We were invited to a friend’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration yesterday. Lyn and her husband have an amazing array of friends. There were people from school, and from the first town they lived in. There were farmers from the land around their home, neighbors, and business acquaintances, quilt guild members and friends from Bible study and church. And, FAMILY! We arrived about halfway through the afternoon and the room was PACKED! People came, and people stayed. It was a lovely celebration of fifty years together.
Happy 50th, Lyn and Wayne!

We eat out perhaps twice a month. In this corner of the western suburbs of Chicago there are endless opportunities for dining out, and the number is growing every day. We have a favorite upscale restaurant that has a sister site on Navy Pier in Chicago, and we were delighted when they opened the restaurant less than three miles from us. I wouldn’t say we dine there frequently, or as frequently as we’d like. It’s always fun to have a reason to go.
A friend from exercise class lost her husband early this year. I know that right after a funeral, there are a lot of calls and letters from friends, and that the attention begins to taper off as time passes. I thought it might be fun to treat her to dinner at this restaurant. She and her husband had been eating out for the past three years, so I thought it might make an evening pass more pleasantly for her, and she would have the chance to see a restaurant she might not go to on her own.
It was a wonderful evening. We all chose wines to start the meal, and chatted while we looked over the menus. Oddly, Elegante Mother and our guest and I all chose almost the same meal: petite fillet with a double baked potato. This restaurant is known for seafood and steaks, but this is the first time I’ve ever ordered a steak. Of course, it was superb. We dined early, to suit Elegante Mother’s needs, so we had all the attention we needed. As the room began to fill up, a keyboardist and singer entertained us. It was just a very pleasant night.
I think we might do this again, but next time we’ll try another of the restaurants available to us, just for variety. I hope it helped our friend to have the chance to talk, and to get out. I know it will be a long time before she adjusts to her loss, and I hope we can help her through it.
A good time was had by all!

….We hope! This past weekend was lovely! My youngest sis, Nan, and her family drove up from Indiana to spend the weekend with us. We went to have Portillo’s famous Italian beef for lunch, and then came home to play with some of the preparations for Easter.
Saturday night, the girls all gathered to do a baby shower for a niece who will be giving birth April 7th. One of my nieces lives in Perth, Australia, and since she was going to be in town for the weekend, they decided they would organize the baby shower so she could participate. It was lovely to have dinner with all the women in the family, and to see a store-ful of adorable baby clothes!
Sunday, my sister and her husband fixed breakfast for us, and we all headed off to my oldest sister’s church. Our family filled three pews. One of the members of the church asked how many generations of our family were there. This is an old farm community church, where generations of continual attendance matters. There were FOUR generations present.
We rushed home to set tables, heat the ham, make green bean casserole, and generally get ready. It should be said, that Dear Husband, Elegante Mother and I offer our home, but everyone else pulls together to see that the day is special. I could NOT have done it without the help of my youngest sister and her family. My-Sister-The-Nurse brought half the meal, but Nan’s family saw to the tables, the seating, the decorations, the logistics that ultimately made everyone comfortable, and made the house look lovely.
There were approximately thirty people here yesterday, including two first-time visitors. We were talking about spanning those four generations, and I suggested that it was possible that there could be five. The mother of the oldest great granddaughter fanned her face, looked panicked, and suggested that it was too soon for us to even consider that! *G* Okay….it’s too soon, but it’s lovely to see our gathered family and enjoy the continuity of our line.
I hope you all enjoyed the day as much as I did. The final and perfect touch to the day was discovering that the crocus are up! Spring is on its way. We’re blessed!

…or as we affectionately call him, ED, is my old black cat. You can see the silver threads in his coat. I think our vet believes he’s a miracle cat.
Ed has been an outdoor-indoor cat since he first adopted us in 1991. He was roughly two years old at the time, and we were having a vicious winter. Somehow he made it into the garage and was curled up on the seat of the riding mower when I first met him. He had obviously been raised around people, and had just as obviously been abandoned. It’s taken him most of his life to warm up to us, and he’s been grudging about giving away his love and trust.
I know…..WHY keep a cat like that? Who can explain how you fall in love with a “pet?” This cat has trained us to his bidding. Elegante Mother opens the door for him to come and go, and she and I feed him on demand. He’s as likely to slice our hands with his claws as he is to rub around our ankles, begging to be petted. He’s just Ed, and he’s a major part of our lives.
Unfortunately, he has begun to show signs of kidney failure. I knew, before we went for his annual checkup what they were likely to find. I approved the drawing of blood for tests just to confirm what I was seeing, and I was right. He’s past the early stages, and is moving into the more pronounced middle stage.. He’s lost weight, and the fat that normally covers his shoulder blades and pads his hip bones. He drinks, and pees, a lot.
Despite that, he seems to be in good spirits, and is still eager to go out, at least, when he feels the weather is bearable. He’s been inside for most of the winter because it’s been so bitterly cold.
This morning he went out. It’s a bright, sunny, chilly morning. I set the timer for ten minutes and went to see if he was ready to come in. No cat. I looked again five minutes later, and to the side of the door, there’s this black shadow. When I opened the door, I realized that Ed had caught another chipmunk, and was just getting ready to eat! YUCK!!!!
Dear Husband is on burial duty. It’s his job to whisk away the remains. I sure hope that we don’t have any visitors before DH gets home! *G* I suppose I have to go to the door and let Ed in…..
Despite my complaints about chipmunk parts being left around, I’ll really miss this cat. He’s my “kid.” He comes to sit with me at the end of the evening, and we share warmth. I’ll miss the little bugger.

A member of my family is angry with me. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no clue as to the cause. I realized more than six months ago that he was very carefully not speaking to me unless he was cornered. When he had absolutely no choice, he spoke to me in a sarcastic tone of voice, and still does.
One day when we were visiting their home, he offered a beverage to everyone but me, and though we’ve visited several times, he’s continued that practice. When he comes to my home, he speaks to everyone but me. Yesterday, we were packing up the leftovers for the families to take home with them, and I asked if he ate ham. He replied that he did, but they wouldn’t be taking any of it home.
My inclination is to turn my back on this childishness. Speaking to him is not going to resolve the issue, because he doesn’t care to hear what I might have to say. I could refuse to go to their house, given that I am not welcome, and I could even make a point of not welcoming him to my house, but that doesn’t resolve the issue. It only escalates the problem, and spreads it further throughout the family.
The question is, what do I do? Do I confront him and ask why he’s behaving this way? I suspect that he would deny that he’s been rude to me, but others are beginning to notice what’s going on. One of my concerns is that if I let it go on to long, I’ll snap one day, say something that compounds the problem, and we’ll have a worse situation than we have now. He’s the master at passive-aggressive behavior, when I’m a what-you-see-is-what you-get sort of person. I’m more likely to avoid conflict until it can be avoided no more.
I really don’t want to cause any division in my family. I don’t want anyone to have to consider whether or not they should invite me, and by extension, Dear Husband, or whether it’s not worth the trouble.
If you have advice, I’d love to hear it.

I hate word problems! Why in the world would someone want to know what time it will be in Schenectady when two trains crash in Nevada??
A “friend” sent me a math problem yesterday. It took me three tries, but I finally got it right. Did I mention it’s a FIFTH GRADE math problem??
I was so pleased that I sent it to my entire family and one unsuspecting friend! *G* When you get the number right, you are able to open a spreadsheet that comes with the word problem. At that point, you can add your name to the list of people who have successfully opened the spreadsheet.
My brother, who is an electrical engineer, wrote back to me, right away, and said “I didn’t see your name on the spreadsheet.” I told him that I’d gotten the number right (shared it with him to prove it! *G*) but I didn’t have a clue about how to add my name to the list. At least I can do fifth grade math!
Here’s the math problem. See how YOU do at it:
This is a 5th grade math problem. If you can’t stand word math problems, just delete now. If you can open the spreadsheet, you’ll see it’s a very small list of people who have gotten the correct number. This is not a trick question. This is a real math problem, so don’t say that a bus has no legs.
There are 7 girls in a bus
Each girl has 7 backpacks
In each backpack, there are 7 big cats
For every big cat there are 7 little cats
Question: How many legs are there in the bus?
The number of legs is the password to unlock the Excel sheet. If you open it, add your name and send it on to see who else can unlock it.
MathProblem.xls
I hope I’ve managed to include the file for the spreadsheet. If not…e-mail me, and I’ll send it to you.
Have fun!

This afternoon, while it is a bright, lovely, sunny day, I’ve been buried in the hallway, cleaning out the mudroom pantry. I knew that it had to be done before my family visits, or someone would open the door and be taken out by the slide of STUFF flowing over them. *S*
I want you, and my family, to know that I THREW SOME STUFF AWAY!!! It’s been said that everything that comes into this house gets lodged here, and stays, but that’s not true. Dear Husband will attest to the fact that the garbage and recycling on Tuesdays is killing him! I sorted through the veggies and pitched onions and potatoes that were sprouting. I moved a number of things which had been stored there in error, to the closets and drawers where they really belong.
I boxed up the pillar candles and moved them to the top shelf. I reorganized the light bulbs, foil pans and paper plates. I was even able to add cleaning supplies I purchased yesterday without breaking the shelf!
There were two other chores that needed my attention. My oak table in the room off the kitchen where we usually eat dinner, has been looking very sad. I was using a bee’s wax polish on it, but I either didn’t polish it often enough, or I needed to buff it more when I added the polish. I found a liquid lemon-scented polish and gave it a go today, and it’s made an amazing difference. I suspect the table is thirsty. I’m going to add a second application and then use a mechanical buffer on it. I hope the table will shine for Easter. *S*
And, I brought up ALL the bags of spring season silk flowers so that Elegante Mother can reorganize the flowers in her sitting room. I have all the flowers I need to make a wreath for this spring, and another for late Fall, but I need to pick up ribbon. I have a stash of the rest of the material needed, picks and dry foam, wire and moss. I should be able to get those done this week.
Last Tuesday my niece came to clean for me. I’d like to say that it was because I hurt my knee, but actually it’s because she is the most amazing cleaner I have ever known! While she worked on the kitchen floor, I cleaned out the refrigerator. My family commented on the fact that they could see what was on the shelves, as if I was the only person putting things into the refrigerator! My niece is working on the things that most of us consider spring cleaning, and she considers to be weekly cleaning. She’ll be back on Tuesday to take apart my living room, and I can be sure it will look nice for Easter.
We need to revise the old saw to read…..”There is nothing sure in life except death, CLEANING, and taxes!

….to my week, and to this blogging session.
I spent about 15 minutes writing an entry, only to find that it has disappeared off the face of the earth! Maddening!
At any rate…..I was cat sitting for a friend who has three marvelous cats. I was on my way to do the evening visit on Monday, and as I walked up the sidewalk, my feet flew out from under me. Somehow, probably in trying to break my fall, I ended up landing square on my right knee. Other that the visceral “WOW! That HURTS!!!” the first thought to go through my head was that we wouldn’t be able to take lunch to an exercise buddy who has broken her ankle.
After I landed on my knee, I must have thrust myself back to get my weight off the knee, and I ended up in the shrubbery, where I picked up several slivers. I looked and felt like a beached whale. No one was around to assist me, and my phone was in the car. There was nothing I could use to pull myself up.
I slithered over the sidewalk and into the grass, and tested my knee. I was finally able to rise, and was very surprised to find that I was able to walk. I fed the cats, and loved them up quickly, and headed home, in case something dreadful was yet to come.
I seem to have lucked out. I have a few miscellaneous aches and pains, and two spots of skin scraped off the cap of my knee, but I seem fine otherwise. I’m taking anti-inflammatories. My knee is warm to the touch, and I developed some bruising Wednesday afternoon, but if that’s all that happens, I’ve gotten off easy.
The sidewalk looked dry. I could not see ANY ice at all on it, and was really shocked when I went flying. Elegante Mother has had some balance problems recently, so we’ve been very cautious about footing. I lucked out. I was embarrassed, but not mortally. I’ll get over it, especially since I’m still up and walking!

I attend an amazing senior exercise class. I started going long before I qualified for the age requirement because I had arranged for Elegante Mother to take this class. Rather than sitting around and watching her exercise, I joined the class. Recently I asked the ladies in the class if any of them crocheted, and discovered a gold mine. I told them about the Share a Square Project that Shelly Tucker of This Eclectic Life has organized, and they made granny squares for the afghans that are being created for kids going to cancer care camp this summer.
We realized that we could help Shelly by offering to put together two of the afghans, and asked her to send them on. We met a week ago to begin stitching around the squares. Five of us rimmed 48 squares that afternoon, and two of us completed another 24 during the week.
We met again yesterday to finish edging the last 24 squares in black, and started assembling the first of two afghans. We’ll interrupt our work this next week as we prepare for Easter, but we should be able to complete the afghans by early April.
It’s been incredibly satisfying to contribute to this project. To learn more about it, and see some of the completed afghans visit Shelly’s blog and click on the “Share a Square” button on the right side of the page. When we finish our two, I’ll take a picture and post it.
P.S. DON’T send Shelly any more squares! I envison a house overflowing with them, pushing the walls out! She has enough! *G*