Can I Get In, Please?

Back in the beginning of 2014 I joined my church's Welcoming Committee and took charge of designing slides to advertise for parish events. Originally the slide shows ran on a TV placed in the church vestibule. Last September they installed two additional monitors in the Parish Center and asked me if I could start putting slides there, too. 

Each Saturday afternoon I'd go and swap out the previous week's flash drives for new versions. It didn't take me long to figure out when the buildings would be open and I timed my visit accordingly. There was always something going on in the Parish Center--volleyball games in the fall, then basketball season kicked in after the holidays. However, one Saturday in late April when I arrived the Parish Center was locked up. The sports activity had switched to the baseball fields.

I adapted, and moved my task to Fridays during the school day. That worked, but I knew that when school was out for the summer the problem would return. One day I ran into the Director of Administration and asked him what I should do. He said I'd be able to get keys to both buildings so I could do the job at my convenience. I was surprised and honored that they'd trust me that much.  Later that week I stopped by the office and signed for keys that would get me into both buildings.

I was looking forward to seeing how well the keys worked, but the first week the janitors were working in the buildings and had them open. The next week, though, I was able to let myself into the locked doors, which made me feel very important.

Five years ago today:  How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Webbing

We're having another bout of rainy weather, although today's precipitation has been more of a fine mist.  When I went to throw some things in the compost pile after dinner I was amazed to see The light moisture really highlighted a couple dozen funnel spider webs I didn't even know were there.

The spiders aren't dangerous (except to other bugs), and I think the webs look kind of cool so I'll leave them undisturbed.  Live and let live.

Webs circled for your convenience

(Kind Of A) Pain In The Butt

Can you see the spot?

Yesterday morning when I woke up I had a red raised welt on the palm of my left hand that wasn't there when I went to bed.  It itched a little bit, and burned a little bit, but mostly it was just annoying.  After I got out of the shower I realized I also had similar welts on both of my gluteal folds.  Oy!

I wondered what I had done to cause the problem.  Friday had been an active outdoor day. Hubby Tony and I had visited a museum, spent time at a festival, and did a lot of walking.  During the course of the day I remember sitting on the grass a couple of times and leaning up against several trees.  That night we took in a fireworks display, where I sat on a sidewalk curb.  Each time I sat down (or leaned) I suspect I would have rested my hands on the ground (or tree), so I could understand the hand welt, but the other affected body parts would have been covered by my shorts and wouldn't have come into contact with anything.

I kept the areas covered with hydrocortisone cream and took antihistimine allergy pills on a regular basis.  My hand didn't cause me any problems, but all day long it was annoying to sit down.  When I did I tried to slouch, which kept pressure off the affected areas.  I'm sure my poor posture looked lovely at the restaurant where we ate dinner, but I didn't particularly care.

This morning the areas still looked red, but the itching and burning were gone. By dinner time the problem had resolved itself.  Hopefully never to return.

Bee Afraid?

This evening after dinner Hubby Tony cut the grass, and I did the trimming around the edges. As usual, I was using a pair of hand grass clippers, which I much prefer to noisy weed eaters.

When I got to the perennial bed that runs down one side of the back yard, I wasn't paying attention as I squatted down to clip the patch of tall grass next to the coneflowers.  All of a sudden a large bumblebee buzzed past just inches from my face.  He didn't seem angry, just annoyed I'd disturbed his meal.

Beware

Have you seen this email with the subject line "Reminder : Some of your informations must be updated!" yet?

When it first showed up yesterday I was very concerned.  However, after I read the email carefully I noticed there were several grammar issues.  The link led to a website that looked officially like Apple's.  This was easily one of the best phishing schemes I've seen.

After I reported the email to my provider and the Apple legal team I went to the official Apple website and checked my account. Would it surprise you it didn't need any updates?

Enough. Already!

Dave Murray on FOX 2

Yesterday our area broke the previous record for rainfall in June. Now 2015 is the wettest on record.

I'm thankful that our neighborhood isn't affected by the flooding the low-lying areas are experiencing.  However, between the critters and Mother Nature my garden isn't looking so good.  Just a couple of days after the plants went in the ground, something ate the top off one of the pepper plants, then came back for another plant later in the week.  Next they went after the eggplant leaves, leaving just a stub in the ground where I had envisioned picking large shiny fruits.

Now my plot consists of one sad-looking pepper plant at one end of the area and four tomato plants clustered at the other end.  Because of all the rain the plant leaves are turning yellow, and the lack of sun is keeping the tomatoes from growing.  If it stopped raining and dried out I think the plants might have a chance, but the weather app on my phone shows that there's a chance of precipitation every day for the next ten days.

Enough. already!

Five years ago today: Weird

Life Is Like A Train Ride

At birth we boarded the train and met our parents,

and we believe they will always travel on our side.

However, at some station our parents will step down

from the train, leaving us on this journey alone.

As time goes by, other people will board the train,

and they will be significant--our siblings,

friends, children, and even the love of our life.

Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum.

Others will go so unnoticed that we don't realize

that they vacated their seats!

This trip will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy,

expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

Success consists of having a good relationship with all

passengers...requiring that we give the best of ourselves.

The mystery is that we do not know at which

station we ourselves will step down.

So, we must live in the best way - love, forgive,

and offer the best of who we are.

When the time comes for us to step down

and leave our seat empty we should leave behind

beautiful memories for those who

will continue to travel on the train of life.

~Author Unknown~

Hurting Head

Two days ago the top right side of my head hurt like I'd bumped it.  I hadn't.  The sore spot was still there yesterday, and the right side of my throat was also a little achy.  Last night I had trouble sleeping on that side.  When I woke up this morning the sore area was larger, and the pain was sharper.  In addition, the entire length of the right side of my neck hurt when I pressed on it.  I tried calling my doctor's office for advice (but found out it's closed on Thursday), so I decided to go to an urgent care center.

Amazingly, there was no one ahead of me in the waiting room, and once I moved back to an examination room the doctor came pretty quickly.  After listening to my symptoms and looking at my head she diagnosed a scalp infection.  I left with a prescription for an antibiotic, a recommendation for an over-the-counter medicated shampoo, and instructions to apply warm moist heat to the sore areas and stay away from any hair products for the next few days.

The heat part of the equation would be easy to take care of.  (The no hair products in the very humid weather we've been having?  Not so much, but that's another story.)  I have a long, skinny field corn heating pad provides great moist heat. When I got home I threw the pad in the microwave to heat it, then folded it in half and wrapped it around my neck for the prescribed time. It worked like a charm.  However, when I re-heated the pad and tried to set in on my head it fell off. Because of the location of the sore spot I had to hold the pad on with my hand, which made me look pretty dramatic and made it impossible to get anything done.

I don't do well sitting and doing nothing, so I really tried to work. First I pecked at the computer keyboard with one hand (which wasn't acceptable at all), then I tried to read the newspaper (which worked until I needed to turn the page).  About the time I resigned myself to the fact that I couldn't do any type of task the time was over.  

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Five years ago today: Classics

Family Fun

Son Tony is in town this week to attend a friend's wedding.  While he was here, he wanted to do some 'tourist' things and eat a few of the local specialties he can't get at home. This afternoon all of us (me, Hubby Tony, and Sons Tony and Donald) piled into the car and drove to the Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery just south of downtown.

 We had reservations for a "Day Fresh Tour", which stopped at the Budweiser Clydesdale stables, the beer aging cellar, the historic brew house, and the Bevo packaging facility.   Son Tony had interned on the production line there when he was in college, so he was interested to see the changes that had been made in the last decade.

The last stop of the tour was the Biergarten, where we were able to sample some of the company's products.  After that we piled back in the car for a short ride to the Soulard neighborhood, where we had picked out a restaurant where we could get toasted ravioli.

"Toasted Ravioli"

Toasted ravioli (which is really breaded and deep fried) is an appetizer that can be found on the menus of restaurants all over town. Meat or cheese is sealed in pasta dough, then breaded and deep fried until the pasta turns golden brown. It's served with a container of marinara sauce for dipping.

We ordered both meat and spinach artichoke 't-ravs', along with entrees for each person.  There were no leftovers.  Although we talked about how full we were, there was one more stop to make.  It was time for dessert!

"Ted Drewes"

And not just any dessert. Our destination was the Ted Drewes on Chippewa Street (which is designated as a section of historic U.S. Route 66), because Son Tony wanted a concrete.  A concrete is thick frozen custard blended with add-ins, served in a cup with a spoon. The mixture is so thick that when the cup is inverted the spoon doesn't fall out.

The lines can often be long at Ted Drewes, but we were lucky tonight.  It took longer to look at the menu and figure out what each of us wanted than it did to order.  Just a couple of minutes later we got our sweet treats and found a place in the shade to eat them.  When they were gone we agreed they'd been very good, but there'd be no more eating the rest of the night.

Five years ago today: What Type Are You?

Celebrations All Around At Our House!

Sandra Boynton

Happy First Day of Summer to you!  It was a typical hot and muggy day here, more typical of late summer than the beginning of it.

Since the day coincided with Father's Day we paid tribute to Hubby Tony.  We also celebrated all the June and July birthdays.  There was food involved, and lots of presents. 

Five years ago today: Sunrise, Sunset