Just Checking In

I did not expect the eclipse to be as fabulous as it was. Here, on a sunny 70 degree cloudless day in the 100% zone, it was FABULOUS. (last year it snowed on April 8). 

My grandkids were ready. 

My neighbor with a great camera. 

Me. (you can see one neighbor in a driveway behind me).  The most exciting part was that when we reached the total eclipse our whole town erupted in cheers. It was unexpected and just perfect. I could hear voices from streets away! 

A local amusement park sold tickets to ride the roller coasters during the event. Here is a picture from their facebook page. 

My husband's family decided to go to a location closer to home instead of traveling to us which meant I did not have to overhaul the guest room or cook, LOL. 

Yesterday I ran to the drug store and when I came home there were five girls about 10 years old riding their bikes down the long slope of my sidewalk yelling like they were on a roller coaster.  And I wanted to be them so badly. 

The daughter is married. Everything went off without a hitch and we are so happy. At the last minute, everyone scattered to their own homes to get fancied up so it all worked out.  I worried for nothing. 

I'll share just one picture.  Here is my squad, my two daughters and two granddaughters who are 13 and 7, but super tall.  My hair is courtesy of my hairdresser Kim who knows how to use a flat iron? I love it, but I am afraid I would get third degree burns. I told her to remember what she did for my 50th class reunion in August. 

This is my wedding dress. It started as a mother of the bride dress, I think it was a mother of the groom dress, too.  One season I wore it to a nephew's wedding in June, a friend's daughter's wedding in July and my niece's wedding in October. I wore it to a mystery dinner theater once when the plot was who killed the groom. I can't count the weddings it has attended. I bought it for 39.99 on the clearance rack at David's Bridal about 10 years ago. It was a "petite" so I did not even have to alter it. 

My husband met my ortho who drained his knee yesterday and he is feeling 80% better already!  We are praying for his oldest sister who had a hip replaced yesterday and his youngest sister's husband who had a critical case of cellulitis manifest in a short time and was hospitalized until today. He was released with home healthcare for his affected feet and hands. That family! 

Today I woke up with a renewed sense of energy and managed to empty six big dresser drawers and bag up about half of those clothing to donate. Then I attacked my jeans pile and donated about three sizes worth of pants that are too small. I decided if and when I ever wear that size again, I will enjoy shopping to replace them. 

I am so looking forward to tomorrow! I am attending our state genealogy conference which is driving distance from my house. Tomorrow is my easy day as sessions start at 10am.  I am skipping the luncheon and taking myself out to lunch at the Olive Garden up the road. Friday and Saturday will be more challenging since sessions start at 8am. I might just go to Olive Garden on Friday too, but I remember that the venue has dance and cheerleading competitions in another area on weekends so I am packing my lunch and have volunteered to sit at the chapter table on Saturday.

It's Go Time

Thanks for the comments on my last post. Hubby's bursitis knee did not improve so I called and registered him as a new patient at my doctor's office (since he had not been to the doctor since the 1990's) and they got him right in. She was terrific, ordered everything from a colonoscopy to blood work to a scan of his chest (smoker). She also referred him to an orthopedist who got him in this coming Tuesday.  We got the blood work results yesterday and everything was perfect. Which greatly relieved him.  

I think he is of the belief that if you ignore a health issue, it will disappear.  I am trying to convince him (and so is his new doctor) that catching things early will make treating them easier. We will see how that goes. 

Meanwhile - wedding tomorrow! She did a final try-on of the dress yesterday and somehow now the straps are too long. I did the alterations this morning and hopefully we are ready to go. I have pizza ordered for a houseful of sons and grandsons while the ladies are getting hair done tomorrow, then I guess everyone is dressing in my tiny one bathroom house and heading to the venue.  

Friday morning anyone who spent the night is coming over for breakfast that I am making. Our town had a big restaurant that was closed due to family issues for a few years and just reopened. I called for breakfast reservations and they aren't going to start breakfast for two more weeks. So that makes me the chef.

I was sewing while she hit the craft store for last minute centerpiece flowers since Amazon said the order was delayed until Friday. After she got home, the order did arrive . . . 

Then a last minute dash for suspenders for the ring bearer.  I am excitedly looking forward to the weekend, LOL.   

Our town was featured on the news as the 16th best place in the country to view the eclipse. Once the wedding festivities end, I need to scrub my house for guests coming to view the darkness.  We waited until today to put gas in all our vehicles and it was too late. Prices rose 30 cents a gallon overnight. 

Laundry is calling my name!

Special prayers to my friend who is starting radiation treatments tomorrow and Debbie and her family  at https://debbie-dabbleblog.blogspot.com/   who are experiencing a challenging health situation. 

Getting Over Ourselves

My husband and I both think we look much younger than our actual ages. When we see classmates, we snicker when back in the car - "can you believe we went to school together?" "he looks twenty years older than me". 

This week I caught a cold. We have had a number of sick children scattered over past weeks, but this is not a bug they shared. Mine started with a sore throat, not strep or covid, and moved to a sinus infection that knocked me out.  I don't seem to rebound back like I did when I was younger. 

A week ago Friday all the kids got picked up early and hubby decided to show me his knee. A quick trip to urgent care showed that he had a severe case of bursitis which started when he smacked it into something three weeks ago. Of course he waited three weeks to mention it. He is now in the recliner with his leg raised on pillows, alternating ice packs. It is getting better, but he is very frustrated with trying not to bear weight.  And now he has caught my cold. Of course it is much worse than mine because it is a man cold. 

And I can't talk about him because I haven't been to the doctor either. There were two late nights I thought about it, but I find my doctor so frustrating I have decided to weather it out. 

We are feeling our age.  Today, instead of grocery shopping, I clicked a list at our Aldi, drove over and a nice girl put it in my car.  I don't know why I resist this. I was even thinking other shoppers in the lot were looking at me, thinking why can't she go inside and shop for herself? The big baby.  

Tomorrow three out of five of my grandkids schools are closed for a teacher thing. I usually have big plans (I will share this year's edition of Chopped soon). But  I am just worn out.  I have no plans for the kids, no trips planned and told the parents we will not be preparing dinner or sending any food home like usual.  I am just too tired and old. 

Tuesday is yet another election in our state. Actually the first one of 2024.  Last year we had at least three.  I need to be there at 5:00 am because I am on machine set up and I stay until almost 8 pm as I close out the machines (with a member of the opposing party as a teammate).  The good thing is that many in the community have "early voted" so hopefully it won't be the same madhouse as the last election.  

Okay, done whining.  I guess this old lady will fix another cup of tea.  

I forgot to mention my youngest daughter. Put fiancé's house up for sale, sold in 6 days, closed Wednesday and had to be out Friday. Bought the new house on the same time table, moved in on Thursday. Today they took our vehicles to move some things from her house. Once dad is better, he is going to paint and take care of the small things so they can list that too. Wedding countdown is 18 days.  Then it's 4 days until the big eclipse with house guests.  

Recipe Contest

My god-daughter has a beef farm in Wisconsin and sponsors a recipe contest every year.  She provides the recipes and, if you live near her, you can purchase all the meat and some of the specialty items in a package. I had previously shared week 1 and week 2, here are the rest of the recipes. 

Week 6: last night.  We really enjoyed the Pesto Butter Skirt Steak with Crispy Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes and Asparagus Spears

Week 5: Beef Shank Asian Lettuce Wraps. Good, but our beef shanks were a little greasy. Where is the lettuce?

My hint to keep grocery prices down is to shop at one store. And this was what lettuce looked like when I was there. The fancy ones were brown and the iceberg was doll sized. 

My husband had his on hamburger buns. 

Week 4: Smothered Italian Sausages. This was another big hit with my husband. 

Week 3: Raspberry Balsamic Pork Roast with Mascarpone Polenta. Well.  First, her package provides the polenta grain from a small farm near her. The only grocery in my small town with polenta was (gasp) (groan) Walmart and all they had was premade polenta in a TUBE. I found directions to make it creamy.  I truly hope this isn't what polenta is supposed to taste like.  I also had to search for mascarpone cheese.   All in all, this was a very expensive dinner and neither of us really cared for it.  But it was pretty on the plate. 

That is the end of the recipes (I had shared 1 & 2 earlier).  Now I have to think of what to have for dinner all by myself! 

When I was going through my food porn, I found a few more pictures. 

A itty bitty village near us has a cafe with new owners. They are the cutest couple, both named Adam, and this is the Tuesday Special, chicken and biscuits. And tea comes with a teapot!  I do lunch once a month with my "glass class" girls, who were in my stained glass classes at the senior center. After covid the classes never resumed. Neither did most of the other classes.  Now they are building a four million dollar senior center with Biden bucks which is requiring a new higher operating levy on our ballot this month. 

I run a diner for grandkids and grampa on weekday mornings. Some teachers hear about the menus and threaten to join us. I took these pictures to stop them in their tracks. As I ran through the choices one morning, these two chose leftover spaghetti from my frig for breakfast. 

This morning we had an inch of snow. Tomorrow we have a forecast in the 60's.  Yes, it's March!