I Admire An Optomist

A funny from a friend....

Jacob considers himself to be one of the lucky ones because he's the only one of his family to have survived two years in a Nazi concentration camp. He's now nearing 90 and his only remaining joy is the lottery, which he's been playing for years without success. But then he wins a big one, a prize of $10 million.

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A journalist calls on him for a story.

Jacob tells him, "As I'm the only one in my family to have survived the concentration camps, this has helped me decide how to make use of my large win. I've decided to donate $5 million to the Save the Children Fund, $3 million to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, $750,000 to the Jewish Museum, $750,000 to Hadassah Hospital, and $500,000 to be shared amongst my friends. I'm also thinking of donating $1 to the Nazi Party from my winnings."

The journalist is surprised. "But Jacob, how can you think of donating even $1 to the Nazi party after everything that's happened to you and your family?"

Jacob rolls up his sleeve, points to his arm and replies, "It's only fair. They gave me the winning numbers."

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Five years ago today: Time To Sleep

Poor Guy!

On my post two days ago about No Housekeeping Day jj left a comment asking if part of my free time included extra lap time for Foster Cat Smokey Joe. Sadly, the answer to her question was no.

Since he came to live with us last November Smokey Joe has been treated for parasites, fleas, fungus, and worms-some of them more than once. His positive Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) status means that his immune system is weak, making him susceptible to infections and secondary skin issues.

For example, at the beginning of the year Hubby Tony and I found several bald patches on the cat's skin. After a couple of trips to the vet and a couple of medicines everything healed up. But the issue came back. This time thick scabs covered the bald patches; when one of the scabs fell off there was an angry red sore underneath.

So on Tuesday, once again the cat made a trip to his least favorite place. The vet examined him and let us know we should restart the medicated wipes and shampoo we had discontinued. She also said that if the problem continued she would suggest a veterinary dermatologist. (Who knew there was such a thing?)

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When Smokey Joe finally made it home he seemed happy to be in his space, but even though Tony was sitting on the couch the cat took his sweet time jumping up on his lap. However, once he was there he didn't want to leave. My turn for a lap cat came after dinner, when Smokey Joe curled up and didn't leave until it was time for me to go to bed and for him to eat.

First Challenges Accomplished

If you remember, this week I was given three Spring Forward challenges.

The first was to try a new type of drink or snack I haven't tasted before. I had fun walking through an international grocery store and looking at how many of the items were new to me. In the end I got a canned Soursop Drink and a bag of Scampi Flavour Fries.

I have heard of soursop before, and may have even seen it at the Asian market I frequent, but had no idea what it tasted like. The internet told me that the flavor could be likened to a blend of strawberry, pineapple, and coconut or banana, with a slight citrus tang. The drink I purchased contained 25 percent juice (listed second in the ingredient list, behind water but before sugar). When I got home I followed the suggestion on the can to shake it well to blend the flavors. I normally don't drink things with added sugar, so this one was very sweet to me, but overall I liked it. Based on my experience I would even consider buying soursop fruit.

Google told me the scampi fries was "a mainstay of British pubs". The bag said it was a "scampi and lemon flavour cereal snack", with an ingredients list that started with sunflower oil (so I knew they wouldn't be diet friendly). Other ingredients listed included wheat breadcrumbs, maize, and seasonings. The pillow-shaped pieces were delicious, with a slightly fishy, lemony taste. I was going to save a couple for Hubby Tony but ended up eating the whole bag myself.

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The second challenge was to reach out to a friend I haven't heard from in months. I started by going through the contacts on my phone (and got temporarily distracted from my task by deleting a handful of names I didn't recognize) but eventually chose to text a woman I had met through one of my daughter-in-laws. I think I've seen her once since Brian and Nicole moved to California in 2014, but this week our series of back and forth texts caught both of us up.

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The third, bonus challenge was to start a gratitude journal. I have done this on and off over the years, but for some reason this time I've had trouble remembering to write down things I'm grateful for. Tomorrow's outcome may be different, though. In the meantime, I am enjoying hearing the birds chirping outside when I wake up a couple of minutes early and think about what I'm thankful for. 

Five years ago today: Botheration!

A "Day" I Can Really Get Behind

In the United States, April 7 has been designated as National No Housework Day, a chance to ditch the cleaning to-do list and do the bare minimum around the house.

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Instead of filling the day with boring housekeeping tasks I did as little as possible. For example:

• Tuesday is a laundry day, and because I like clean towels and pajamas I went ahead and did the two small loads.

• Hubby Tony made dinner and took care of the dishes from both cooking and eating, but I cleaned up my things after my breakfast and lunch.

• I scooped the cat litter as needed and took the stinky bag down to the trash can, then swept up the litter Foster Cat Smokey Joe kicked out of the litter box.

In a normal, busy day I would have multi-tasked, and all these things would have all been accomplished quickly. Today, since I was doing the minimum there was no need to hurry. I spent some time catching up on reading, took a nap, then played some computer mah jong and didn't feel at all guilty. I knew the housework would still be there waiting for me tomorrow.

Five years ago: Getting Things Done At 10 Miles Per Hour

An Invitation To Challenge Myself

In 2020 I became a member of the AARP Ethel group (named for Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, founder of the American Association of Retired Persons).  Each week the group sends out an email newsletter.

In the last issue I read about their five-week Spring Forward Challenge, which focuses on motivating women to "try new things, step out of their comfort zones, and pursue personal growth". Since this year I'm trying to focus on doing a wider variety of activities, signing up for the challenge seemed to be a great way to accomplish that.

Today I received an email with the challenges for the first week. I am to try a new type of tea, coffee, or snack I haven't tasted before and reach out to a friend I haven't heard from in months. There was also a bonus challenge to begin a gratitude journal. At the bottom of the message was an additional invitation to join a dedicated Facebook group for the challenge.

I am looking forward to seeing where this challenge takes me and what I learn about myself. 

Five years ago today: Today Is When It Started Getting Real

I Love A Song With A Good Surprise Ending

And this is one of the best. Happy Easter!

Five years ago: Jerusalem Tomorrow

Controlling The Clutter

Now that the weather is getting nicer I'm feeling the call to do some spring cleaning and purging.

Some time ago I was introduced to the "Ten Basic Laws of Stuff", which explain why clutter accumulates and how you can manage it. The list was published in a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organizing Your Life by Georgene Lockwood, which was published in 1999. Her list made complete sense to me, and I thought it might to you, too.

Ten Basic Laws of Stuff

• Stuff can't buy happiness.
• The more you have, the more you need.
• Useless stuff crowds out the good stuff.
• Dirt and bugs love stuff.
• Stuff stays where you put it.
• Stuff multiplies to fill the spaces you have.
• Over time you don't see your stuff.
• When you have a lot of stuff you have to pay over and over for it.
• Stuff affects your mental health.
• Stuff is valuable only if you use it.

(Even though I'm making progress in the messiest areas of the condo, fortunately even when I started the job they were way less cluttered than the one in this photo 😇.)

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Five years ago: Can You Call It Medical Tourism If You Only Drive 40 Miles?

How Can It Be Five Years?

Five years ago, on March 31 2021 Hubby Tony walked into the office to turn in his things and walked out a retiree.

I wanted to do something to commemorate the milestone. Searching for 'fifth year retirement presents' gave me lots of links for wedding anniversary presents but not much else. Eventually I decided to use those ideas as my inspiration. The traditional fifth wedding anniversary gift is wood. The modern gift is silverware.

I figured Tony didn't want any more tchotchkes, so instead of a gift made out of wood I made a donation to Forest ReLeaf of Missouri which will plant a tree in his honor.

We also went to the Botanical Garden and walked around the tree-lined paths to see what was newly blooming.

As for silverware, the diner I took him to for breakfast had some darn good food....and utensils 😀.

Five years ago: So Close He Can Almost Taste It

It Might Be Easy, But No Thank You

This weekend Hubby Tony and I attended a fellowship business meeting in Springfield, Missouri.

When we arrived in the room I saw a sign on the wall next to the thermostat touting a QR code tipping service.

I was not inclined to give my charge card information to a random, unknown entity. However, I was curious how the system worked so I scanned the code which took me to the website. This is what I saw:

No matter how easy the hotel tried to make it I still was not inclined to use their service.

Five years ago today: Free labor

If You Use Your Air Conditioner And Furnace In The Same Day…

You might be in Missouri.

Yesterday felt like summer. Although Hubby Tony and I knew a cold front was coming through overnight to knock the temperatures back down to normal we ultimately broke down, closed the windows, and turned the air conditioner on.

Said cold front did indeed come through overnight. When I woke up my weather app said it was 39 degrees. I switched the thermostat from air conditioning to heating.

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Five years ago today: Reaction Response