What Season Is It?

Is it winter or spring? At this time of year in my area it's hard to tell.  The furnace is running in the morning when I get up, but this afternoon it's supposed to be 72°F.  I won't get too attached to the nice weather, though, because tomorrow the forecast high is 49°F.

It's hard to figure out what to wear, and that applies to what I put on my feet.  Right now there are three pairs of shoes I use when I'm at home that are lined up on the floor in my closet.  The ones I reach for the most are a pair of old tennis shoes I wear as "house shoes", but there's also a pair of slippers and a pair of flip flops.  Depending on the season usually only two of the three pairs are handy and the off-season pair is shoved in the back of the closet, but at this time of year I use all of them, sometimes in the same day!

Five years ago today: New Thing #64--Hang It Up

Delicates

Wednesday is my day to move slowly; I don't have to be at work until after lunch. In the morning I go to the gym, run some errands, and have a nice lunch at home before I put on my work clothes and leave.  This morning when I rolled out of bed, instead of taking a shower I put on gym clothes and pulled back my unkempt hair. Before breakfast I started a load of laundry.  After I ate I moved the laundry from the washer to the dryer.

I was sitting at the computer when I heard my phone beep, indicating I had a text. It was my boss-he was under the weather. Could I change my schedule and open for him?  I took a look at the clock and discovered I had 30 minutes before I'd have to leave.  I'd done none of the normal morning activities, but if I hustled it could be done!  I responded to my boss, then kicked into overdrive.

First task was making lunch.  Since I usually work alone, I've figured out that if I have everything in bite-sized pieces I can eat a complete meal at the Customer Service desk without anyone noticing. A typical meal includes protein, vegetables, a carb, and fruit. Today the quickest protein I could think of was nuts.  When I looked in the pantry, I discovered the almond container was empty, so I poured a serving of walnuts into a bag.  I opened the refrigerator to check on vegetables, and discovered we were low.  My bag ended up being mainly carrots, although I did include the stems from some blanched broccoli and a few celery sticks.  I tossed a couple of dry apricots into another bag, and added a muffin.  After I filled my water bottle lunch was done.   Time to clean myself up.

My showers usually take ten minutes because I can't bring myself to turn off the nice warm water. Today I washed up in the sink, and dampened my hair by pouring a cup of water over it. Took three minutes, including drying time.  I went to get dressed and discovered a problem.  My "everyday" underwear was still in the dryer!

Last summer when I was taking long walks in the stifling heat the cotton drawers I wear got so sweaty they started irritating my skin.  I went to the store and found a three-pack of wicking models on the clearance rack.  It felt so good not to have sweat-drenched unmentionables during a workout that I started using them every time I went to the gym. The neon purple, pink, and lavender colors are quite shocking, but since they don't show under my outer layer no one knows.

What to do?  If I waited around for the dryer I'd be late.  I'd had on today's purple nylon pair for a little over an hour.  It seemed gross to re-use them, but that's what I did.  My justification--I'd cleaned up before I went to bed last night, and hadn't been up long enough today to get dirty.  And, it was for a good cause.

However, the first thing I did when I got home is take off the purple panties and replace them with fresh ones.  I DO have standards!

Five years ago today: New Thing #62--Windpower

No Can Do

Today at the Customer Service desk a woman came up and wanted to buy a mall gift card. I asked her to fill out our form, which has spaces for the amount she wanted on the card and her name, while I logged into the computer. She indicated she wasn't the purchaser, but was doing it for her boss with his corporate card. Whose name should she write?

I told her that per mall policy, the name on the form has to match the one on the card, and the ID that she'd have to show me. Hers wouldn't, so I couldn't sell her the card. She tossed a business card with her name and the company logo on the counter, saying that proved she actually worked at the company-as if that would be good enough. It wasn't. I repeated our policy, but said I’d call my boss, who was at lunch, and see if we could make an exception for her (even though I knew what the answer would be).

The answer was no. I relayed the information, and she said I should call the mall facilities manager, who would recognize her boss’s name and OK the purchase. When I repeated AGAIN I couldn't do it, she snatched everything up and said it was a shame…they tried to support local businesses, but she guessed she’d just go somewhere else where they WOULD let her make a purchase.

I politely smiled as she walked away.

Five years ago today: New Thing #61--Comic Commentary

Thought For The Day

Five years ago today: New Thing #60--Walking in Circles

Not Perfect, But It'll Do

The precipitation started sometime after I went to bed, and I woke up to the sound of raindrops hitting the roof.  When it was time to leave for church this morning it was raining cats and dogs.  Hubby Tony dug around and found an umbrella for each of us to use.  Mine was one that's been in the house for many years--it's full sized, with alternating gores (the triangular sections of fabric) of white and maroon, and a long shaft.  I can't remember where we got it, but since two of the gores have large corporate logos it must have been a freebie.  That didn't matter though, as long as it would keep me dry.

Since the car was parked in the garage I didn't have to use the umbrella until I got out of the car on the church parking lot.  It was still raining hard, and I had trouble unfolding it without getting wet.  I probably got a little wetter than I needed to, though, because I was noticing how dirty the white portions were.

I always leave the umbrella open until it's dry, but somehow over the years it had acquired a yellow dinginess accompanied by a fair amount of scuff marks.  All the grime was cosmetic; the umbrella did the job on the way into church and again on the way out, but it really needed a good freshening up. After lunch I researched ways to clean nylon umbrellas.

There were a multitude of ideas on the Internet to choose from.  I discarded the ones (OxyClean and carpet cleaning foam) that required ingredients I didn't have in the house, and those that had requisites that couldn't be fulfilled (lemon juice and sunshine, which was nowhere to be found today).  I finally decided on hydrogen peroxide, which was cheap and already in my linen closet, and set out to clean the umbrella.

I used the bathtub for my experiment.  After mixing a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water I rubbed it on both sides of the umbrella and let it set for 20 minutes, then came back with a bowl of soapy water and repeated the process.  I rinsed off the soap, and left the umbrella open in the tub to dry.

When I was done it looked much better.  There were still some scuff marks, but they were lighter and the grime was gone.  Now I won't be ashamed to take the umbrella out in public.

Five years ago today: New Thing #59--21st Century Manicure

Which Cardinal Is Which?

grimmy.com

Five years ago today: New Thing #57--I'm Published!

I Don't Need Another Coat. I Don't Need Another Coat. I Don't Need Another Coat.

One day last week when I was killing time before my shift at the Customer Service desk I stopped in at an outdoor store close to the mall.  The weather had been frigid and the sun hadn't been out for more than a week, so my first stop was the women's clothing department, where the spring weight fabrics and colors provided a welcome change to the things I've been seeing in my closet since before the holidays.  However, I knew it would be at least a month until I'd be able to wear any of those clothes, so I reluctantly left them on the shelves.

I meandered through the store, looking at things in the Hiking, Shoe, and Cycling departments that reminded me of the new season to come.  After I'd killed enough time I made my way towards the exit. Just to the right of the front door were some clearance racks that held a selection of winter gear. Even though I don't need anything, I stopped just to see what the sales were like.  As I got closer, I heard a bright ruby red jacket hanging at the front of the rack calling to me. It was quilted with curved horizontal lines, and the price tag said it was half price.

I kept telling myself I didn't need it, but I tried it on and was immediately impressed with how comfortable it was.  It was warm, but very lightweight. When I looked at the tag I discovered the jacket was designed to be a midlayer as part of a technical layering system for strenuous exertion.  I don't do a whole lot of strenuous winter exertion, and certainly didn't need a jacket for it.

But the jacket was red, and I hadn't seen the sun for almost a week.

I continued to read the label, and discoved the jacket weighed less than a pound, was wind and water resistant, and had two nice large pockets and hemcords to draw it in at the bottm.  The insulation was compressible, and it could be washed and dried at home.  It had a "lifetime warrenty".

But I already have a closet full of coats.  I didn't need another one.  I took the jacket off, hung it back on the hanger, and walked away.

I almost got to the door before I figured out that thanks to my middle aged heat fluctuations I'm often trying to shed my heavy coat while I'm driving.  If I bought a lighter weight one I wouldn't get overheated as easily; I'd certainly be a safer driver if I wasn't trying to remove my arms from the sleeves at highway speeds.  The jacket's warrenty meant I could wear it for many years.  And did I mention it was half price?

Take a look at my new jacket:

Five years ago today: New Thing #55--My Peeps

Memories

Do you have a song that instantly reminds you of a person? I do. Today at the mall Customer Service desk a tune came over the speakers and I thought about "Mikey", one of the students at the tutoring center for teens I used to run.

Mikey attended the center in 2007. He was a smart kid, but had one of the shortest attention spans I've ever seen. When he wasn't distracting himself, he was looking around the room to see what everyone else was up to.  He tried to get by with doing the minimum, but when I got him to move beyond that, he produced very insightful work.

I allowed the students to use their personal music players while they worked as long as they wore headphones. One day Mikey started singing out loud to the song "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette, using a horribly fake, squeaky voice:

It's like rain, on your wedding day
It's a free ride, when you've already paid
It's the good advice, that you just didn't take
And who would've thought?
It figures.

It was SO funny, everyone started laughing. The song turned into a standing joke. Every week or so Mikey would break into song again:

It's like ten thousand spoons, when all you need is a knife

Now I remember Mikey every time the song comes on.



Five years ago today: New Thing #53--Let It Snow!

Ding-Dong!

The Book of Mormon is a religious satire musical that in 2011 won nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical).  The play's touring company is in the middle of a stop in St. Louis at The Fabulous Fox Theater.  Today Hubby Tony and I, along with two of the Sons and the Daughter-In-Law, were there for the matinee performance.

DIL Nicole was the organizer for the adventure. She and Son Brian had tried to see the play in New York last year, but it was sold out. A couple of months ago when they were in town for the holidays she convinced us that going to the play here would be a nice family excursion. We checked our calendars, decided on a day, and purchased the tickets.

On my own I probably wouldn't have chosen this show, but when it opened here I started hearing a lot about it and got excited to see if it lived up to the hype.  After lunch we all piled into the car and drove to Grand Center, where the Fox is located, and followed the crowds into the theater.  We found our seats in the Upper Balcony, and didn't have to wait long before the house lights dimmed and the play started.

The Book of Mormon was written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the animated television show South Park, and composer and lyricist Robert Lopez.  It's about two mismatched Mormon missionaries (Elder Price and Elder Cunningham) who are assigned to Uganda, where they encounter problems--a village besieged by poverty, disease and despair, disheartened fellow missionaries, and a genocidal warlord.  Despite all the problems, they persevere to a happy ending, accompanied by several big musical numbers.

The show had more than it's fair share of coarse language and raunchiness. (Not surprising, considering the writing team.)  I had trouble understanding some of the lyrics, but that was probably OK.  Quite a few times I found myself laughing at things I'd usually "tsk·tsk" at, but I really enjoyed it.  All too quickly the play was over and the cast was lining up for their curtain call.

Five years ago today: New Thing #52--Where Do You Sweat?

'My Favorite Things' (AARP Version)

Sent to me by a friend.  It's especially funny if you sing it out loud:

Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting,

Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,

Bundles of magazines tied up in string,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses,

Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,

Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,

When the knees go bad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,

No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,

Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinnin',

Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',

And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,

When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, When the hips break,

When the eyes grow dim,

Then I remember the great life I've had,

And then I don't feel so bad.

Five years ago today: New Thing #51--My Heroes