elegante Mother finished the backing for an over-sized lap quilt that will go to one of her granddaughters. I gave the backing and the top a good pressing, and removed most of the stray threads. We found the batting that was purchased for the quilt, and today, I gave everything to the young woman who does EM's machine quilting. In less than a week, she'll have the quilting finished, and we can work on the binding.

I also worked on a few of my own projects yesterday. I have three sides of my granddaughter's quilt bound. I made the hanging pocket, and have to sew that to the quilt. I have one more block to hand quilt, and a label to make. There's hope that she will get it before she's 21.

Speaking of hope..... I started a quilt about six years ago (possibly more) for one of my nieces. She has been waiting patiently for me to finish it. I've been working on hand quilting the borders during the last month, and I have to make a label for this quilt, too. My niece is 17 now.....halfway through her seventeenth year, actually. I'd better get a move on, or she WILL be 21 before I get this sent off. Sorry, sweetie.....it doesn't mean that I don't love you. It just means that you have an aunt who is supremely disorganized!

It was a joy to get back to playing with fabric. I NEED to do it more. Call it mental health days, or just a hobby, if you must, but make sure it's on my schedule every week!

Ahem.....I know....you all want pictures. As I finish each quilt, I'll post a picture.

(Cough, cough) (Hack, hack) ...in my head and throat.

What's with the cold season this year?! I caught a cold, possibly from my stepson or my sister, just after Elegante Mother's open house, early in December. I was laid low for two weeks, when I needed to be shopping, and wrapping gifts, and decorating the house. I finally began to perk up about a week before Christmas, as the cold began to ebb.

I had a couple of days free of coughing, and then the cold came back with a vengeance! I can't decide if the first cold went into hiding, or if I caught a second cold right after the first.

Saturday, December 30, and New Year's Eve, I spent some time in the office working on the filing system for 2007. I typed labels for the files, and removed the 2006 files that were ready to be stored. I made labels for the binders for 2007. I packed up the 2005 binders for storage, moved the 2006 binders to the bookcase, and set the new binders up in the hutch next to the computer. I have three banker's boxes of files to go to storage. This is all a first. I'd never have gotten all this done this early, if I hadn't been too sick to be up and about. A little typing and filing was the best I could do.

So....the Pollyanna in me would like to point out there's a bright side to life, but the Scrooge in me is saying (in a MUCH louder voice) "BAH HUMBUG!!"

Stay healthy! Avoid people like me who are coughing and hacking. Teach everyone you know to cough into the crook of their arm, and take your vitamin C on the off chance that it will help you dodge this cold!

Bogie responded to my comment about trying to get some bulbs planted last minute. I've had this terrible cold for a week or more now, but yesterday it was FIFTY DEGREES here! Normally by now our ground would be frozen hard, and I'd have to save the bulbs by planting them in containers, but I could hear the garden calling to me.

There's just something about early bulbs blooming in Spring that is so comforting, and I HATE to waste things. Those bulbs had been talking to me for the past two or three months, asking when I was going to make time for them. So, despite my cold, I bundled up, and headed out.

First, I fed the birds. Then, I collected the wheelbarrow, a shovel, my tool bucket and the new trowels the kids gave me for Christmas.

I have a narrow spot, the width of the garden, between two pods of iris that was perfect for these bulbs. I started shoveling the soil into the wheelbarrow. Then I heard this sound. The shovel was hitting something. NO.....it couldn't be!

A number of years ago, too many exactly for me to remember, I decided I would outwit the chipmunks, and planted tulips in a wire cage. Unfortunately, the tulips were short-lived, but the wire cage was still there, in great shape.

What should have been a twenty minute chore, ended up being more like 75 minutes. I couldn't dig the cage out, because part of it was sitting under iris that need to be relocated. The iris are more important to me than the bulbs.

So, I decided to cut the top off the cage, plant the new bulbs there for this winter, and then dig everything up next summer after the iris have bloomed. I went inside for the wire cutters and wire by wire clipped open about two thirds of the lid. I've promised myself that I will go back and dig the cage out next summer, so that no one will get hurt on the remains of the cage.

I got most of the bulbs planted. I even replanted some crocus that I inadvertently dug up. I think I killed off a tulip or two that was planted just past the end of the wire cage. I'm going to have to pull together Spring pictures into an album, so that I can remember what I've planted, where.

One of my favorite signs in Elegante Mother's collection of garden decorations, is a little medallion that says, "I don't remember planting that there!"

It was good to get out, despite the fact that it took longer than I had hoped. It was good to get the bulbs in. I still have my cold, but it doesn't seem to be any worse than it was yesterday, so the exercise and the chance to play in the garden may have helped. YEA!! Now I can stop feeling guilty about the bulbs!

I don't think I've blogged about this. Things have been a little crazy here lately, so I might have. Forgive me if I've already shared this with you.

Nine days ago, I was in the kitchen, and Elegante Mother walked up to me and started speaking. I know she wanted to tell me that she had finished using the washer, but what came out of her mouth was a group of completely unrelated syllables.

I was watching her intently, wondering if something happened to my hearing. I thought at first that something was wrong with me, but I realized as I watched her, that she knew she wasn't saying words, let alone the right words.

Her eyes got big. I suspect that mine got big in return. The entire episode couldn't have lasted longer than 15 seconds. A second episode of about 6 seconds or so followed. On the advice of my-sister-the-nurse, I gave her the stroke test. I asked her to speak a simple sentence. I asked her to smile. I asked her to raise both arms. For comic relief, I asked her to stick out her tongue. She was fine.

There's been no more "speaking in tongues," but we have seen the doctor. He's fairly sure that EM had an itty bitty stroke in her speech center. To be sure, she will undergo a battery of tests tomorrow at our hospital, to rule out other possibilities.

My mother is ninety. You'd think I would be preparing myself for the time when she won't be here. I don't think that's possible.

My-sister-the-nurse pointed out to me that I've been providing EM with assisted living for some time. I actually hadn't thought much about it. Yes, I help her remember names of people and things, and on bad days, I help with memories that are dear to her. I am her chauffeur, and I am the nag that tells her she needs to eat more. I am the person who takes her shopping, and helps when she needs assistance going up stairs. She is still in charge of her life, but she's frail, and I can measure the change these days.

I hope, for both of us, that when it's our time, we go swiftly, in our sleep.
And I hope that time for her is a long way off, yet.

Why is there NEVER anyone around when you need to babble!??

My husband just called. He said, "I'm going to be late." I asked why, thinking it was too warm for him to be sitting with heaters to set the mortar on newly laid masonry. He said, "I've had an accident, and I need to stick around to talk to the police."

Getting information out of the man is like pulling teeth!

"HONEY.....ARE YOU ALL RIGHT??!!"

"I'm fine."

(calming down just a little) "What about the people in the other car?"

"They're fine."

"What happened?"

There followed some kind of explanation about the weight of his truck when loaded, and not being able to stop on a dime, and something about somebody zipping through an intersection.

I'm not clear on what happened, but I seriously doubt it is Dear Husband's fault, and I'm really relieved that he says he's okay. Of course, he'll have to prove that when he gets home!

What a day...........

I took Elegante Mother shopping today. We went to exercise, stopped for a quick visit at Mickie D's and then hit the local department store. We were intending to shop for a new purse and a wallet. By the time we left, I could have used some help to carry everything to the car.

EM was amazingly lucky. We were looking at cotton brand-name pants, and classic winter sweaters that had price tags in the $36 to $44 dollar range. At the register, most of them rang up in the $14 to $20 range.

We bought two sets of fleece PJs, and a pair of wild pajama pants. I picked up a pair of fleecy socks to go with the PJs. We've just persuaded Elegante Mother to shift from nylons to trouser socks for the winter, so we stocked up on six pairs of trouser hose.

EM chose a purse, a wallet and a new checkbook cover, at least three tops and two pairs of slacks.

AND, we did all that in roughly an hour. The woman knows what she wants!

Elegante Mother is the gift card queen! She has been telling her family for several years not to buy her things for Christmas and birthdays. She has filled her rooms with quilting fabric and books and clothes and music, and there's just not a lot of room left.

Of course, her family is not willing to let a holiday or birthday go by without giving her a gift, so half of them plan to take her places, and the other half have given her gift cards. She must have eight gift cards to bookstores, a couple for hobbies, one for fabric, and one for coffee. I think she may have a few other cards that I haven't seen yet.

Each time we go out, I plan to make a stop at one of the places where she has a gift card, to give her the chance to shop. She'll be able to pick up fabric to finish a quilt (or to start a new one *G*), books to while away the winter (if it ever arrives), and coffee for her breakfast stash. She's contemplating beginning to paint again, so she may want to pick up oils, brushes and a canvas or two.

We'll be stretching Christmas out for a couple of months. *S*

There are a lot of little things floating through my brain at the moment. I thought I'd gather them into one post, and see if I could focus and get back to work.

First, let me thank the reader who recommended the music of Linda Eder. I put her name on my Christmas list, and received the "Storybook" CD. What an amazing voice she has, and she's great with jazz. Thanks for the suggestion!

Second, I'd like to tell the guy who created the squeezable bottles for mustard that sit upside down that they don't work. It sounds like a really good idea, and may work with catsup, or other condiments that are thinner, but mustard, especially Dijon style mustard, and mayonnaise, simply don't squeeze out well. Back to the drawing board!

Third, if you have never had a really good kitchen knife, you don't know what you are missing. I've been very happy with several of the knives we have, but Dear Husband's daughter and son-in-law bought him three Wusthoff knives for Christmas. WOW, what a difference! Of course, I've already cut myself on one. I suspect that everyone should treat themselves to at least one good knife in their lifetime, just so they can see what they've been missing. Better yet, get three, and you'll be set for life.

Four, I'm getting better. SLLLLLlllooowwwwwllyyy. The doc put me on an antibiotic because my cold had lasted longer than the usual ten days to two weeks. I was probably getting ready to feel better, but the drugs helped. I don't usually jump at the offer, but I'd had two two-week or more bouts of the same cold within five or six weeks. I wanted to stop the pattern. The doc says when something like this goes past the two week period, they call it "bronchitis." I never knew that.

Five, I spent the day yesterday, SUNDAY, chained to my desk. I put in at least twelve hours, and I have more work to be done. The good part is that I can see some of my desk now. And, I made the time to write to some friends this morning. It was well worth getting things done.

Six, My Christmas decorations are STILL up, and it's the middle of January. And I don't care. They went up late, and are really minimal. We have wreaths, stockings, and a bank of poinsettias, a small Charlie Brown style Sitka spruce that is up all year round, a tree skirt, swags at the outside lights, and three Christmas oriented wall hanging. I'll start with the fabrics. Next week we can talk about the evergreens and poinsettias.

Last, click on the link in my side bar for "Just My Opinion." My sister wonders what gives people a lift. Give her a hand, won't you?

Happy Middle of January!

NOTE: I was referring to the entry at "Just My Opinion" titled "Just Stuff, " but it's fine with me if you weigh in on the discussion about Dan Brown's book, too!

Oy Vey!

Last Friday, Janet tagged me for The Thinking Meme. I told her that I was in trouble because I couldn’t limit myself to one answer in many of them, and might not be able to answer some of them at all! This is the best I can do, Janet!

1. If you had to choose one vice in exclusion of all others what would it be? Well…I suppose that the vice I have the most difficulty with would be salty crunchy foods, but I suspect the answer to this is QUILT FABRIC! I believe that I could give up the salty crunch stuff if I was able to do something quilt related all day long.

2. If you could change one specific thing about the world what would it be? Janet chose the waste of potable water as her issue. I think I might want to either work on air quality, or possibly how we husband farmable land. I’d like to see no-till farming and natural fertilizers become the status quo. We’re loosing topsoil by the inch each year and soon the breadbasket that we depend on for our food, and to feed the world, is going to become an arid wasteland.

3. Name the cartoon character you identify with the most.
Well, I don’t identify with ANY cartoon character. But, if I did, I’d like to have Jessica Rabbit’s body and voice, and Brenda Starr’s brains!

4. If you could live one day in your life over again which one would it be? Perhaps my wedding day to Dear Husband, or graduation from high school. My college graduations were anticlimactic…I played in the band as others crossed the stage to get their diplomas. I have a lot of nice memories, but nothing so amazing that it stands out from the others.

5. If you could go back in history and spend a day with one person who would it be? Dear Husband would say MOZART! in a heartbeat. For me….there are just too many to choose from.

6. What is the one thing you lost, sold or threw away that you wish you could have back? My grandfather’s wallpapering tools. He put himself through seminary with those tools, and they were mistakenly sold in an auction.

7. What is your one most important contribution to this world?
I’m not sure I can answer this yet. I hope it is the result of the time I was a teacher. I’ve chosen to spend the last 20 years taking care of my mother, so I can’t say that I’ve had much impact on the world.

8. What is your one hidden talent that nearly no one knows about? I’m afraid there is NOTHING hidden about me. I blurt everything out!

9. What is your most cherished possession? Other than my wedding ring? Either the Waterford glass that Dear Husband gave to me, or perhaps one of my quilts.

10. What one person influenced your life the most when growing up? My Dad. Two others would have been my grade school/high school band director, and the Youth Pastor when I was in high school.

11. What one word describes you better than any other?
Much to my disgust……”Loquacious”

NOTE: I was talking with Dear Husband about #5, and he DIDN'T choose Mozart! The first name he came up with was Da Vinci, and the second was Marco Polo. I hadn't thought of either, and I think they are both great choices!

We've reached the winter doldrums in the kitchen a little early this year. Elegante Mother, Dear Husband, Second Son and I eat a fairly wide range of foods but it seems that we get to the middle of the winter and we eat the same dozen things or so again and again. To make matters worse, no one wants to help me plan the meals they will be eating. Personally, if it weren't so darned expensive and so bad for a diet, I'd just as soon go out to eat.

I decided that I would try a new recipe this week, and opted for Tortilla Soup. I pulled six or so recipes from the Internet and read through them. When we were in Hawaii two years ago, we had an incredible soup at the Hula Grill that was basically a tortilla soup with chunks of fish. I picked the recipe that I thought came closest to that soup.

I pulsed cilantro, onion, garlic, a can of diced tomatoes, and a jalapeño pepper in the blender. I added that to chicken stock, salt and cumin, and let the soup stock simmer for an hour. This recipe calls for chicken rather than fish. I decided to bake the chicken breasts with a very light breadcrumb coating, so that left over chicken could be used for another meal. I diced three of the chicken breasts, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, quartered an avocado, and set out sour cream and salsa. At the end of the cooking time I thickend the stock with cornstarch, and then fried strips of corn tortillas for a topping.

Each of us assembled the soup to suit ourselves. EM was the only one to have avocado. I passed on the avocado and the salsa. Dear Husband had everything but the avocado. We each had the soup that we wanted, and it seemed to be fine, no matter how you assembled it.

I may use one more jalapeño pepper next time. This was mild, but very tasty, and it was a pleasure to try something new. I think the next new meal will be shrimp, with linguine, broccoli and carrots, and the next will be a Creole style meal with crawfish and andouille.

Any suggestions? Variety is the spice of life!

I had my 2006 mammogram yesterday. I believe that every woman 40 and older should be tested once a year. At one point doctors talked about doing the test every other year, but ultimately they returned to the once a year schedule for the best diagnostic coverage.

My oldest niece developed breast cancer last year. She has had extensive surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, and we're hoping for the best. A mammogram is an unpleasant test, but it's well worth it to get early warning if you're developing cancer.

We changed health care providers this year. I switched from one major hospital affiliate, to a completely different hospital system. I got to my appointment, filled out the information, and went in for the test. It was significantly different. This time I was compressed TEN TIMES! I thought she'd never finish. I was getting really tired of being pushed and pulled and grasped, and of course, now I'm worried that she saw something she wanted to highlight on the films.

If I'm fortunate and dodge the bullet, I may go back to the previous site where I had mammograms done. You can bet that I won't be going back to THIS site. If nothing else, I'll go to the hospital to have my mammogram done.

I apologize if I've frightened someone who is getting ready for their first mammogram. The test is bearable. You can get through it. I did, but I think it could have been done better. If you have any concerns, ask one of the women in your family, or a friend, for a referral to someone they trust.

By the end of the month, I should get a copy of the report. Just why is it that the doc gets them in five days, and it takes them ten days to tell me about my own body???

Late last year I bought several new DVDs for my collection. One of them is "You've Got Mail." One of the special items on the disk is the director and screen writer (Nora Ephron) talking about the making of the movie as the movie unfolds on the screen. It was fascinating to hear them talk about putting their ideas on film.

At one point, Ephron talks about what we are looking for in the person we hope will be the love of our life. She says we tend to describe ourselves when we describe that person: Democrat, loves classical music and cats, goes for long walks, spends weekends watching TV, gardens, whatever.

I think, were I pressed, I would have said "Tall, dark, and well-educated." My father was 6'4" and had black hair, and was well-educated. I think that I expected to marry someone similar to my Dad or my brother.

Ephron says that younger people are likely to say "I could never marry someone who......Was a Democrat, who fished for a living, who was a couch potato, who didn't want kids.....whatever. The point is, you have very little control over who you come to love.

Is your Prince Charming the ideal you imagined? Dear Husband comes close, but he isn't a carbon copy of my Dad or brother. What you can't know is how wonderful the surprises can be when you choose someone different from your expectations. We'd live a VERY dull life if we were both like me. DH brings a weird sense of humor to the mix. He's open to more experiences than I am, and he's willing to completely change directions from his original plans. We took off for Lake Geneva one weekend, and it wasn't until after dinner that we discovered there was not a room to be had in a 50 mile radius. That was the weekend the Special Olympics were being held in Madison. He found us a place to lay our heads. We could have driven home. Instead, we found the last room at a little motel, and were able to take a sail on Lake Geneva early the following morning, with just the captain sharing the boat. It was wonderful, and totally beyond anything I might have chosen.

We've had a lot of fun days like that. I hope there will be more in the future. I don't remember my mother ever giving me advice on what to look for in a husband. Did yours? I suppose that's a subject for another day.

If I had daughters, would I be able to say to them, "Don't be afraid to fall in love with someone who is different." Would I regret those words? Maybe. Maybe not.

I've been away from the computer for a while. Long enough, in fact, for my youngest sister to nag me to post. We've had a reasonably quiet week, but I've had enough to do to keep me too busy to post.

Tuesday, the CPA's assistant came to oversee the preparation of fourth quarter reports so that we could get the W2's printed. They were ready to be distributed on Friday. It's always a relief to send the reports off in the mail.

Mother has had a lap quilt for one of her granddaughters machine quilted. This evening I plan to trim the excess batting and backing so that she can finish the binding. We may try to use the backing as binding by folding the excess toward the front of the quilt, so the trimming will be a delicate operation. If I accidentally catch any of the backing with my rotary cutter, we'll have to apply binding in the more traditional manner.

Dear Husband has come through his accident with flying colors. As I write, no ticket has been issued for the accident, and we are STILL waiting for the truck dealership to get the parts to repair his truck. Luckily, the repairs are mostly cosmetic, but it will be nice to know that he can use the snowplow, should we get more snow.

I got the results of my mammogram, and things are fine. The information arrived by mail on Saturday. I'm certain that I won't go to the same facility for the next test.

Elegante Mother will be visiting my second sister for a few days. She has a visit with her doctor Monday afternoon to discuss the results of the tests she did earlier this month. She'll be away Monday evening to Thursday morning. I know she's looking forward to the change of scenery.

Dear Husband and I will be going to a charity golf tournament in Florida named for his late son. It will be held the end of February, and we plan to make a long weekend of it. For the first time, we chose flights that take off when WE want to leave and return. That feels amazingly decadent! I'm looking forward to the time off. I won't be golfing. I'll be the one riding around in a golf cart, cheering DH on! *G*

I had my hair trimmed yesterday. I was scheduled for a new perm the weekend AFTER the golf tournament, but once Kristin trimmed it, she re-booked the perm for three weeks from now. I went with a much shorter haircut, so there's not much of the perm left to carry me through the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see if I can get my hair to do what she gets it to do.

It was sunny today, brilliantly sunny, and VERY COLD! I slept in, read for a while, made a Tostada Casserole that I had a jones for, washed dishes, read more than half of the 113 e-mails languishing in my mail box, did more dishes, and started pasta for dinner.

I'm sure you picked up on the DISH WASHING..... That's right. My dishwasher is misbehaving AGAIN! At least one of the spinners is not functioning correctly. I have to call to find a repairman who can come to visit. I think this is the third time we've had to replace a part on this washer, and it's only four years old, or there-abouts. I do believe it may be a lemon.

My youngest sister is recuperating from a little out-patient surgery this weekend. She nagged me on Friday night to get busy blogging. I think I'll just stroll over there to see what's up at Just My Opinion. I hope you all had as nice a weekend as I did.

I was trying to explain about blogging to a friend who is new to the computer. She wanted to know why I would air my personal thoughts on a public venue. A friend who is a retired librarian says that the type of blog I write is rather like Samuel Pepys Diary, a recitation of the activities in my life. The first friend wonders why anyone would visit to read a recap of my days. I couldn't find a way to explain it to her satisfaction.

A friend from my chatting days sent me a wonderful e-mail about friendship. One of the lines in that e-mail was "Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people." I've been writing about events, but now I've slipped to writing about people!

God......I'm only average, and very confused.

Seriously....I believe that I blog because of the sense of community that it brings. Right now, I tend to stay close to home. I'm so accustomed to caring for my mother that I have opted to keep in touch with friends electronically, rather than in person. I find all sorts of new ideas, and answers to questions in the blogs I visit, and the variety in those blogs is helping to keep me curious about life. Eventually, I will sign up for classes again, and participate in charitable activities, and perhaps travel, but for now, you are all my window on the world. I'll work on that "average" problem. *G*

The following prayer was the final paragraph of an e-mail that crossed my desk today. It seems like a really good way to start the day.

Dear Lord, So far today, I'm doing all right. I have not gossipped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or self-indulgent. I have not whined, complained, cursed or eaten chocolate. I have charged nothing to my credit card.

But I'll be getting out of bed in a minute, and I think I'll really be needing your help then.

I have no idea who penned that paragraph. I found the same prayer at this site, and they listed it as "anonymous." I know that some of you will find it a frivolous prayer, but I believe that anything that brings you closer to God is worthwhile, even something humorous.

I hope you have a great day!