Not Me!

When I go into a store for just a few things, I usually bring a reusable shopping bag with me. I hang the bag over my arm and put the items I want to buy inside the bag. At the checkout counter I dump everything on the counter, then hand the bag to the cashier so they can refill it as they scan the items.

Today when I was at a Walgreens store not too far from my house the cashier warned me not to do that any more. She said that the management was cracking down on shoplifters, and on a security camera it might look like I was trying to steal something.

Her comment floored me. I'm so honest, I'd never think about stealing an item.  But I guess unless a store associate personally knows me they might not recognize that. Now I'm going to have to retrain myself to grab a basket as I enter the store....and place my shopping bag in it before I start gathering the things on my list.

Five years ago today: An Accurate Description?

Repair Or Replace

Last week I was driving home from the gym when the check engine light on my trusty 2002 Honda CR-V came on. I pulled over as quickly as I could, then called AAA and had them tow it to the repair shop we've used for years. Later in the day I got the news that the car would need close to $1,000 worth of parts and repairs.

Yikes!

I told the shop I needed to figure out what I wanted to do and would call them back. A Google search for the phrase "Keep old car or buy new" offered about 2,360,000,000 results. I chose the article How to Decide Whether to Keep or Replace Your Car. After reading it I made a list of the pros and cons of keeping my current vehicle.

PROS

• The car has been very reliable. Other than routine maintenance I haven't had to put much money into it.

• I don't have a monthly payment, and it would be great to keep it that way.

• Because of the age of the car the insurance and personal property taxes are low.

• The body is still in pretty good shape. I'm not embarrassed to be seen in the car.

CONS

• On an older vehicle there's no guarantee something else won't go wrong.

• A newer model would probably get better gas mileage

• January is a horrible time to replace a vehicle. That would mean I would be obligated to renew the license plate right after the holidays for as long as I had it...and years from now might have to spend big bucks in repair work to get it to pass the required safety and emissions inspection our state requires.

The repair shop said that if I had the work done my car should last for a long time,so in the end I authorized an immediate oil change and made an appointment to have the rest of it completed today. Right before dinner I got a call it was ready to be picked up. Driving home, the ride felt much smoother.

I'm glad I decided to stick with my old reliable wheels, but if I get the chance I think I'll start researching what else is out there. That way I'll have the information available if I need it.

Five years ago today: Petite Predicament

The Day After The Day

Usually on December 26th I don't have the energy to do much of anything, but this year it's different. Because we celebrated Christmas with the family early, the actual holiday was laid back and serene.

On Christmas Eve, instead of frantically running around trying to tie up all of the loose ends Hubby Tony and I leisurely completed a couple of errands together, then got lunch at a new-to-us Mediterranean restaurant. The original plan was to go to midnight Mass, but at the last minute we changed our mind and went in the late afternoon. Afterwards Son Donald joined us for a pizza and salad dinner. I started a pan of overnight oatmeal for brunch, then we watched TV until it was time to head for bed.

The next morning we got up when we felt like it. We had divided up the cooking chores for dinner and mid-morning Tony realized he was missing a couple of ingredients for his dish. The Oriental market close to the house was open, so we piled in the car for a field trip. Both Tony and Donald picked out some things they wanted, then we wandered around looking at all of the exotic packages. Our mid-afternoon meal of tamales, beans, rice, cole slaw, and guacamole really hit the spot. After things were cleaned up Tony and I took a walk. Later in the day I served dessert - baked pears with homemade dolce de leche sauce.

Five years ago today: Pizza For Christmas

Appreciative

December has flown by! I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already.

Today is the accounting day for my 2019 Advent of Gratitude challenge. When I completed the challenge last year I had no idea how all of the daily prompts would open my eyes to the everyday blessings I have in my life.  This year I had a knowledgeable head start, and I wasn't disappointed.

As the directions specified, today I added up all the money from the prompts. It came to $67.50. As I did last year I sent the proceeds to the Circle of Concern food pantry, which serves clients that live in the three school districts closest to my house.They do great work.

Five years ago today: Merry Christmas, 2013

Pocket

I've been using the Firefox browser on both my desktop and laptop computers for several years. I like it because it's fast, has a built-in spellcheck feature, and lets you sync across all of your devices.

Lately, when I've opened a new browser tab things things have looked different.  Then there used to be a grid of the sites I used the most, but now the page has a set of random articles "Recommended by Pocket".

I wondered what Pocket was.  A little research told me that the company is an application and web service for managing a reading list of articles from the Internet. It is owned by Mozilla, the developers of the Firefox web browser, so I guess it makes sense that it's being cross-promoted.

I've enjoyed reading the articles that show up on the page, and I've been introduced to some interesting websites.  There's an actual Pocket app that I haven't explored yet, but it sounds like it might be useful.

Cooking By The Seat Of My Pants

Over the last week we had a house full of people, and we ate well. There were Chinese, carryout pizza, and barbecue meals. For the big extended family get-together  I baked a turkey breast and pork loin roast, and cooked French Dip in the crock pot. I sliced it all for sandwiches, and served it on pretzel slider buns. For the non-meat eaters I made a main dish bean salad. Others brought a green salad, a potato casserole, and desserts.

Even though some of the earlier leftovers were consumed as the week went on, when things started returning to normal on Monday the refrigerator was still very full. That night Hubby Tony and I attended the Christmas party dinner for a club he belongs to. Neither one of us finished our food, so yet one more Styrofoam container got shoved into the refrigerator.

I hate to throw away food, so I've been getting creative with those leftovers.

• Tuesday night I heated up the previous evening's extras (Tony's pork medallions and my breaded chicken with white wine sauce and mushrooms) and cut them each in two pieces so we could share. I roughly smashed the leftover baked potato, and nuked some frozen Normandy blend vegetables to serve with the protein and carbs.

• Last night I combined the last of the French Dip au jus and partial containers of Hot and Sour and Egg Drop soup to make the liquid for a hearty soup. I bought a bag of bok choy at the Oriental market, chopped it up, and tossed it in to cook, then threw in the extra scallions and shredded carrots that I'd purchased for Sunday's bean salad.  When it was time to serve the dish I poured it over leftover rice.

• Tonight's meal was loaded sweet potatoes. They were topped with a combination of leftover barbecue brisket, frozen mixed vegetables, sauteed onion and garlic, and assorted barbecue sauces.

Even though I've made a large dent in the extra food, there's still baked beans, rice, cheese, and yogurt to get rid of.  Not sure what exactly I'll do with them, but I'll think of something.

Five years ago today: Oy!

Giving For The Sake Of Giving

I love this!

Son: "Dad, I think I'm old enough to know now. Is there a Santa Claus?" Not being the world's fastest thinker, I stalled for time.

Dad: "OK, I agree that you're old enough. But before I tell you, I have a question for you. You see, the truth is a dangerous gift. Once you know something, you can't un-know it. Once you know the truth about Santa Claus, you will never again understand and relate to him as you do now. So my question is...Are you sure you want to know?"  Brief pause.

Son: "Yes. I want to know."

Dad: "OK, I'll tell you: Yes, there IS a Santa Claus."

Son: "Really?"

Dad: "Yes, really, but he's not an old man with a beard in a red suit. That's just what we tell kids. You see, kids are too young to understand the true nature of Santa Claus, so we explain it to them in a way that they can understand. The truth about Santa Claus is that he's not a person at all; he's an idea. Think of all those presents Santa gave you over the years. I actually bought those myself. I watched you open them. And did it bother me that you didn't thank me? Of course not! In fact, it gave me great pleasure. You see, Santa Claus is THE IDEA OF GIVING FOR THE SAKE OF GIVING, without thought of thanks or acknowledgement.

Son: "Oh."

Dad: "So now that you know, you're part of it. You have to be Santa Claus too now. That means you can never tell a young kid the secret, and you have to help us select Santa presents for them, and most important, you have to look for opportunities to help people. Got it?"

~~Author unknown~~

Five years ago today: Something Different!

A Great Time Was Had

Things have been crazy busy at the house lately.  In anticipation of Son Donald crossing the graduation stage at Missouri S&T last Saturday, all of the family came in from out of town. For the past nine days people were coming and going, and it was hard to keep track of what day it was. The highlight of the weekend was Saturday, when we piled into cars for the trip to Rolla.

Pre-ceremony

On Sunday we had our family Christmas celebration and a get-together with some of the extended family. Part of the out of towners left that night, and we took the rest to the airport today. While they were here I talked, laughed, played with Play-Doh, and cooked (some of the time with my favorite helper, Grandson Jay):

Checking on dinner

All in all it was a glorious time!

Chocolate Covered Anything Day

I celebrated....and celebrated.....and celebrated some more.  Now I don't feel so good!

Five years ago today: Fortunes

A Holiday Diversion

I've been having fun playing Snowman, which is a Christmas version of Hangman. The simple game has you guessing letters to make holiday words.  When you guess incorrectly, a part of a snowman pops up on the screen.  If the snowman is complete before you guess the word, you lose.

Five years ago today: Snowman, Snowman, Who's Got The Snowman?

The Search Is Over

In the spring of 2004 Son Tony was a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. When I visited him for the first Mom's weekend I bought a commemorative brick at a craft show that had the word Illini (for their football team, the Fighting Illini) in orange and blue, the school colors. When I got home I put the brick in the planting bed just outside the front door.

When Son Brian started classes at the University of Missouri-Columbia. I bought a Mizzou Tiger brick at one of the stores in town and placed it next to the first.

For years they were a set of two, but in 2016 when Son Donald began classes at Missouri University of Science and Technology (otherwise known as Missouri S&T) I started searching around for a school brick to go with the others. The only things I could find with the school logo were clothes. Nothing else. Not even online! Finding the elusive brick turned into somewhat of an obsession.

Earlier this fall Hubby Tony and I made a Homecoming Weekend trip to Rolla to attend a downtown business district craft fair. Once again I came up empty handed, but when I walked into a stained glass store I saw a display of large stepping stones that were similar to what I was looking for. I got the owner's contact information and after exchanging a series of emails with him, four weeks later I made another trip to Rolla to pick up my custom made brick.

The set is now complete

Five years ago today: Getting The Hang Of It

A Tasty Tribute

You're probably aware that George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, passed away on November 30th. His funeral was today, and in his honor Hubby Tony had the day off.  I had several errands and work commitments first thing in the morning, but when I got home Tony was watching the broadcast on TV. After I finished my paperwork I joined in. Eventually we got hungry and decided to go out to lunch, listening to the ceremony on the radio in the car.

Tony and I had done some pre-planning to figure out a way to make our meal a Presidential tribute. A web search led me to an article on Delish about favorite Presidential foods, where I learned that George H. W. Bush put hot sauce on everything "just like a good ole boy from Texas". I often eat food with built-in heat or add sauce to spice it up so I could relate.

We ended up at a restaurant that featured hamburger sliders and other miniature sandwiches.  As we often do, Tony and I decided to split our food half and half. He ordered a salad, and I chose three sandwiches...a traditional slider, a Hot Chicken slider, and a Philly sandwich. (We did NOT get anything with broccoli, because of the President's stated hatred for it. He said during a news conference in 1990 "I do not like broccoli and I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it." He  went on to say, "And I'm president of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli.")

When the food came we requested a bottle of Tabasco, and used it liberally. Here's to you, President.

Five years ago today: Dogsitting

Have You Seen It?

The other day I was using the rest room in a grocery store. When I reached over to get some toilet paper I noticed a dark blue leather folio phone case laying on top of the paper holder. The case had several slots on the back to hold charge cards, but the slots were empty.

I opened up the case to take a look at the phone, but  it was locked with a pass code. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to try to find any contact information. This store doesn't have a Customer Service desk, so I decided to turn the phone in to the cashier.

However, if it was me backtracking to find a phone I misplaced somewhere, I would be even more frantic to not find it where I thought I had left it. So I got a length of paper towel from the holder and wrote that I had turned the phone in. I left the note in the exact same place the phone had been. That way if the person would know what the next step was.

Five years ago today: (Not Quite) A Partridge In A Pear Tree

Another Advent Of Gratutude

Once again this year I'm going to participate in An Advent of Gratitude, a month long challenge to help me remember to be grateful for what I have.

The background of the event, from their Facebook page:

Most Advent calendars present us with a gift each day leading up to Christmas. The purpose of this Advent of Gratitude is to remind us of the gifts we already have, what we often take for granted, what we can and should be grateful for. Each daily reminder includes a suggestion for payment, a small monetary gift that in 24 days will grow into a donation, payable to a charity of your choice.

At the end of this challenge, please donate to a charity, preferably somewhere local, that serves those less fortunate than you.

Here is the 2018 list.  Unlike last year, this time I will not be doing a daily blog rundown. Instead, I invite you to follow the list on your own (or even better, 'Like' the Advent of Gratitude page yourself).

1. When you woke up this morning was “What to wear?” a decision? If yes, pay $2.
2. Have you experienced a natural disaster in which you felt unsafe? If no, pay $3.
3. Pay $1 for each vehicle owned by yourself or someone who lives in your home.
4. Do you pay a monthly subscription to anything? If yes, pay $4.
5. This may seem personal but … count the number of undergarments in your drawer(s). Pay .10 per garment.
6. What’s in your wallet? Pay .50 per credit or debit card.
7. Did you listen to music today? That’s worth at least $2!
8. If you, and/or those in your family who need them, have access to feminine hygiene products, pay $3.
9. Did you pay property taxes in 2018? If yes, pay $4. More than one property? Multiply!
10. In 2017, we counted light switches. Today count electrical outlets. Too many? Pay $5.
11. Look in your cupboards. Count coffee cups/tea cups. Pay .10 per cup.
12. Do you worry about having clean water to drink, bathe, or wash with? If no, pay $2.
13. Do you (or did you) have access to birth control when you wanted or needed it? If yes, pay $3.
14. Look in your jewelry box(es). Any real gold or silver? If yes, pay $3.
15. Did you go to the dentist this year? If yes, pay $3.
16. Count the bottles of shampoo, soap, conditioner in your home. Pay .10 per bottle.
17. If there is sporting equipment in your home or garage, pay $4. Went to a professional sporting event in 2018? Double that!
18. If you bought lettuce or watermelon this week pay $2. If more than once, pay $4.
19. Think about how you get from your work to your home? Do you feel safe? If yes, pay $3.
20. Open your closets and count purses/handbags. Men, count your ties/belts. Pay .25 each.
21. When was your last vacation? In 2018? If yes, pay $4.
22. Do you have easy access to local, national and international news? If yes, pay $2.
23. Do you own tools for house repair? If yes, pay $3.
24. If you have more people who love you than you can count on your fingers, pay $5.

DONATION TIME!

Mother Of The Wedding Dressing

There's going to be a wedding! Next April Son Tony and his fiancee Ie are going to be married. Plans have been underway for some time. When I was in Dallas in October I went Mother of the Groom dress shopping with Ie. We ended up at a David's Bridal store, where she gave me some general color suggestions and I chose several dresses to try on. Ie also picked out a dress that turned out to be my favorite. The dress was made out of a slightly shiny floral jacquard material. It was sleeveless, with a high neckline and large pleats that fell from the waistband. As a bonus, there were two deep pockets sewn into the side seams. And it was on sale.

When I got home I went to a couple of stores and looked at their dress selections, but I didn't see anything I liked as much. Eventually, after making sure Ie was indeed OK with the dress, earlier this month I went to my local David's store and ordered it. The associate told me the dress was slated to come in shortly after the first of the year, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was much earlier than that.

Two weeks after I placed the order I panicked when I heard that David's Bridal had filed for bankruptcy, but it turned out to be the Chapter 11 reorganization type. Still, I said a prayer of thanks last night when I got a call that the dress had arrived. Tonight I went to pick it up.

I wish I could say the dress fit perfectly, but it will need to have some alterations done first.  That will happen after I figure out what type of shoes and undergarments I need to buy....

Five years ago today: Early To Rise

Cat On Rag

The other day I came home and found that one of the cats had left a large, nasty hairball right in the middle of the hall next to the kitchen. (I asked both of them who did it, but neither would tell me.  That's par for the course).

After I got done grumbling about the mess I grabbed the carpet cleaner and got to work. The aerosol can of cleaner felt like it had plenty in it, but when I pressed the button nothing came out. Grumbling some more, I walked back to the cabinet to get the liquid cleaner.

I used a napkin to scoop up the hairball solids, then squirted the stain with cleaner, daubed it in with a wet rag, then placed the rag on top while the cleaner worked.  When I came back a couple of minutes later Pepper had made himself quite comfortable on the wetness:

The rag is wet? Doesn't bother me.

Five years ago today: On The Eve Of Thanksgiving, 2013

Packages On Porch

Over the years retailers have gotten creative in their shopping opportunities.

First is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Next comes Small Business Saturday, which encourages people to "shop small". Commercialism takes a temporary break on Sunday, then comes back for Cyber Monday, which is all about finding online shopping deals.

Our family is doing a gift exchange again this year. I received my name a couple of weeks ago, but (coincidentally) finally got around to doing the shopping today. The younger generation likes to send out lists complete with hyperlinks to websites. If I could have found the items in a brick and mortar store I would have purchased them, but in the end it was just easier to do it online.

It sounds like I wasn't the only one.  I've received texts from some of the out of town family members that they were having things shipped to the house.  Based on past experience there will be a steady stream of boxes arriving on the front porch for the next couple of weeks.

Five years ago today: Easing Into It

Shopping Small

According to Wikipedia, Small Business Saturday (which is today) encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Hubby Tony and I decided that today we would do our best to do just that.

• We started our day at a local church's Fair Trade Market. According to their website, it is "the nation’s largest Fair Trade Market with over 3,000 sq. ft. of merchandise from around the world."  I always enjoy looking at the items, most from developing countries. This year the most unusual thing I saw was a Nativity set made out of aluminum soda cans.

• Right outside the church door there was a food truck for Bridge Bread, a local nonprofit organization that employs homeless and formerly homeless people to bake bread and pastries. On the way out we bought a loaf of Apple Cinnamon bread to take home with us.

• Once back home, we called our local Chinese carryout restaurant and ordered some food for lunch. The restaurant has been run by the same family the entire 33 years we've lived in the area.

• Mid-afternoon we went to our great nephews' birthday party at a Little Gym. While part of a chain, each location is individually owned. On one of the windows they had a flyer listing all of the Small Business specials they were running.

• Our original plan for the evening was to go to Mass and then eat dinner at yet another local restaurant, but on the way out of church we decided there had already been enough excitement. Instead we came home and ate more repurposed Thanksgiving leftovers. They didn't come from a small business, but at least we knew the cook.

Five years ago today: Mid-Morning Nap Time

Some liked it. Some left it.

When we last got together I told you about baking pumpkin pies both with and without a crust for our family Thanksgiving get together. Christine of Christine's Blog wanted an update on what people thought.

The Thanksgiving  dinner was a real feast, with large platters of turkey, bowls of dressing and, mashed potatoes, conventional cranberry sauce and cranberry jello, and pans of corn casserole, green bean casserole, and sweet potatoes. In addition to my pies, there were brownies and a pumpkin gooey butter cake.

At the end of the evening yesterday both pies had been cut into.  Half of the traditional one was gone, but only two pieces of the crustless pie had been served.  I brought it home, and it will be part of our encore dinner tonight.  Then I'll slice the rest and freeze it for future use.

Five years ago today: Worth The Mess

A Tale Of Two Pies

I spent part of today making dishes to take to our family Thanksgiving celebration. One was a cranberry jello that's been on the table since my mom started bringing it in the early 1980s. The other was pumpkin pie.

Our family group is pretty small. Years ago, when the next generation was young and not contributing dishes, I would bring two pumpkin pies and a container of whipped topping. That would be the only dessert, but everyone liked it and it was enough. Eventually there were more cooks involved, and more desserts would show up. Some years one of my pies would go home untouched. I thought about cutting back to just one, but since my recipe made two deep dish pies I couldn't figure out a way to make it work.

This year I had a revelation. What if I made one pie in the conventional manner, but baked the other one without a crust? The crust is the most caloric part, so eating a slice of the custard would actually be healthier for the people who are counting calories.

That's exactly what I did.

Crust, and no crust

Five years ago today: Flu-Fighting Foods

Does It Click?

Earlier today I was filling out an online registration form for a company I'm thinking about working with. The form asked all of the standard questions...name, email address, street address, and birthday. Clicking on that last text box brought up a scrolling calendar with this month as the default.

However, the only way to get to my birth month and year was to scroll all of the way back. Month by month. That's a lot of clicks! I was curious just how many clicks, so I checked with the Calculator.net Date Calculator. The site told me that there was 718 months and several days between my natal day and today.

Because of all of the extra work, I may or may not finish filling out the form and submitting it. If I do, I wonder how long it will take me to click on the little arrow 718 times?

Five years ago today: Lazy Lasagna

A Lovely Way To Spend A Day

The snow that was predicted for last night came right on schedule. When my alarm went off this morning I looked out the window and saw everything was covered in white. I got dressed and came downstairs just in time to see Hubby Tony bringing in the newspaper for me to read with my breakfast. (Which he does every morning. What a wonderful guy!). He said there was about five fluffy inches on the ground.

Tony and a friend were carpooling to an event across the river in Illinois, and they had to be there shortly before lunch. Their original plan was to leave mid-morning, but thanks to the inclement weather the time got moved up and his friend was going to be at our house at 8:00. Tony was scrambling to get everything done, so I volunteered to shovel the driveway.  The snow was very light, and it took me about a half hour to do it, the front walkway, and the sidewalks. I called that my exercise for the day.

The radio announcers kept advising people to stay off of the roads if they didn't have to be somewhere, and I realized how fortunate I was to be in just that situation. Yesterday I crammed in all of my work commitments, so after Tony left I started doing all of the paperwork. When it was time I made myself lunch and ate it while surfing the web. Next I hemmed a pair of pants, cleaned up the kitchen, and did some general straightening up. I danced around to some music on the radio, made a grocery list for the bi-monthly shopping trip, and fed the cats.

About that time the snow stopped and the sun came out, but I wasn't ready to end my 'me' day yet. Pretending I still had to be stuck inside I made myself an afternoon snack, did all the word puzzles in today's newspaper, watered the house plants, and spent some more time on the computer.

All of a sudden it was time to think about dinner-and all of a sudden I was ready to get out of the house. I listened to the traffic report on the radio, which told me that people were having no problems getting around town, so I decided to combine a Costco shopping trip with a visit to their food court area and get myself a bowl of their chili. That ended up to be a great ending to a great day.

A First Time For Everything

This week, the high temperature in my neck of the woods should be about 58°.  However, the past few days it's been more like winter coat weather.

• Monday it was 20 degrees lower than normal. In the afternoon we got about an inch of snow (which thankfully only stuck on the grass). 

• Yesterday it didn't even make it above freezing.

• Tonight, as one website of one of the local TV channels proclaims " We could see one of the biggest November snowstorms ever in St. Louis." It's supposed to start snowing overnight, and they're predicting we could get somewhere between four and seven inches of snow.

All I can say is UGH!

The unexpected winter weather means that we weren't able to take care of the last of the fall yard maintenance. This afternoon there was a solid layer of leaves over the back half of the back yard.  Knowing that if they got left there it wouldn't be good for the grass, I decided to run the lawn mower over the worst of the pile to mulch the leaves.

I have never used a lawn mower in snow, but since there was still white stuff in half of the yard I had to push the mower through it. Turns out the mower wheels aren't particularly designed to deal with snow.

Imagine that.

The finished product

Five years ago today: Leaves Be Gone

Soldiers Memorial Military Museum

The Soldiers Memorial Military Museum in downtown St. Louis honors local military service members and veterans. The monument originally honored those who died during World War I. It opened on Memorial Day in 1938, and was operated by the City until 2015, when the Missouri Historical Society assumed control. They closed the building for major renovation, and it's reopened just in time for the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I. There was a big celebration over the weekend, but Hubby Tony was off work today and we decided to take a field trip to see the updates.

Soldiers Memorial Military Museum

We arrived twenty minutes before the flag raising ceremony at 10:00 AM, and spent the time wandering through the updated Court of Honor, which was dedicated as the city’s WWII memorial in 1948. Previously, the area was across a large street and neither Tony or I remember noticing it before. Now, in addition to the Memorial Walls for World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam there is a reflecting pool and fountain (both turned off because of the cold weather), and flag poles flying the flags of each branch of service. There is a large landscaped area, and an anchor from the USS Langley. The street between the Court of Honor and the Memorial has been narrowed, which makes it easy to walk between the two.

It was a cold, cloudy morning, but at 10 AM there were about two dozen people waiting to watch the flag raising ceremony. Once that was over everyone walked up the stairs and into the impressive art deco building.

The memorial is designed with large stairways on the north and south sides, flanked by huge stone sculptures-Courage and Vision on the south side, and Loyalty and Sacrifice on the north. At the top is a large loggia holding a black granite cenotaph that has the names of the 1,075 St. Louis soldiers who perished during World War I carved into its sides. Above, there is a deep red Gold Star Mothers mosaic ceiling, and there are display rooms on the east and west sides of the loggia.

The last time I was at the Soldiers Memorial was in the early 2000s. At that time the building was dark and drafty, and I thought the exhibits looked tired. Now everything has been renovated and updated. The two rooms on the main level have displays which tell the stories of St. Louisans in wartime from the American Revolution to today. The lower level (which was not open to the public previously) had a large temporary exhibit called World War I: St. Louis and the Great War

Tony and I spent about 90 minutes at the memorial. When our stomachs started telling us it was time for lunch we decided to leave.  As we walked back to the car we agreed we needed to come back again.

Five years ago today: Calendar Coincidence

Floating And Flashing

Over the past few months I've had floaters moving through my field of vision. I didn't think too much about them, since at my last visit the optomotrist gave my eyes a clean bill of health. However, this morning I got concerned when I had large flashes of light that obscured my vision and lasted for about 15 minutes. (Mainly because last month my neighbor told me about his experience with a detached retina that had started with light flashes.)

I anxiously watched the clock until it was time for the optometrist's office to open. When I described my symptoms they told me to come in immediately. I did.

The doctor dilated and examined my eyes, then said he didn't see any problems. He said he thought the issue might have been an ocular migraine, but said I was smart to have it checked out. Since it was a sunny day, on the way out of the office I got some plastic dilation shades to slip behind my glasses. I ran my errands looking like this:

Five years ago today: In Breaking News...

Arcane Ancestry

I'm sure you know Vincent van Gogh, the famous Dutch painter. He came from a large family, but after much careful research it's also been discovered that there were quite a few lesser relatives you may not know about. Among them were:

• His dizzy aunt: Verti Gogh
• The brother who worked at a convenience store: Stop'n Gogh
• The brother who ate prunes: Gotta Gogh
• The constipated uncle Can’t Gogh
• The cousin from Illinois: Chica Gogh
• His magician uncle: Wherediddy Gogh
• The brother with low back pain: Lum Bay Gogh
• His Mexican cousin: Amee Gogh
• The Mexican cousin's American half-brother: Grin Gogh
• The nephew who drove a stage coach: Wells Far Gogh
• The ballroom dancing aunt: Tan Gogh
• The bird lover uncle: Flamin Gogh
• His nephew psychoanalyst: E Gogh
• The fruit loving cousin: Man Gogh
• The aunt who taught positive thinking: Way to Gogh
• The little bouncy nephew: Poe Gogh
• The sister who loved disco: Go Gogh
• The niece who travels the country in a van: Winnie Bay Gogh

Ha! Caught you smiling at some of these. There ya Gogh.

Five years ago today: Pumpkin Butter

The End Is Here

After the polls close today the United States 2018 Election Season is over. Thank goodness!

Our state had hotly-contested national, state, and local races, along with multiple state and local amendments and propositions. The radio and TV ads started more than six months ago. At first they were sporadic, but as Voting Day got closer they became almost nonstop. Three weeks ago large glossy political post cards started showing up in the mailbox. I threw the first few straight into the recycling drawer, but I was curious just how many we would receive and two weeks ago I started stacking them on the kitchen island.

After I voted today I came home and counted and recycled all of them--there were more than 30. Most were for specific candidates, but there was also a handful for local propositions and "dark money" scare tactic groups. The most unique was hand-written postcard from a volunteer asking us to vote for our incumbent Congressman. Over the weekend and yesterday we got some 'get out the vote' cards, including one that compared Hubby Tony's voting history with some of our neighbors. (Interestingly, I also vote in every election and did not receive anything.)

Tonight the local TV stations will suspend their regular programming to offer a steady stream of election analysis.  I'm not planning on watching much of it, but when I do it will be satisfying to know there won't be any political ads during the commercial breaks.

Five years ago today: Bogus Birds

Don't Let The Bedbugs Bite

This weekend I attended the twice-yearly business meeting of a group I belong to.  These meetings, and some other group activities, are always held at the same hotel in the middle of the state. One of the topics on the meeting agenda was some issues the group has had with the hotel, including dissatisfaction with its upkeep. However, this morning when someone reported getting bed bug bites the group went into crisis mode and there was a long discussion of our options.

Bedbugs.org

The room I stayed in had two beds. Both my roommate and I had slept in those beds for two nights with no issues, so we were pretty confident that the room didn't have an infestation. However, we still went ahead and stripped both beds (including the pillow cases) looking for evidence. We also looked behind the box springs and the night stand. There were no signs. However, in my haste to get in and get situated on Friday evening I had stored my suitcase on the floor, with all of my belongings inside of it. Not a good move.

During the whole drive home I felt itchy and uncomfortable. When I arrived (even though it would be extremely unlikely that a bed bug would be on the clothes I was wearing) I couldn't wait to get inside and change into clean clothes. I dumped them straight into the washer, along with my coat and all of my dirty items from the suitcase. When the load got done it went into the dryer.

I put everything else that had been in the suitcase in the deep freezer, where it will stay for the next four days. Until I figure out the best way to insure it's clean the suitcase will stay in the garage. Better to be safe than sorry.

Five years ago today: Pumpkin, Pumpkin...Who's Got The Pumpkin?

Snap!

At the beginning of my class at the gym today the instructor said that in honor of Halloween we were going to warm up an unusual body part. Then she played this song and invited us to snap along:

Five years ago today: Hallowe'en

On the Road Again

Last night Hubby Tony and returned home from a quick (five day) road trip to Dallas Texas to visit Son Tony and DIL-to-be Ie.  Instead of taking the most efficient route on the way there, we detoured through Little Rock Arkansas and Shreveport Louisiana. Here are a few highlights:

The Flying Fish Restaurant in Little Rock collects Billy Bass animatronic plaques. (They also have great food. This is where I got the tasty fried fish dinner)

In Little Rock we stayed in a compact 269 square foot residence, appropriately named The Tiny House.

After we left Little Rock we drove to Shreveport, where we visited the Louisiana State Fair. 

On Saturday Tony and Ie took us to a Japanese grocery store, where we bought food to make a great dinner in their condo.

On Sunday night I went to my first-ever NBA game.  The Dallas Mavericks were playing the Utah Jazz. It was Breast Cancer Awareness night, and there were pink rally towels draped over the back of every seat.

Five years ago today: Love Your Cats

Good Grease!

The National Today website told me that today was National Greasy Food Day. I didn't need any encouragement to celebrate.

Tonight's dinner

Five years ago today: Processing Pomegranate

A Real Pain In The Heel

Around here the best time to try to grow a new yard is in the fall. The renovation season runs from late August to mid-October, but early September is the ideal time. The soil is still warm, the temperatures have cooled off, and the precipitation picks up. Usually. This year we had the yard aerated and overseeded the first week of September . That was right before weeks of record setting high temperatures and below average precipitation. We watered the seed multiple times a day, but the only places it sprouted were the parts of the yard that don't get much sun (and where, based on past experience, it will eventually die off).

Not only did the seed not germinate, but some more of our established grass also died. St Louis is a hard place to have a nice lawn. It's too cold in the winter for warm-season grasses, and too hot in the summer weather for cold-season varieties.  Hubby Tony and I aren't lawn perfectionists, but big bare brown patches wasn't really the look we were going for. I figured we'd have to live with the damage and try again next year.

Last week I saw our neighbor having seed put down. I contacted our company to see if there was anything they could do for us. They told me it takes 6-8 weeks for grass to grow strong enough roots to survive the winter (and there's not enough growing time left for that) but they came out two days later and spread a new layer of seed on the yard anyway.

Since then we've made sure the seed stays damp by sprinkling the lawn every day. That involves running the sprinkler for 10-15 minutes in each section. Tony did it over the weekend, and I've been in charge of the project for the past few days. I start the water, set the timer on my cell phone, and go back into the house. I didn't want to track dirt in on each trip, and the easiest way to solve the problem was to take my house shoes off and go barefoot outside. When I came in I could slide my flip flops back on quickly.

That worked well until today. Even though the top layer of the yard was wet, the clay soil was still hard, and the impact was making my heel right twinge. Several years ago I had some minor plantar fasciitis in my right foot and have no desire to revisit the problem. Before the pain got worse I grabbed a golf ball and performed the golf ball trick my chiropractor taught me, rolling the ball from the base of my toes all the way down to my heel, applying as much pressure as I could stand.

I'm happy to announce that the golf ball trick did indeed help. I'll repeat the procedure again before I go to bed tonight and hope that takes care of the remaining issues. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'll let Mother Nature be in charge of watering.

Five years ago today: Disappearing Act

As Good A Reason As Any

I read in the newspaper today that the developer of the Little Free Library, Todd Bol, died from pancreatic cancer several days ago. In his honor, tonight when Hubby Tony and I were out walking after dinner I stopped at the Library at a house several blocks away from ours.

This location always has a nice selection of genres to choose from. Today that included Romance, Mystery, Thriller, and Science Fiction novels, volumes about Spirituality, Health, History, and Religion, a couple of Biographies, and a handful of Young Adult books.

By this point in the day the sun was going down and it was starting to feel a little chilly. When I left the house I wrapped a scarf around my neck and put on a fleece jacket, but could also have used some gloves. I solved the cold hands problem by pulling the jacket's sleeves down to keep them warm.

After looking all the books over I had it narrowed down to two, then chose the one that was small enough to fit into my jacket pocket. That way I wouldn't have to expose my hand to carry it.

Five years ago today: Why Me?

Laugh Out Loud

This afternoon I was cleaning up a pile of papers on my desk and came across this great list of 25 Reasons You Need To Laugh Out Loud Often someone had given me. Did you know that laughter:

• Eases and relaxes muscle tension
• Reduces the level of stress hormones in the body
• Increases HGH
• Reduces the risk of heart disease
• Improves blood flow
• Helps your heart
• Boosts the immune system
• Helps you heal faster
• Helps lower blood sugar levels
• Helps improve sleep
• Helps people improve their coping skills
• Helps people in managing pain
• Is a form of physical exercise
• Makes you more attractive
• Helps reduce aggression
• Energizes your organs
• Facilitates digestion
• Helps people save as much as 30% on their medical expenses
• Helps you breathe easier
• Improves self-image
• Encourages creativity
• Increases your lifespan
• Helps improve a person’s productivity
• Improves relationships
• Keeps you looking young

That's a whole lot of benefits for something that's just plain fun.  Try it and see what happens.

Five years ago today: Future Chefs Meal

Time For Reading

I feel like there's a lot of blog hopping and cross pollination out there, so you may already know this, but earlier in the week Victor S E Moubarak of the blog Time For Reflections posted that he had just released the book Take Care Of My Sheep, a collection of short stories starring Father Ignatius, a priest living in an unnamed northern English town in the 1950s and early 1960s.

I'm not in book buying mode right now (we're battling mildew on the bookshelves in the basement again, so I'm actually purging), but I enjoyed the sample story Victor included in his post. I clicked over to the Amazon link, found out that the book came in hard copy and (VERY INEXPENSIVE) Kindle versions. I'm now the proud owner of a new e-book.

The book is a fast read. Some of the stories are more overtly religious than others, referring to specific Catholic practices. However, others are just heartwarmingly sweet. I suggest you check it out.

Five years ago today: STUPID!

Free To A Good Home

Last Monday the high temperature was 20 degrees above average. A cold front came through and we had one day of beautiful autumn weather, then the temperatures continued to fall. Yesterday it was 20 degrees below average. There's a frost advisory tonight.

Although I'm hopeful that the temperatures will pop back up to close to the 70° average before getting permanently cold, the advisory was a wake-up call to get the house plants inside.  Most of them are tropicals that summer outside on the deck, and they do not take kindly to chills.

I tackled the project today. Unlike two years ago, this time there were no living surprises in the pots. Most everything made it to a permanent winter home (except for the pots of mother-in-law tongue and ginger, which are temporarily in the master bathtub).  I ran out of time and energy before I got around to the pots of herbs, but I shoved them up against the house. They should be fine

Every spring I divide the plants, so every fall I end up with extras.   This year that included several spider plants--a hanging basket, a six inch pot, and a small pot of plantlets that fell off the main plant today that got potted up. There was also a philodendron that went to town outside, growing stems that were easily three feet long. 

What to do with them? I had planned on donating everything to the church's Fall Festival Country Store, but this year they didn't have that booth. The cats would nibble on the plants if I left them around the house (and then get sick), so I needed to get them out of the house. This afternoon I offered everything up to my Facebook friends. If there are no takers, tomorrow I'll post them on Freecycle. Based on past experience they should get snapped up.

Free to a good home

Five years ago today: Red Light, Green Light

New Shoe Blues

Over the summer I bought two pairs of shoes for fall. Both pairs fit well in the store. Both pairs were on clearance. Both pairs were a final sale.

Ready to ramble!

It's finally cooled off enough to think about anything other than sandals and flip flops, so I was excited to start wearing my new shoes. The first time I put on the tan pair they fit like a glove, and took me throughout my busy day with no issues. However, I wasn't so lucky with the grey ones. Even though they were comfortable in the store, in my closet the shoe's tapered toe boxes didn't leave my toes any room to wiggle.  Not good!

I tried walked around the house a couple of times while wearing the shoes, then gave up and changed into tennis shoes. I'm not giving up on them yet, though. Hopefully after a little breaking in they'll be as comfortable as their closet mates.

Five years ago today: Sausage, Anyone?

Fall Foliage Map

If you live in the United States and like to see the leaves changing at this time of year, you might want to check out the fun interactive Fall Foliage Prediction Map.

The slider bar at the bottom of the map has two-week increments from the end of August through mid-November. Clicking on a date will show you the status of the leaf color in any area of the country.

The map uses historical data and forecast predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make an educated guess about peak timing, and according to the website, is "the ultimate visual planning guide to the annual progressive changing of the leaves."

Five years ago today: Presentation Is Everything....

Time Sure Flies!

Today is Grandson Jay's second birthday.

Last year Hubby Tony and I were there to help celebrate. Son Brian and DIL Nicole have a small house, with room for only one set of guests at a time, so this year the 'other' grandma (Nicole's mom) got that privilege. However, over the weekend Tony and I got to FaceTime with Jay as he opened the package we sent him.

I had a great time at the store picking out two books I thought Jay would enjoy. One had artistic, attention-getting colorful illustrations. The other featured trucks...dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, cement mixers, cranes, and haulers. I figured I knew which one would his favorite, and I was right.

(During our our last visit we found out that Jay was truck crazy. His favorite sticker books featured the big vehicles. In the car pointed out every one we passed on the road. At home, he would run to the window every time he heard the trash truck go by.)

As we wrapped up the call I heard Jay flipping through the pages of the book, excitedly pointing out the trucks on every page. I suspect that if he has his way that book will be in regular rotation at his house for quite some time.

Clip Art Extras

Five years ago today: Presentation Is Everything....

Famous In Their Field

Hubby Tony was off work today. I had a lunch assignment to do. I invited him to come with me, and we made a day out of it. Our first stop was the pharmacy to get flu shots. Next, because the weather was still abnormally hot and humid (with a forecast in the upper 80s Fahrenheit) we went to the mall I used to work at and walked several laps. After that got boring Tony suggested we drive to the area by the restaurant and walk around there. We found out it wasn't too bad as long as you stayed in the shade, and the Central West End area has a lot of mature trees.

As we were walking I suggested popping into the World Chess Hall of Fame.  It's been there since 2011. We've walked by it many times, but had never gone in until a couple of months ago, when I spent some time checking out the merchandise in the gift shop. Tony agreed that it sounded like a fun thing to do.

It's hard to miss the Hall of Fame building, as it has the World's Largest Chess Piece (according to Guinness) standing out front:

World's largest chess piece (2018)

There's also a very big chess board painted on the ground next to the chess piece, with pieces so large you have to pick them up with both hands.  Tony and I  started in the gift shop browsing through the dozens of types of chess sets and other chess-related merchandise. When we heard the receptionist tell another group of visitors the museum was free to visit we decided to take a look ourselves.

The Hall of Fame is in a three story building. The first and second floors each have an art gallery. Today the main level held an exhibition of mixed media panels. The second level had a display of Harry Benson photographs, including a series he had taken of Bobby Fischer in the 1970s, ones he had taken at this year's Sinquefield Cup (which is an international chess tournament that's held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis across the street from the Hall of Fame), and a selection of photos of celebrities, presidents, and royals.

I'm not a chess player, and the Hall of Fame on the third floor was (to me) the least interesting part. However, if you knew a lot about the game I can see where it would be very inspirational. The room had plaques for each of the members of the U.S. and World Halls of Fame, and there were many artifacts and trophies on display. Tony and I were the only ones in there, and there was a knowledgeable docent that was able to answer all of my questions.

After looking around the whole building we realized we were hungry and decided to head to lunch. Once outside I looked at the chess board and thought someday I might come back and see if I could figure it out.

Five years ago today: Gratitude In All Things

On The Level

For several months there's been a visible void underneath the right side of our front porch. One day I noticed a critter running into the hole, and Hubby Tony and I put the problem on the "we'll get around to fixing it someday" list. Then we noticed that the walkway leading up to the porch was cracking and one of the slabs was sinking, and the problem moved up a little bit on the "someday" list. However, the day I tripped and almost fell on the uneven walkway the project rose to the top of the list.

Years ago we had porch mudjacked. The contractors drilled holes in the porch, then poured in a concrete slurry which was supposed to support it. That worked for a while, but eventually most of the slurry washed out from under the porch and down the incline on the side of the house. Based on that past bad experience I started looking around for other solutions to our problem.

About that time we got a packet of direct mail coupons. Included was one for a company that did polyjacking. I did some research, and found out the process used expanding polyurethane foam instead of a slurry to lift up concrete. After checking out the company's credentials we signed a contract to have them do the work.

The technician came out this week. I was not able to watch his progress closely, but I understand it looked something like this:

Now our porch and walkway are nice and level. The void is filled and no critters will be able to hang out in there. I hope that this is the last time we have to deal with this issue.

Five years ago today: What's In Your Bin?

Trucking

Somebody more in the know than me pointed out that today (October 4th) is National Trucker's Day. And, in honor of the shortened 10/4 date, it's also National CB Radio Day.

In recognition of the days, here's a classic song, and the trailer from the 1978 movie that was made from it.

Will Summer EVER Go Away?

The chart from today's paper says it all:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For the foreseeable future the temperatures here will be well above average.  What a drag!

A little over a week ago things cooled off, and I thought we'd seen the last of Summer. I opened opened up the house, and enjoyed the series of warm days and brisk evenings. Thinking that Fall was here to stay, I got one of my two bins of winter clothes down from its shelf in the closet. I never found the time to empty it, though, and on Sunday I put it back on the shelf (since I won't need those clothes for a while).

As you can tell from the chart, things have been heating up for a couple of days. Yesterday the middle of the afternoon was a tad uncomfortable, but by bedtime there was enough of a breeze to make things bearable. I enjoyed one more night of falling asleep and waking up to the sounds of nature.

This morning it was still nice, and I thought that maybe 'they' had gotten the forecast wrong. However, by lunchtime it was sultry in the house. The woodwork felt sticky from the humidity, and since I knew the temperatures would only get worse I closed up the house and turned the air conditioner back on. I know the mini heat wave is only temporary, but it's cramping my style.  In this area October is supposed to be about hikes, hayrides, hoodies, and hot cider.  Not shorts and sandals. 

Five years ago today: Mall Miscellany

A Ten Dollar Word

Tonight I was sitting on the couch using my laptop, and Pepper the cat was laying on the couch next to me. All of a sudden I heard some loud rumblings coming from his general area and realized that it was his stomach gurgling!  I've never heard that happen before.

Pepper seemed to be a little embarrassed by all of the din coming from his body.  He jumped down from the couch and walked to the other side of the room, where he plopped down on the floor and glared at me.

Because I could, I immediately opened up a new browser tab and searched for "cat stomach gurgling". The first result of my search was the article Gurgling Sound in Cat's Stomach at Animalwised.  There I learned that the medical name for the sound was borborygmus.  That was actually more interesting to me than the actual causes of the problem, which could be anything from eating too fast to digestive tract disorders or inflammatory bowel disease.

Dictionary.com told me that, should I want to use the word in my next conversation, it was pronounced [bawr-buh-rig-muh s]. That's quite a mouthful.

Five years ago today: Cover Me

Bountiful Biscuits

Hubby Tony was gone again today, attending a planning meeting for next month's prison retreat. Just like I did last time he was away, I made and froze a batch of cookies that he will take with him to the retreat.

Earlier in the week Christine posted a recipe for snickerdoodle cookies that she said was good, so I decided to try it.  The recipe was easy to put together, but it makes a lot of cookies.  (If you're not baking for a large group it might be a good idea to halve it.)  To cut down on washing of cookie sheets between batches I used every sheet that was in the cabinet--even the round pizza pans. By the time I was done the eight dozen cookies were cooling on every rack I owned, and I was even forced to pull out my shabby broiling rack to stack already-cooled ones.

Cookies ready to bag up.

At the end of the project, once again I bagged up the cookies in labeled quart sized Ziploc bags, a dozen to each bag. Now there are an additional eight dozen treats in my freezer ready to "go to prison" when it's time.

Five years ago today: Cats Like Sun, Too

One Thing Leads To Another....

For the past week or so my scalp has been feeling dry and itchy, and my hair wasn't as shiny as I knew it could be.  Based on past experience I know those are symptoms of shampoo and conditioner build-up, which is easy to fix. After my trip to the gym today I decided to give my scalp an apple cider vinegar (ACV) treatment, which would get strip the gunk off and get everything back to normal. Besides, my gym shirt was sweaty and already needed to go into the laundry, so if it also picked up a vinegar smell it wouldn't matter.

Most things I've read recommend cutting the vinegar with water, but I've had good luck using it straight out of the bottle. I poured some ACV into a measuring cup, carefully dumped it on my scalp, massaged it in well, then let it sit for five minutes before I got into the shower. As I washed my body I could feel the scum rinsing off my my hair and scalp. The treatment had the desired effect...my scalp felt cleaner, and after my hair dried it was fluffy and shiny.

However, my scalp wasn't the only thing that got de-gunked by the apple cider vinegar.  When I looked down at the shower floor, there was a section where some soap scum had also loosened and washed away.

Can you see the clean section?

When I shower I use body wash, which doesn't leave a residue, but Hubby Tony uses bar soap. I really should do a better job of keeping the stall clean, but since I don't see well without my glasses (and of course shower without them) it's easy for me to ignore the grey scum on the brown floor. But today I had free time to tackle the problem, so I gathered my tools and ingredients and got started.

The first step was to douse the shower floor with plain white vinegar. I let that set for ten minutes, then came back with a scrubbing sponge. The sponge only removed some of the scum, so I got the container of baking soda and sprinkled a thick layer over the floor. As the two ingredients fizzed together I spread the paste around and walked away for an additional 15 minutes. This time the scum came up, and I washed it down the drain.

Now the shower floor is nice and clean, which makes the shower walls and glass doors look shabby. My next task will be to get some more vinegar and tackle that project.  Later.

Five years ago today: Operation Dust