Be Back...

When I started blogging in 2008 (a New Thing A Day journey that started on my 49th birthday and ended a year later), the idea of stepping away from my project never entered my mind. Eighteen years later I am more comfortable doing things to take care of myself.

Along that line, I will be taking a break from my computer for a couple of weeks. I suspect the internet will keep on functioning without my posting or my commenting 🤣.

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Five years ago: Covering Before Coating

Feels Like Summer

Just in time for Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer season, it feels like summer.

Public Domain Vectors

Usually the warm weather starts slowly ramping up in the middle of May, but for the past few weeks, instead of warm weather shorts I've been wearing shoulder season Capris. Half the time I choose a three-quarter sleeve top instead of a tee shirt.

Our furnace has been turned off for weeks. Once or twice we had to turn the air conditioner on for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but otherwise the windows have been open to let in the wonderful breeze and outside sounds. At bedtime it feels good to turn the ceiling fan on low to circulate the air, but by the middle of the night I'm searching for the blanket.

However, my weather app says the high temperatures for the next ten days indicate closing up the house and running the air conditioner full time. The shoulder season clothes will get shoved into the back of the closet for the inevitable outlier chilly day or two. When I washed the sheets this morning I included the blanket, which will get folded up and put into the closet until fall.

Five years ago today: A Zoo Adventure

Sneakiness Update

I am sure that it was a coincidence that the day after I filed a missing package search request with the Post Office it shipped from a distribution center in New York to one in California, transferred to the post office closest to its final destination, then was put on a truck for actual delivery this afternoon.

And then, after all the kerfluffle about the delivery attempt notice that turned out to be a scam text, I was extremely leery when Hubby Tony announced that he received an email with the subject line:

"USPS Expected Delivery on Saturday, May 23, 2026 arriving by 9:00pm 9200190312735697768933"

that said we were scheduled to get a package delivered today when we hadn't ordered anything. But the message turned out to be real; the package was a dose of flea and tick preventive medicine sent from the online store of the vet that Foster Cat Smokey Joe last visited.

Five years ago today: Too Good Not To Share

Sneaky To The Max

You may remember that Hubby Tony and I recently bought a jigsaw puzzle for our oldest granddaughter in California. Two days later I dropped off the package at the post office. I chose to send it via Ground Advantage, which includes tracking and more than enough insurance. The clerk told me the package would arrive two days before Gee's birthday.

According to the USPS website the package left the post office that day and left St. Louis two days later, headed to a distribution center in New York. However, there the progress stopped. Gee's birthday came and went, and we were forced to send an apology text to her parents.

Today I learned that since it's been seven days since the package was mailed I could file a missing package search request. Search request has been filed. In all of the kerfluffle this text I received almost made sense....

until I read it more carefully. Then I realized it was a smishing scam text and did NOT take action on it!

Five years ago: Supreme Signpost

Confrontation And Confidence

At the end of 2025 I was elected as the communications person for a fellowship. The position also has a backup, who is appointed from people who express an interest.

In every other role I've volunteered for in this organization the two people worked together as a team. This time Backup was a lovely person, but I quickly found that when they said they would do something they wouldn't follow through. Emails, texts, and phone calls went unanswered (sometimes for weeks). Eventually I started doing things on my own, copying Backup on any emails I sent to keep them in the loop.

One day I was grumbling to someone about the situation, and that person pointed out I wasn't doing Backup any favors. They suggested I talk with Backup to explain my position and ask if they understood where I was coming from.

That sounded like an interesting plan, but I really dislike confrontation. What would happen if Backup got angry at me or got defensive and tried to make me the baddie? How would I follow through?

Backup lives on the other side of the state, so it wasn't feasible to have a face to face conversation. I procrastinated making a phone call for almost a week, but eventually I put on my big girl panties and did it. The call went to voice mail, but I got a call back a couple of hours later.

During our chat I was factual, telling them I needed someone who communicated well and followed through when they said they would do something. I asked them to think about if the time commitments for this volunteer task were too much for their available time, and assured them no one would look down on them if they decided to step away.

Two weeks later Backup told me they had decided it was best to step down. Although I was sorry to see them go, now I can look around for someone else. 

Five years ago: What Would You Have Done?

First Time Reveal

Hubby Tony and I aren't often on the cutting edge of classical music, but this afternoon we attended a world premiere performance of a new composition performed at the spring concert of the Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis

"How Mr. Silver Stole the Show" was based on a children's book written in 2023 by Kate Klise. It's about a stray cat that walked into the Hamilton Hotel in St. Louis in 1947. Two days later he won first prize in two categories (Best Color for Kittens and Best in the Non-Champion Class) at the Greater St. Louis Cat Club Show.

The event took place in a beautiful Art Deco building that started life as a synagogue. When the congregation moved the building became a community music school for a couple of decades and now houses the music school of Washington University.

The program  began with Maurice Ravel's "Mother Goose Suite". After that ended the musicians on the left side of the stage moved their chairs slightly and a large screen descended from the ceiling. Two narrators (the composer and a local media celebrity) took their places at music stands at the front of the stage. Even though the orchestra had already gone through their opening routine they did it again. The concertmaster entered, the instruments were tuned. The conductor entered to applause, bowed, then turned and started.

Illustrations from the book were projected onto the screen during the piece. The narrators and the orchestra did a great job of tag-teaming to bring the story to life. Of course the story had a happy ending. When the last note was played the conductor turned around to acknowledge the enthusiastic clapping from the audience. He had the soloists, then the entire orchestra, stand for recognition before the house lights came on for intermission.

During intermission the shelter we foster with was there with a information table and a litter of incredibly cute kittens. It was fun to talk with the other volunteers before returning back to our seats for the second portion, Paul Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphosis".

Escapologist

Yesterday Foster Cat Smokey Joe went to a second veterinarian's office for a consultation about the scab on his back. 

The vet shaved a half-dollar sized patch around the area so she could get a better look at the scab, but even after consulting with others in the office she diidn't have a definite answer as to what it could be. One possibility was that even through Smokey Joe never goes outside at our house, he might be having an extreme delayed reaction to past flea bites. Whatever the cause, she didn't see the need for him to visit an animal dermatologist, an option that had been thrown out by his normal vet. 

We came home with prescription ear drops, a medicated powder, and Revolution flea and tick preventative (which we will apply monthly). It was also recommend that Smokey Joe wear a recovery shirt to keep him from licking his affected area. After dinner Hubby Tony and I drove to the shelter to borrow one.

Back at home we introduced the shirt to Smokey Joe. It looked almost like a baby onesie that opened completely down the back/closed with Velcro, with a large hole in the rear so he could use his litter box. Once Tony put it on him the cat had trouble walking with the fabric pooled around his legs. However, he made it across the room and jumped on the cedar chest, where he gave us the stink eye.

Nope. Not happy at all.

At bedtime Smokey Joe did not jump up and take his place in between Tony and me, but he was there in the middle of the night. This morning Tony woke up first, and I could hear him rooting around on his side of the bed. I asked what was going on, and he said that somehow Smokey Joe had completely ditched the shirt. When Tony found it, the Velcro closures were still completely intact.

If Smokey Joe ever has a need for a walk-up song this would be the perfect one for him.

Five years ago: Tiny Morsels Of Chocolate Goodness

Do You Know Any Of These People?

It's been several years since I've had co-workers to interact with, but most of these nicknames still rang true. 

• Wheelbarrow: only works when pushed

• Triple O: Always on vacation or “out-of-office.”

• Cordless: Charges all night but only works for 2 hours.

• Sensor Light: Only works if someone walks past or is watching

• Road Runner: Runs away from any conflict

• KitKat: Always on break

• Dory: Extremely forgetful

• Seaweed: Just floats around all day

• Broken Arrow: Doesn’t work and can’t be fired

• Crime Scene: Always making a mess out of things

• Deck Chair: Always folds under pressure

• Bronco: Working with them is a wild ride

• Noodles: Thinks all jobs take 2 minutes

• Baby Bird: Lost without guidance

• Master Card: Takes the credit for someone else's work

• Feta: Crumbles under pressure

• Boomerang: Every problem leads back to them

• Lantern: Always has to be carried and not very bright

• 007: Zero work skill

• Magneto: Attracts chaos

• Sloth: Always sleeping on the job

• OK Cupid: Always looking for love at the office

• The Saint: Not a hope or prayer that they'll finish their work on time

• 404 – Can’t be found

• Lava Lamp – Looks good but not very bright

• Speed Bump – Always slowing everyone down

Can you think of any others?

Five years ago: Snacks For Vax

Adventures In Wrapping

Today Hubby Tony and I went to the store to pick out a present for Granddaughter Gee, whose birthday is next week. We decided on a llama-shaped floor puzzle, which will be easy to mail.

When it came time to wrap the present, I had to figure out what to do about the missing corner of the box. Before cutting into the roll of wrapping paper I experimented with tissue paper, then after I had a system figured out I moved on to the real thing. 

Except for a little too much cellophane tape I didn't think the result was too bad.

 

But I hid most of the tape by making a tag out of a section of a decorated envelope and attaching it to the angled edge. When the wrapping was done I stuck the present in a mailing bag. Now it's ready to go across the country to California!

Five years ago today: It Doesn't Take Much To Entertain Me

Stems And More

After an early morning class at the gym the plan was to do laundry, cooking, and miscellaneous things around the house, but when Hubby Tony asked me if I was interested in checking out a Mother's Day event in the Old Orchard shopping area in Webster Groves (the city to the east of us) all of a sudden the laundry and cooking could wait. He told me that at each of the participating businesses I could pick up a flower and end up with a bouquet to take home, so as soon as the first load of laundry was folded we were on the road. Fifteen minutes later we were parked and getting ready to start a bouquet.

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At the first shop I scanned a QR code and got the list of all the participating businesses. Tony and I walked up one side of the street and down the other, stopping everywhere that offered flowers, and other places just because. Some of the businesses had their flowers easily accessible. At others they were behind the counter. I tried to get a variety of colors and types.

While we were in the area we also purchased a couple of things. At Bijoux Chocolates Tony and I each got a beautifully decorated bonbon that tasted as good as they looked.

At another shop we got a box of herbal tea.

At one of the businesses they had cards embedded with flower seeds instead of a flower. I took one, and bought a second so we could mail one to each set of grandchildren.

I hadn't thought to bring any type of water reservoir, so by the time we got back to the car some of the flowers were looking a little droopy. Tony let me stick the stems in his water bottle for the trip home. By the time I got the flowers arranged in a vase the blooms had already started to perk up. The bouquet provides a nice pop of color on the fireplace mantel.

Five years ago: They Won't Miss Me!