Def-y's Categorizing: September 2008 Archives

Do you do crossword puzzles? I used to do them all the time, and then I slowly set them aside when I became addicted to quilting. I resumed doing the puzzle in the Chicago Tribune earlier this year, on-line. There are times when I have a few extra minutes, and I pick up a book of New York Times puzzles and try to wade through one.

Why is it that the first time you work a tough puzzle, you can stare at the blanks and not get a thing, and when you walk away in frustration and come back later, answers fall into place with ease?? I frequently feel that "Duh!" response, when the answers are obvious and generally easy. Is it just that I'm working against myself, expecting the answers to be a lot harder?

I'm VERY glad that I took Latin. It amazes me how many times an answer to a clue will be a Latin word. Many times, I can guess the answer to a Spanish, or Italian word because it's related to Latin.

It's odd, but I find that the vertical clues are easier. You'd think that seeing the boxes in a pattern other than our usual left to right, would make it more difficult. I tend to fly through the puzzle starting from the upper left (Northwest) corner, and answer as many of the horizontal clues as I can. Then I make a run through the vertical clues. More than half of the answers will fall into place on the vertical clues. The hardest clues for me are those that pertain to the young stars who are likely to be found on the pages of "People" magazine. I admit it.....I'm an old fogy.

Years ago, the editors of the puzzles provided information concerning how many words made up the answer. Now, they limit their advice to "var." (variation) or different ways of indicating that the answer is an abbreviation.

Today, one of the answers was "music." In another life, I was a band director, so you might expect me to find all the music clues easy. WRONG!! I over-think the clues, and they are often the last clues I answer. I dread having someone assume that I will get all the music questions. In fact, I can usually guarantee that I'll miss anything that took place between 1975 and 1990, and a lot of the more recent stuff, too. I've got COOKING terms down, though! lol

How often do you say "Thank you"? How often do you hear someone say "Thank you" to you?

I don't think I say "Thank you" enough. I certainly think it. I'm behind in my written thank you notes, but I'm getting them done. Still, I think I could take the time to let people know that I really appreciate what they do for me. It bothers me that personal notes are going the way of the dinosaur. My youngest sister writes exceptional notes, and I love to get them from her, but I'm very bad about writing back to her. I send her a lot of e-mails, not just the forwarded type, but also short thoughts and responses to her e-mails, and I talk to her on the phone, but I don't make the time to write personal notes.

I've been pondering this as I reach a point in my life where contact with family and friends is more important. I need to shape up (in more ways than one), get my act together, and take this show on the road. I need to stop saying "I need to..." and "Just DO it!" And I haven't a clue how to make these life changes.

I think I'll start by telling people "Thank you" more often.

For those of you who have come to read this blog, Thanks! It's nice of you to stop by, *S*

"I Like Ike!" was a refrain from the election pitting Dwight D. Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson in the early 1950's I was a child, but I recall the campaign buttons.

I'm not so sure how I feel about our recent visitor, Ike, the hurricane. The Midwest had an extended line of showers crossing from west to east, and Ike rolled up through Texas, steamrolled over Oklahoma and Kansas and Missouri and attached himself to that line of showers. The forecasters were predicting three inches of rain over a three day period. That's a lot of rain, but manageable. In reality, O'Hare Airport measured 12.61 inches of rain by early evening on Sunday. Parts of Chicago and the surrounding counties have been hit hard, and farmers are saying that the corn and soybean crops may be damaged. We were fortunate. We're high and dry, and still have all our utilities.

I went out Sunday morning to collect the newspapers. We have a fairly long driveway, and it was pouring out, so I took the car. While I was down at the end of the road, I stopped to collect Saturday's mail, too. As our road goes to the east, it passes between two retention ponds, and the road crews had put up barricades to warn drivers of water on the pavement. The ponds were so full that they overflowed their bounds and met on the road. You could get through, if you went very slowly. The barricades were set up so that you had to slalom to the left. and then again to the right. Apparently everyone got the idea that you had to slow down, because there were no cars stranded in the water.

It rained almost non-stop from Friday morning to Sunday evening. It was still sprinkling Monday morning as we went off to exercise, enough to need window wipers, but not enough to keep the standing water from slowing draining off.

The record rain for my area was 17 inches in 24 hours. I can recall pictures of people canoing or rowing from house to house looking for people who needed help. What amazed me was that people would walk in the water without regard to raw sewage or downed electrical lines. What happens to people's brains when we have unusual weather!?? Our underpasses were closed for a couple of weeks with that storm. I think we'll clean things up faster with this one, but it will take a lot of work to bring some areas back to where they were before the storms.

Hi! I know...I've been away for a bit, but sometimes life has a way of intruding on my blogging. :-( This has been a wonderful, laid-back weekend. Dear Husband went to the boat Saturday morning, and Elegante Mother and I took our time getting ready to face the day. The care giver arrived at 8:00 and we decided to make a trip to the Farmer's Market.

There are several markets near our home. We went to the closest. EM agreed to use her transportation chair, and the care giver took the handles so that EM wouldn't fly downhill. We visited with our favorite knife sharpener, and met his oldest daughter. We shopped through easily three dozen booths, buying cheese, mushrooms, peaches, zucchini, peppers, corn, garlic, raspberries, blackberries, a wide variety of tomatoes, mixed flowers and eucalyptus. We were really loaded. If I'd had one more pair of hands, I would have bought a beautiful Cinderella pumpkin, and some squash!

Oh.....and GREEN BEANS! And BASIL! And 5 ears of corn! (In the background I can hear Dear Husband saying, "And two hard boiled eggs.) My mind is turning to fall meals. I want to cook things that fill the house with great scents, and wake my tongue with interesting seasonings. Roasted garlic, homemade pesto, diced tomatoes and broiled rounds of French bread. Sausage and Orzo soup, with crusty bread. Bee met Friday night and I made Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Icing, and an Apple-Strawberry Streuse; Pie for dessert. Can a Dutch apple pie be too far behind??

Next week, I may visit the French Market, just to see what they have to offer. How can you not enjoy the variety they offer? And the following week, we hope to go to the Antique Market. We won't be food shopping there, but we may find something to eat as we shop. *G*

I'm going to go make stuffed green and red peppers for dinner tonight, so I'd better get a move on. I hope you've all been well, and that life has been good to you.