Scooba's Big Adventure

Gainesville

When the sound waking me up this morning was the cat yarking on one of the white rugs in the bedroom, I figured I knew what kind of day it would be, and just went back to sleep. I was wrong, though. It was actually a pretty good day.

By the time I got up, Bill already had the rug in the washer. Obviously, the time was right to launder all three of the rugs, and while they were up, really swiffer the floor right then set Scooba loose in there. Scooba had quite an adventure. He got into all kinds of trouble, and I had to be with him the whole time. He kept getting caught in various corners, and once he wandered under the bed and couldn't find his way out! I hadn't swiffered under there, so he sucked up a lot of dust bunnies before I rescued him. Several times I had to herd him into places he hadn't visited yet. At any rate, we now have a really nice looking bedroom. I'd planned to do this at some point during Zone 4, but now it's done. And the rest of the house looks great too, thanks to preparations for Doug's visit last night.

It was fun having Doug here, as always. He was on his way to a meeting in Orlando. He got here early enough that we gave Bonefish another try, but when we drove up, people were waiting outside and many of them were kids in formals-- uh oh... Prom Night! Outback was packed too, but at least we could sit at the bar while waiting for a table. Doug likes Outback too, and in fact, gave Bill a couple of gift cards to the place as a belated birthday present.

The really neat gift, though, was an 8 x 10 composite of professional studio pictures of Megan. My eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw them. The last picture I saw of her she was in braces, glasses, and her hair pulled into a tight little bun. That duckling has blossomed into the most amazing swan! When she was a little girl, she always had a winning way with the camera, and could have been a child model. That same camera charm is back. It looks like a model's portfolio. I have asked Bill to scan it for me and will post it when he does.

Megan has finally decided to go to the University of Georgia next fall. It was a hard decision for her between there and FSU, but all things considered, UGA is better choice.

I didn't get out to shop today, but had an ace-in-the-hole: half a bag of slaw mix and a pound of ground round in the freezer. Perfect for making Unstuffed Cabbage, one of our favorites. Had left over broccoli, and made a quick Waldorf salad. Great meal!

Bill has a major raid tonight starting at 9:30, so he's occupied for the duration. I'll probably curl up with Jane and the Wandering Eye, which I've just started. The Gator round-ballers are playing in the Final Four tonight, but we are ignoring it, not wanting to jinx them.

Too bad about your wound not healing properly, Mom. Bummer. I hope that nice doctor knows what he's doing prescribing that med with the scary side effect warning. Still, if it let's you have your gin, it's probably worth the risk.

Thanks for the letters from Chris. I especially loved hearing about his gardening efforts. Man, weren't we ambitious back in those days! I can't make myself do even the slightest thing toward a garden this year, and apparently Chris doesn't garden anymore either. I guess the entire supply of the gardening genes has flowed into Sandy.

Not the day I had planned

31.III.07 - MoM

Today didn't go as I had expected. In the afternoon, I started working on one of the tote boxes in my bedroom. I wanted to get it sorted and tossed so I could use the box in the front room to corral the stuff around my chair. I had started making stacks on my bed when Rita came to do my face. We had expected some progress, but it looked worse. Since the Clinic is closed on weekends, we finally decided to go to the emergency room. Thank goodness, it was a quiet day. They called the doctor who has the duty today. It turned out to be the new one who had also looked at my previous surgery on my ear when I went to the Clinic to get the stitches removed. He decided I should start an antibiotic. I had a bit of fever, too.

I told the doctor that I wanted would like one that you could have a drink while taking it and he told that I could with this one. Also, I only have to take it for 7 days instead of the usual 10. It would not have been fun to be at the Wood's for Easter and not be able to partake in the festivities. I had liked this doctor after that earlier visit last month and like him even more now. I have been lukewarm about the doctor I have been seeing recently. Actually, I have been lucky and seldom have had to see one.

When I got home and looked at the Patient Information Leaflet that came with the Rx, I was a little surprised when I read: "Warning: This medication should be used only for serious bacterial infections because it can sometimes cause a severe (rarely fatal) intestinal condition due to a resistant bacteria. This condition may occur during treatment or even weeks after treatment has stopped."

Nothing else new todayl

* * * * * *
Another letter from Chris tonight. This one was 10/16/84

Dear Mom & DOD,

Sorry this has been so long in coming. Life has been rather hectic lately but seems to be settling down finally so I can take care of business. I had a paper deadline at work, which I would have had no trouble meeting (even tho I only finished the measurements a week before it was due) except for all the review procedures we have to go through at the Bureau. I wrote it in about a day, right into the OSBORNE word processor. Then I was able to make all changes immediately, by myself. Because of the deadline, the reviewers at the Bureau, some of which included people I've chosen, were not that demanding and I had to do no major rewrites, only little changes here and there. I got a two-week extension on the deadline, and managed to get it released the day before it was due, so I could Fed Xpress it there on the due date. So that's out of the way. However, this past weekend, right at the end of the job as usual, I bounced the bow saw off a thin branch and sliced the back of my left hand, 10 stitches worth. It wasn't bad enough so I wasn't sure I needed stitches at first, so I wrapped it up and watched that lousy World Series. Finally, after talking to Lynette, I drove myself to the Frederick ER and they were very nice and cleaned me out (painful) and sewed me up (no problem - Xylene or something like Novocain). Also, sold me a tetanus shot. So I'm all fine now, or would be except I caught a very sudden cold, which came on last night. One minute I was fine, and then I felt it in my throat. I was due: It's been over a year since I was sick enough to take leave. I went in today (it's bowling night) but also because I have the Van de Graff and need to do a measurement before I give it up. However, I fried the delector today but at the end of the measurement. It may recover, but it will be several days at least, and maybe I can shake this cold by then.

Still thinking of coming to Europe next spring. I have all kindsååå of installations to visit (German standards labs, one in Bavaria, one in the north. I'll get per diem those days (big deal), but I'll probably visit them anyway. Wish I had some German! They all speak such good English, it doesn't seem fair. They say they enjoy using it and showing it off. Very sorry I missed your birthday, Mom. Hope you had a good one. Weather here still nice, no frost yet. Still drying tomatoes, eating pickles. First Fall salad Sunday,

Love, Chris

Yet a little more FL progress

30.III.07 - MoM

I was pleasantly surprised first thing this morning when I checked the blog not expecting to find one as usually there is nothing on your "Date Night." Mornings after dressing and doing my bed, I make my cup of tea then check the computer. After breakfast, I took care of another small hot spot in the kitchen. Later, I did some more on the clutter in my "office" and it looks neater, although I have too much stuff in there. Gradually, I am working my way towards my bedroom and closet -- the last and worst mess (on the 1st floor). The now unused upstairs will wait a while longer.

It looks as if it will take a little while for my face to heal but with a large enough Telfa bandage, I should be able to take over care of it before too long. However, it has some redness that worries Rita a little. It could be from some tape. We should have a better "take" on it tomorrow.

After Rita dressed my wound this afternoon, I took care of one little box of the clutter on the floor by my chair. There is still too much left there so I think I will put the things I think necessary to have handy there in a tote box, stash it somewhere such as in a nearby closet, then bring it out during the day when I need it. It is too bad to spoil the effect of my beautiful room with that cluttered computer/chair area. Now that I am getting around a lot without my walker, it isn't as necessary to keep stuff here when I am not actively working with it. Once upon a time, the then little bit of stuff there was not bad but somehow it has a tendency to explode in volume.

I have made wild rice tonight and have the veal reheating for dinner tonight. I had a large V-8 for breakfast for my day's veggies and there are artichoke hearts and olives in the veal. I also had Boost Plus and orange juice, so I consider that I have had my day's necessities. Now, I just have to get the appetite to eat it.

A gray day with some rain. My rain gauge on the deck is still covered from winter. I think I could probably take it off, but there is a chance of a little cold and snow again next week.

My new tomato plants have grown enough since planting 5 days ago to need their little plastic caps removed. It won't be long before I have to select the one of the 3 seedlings that will be the future plant. It is really fun. I always try to have a tomato plant in the sunroom to snack on as they ripen. These will continue to grow in the living room, however as the intense heat there would kill do them in.

Guess it is time for food.

* * * * *

Now, for some letters from Chris. This one has no date but it sounds like Spring of 1984.

Dear Mom and DoD,

Kind of surprised to hear you are going to leave all year around. I guess not really surprised, since as much as you seem to like it, it should be no surprise. So the garden is all on poor old me. I've made a start of sorts, putting in potatoes 10 days ago, and some lettuce, spinach, onions & radishes. It was probably too wet, but it has only gotten wetter since, so I don't know. The potato seeds looked real healthy (from Parkes this time) not dried little chips but small whole potatoes. So if they don't rot, we should have a crop. I put them in the same rows as last year, figuring that we didn't get rain enough last year to contaminate the ground, if that is even a problem. Anyway, I got all of this garden planted, then it rained like heck last week, ending in 4" snow which drifted like crazy. Result: snow still where I wanted to plant peas last weekend. So things have to dry out some before I can plant more, but the spirit is willing. I also started artichokes 10 days ago, which are mostly up now, these latter in pots indoors. I've turned the bathroom into a hothouse -- 75° for speed sprouting. Started peppers and tomatoes last weekend because there was nothing else I could do. I hope it's not too early. I'm going to start more tomatoes in a few weeks in the little Start-n-Grow kits. Those are so small they can't remain in those long. So I guess the garden is progressing. There are bulbs out all over the place just crocus' blooming so far though,

Your new landlady-to-be sounds a little like my Austrian boss. Wonderful hearted person but sometimes difficult to get along with. I see on the map that Saalfelden is some north of Meiringen and looks to be on northern Alpine slopes. Is there more snow? What differences are there between residing in Switzerland and Austria? When I told Greta you were moving to Austria, the next day she brought in pages from her old Austrian Atlas, which I Xeroxed and enclosed. She says she sometimes wishes she could buy a small place in Austria and return, but she's still one step behind you'all since she only got her place in WVa this year!

Hope you're happy and healthy,

Love, Chris

Some Smiles

Gainesville

This week is all tangled up. After spending most of the day at the Library and having a big lunch, decided to made Wednesday that non-cooking day, cook tonight, and go out Friday while Doug is here. Hard to keep a grip on what day it is, with the usual clues missing.

After work we drove Blue out to the Ford place to pick up Moonbeam, and decided to leave Blue over night to get his rear view mirror glued on again, get oil changed, and check on an intermittent very soft rattle. (This latter turned out to be nothing serious-- the heat shield on the exhaust-- but we got it fixed anyway.) They gave Blue a much needed bath as well-- he was covered with pollen, as is everything else, since it hasn't rained in so long. Nice to have a fully functional and nice looking ride again.

Worked at getting the weekly stuff done to day, and a couple of laundry loads. Will have to run errands tomorrow, since I didn't have a car today. Things are in pretty good shape for Doug's visit.

Glad you latest cutting went well, Mom. And I'll just bet that glass of gin tastes just great tonight. That's one of the things I have to do tomorrow: Bill has been on a G&T kick the past week and we're down to the back-ups. (I've been drinking Tanq Ten.) Part of it is his absolute love of those Bodum thermal glasses I spotted at Sur le Table in SF. He wants me to get a bunch more and just replace our existing glasses. They're pretty pricey (and fragile) for everyday glassware, but what the heck. I'm just surprised he took to them so readily, after his initial skepticism.

Yesterday's paper had a feature on "What to Keep, What to Pitch in Your Pantry." Well, how timely! Saves me having to do the research. Of course they are overly conservative: keep canned goods a max of 2 years? Come on! And no way I'm going to replace all my herbs and spices every six months! Still, it's good to have some guidelines, especially ones that encourage me to get rid of what I call the archival food collection.

I forgot to add the latest episode of our Cuisinart saga. As you may recall, the replacement basket we ordered would not work with the top we already had, so we ordered another top. It came, and IT didn't fit the new basket either! @#$$ This is crazy-- how could the same place sell us two parts that won't work together? We're now resigned to having to buy a complete new unit. Bill thinks we should order another one the same (small) size so we will have a spare basket when the next one inevitably cracks and dies. I'm wondering if we need a bigger one-- I bought the old one when I was living alone, and didn't cook all that much. Occasionally it is overwhelmed by things I try to do in it. Not often, but occasionally.

My books started arriving today-- one book by mail (my own copy of Randy Scott's The Comics Librarian, whoopee!), the main Amazon shipment by UPS. In addition to my own copies of R. J. Harvey's basic surveys of comic books and newspaper strips, it included a color compilation of some classic Little Lulu's. The complete Lulu is being reprinted in a series, but they are black and white, so I've resisted (so far). They are so wonderful!

Let the record show that I actually hung my retirement gift (the Barks cover reprint) on the wall today. 'Bout time. I kept thinking I needed to drag a stool in here to do it, and that Bill should be here in case I fell off said stool, yadda yadda. Classic procrastination. Today I just did it, and didn't need a stool. I can see it as I sit at the computer, and it looks fine. Makes me smile.

Slowly but surely some more progress

29.III.07 - MoM

I actually did a "mise en place" and fixed a meal for me -- one of DoD and my favorites but a meal Sandy loves to hate: Veal with red wine, chicken broth, artichokes and black olives. Will do the wild rice that goes with it tomorrow. I won't be having it tonight, as I ate at it constantly this afternoon while it was cooking so I don't have to bother to eat further. I had one of the mini cans of coke but that doesn't begin to take the place of a taste of gin. Since all seems to be well with my surgery, I may have 1 oz of gin on ice sipped to stretch it to last an hour plus tonight.

The FL brainwashing continues to influence my life. Even though my desk is still neat there was still a lot of untouched mess in the area around it. There was a paper sack beside it filled with junk and more little things hiding behind it. That got checked through and tossed. I finished off the newspapers from our last CA trip and got them in recycle pile. That cleared the area around my secondary laptop. I also cleared off the junk on the HP printer there and some other stuff in the area. I got the receipts for 2005 shredded and the ones for 2006 into that empty box. Since it is a small box, I will maybe keep it till for the year, although I know it isn't necessary. It takes a little time to break lifelong habits. Paige cleaned this morning so things are in pretty good shape. However, again the mess around my recliner is needs purging again. It seems to grow while I look at it.

Rita came up this afternoon to help me dress my latest wound. I was surprised at the length of the cut. It is troublesome to cover as it needs to be behind and in front of my earlobe with one of the stitches on the ear. Rita really takes this seriously and said she would be worrying again until I was healed. I wish it wouldn't itch so much. Dr. Crank called this afternoon to check to see how I was doing and if there was anything I needed. I would say she is in her mid-30's but has a real talent with the needle and "thread."

Too tired (or is it lazy) to go into the letter "file" to find another letter to copy, so will chop this off for tonight and ever so slowly sip my gin while I play yet another game of Freecell or do a another X-word while I listen but don't watch MSNBC till can't stay awake any longer.

A 2nd try to post this

28.III.07 - MoM

Happy Anniversary, Sandy and Charlie!

Well, my skin problems are out of the way for a while -- just a visit to the Woodbury facility next week on Thursday to have the stitches removed. I thought I would be able to "dress" it my self, but the doctor had to cut a lot further up than I thought and it ends up behind my ear where I can't see it to do things like spread antibiotic ointment on it with Q-tips daily and new bandages so will have to ask Rita to help out again. It wasn't painful except for the shots in my fact to deaden so they can put in deeper shots. Thank goodness that doesn't bother me. This time there was some Squamous cell and Basal cell carcinomas but thank goodness no Melanoma. I was lucky that the young male doctor spotted today's area when I went in about some others as it was hard to even see it. Later: I guess the pain shots are wearing off -- it is beginning to hurt some, so I guess I'll take some Tylenol tonight.

Sandy and I had tacos and some Tex Mex things at a little place near the fantastic Target grocery where we were going to shop on our way to the doctor's. We were on a tight schedule, but the food was good. I had to have ice tea while Sandy enjoyed a Margarita. Managed to get all that done and we were about only about 5 minutes late for appointment time. Thank goodness, I have that little handheld FreeCell. I never get tired of playing it no matter how long the wait. Sandy had a newspaper x-word and a book, so she managed, too.

I got 2 Goodwill sacks out of the house without giving in to temptation to go through the glassware. I am going to try to follow your good FL example and try to make some progress in my bedroom. Even though I am supposed to take it a little easy for about a week, I think I can do some sorting and tossing with no heavy lifting.

* * * * *

At least, this letter to Sandy and Bob, has a date: 25.I.85.

Well, we now have the organ and it is great to be able to play again. At this moment DoD is playing at "Exodus." I have been working out registrations (a completely different ball game from the Conn) and practicing for my first "concert" next Sunday for the Wontrobas. They had asked when we were going to have a concert one day when they met DoD on the street, so I have been waiting for the organ before inviting them for the first planned visit. Think I will have a few snack things with the little champagnes, with coke, Sprite, etc., for a backup for her. I know he enjoys a drink of American whiskey. Then later in the afternoon we will have coffee and plum pudding, I guess. It was so much easier to do "Happy Hour" things in the states.

Called Computerland again last Monday and they say that they have tried to get the manual but can not get one! When we were last in Munich we called Apple there and they said that it was not easy to get one in any language but what was local to the sales area. Going to write Apple European Headquarters in Amsterdam and also in California as this is hampering DoD in things that he wants to do. I got bogged down in REPORT when it got into numbers. DoD massages all of his accounts and figures constantly and now has all kinds of financial reports he can call up. He is starting now to work on getting some travel stuff onto file. Of course, we are still waiting for the supplemental little programs we had asked them to order for us.

Knee Jerk

Gainesville

Good luck tomorrow, Mom. I hope the dry spell is the worst of it, although god knows, that's bad enough.

I'm planning to go into the Lib tomorrow to work on comics, but can come in on my own schedule. (Bill will drop Moonbeam off for an oil change, leaving me with the parking permits.)

Found out tonight Doug will be visiting us again Friday night. My knee-jerk reaction at the short warning is, "Oh no!" but then I think about it-- very little needs to be done to be ready for this. Thank you, FlyLady!

I'm almost finished with the second Jane Austen mystery-- 15 pages to go! Not sure I'll be able to stay awake long enough tonight, though. Very tired. Must go flat. More manana. Just consider this a knee-jerk post.

More crocus pushing thru the leaves every day

27.III.07 - MoM

Ugh! A dry night with no gin because of the surgery tomorrow afternoon. First time I have had the cutting in the afternoon. I hope they don't have to make very many trial cuts so we can get out of there at a decent time. Too bad that it is on Sandy and Charlie's anniversary. That was poor planning, but none of us was anxious to keep the appointment several weeks ago with the snow storm threat that turned out to be a false alarm. Unfortunately, it looks as if the weather is not going to be salub but at least it is supposed to be rain. I was watching the weather on TV as I wrote that so "Now for the rest of the story!" ---- It is supposed to clear in the afternoon.

Today was a funny day. I didn't have a lot planned for it, but did write a few checks -- not a big deal as I use Quicken. Then, since I was having a good day for walking without the walker with less pain for a change, I decided to do 15 minutes in the "Hell Hole" -- starting with my closet. (The reports of your FL progress have inspired me.) Maybe a year ago I had made a couple of sacks of stuff for Goodwill. It was still taking up space on the floor there. Meanwhile, I had learned that they only wanted stuff in good shape ready for resale. So, I sorted thru and made a sack of worn bedroom slippers and other useless stuff for the dump and a sack with okay clothes. Then, there was a sack of glassware, carefully wrapped. Some of my current plastic glasses are about due to dump, so for a few minutes, I almost let temptation get the best of me. I unwrapped a couple thinking I might resort to using them. No wonder FlyLady insists that such bags should go to the car at once. But, I managed to get control again and the glasses are going to get a new home.

This afternoon, I got another little burst of energy, and decided that I was sick of looking at the growing collection of stuff collecting on the chopping block in the middle of the kitchen, especially after I had done a mini purge on the fridge a little earlier and it had ended up there, too. Nice to have it clear again. Still later, it only took 10 minutes to do was some non-dishwasher stuff that had collected on the drain board. It went so well, that I am inspired to make a real effort to get control of my bedroom/closet area again! Hopefully, my hip will continue to cooperate.

Thank Bill for the HD radio stuff. I went back online this afternoon, checking Radio Shack and Circuit City. Today, I took time to read all of the reviews and I decided to rethink this. All I wanted was better reception for the am station (talk) that I prefer and the FM public station (also talk) that I put on when I can't stand the subjects on am. I never have either one on during the day. The radio by my bed is a good one but I need to replace the cheapie, tinny and noisy one in the bathroom.

Time to see what I can put together to pass for "supper" tonight.

Too Much Standing Up

Gainesville

Spent hours today on the master bathroom shower. It was long overdue. Never intended to do this today, but when I went in to swish and swipe, I decided to see what a little Tilex and elbow grease might do. Not much, actually, but a lot of it went a long long way. It's about 95% better than it was, the tile floor (it's a large walk-in shower) is clean, and I laundered the shower curtain liner. When I saw what was happening, I started setting the timer so I didn't burn out completely. I'm very happy with the results, and a few more 15-minute sessions should complete the job. Yay, me.

The stir fry I had planned required cauli-rice, so I had to make a quick run to Publix to pick up a cauliflower and some sliced mushrooms. I started the prep at 5:30 and it took til 7:30! It looked like such an easy recipe, but I'd overlooked little details like slicing the pound of medium shrimp in half lengthwise, all of which added time. It worked out, since Bill didn't even arrive home until 7:30, but for all that, the dish just wasn't that good. Oh well.

I lurk on the main comics scholars list, but today was forced to actually post. Some student mentioned CBML, and by the time I checked in to read it, there were half a dozen comments, including someone who mentioned my ImageText article. It's embarrassing that I never finished that sabbatical project to the point where I could really publish about it. Still, it was nice to find myself on the map in some sense, at least.

Mom, some adventure with the stuck mouse. The approved method here for humanely evicting small critters involves an empty can (a large can of nuts serves well) and large a manila envelope or file folder. We keep this kit at hand at all times. One pops the can over the critter (frog, lizard, roach, spider, cricket, armored worm, etc.), slides the folder underneath, takes it outside, releases critter. Granted, this would not work with an ambulatory mouse, but for one stuck to sticky stuff, it might be just the thing.

Some other things to say, but I am physically drained. Gonna read, then sleep.

Not a dull day

26.III.07 - MoM

I had an interesting start to the day. When I went into the bathroom, there, in the middle of the room, was a good sized mouse writhing around frantically trying to get loose from the sticky black square that I had tucked in a corner. I didn't think it would be any good for mice, although that was what the package said it was for. Instead, I had been using it for the hateful, large crickets that liked to attack me in there. The other day, I had a brief thought that I should toss them and start new now that winter is over. I have come a long way when seeing mice so I didn't run screaming from the room, shutting the door until someone could take care of it. However, the best I could do was get a metal bowl over it with a heavy book on it to await further action by someone else. I called Sandy and Charlie to report the excitement and was going to wait for Charlie when he was coming into town tomorrow. However, he had to go to Hudson for some lumber and said he would loop by.

Meanwhile, I was surprised to see "Tom the Fishman" arrive for his bi-monthly tank visit. In the chit-chat I mentioned the mouse and he offered to take care of it, so I thought I would call Charlie on his cell to save him a trip down. Tom had barely finished putting the sticky stuff with mouse in a sack, putting it out of its misery and leaving the it for Charlie to dispose of later. I was all for just throwing it into the woods, but he worried about some other critter getting stuck to it. He was barely back to adding water to the tank when Charlie arrived armed with a gun -- a be sure it was only beebe "pistol -- to take care of it. He assured me he had expected to shoot it point blank as we remember one day when he tried to hit something only some feet away. The gun is now here in the dish cabinet in the dining room. Before he left he found some steel wool in the garage to stuff into the hole in the wall in the kitchen. We normally have it covered with little pieces of tin. I had last looked at it in passing a couple of weeks ago and all was in tact. When I looked this morning the tin had been pushed aside as the mice do from time to time. We expect this to work better.

Later, Charlie was on his way back from Hudson, was hungry and remembered some little chili tubs in the freezer that I am giving to them as they are impossible for me to open and I am off of them. He added some other snacks I wanted to get out of the freezer.

This afternoon, I took one 15-minute nap, quickly followed by a couple of more quick ones. I haven't been doing all that well at night, so it was again, a catch up time. It was also kind of a catch up day and I only played one game of Freecell -- I spent a lot of the rest of the time on x-word puzzles.

Had to start the pre-surgery dry spell tonight. Going to have Buffalo Wings and a frozen baked potato of some brand from the freezer for dinner. Further trying to get rid of stuff.

Enough for today.

* * * * *

Finally the last of the 4 page letter to Sandy and Bob, in late December of 1984 from Saalfelden.

Left the next morning for Vienna. My "halb-neun" (8:30 a.m.) worked out okay for the taxi lady who doesn't speak English when I called her. I got my two gross jars of dill pickles, and the other 6 place settings of our "silver" and a few of the spice-type things on my Lebensmittle list. On the way back to the hotel on the morning we were leaving, DoD suggested we drop into an organ store we spotted. They got a clerk who could speak good English and could play fantastically to demonstrate a new Yamaha. It only had 8 pedals, like our first Conn, but I had come to accept the fact that if I want an organ while I can still use arms I would have to settle for a smaller one as I think the selling of the California house is in the far distant future. We could not believe how much lower the price was than what we would expect to pay for such a beauty in the states. We did not have time to do anything about buying it as we had to get back to the hotel, pack, and catch our train. Did try to call the man to order one, but he had gone to lunch. They had given us the brochures for several series of the new organs. On the train on the way home, we decided that instead of paying the extra for the FE-50 "space age" white model, we would put the extra into going one model better (FE-60) and have the regular brown wood. I continued to work over all of the German reading of what all of them would do and when I told DoD that the next better (FE-70 - the top of that series) had a synthesizer and a couple of further trickies, he decided he would put up the difference and we could get that one. Several of my friends [in CA] now have FX-70's with 3 keyboards and full set of pedals. They paid $19,000 for them. I could buy it here, delivered, for $6,000 less (if I had that kind of money). So the one we are buying cost $3,922, but when asked about the discount for cash, as one is always supposed to do, it comes to $3,686. It would cost us a lot more in the U.S. The man said they used to sell many Thomases and Hammonds as well as other U.S. makes, but with the dollar where it is, they cannot afford to import them so the European and Japanese brands are all that sell here. We had paid $3,500 for our first simple little Conn in the early 70s. This organ will practically play itself, but I still want to do a lot of the work for myself, while DoD can enjoy the trickies. We could have had it next week, but by train. We were not sure how to get it delivered after it got here, and did not particularly want it shoved around, so they will set up a delivery date when they call us next week. Tried this morning with my best German, to see if there were any FE-70's closer, but could not find any. Innsbruck had a FE-60 on hand, but when asked when they would have a 70, the man said that deliveries on them were very slow and he did not expect any for a while. Well, this will take the pressure off of who is going to use the computer when, as the other one can always play with the new toy.

Hear that Suzy is too broke to make the European trip, and Lynette can't take off as much time as Chris can. He said maybe she could come for 2 weeks and he could stay for 3. Have to write him at once as he does not have his birth certificate for his passport! It happens to be in our safety deposit box in Charles Town. We did not think about getting it to him. Going to tell him to call Aunt Dottie, and have her ask Don to have the county send a copy to him. I had to write Iowa for a copy when I got mine.

DoD wants the Apple to bring some of his file and report stuff up to date so I will wind up this too long letter and get it going. Write when you can. We love to get your good letters. And thanks as always for the trouble of sending the Peoples. I will get those tapes mailed soon.

Finalities

Gainesville

Welcome back, Mom, as a full-fledged blogger. And glad you find the new version easier to use as well.

I don't know anything about Magioni except for that one famous tune. Another thing I'll need to ask Bill about, since he's a fan.

Whoa, nice work on the Eiffel Tower puzzle, Sandy! Great pictures. And what a feeling of accomplishment, in addition to Proof of Leisure Time.

I made Sandy's chicken dish tonight, using thighs. Very good! Bill commented on how well it turned out. There was enough juice-stuff to make sauce, but I didn't try-- no chicken broth available in small amounts, and I wasn't sure how much time I'd have. Turned out I had plenty; maybe next time. The turnip fries managed to be both soggy and burnt (how'd I do that?) and the avocado I sliced was slightly past it, so was not very pretty on the plate. Luckily, the splendor of the main dish made up for the inadequacy of the sides.

I see there are new biographies out of both Julia (Childs) and Alice (Waters). Both look like they'll be fun reads.

Tonight was the season 3 finale of Battlestar Galactica. Yow! Multiple whammy! [Spoiler Alert:] I'd already guessed two of the characters were going to be revealed as Cylons, but was not prepared for four of them! And Starbuck appearing at the very end, looking ghostly/ghastly. [End Spoiler Alert] But the worst, most horrible moment came with the words "To Be Continued in 2008." NOOOOOOO!!! I can't possible wait that long. That's the worst part about cable channel shows-- they can set their own schedules and make you wait as long as they want.

Realized today I could no longer renew my library books online. Need to check out exactly what my current library privileges are. Decided it was time to actually buy my own copies of the important comics-related ones, and so will have some big Amazon boxes arriving over the next few weeks. Only six books, but most are out of print and some are huge.

If you don't read Lio regularly, you must check out today's hilarious parody of FBoFW. Outstanding! (Actually, since you'll be reading this tomorrow, you may have to select the previous day off the menu-- don't have a permalink for it, alas.)

Going to rewatch BSG (once is never enough to catch it all) then read a bit.

Back in the mix again!

25.III.07 - MoM

Earlier, I decided I should perhaps remove the 2 plastic chairs and little table off the deck as it had started to be windy and I didn't want them to blow into the yard and perhaps damage some of my plants. It had also just started to rain. When I got picked up the first chair there was a huge thunder clap, so I quickly got all the stuff into my bedroom and thought nothing more of it.

Meanwhile, Rita had called to remind me that I hadn't closed the garage door since we left it open this morning to dry out, a little and she also said they were talking about tornados tonight. I went back to my HGTV that I was watching. Not long after I heard my weather radio in my bedroom sounding an alarm. Went in to check it and found that the 4 big D sized were dead. By then I had a local TV channel on and there were tornado warnings for our area. It gave me fits replacing the tight fitting batteries and getting all the settings going. I really put on a spurt and got all my survival (including my gin, of course) the storm was going 7 miles east of River Falls, and the sun came out. Stupid me, I had started dismantling the stuff then realized that the threat is supposed to go on till 10:00 tonight. I still have the basics in there and the weather radio beside me so I can hear it.

This is the last night I can have gin this week due to my Wednesday surgery, so I am going to really enjoy it to the fullest and the last drop!

Day before yesterday, I had searched for any sign of bulbs in the front bed and since there was not the tiniest sign of life, I didn't bother further. Charlie, with his sharp eyes, found about a half dozen blooms and leaves this morning. The minute they left, I was out there collecting 3 blossoms and a couple of green spikes for a new card design. I had hoped they would bloom while the pussy willows that they had brought me from their place were still in good shape. The idea arrangement came together quickly, then gave me fits getting it centered exactly and with much testing and fine tuning. The blossoms are so very fragile to work with. Before I ran the number of them I wanted, but blossoms were beginning to roll and wilt, so I had to pick out the best printed one and finish the "run" copying it. Of course, the PWs should last a while and there should be a lot of larger "crocki." At least, I got the Sunday paper out of the way this morning.

While Sandy and Charlie were here this morning, the two of them got my 2nd AeroGarden put together and the 3 pods of grape-type tomatoes planted. The stuff in the first one are still going strong, although I guess they expect them to only last 6 months. They lived up to all the hype about them. The only thing that didn't do well was chives. When the first planter runs its course, the I have a mixture of salad greens to plant in it.

I am very happy to be a part of the regular blog, although the stop gap measure worked out okay when I was in the stop gap situation.

Your mention of Chuck Magioni struck a chord with me. Did he play the organ among of his composing talents? I seem to remember a concert he did in Los Altos when I was there, and even more sure that he did a seminar at a large organ get together in D.C. I tried to Google him today but didn't get my usual results. I seem to remember that he composed some special music for the Olympics that year.

Thanks so much for the HD radio info. We don't have a nearby Radio Shack, but perhaps there is one in Hudson. I had read some of the comments on Amazon and there were pros and cons about reception. It made me think that perhaps I should buy it locally so it would be easier to return if it didn't work out. However, anything would be an improvement on my $79.00 radio that is tinny and distorted. My bedroom radio works good in the bathroom or my bed. Thanks, and will do some more research.

It has been a long day and, as I say every night then don't follow through, I am going to try to get to bed early.

La Tour Eiffel

These are the photos I wanted to post the other day. Occured to me that if I used Firefox instead of Safari it might work. Sure 'nuff.

Mom, I did this puzzle soon after Christmas. Was shopping with Ben for a toy and thought I needed one, too. It was hard and fun. As I told Suzy in an email, it was to give myself the illusion of leisure.

More later.

Feels So Good

Gainesville

I think that re-inviting you to join the blog under your new email address, as Sandy suggested, has probably fixed the problem, Mom. You are the only one who changed email addresses in the meantime, which is why only you had the problem. It's probably a good idea to wait for Sandy to help you respond, though, just in case something tricky is involved.

A fairly relaxed Saturday here. I was able to get out to food shop in the early afternoon for a change. Getting the plan done Friday night makes a huge difference.

One of the things Bill requested was Mushrooms Berkeley-- probably the oldest recipe (not counting family things) still in my repertoire. I first made it in 1974! It's from an old hippy cookbook, The Vegetarian Gourmet. Marcia Riefman, an art student at UF who had moved to Albuquerque, made it for us when Billy and I visited her on the Great Camping Trip. It is a main dish that makes one think it might not be so bad to be a vegetarian... almost. It has been popular over the years at pot luck events to which I've taken it.

I'd planned to have cauli-rice with it (it has a rich wine sauce that would be perfect) but that is kind of hard when one forgets to buy a cauliflower. I substituted half the bag of cole slaw mix I'd planned to use for Mexican slaw later in the week-- quickly braised.

It's strawberry season here (one of two), so I picked up a pint of them, along with some passable blueberries and good looking green grapes. I sliced the strawberries with the egg slicer, something I'd seen in one of the cooking mags. It worked great.

I have the best music stuck in my head just now, thanks to satellite radio (via satellite TV): Chuck Magioni's "Feels So Good." And indeed it does! Such a great tune, long and varied enough that no part of it gets boring. Also, it features Grant Geissman on guitar-- a jazz favorite of mine who also happens to be a comics scholar of sorts-- he is a Mad Magazine fanatic who has edited the major compilations, Mad About the Fifties, etc.

Which brings me to HD Radio. Bill says the most important thing is to be sure you can get reception of the stations you like. If you go to a local Radio Shack or some place similar, they should be able to tell you what you can expect. If you buy a receiver, make sure they'll take it back if you can't use it where you want it. If it works, you'll love it. If not, it's a waste of money.

Reading Jane and the Man of the Cloth, being the 2nd Jane Austen Mystery. Very enjoyable. I had to unearth my Great Britain travel guide so I could enjoy maps and pictures of the area. Going to go do some of that now, and then do an at least semi-orderly shut-down.

24.III.07 - MoM

I saw your e-mail this morning, but I have learned that I need to check with Sandy before I do even open it. And, after a while she called and said she might come in today or tomorrow to take care of it. With one or the other of you posting these for me, it's no sweat.

I barely finished sending last nights blog when I fell asleep in the chair and didn't wake up until 11:30 p.m. After I got to bed, I could not get to sleep again until after 2:30 a.m. Was awake at 5 but did get in another hour. Had to have 2 nap periods, the last one in the late afternoon before what I had expected to be an early meal. Food is over with and I can enjoy my drinks before bedtime again.

Yesterday, I kept cooking down the rotiss chicken bones, a small batch as I had shrunk wrapped most of the meaty remaining parts. I had it on low but a couple of times it was just at burning point when I remembered so I had a little good "brown" broth so I added a beef broth cube to it. Tonight I mixed it into a small can of V-8 juice and added a dollop of sour cream and a batch of fresh minced dill weed. I haven't liked tomato soup for quite some time, but it was interesting and a nice change. However, I doubt it I will make it again. At least, it was quick and easy. I finished with a bowl of maple nut ice cream. With my taste buds all but dead, it really doesn't matter what I eat.

I didn't do further research on the HD radio, today. A feature I like is the remote. They advertise it as being able to have it in your computer room and far away enough to cut the computer interference. That is a problem when I bring my weather radio near me and my laptop in the front room. My bedside alarm/weather/am and fm radio, has a channel that has audio of TV channels. Now that it is hard for me turn over since my accident, a remote would be handy. I am a little discouraged with my leg as it hurt much more than usual to walk today and I had to use the walker most of the day. At least my bad neck problem seems to be gone. Oh! The aches and pains of getting old! Thank goodness, mine are still tolerable.

I am really enjoying the new x-words. Today, instead of spending time with FreeCell, I attacked the "Easy, Breezy" X-Word Book. It varies a lot from easy to relatively hard. Really better for stimulating my brain cells than FreeCell.

I had a first today. I cut my pieces of candy in quarters before eating due to my weird teeth. This time I was "sawing" a chocolate cherry with a paring knife and the knife broke in the middle of the handle! When I went into a drawer in the kitchen that I seldom use (mostly it was DoD's favorite breakfast and lunch utensils), there were mouse droppings. I ran a soapy sink full of water and put all in, and washed out the drawer. They are now drying ready to go back in the clean drawer. As far as I could see, the other drawers in that cabinet are turd free.

I had a better than usual weekly chat with Thea -- without her hearing aid and she heard better than usual. The only thing I wasn't able to explain was the pussy willows that Sandy and Charlie had gathered and she brought some to me yesterday.

Thea enjoyed talking about their Spain and Portugal travels, after I told her about Chris and Kay going Madrid next month. I had forgotten that they had stayed in Torremolinos, Spain years ago. Hard to top our 60 feet of private balcony of a 2 bedroom apartment with the Med below. One of the pictures on the collage of in the hall is DoD enjoying a drink there. We had good experiences with Sandy in Spain and Portugal, too. How could we have been so lucky. I just Googled Torremolinos and got the correct spelling that word doesn't recognize. If we had had Google way back in the dark ages, think of even how much more fun we would have had planning trips. As it was, DoD spent hours on train connections and I poured over all the hotel and apartment guides. However, we did well with what we had to work with!

I also loved the Alhambra. It was part of high school English class and I never expected to visit it. One night DoD got trapped in an elevator with some female nurses when he went to the bar for ice while we were staying in a hotel near there -- he loved it.

I have been stretching my 2 drinks over several hours, as usual,but will soon be going to bed.

Rip It Up

Gainesville

Got your blog posted, Mom. I wish we could figure out what it the problem.

I don't know much about HD Radio, but I know someone who knows a little bit about a lot of things... and I'm sure he'll be able to help. The other thing to think about is satellite radio-- hundreds of stations. Subscription based. We can't get decent reception here, although we have the equipment and the subscriptions, so I recommend caution. Also, it's really wretched excess. Usually 1-2 radio stations you like are plenty. The problem is identifying them amid the multitudes.

And isn't it strange how the best music one hears anymore is in TV commercials? God knows you won't hear any of it on plain old radio...

Ack, bad news about Ben injuring himself! All part of Life, of course, but it's so painful to see the little ones learn lessons of caution in such a hard way. Head first is not always the best course of action, alas.

Great post, Sandy. Thanks especially for the chicken recipe-- I have it on my menu plan for this week, probably Sunday. Sounds yummy. This week is going to be fun-- I asked Bill for requests, and got back a bunch, all things I've done before, some that surprised me. I'm only too glad to have suggestions. The planning is the hardest part for me.

Yes, I did get the recommendations for the slicer. Amazon now shows a newer one, the 645, for an additional $100. Not sure it's worth that much more, but what the hey-- it's a Christmas present, right? I want to get a good one soon, before that salami I brought back from Cali is solid crust. I've sliced into it a few times by hand, but it's hard to get it really thin.

The crossword craze comes and goes with me, mostly goes. I figured you'd have done them, which is why I mentioned the detail. Since you enjoyed that, I'll include it again whenever I actually buckle down and try to finish one. Sudoku goes much faster (usually) and is even more abstract. How easily I do them (factoring in the difficulty level) gives me a pretty good indication of how sharp I'm going to be on any particular day.

Birds-- I envy your knowledge of them and opportunities to see/hear them (yours too, Mom). It's so rare that it's quiet enough (no AC or heat or neighbors mowing lawns or blowing leaves) to actually hear birdsong. Recently, though, I did hear one for several days that keep doing a "deedily, deedily, deedily" thing. Finally caught sight of it right outside the kitchen window-- it had a round head and a prominent black stripe across its eyes. Was it a Chickadee? A warbler of some sort? All you real birders are saying, "Well, DUH!" but I'm clueless. I must have been asleep when Dan was handing out the bird lessons.

Congrats on your eBay purchase. Be very careful, though-- it's terribly addictive. I had to go cold turkey after buying more 40's Loony Tunes than I could reasonably absorb, let alone get unpacked. The wake-up call was when I finally opened a shipment and found it had been water damaged-- if I'd opened it at once, I could have saved them.

I don't find it strange you should envy my work with the comics collection. It's enormous fun! I couldn't make it out of bed early enough this morning to be there at 9:00 (when Bill had a meeting), but he came home and got me at noon and I had the rest of the day. Got into some nitty-gritty sorting of Alien / Predator and their various permutations and cross-over titles, all '90's stuff. It's quite an education. I realize how much the collection needs me, though, when I heard the LTA who's been handling it refer to something in the Ault collection as part of the "Carl BANKS" stuff. Argh! I'd seen this in the finding aids, but thought it was a typo!

Once I finish getting the rest of the data entry done, I plan to concentrate on straightening out the Ault Disney boxes. Spent a couple of hours yesterday at home working on rationalizing that part of the finding aid and breaking it into box lists. Then we'll see what's really what.

Going into the Lib at noon worked out really well-- too bad I couldn't do that any day. I was able to get some home Blessing and laundry done. Parking is the problem, of course. And taking the bus would require a walk of over a mile along busy 441, and waiting in a rather unfriendly place for the once-every-30-minutes bus. Not doable.

Finished Will in the World tonight. Can't remember when, if ever, I read every word of a 17 page bibliographical essay at the end. I was surprised that at how many of the authors and works were already familiar to me. Way cool! I recommend the book, but also the DVD of the PBS series, In Search of Shakespeare. That really helped anchor all the background in my head.

Love hearing about the progress on the kitchen. And look forward to garden reports. I'm thinking about arranging a trip up north this summer as a pilgrimage to the best academic comics library, Michigan State, combined with a Garden Visitation. When would be best?

'Nuff for now. It's Friday night, and though I didn't just get paid, I feel great all the same.

23.III.07 - MoM

I have a good radio by my bed that I leave on all night but in the bathroom I have a little tinny one that doesn't get the best reception especially during the night. This morning in the newspaper they had a long article about HD radio. Remembering that my two favorite nighttime stations, one am and the other fm, are both HD, I decided it was time to think about replacing the tinny and noisy little radio in the bathroom. So, I spent a lot of time this morning researching the various models and checking the buyer's comments and recommendations on Amazon. It doesn't help that I am dumb about the whole thing but anything would be a great improvement and the prices are reasonable and within the range I had expected to pay. Will research it further tomorrow. Any suggestions appreciated, but probably will order it tomorrow.

Currently, I listen mostly to talk TV stuff. Recently, I have been hearing a commercial with Randy Travis singing. It has reminded how much I enjoy his stuff that we have. Think I will try to get all my various tapes, discs, etc., together and see what is useable and start to enjoy them again.

I made some more broth today and think I will try to mix it with some V-8 to make a soup of some sort. Tonight, I had some augmented potato salad that Sandy brought by on a shopping for Charlie. I always add a lot of stuff to potato salad and deviled eggs for my taste. She made the recipe from the Star Trib that I sent to her that was for the Red Lobster biscuits. I think they are even better than the original, and the texture was super.

I am going to be go bed early tonight!! I keep falling asleep!

* * * * *

Still copying from a 4 page letter to Sandy in late December of 1984 from Saalfelden, Austria.

I am enclosing a check for postage for People. Will try to keep some track of it and send more before too long. I still have a couple that I not read as I save them for bathroom and just before turning out the light at night. The toilet room here is not as warm and cozy as some of our others so do not spend as much time there. [It was in its own tiny "room" but with no heat, so eventually we bought a little heater and ran an extension cord so when all the heat was automatically off during winter nights we didn't freeze when we got the urge. I'm sure you girls don't remember that we had a nice separate little room for the toilet on Harvard, in SF. Nice with only one bathroom.]

I found out why the crab was $10.50 per can. It was all full leg meat and just beautiful. We did not try to save any but will eat the little last today with lunch. Still have a can for New Year's morning. Found that we can get the same brand (but may not be that fancy) in Innsbruck, and can get chili powder there, and even closer in Kitzbühel. Don't know what Saalfelden has against chili powder. However, I got the good stuff -- 4 jars of Spice Island in München so that should last me a little while.

Had a nice letter from Bob's mother and a very good picture of them. I do hope that one of these days I can get a picture that I could send. The one Deb took would not be bad if I could just take off my chin with the light hitting it. Also, had a cute card and note from Patsy. Tell her we enjoyed hearing from her. Hope they can get over to see us. [Charles did get there and stayed with us for several days. I didn't recognize him when we met him at the train -- he had shaved his beard and was so nattily dressed that he looked years younger. I wasn't used to having someone around drinking gin on ice in a glass like mine and was always drinking out of any glass that looked like mine. It was a fun visit.]

It is now Saturday. Had a nice time at the Wontrobas. She had done much fancy cookie and goodies baking and wanted us to try everything. Glenn and I finally broke each thing in half so we could share and sample more things. A lot of their homemade movies were made from the car, but we enjoyed them anyway. Saw three reels (large full ones) of their 97! Once they rented a pilot and little plane for a present for her birthday, then flew out of Munich and over this area and the mountains for several hours while she took movies.

22.III.07 - MoM

I am starting this tonight while my dinner is underway. I have one of my Schwan's mashed potato ball is in the oven and the skillet is ready to pan fry a couple of the coated catfish filets that I am going to have for dinner. Considered some peas, but I had managed to drink a large can of V-8 this morning that is supposed to take care of 3 vegetables. I am going to finish it with some maple nut ice cream.

The weekly local paper came today and it has a new section that looks like it is a monthly, that has interviews and stuff about local people although it seemed to have a set lot of questions to complete the sentences. I guess stuff about me would not be too out of place. Pat should receive the sample cards tomorrow and she has my e-mail address. With her current interest, I am sure I will hear from her as soon as she gets them.

While I still had blooms of my Poinsettia I decided to scan a trial. The colors are vibrant but will the bloom is too large for the space. I seem to remember seeing some smaller ones. Perhaps, it will be my Christmas card this year. Nothing like planning ahead to when I will be 90!

This morning I e-mailed Marty to get more info about an accident Ben had yesterday at home when he fell and hit some furniture and Nate had to take him to emergency. This is the reply from her:

Hi! Sandy just told me that Ben had opened his forehead. How many stitches? Is he sufficiently recovered to enjoy the attention? Love, Oma.

Hi Oma, He had 4 stitches in the big cut between his eyes. The
other, smaller cut over the outside corner of his eye didn't need stitches - they used the glue on that one. He was a real trooper at the hospital, and was more interested in watching cartoons on the little TV in the room than anything else. He isn't really gettind any extra attention - life goes on as usual. I'm hoping he doesn't get too big of a scar!
Marty

* * * * *
Continuing the 4 page letter written after Christmas of 1984.

The picture that Bob Bailey sent was taken in front of a monument that says "Maximillian Emanuel Churfurst von Bayern, Belgrad's Eroberer." It is a very good picture of you and looks nice on the marble shelf over the radiator. I am having a print made of a picture I took of a lovely azalea plant DoD brought home and the decorated quails. Wow! Did I ever get a great picture of the rose garden in Mirabel Gardens [in Salzburg] with the red ivy and changing trees in the background and with you and DoD. Hope the slide prints up well. I am having several copies made of it. Sometimes, the colors are not as good from slides. I got some other good pictures that day, too. The slides of Venice turned out great and restored my faith in my picture taking. It all shows what a difference a sunny day makes.

Having quite a time trying to fit in our use of the Apple. DoD is much into FILE and REPORT now and has a number of projects going. My recipe file has already come in handy as I could not remember where I had seen "Oven Fried Trout," and I checked "Fish" and it was one I had put on file as being in Sunset Favorites. Trying to get all the interesting sounding things from Bon Appetit. That is my martini time reading and check them to put in when I find time. Also, want to work on my hotel file and something for slides. Had a letter from Jim Bensen and he is using his Apple IIe to do tax returns for people. Is having some problems mastering the use of his PFS File and Report, but they were bootlegged so can't check with the company.

In May 1984 Bon Appetit there is a picture of the Chateau Hotel de Coatguelen near the coast. They offer 3 day course in the art of cooking. The hotel has 16 spacious rooms each of which opens out onto the extensive grounds. There are possible excursions and one is a boat trip up the Trieux (?) River and another to the Ile de Brehat. Think it is something we ought to do sometime when you are over here. The price for three days lodging with one cooking class a day is about $220. DoD thinks it is a great idea. For information and free brochure, write Mme de Morchoven, Chateau Hotel de Coatguelen, Plehedel, 22290 Lanvollon, France. The hotel closed this year on November 5 for winter. That must have really been a fantastic meal you had with the Martinats. I enjoyed the restaurants you found for us while we traveled. Sorry I missed the lunch in La Rochelle, but we will get back there again.

spring fever

Spring Valley

I'm curiously envious of your comic book volunteer work, Suzy. Just my kind of thing (I imagine, but then I could be curating my own comic collection, and I don't do that). Anyway, it sounds fun and interesting.

I commiserate with your cuisinart problems. It's a terrible thing to have not working! I replaced the bowl only on my previous one and it worked fine. I fear that cuis. is updating too often now. I am now worried that my mandoline has been updated (I see a new model in Chef's Catalogue) and I won't be able to get the julienne blades. Not that I need them very often, but just last week I made something (which I don't remember, of course) that needed julienned carrots and leeks.

I enjoyed your crossword puzzle comments, Suzy, since I'd done the same ones. I had more trouble with Wednesday last week. I was doing it in Mom's optometrist's office, and was distracted by the endless big-screen TV drivel about various eye problems and surgery -- I was sitting under the screen so I wouldn't have to look, but God! You'd think that you'd use a beautiful wide-screen TV to entertain, rather than instruct, those waiting in your office. Why not some nice Wallace and Gromit? Anyway, it was fun to follow along. Welcome any time.

It's fun seeing the Saalfelden letters, Mom, particularly because I am familiar with the cast of characters and the setting. I loved that cemetery. Remember that Glenn talked of being buried there! In 1984 I had a hard time convincing him to sign my absentee ballot, since he did not consider himself to be a resident of the U.S.

Speaking of Spring, we have finally seen our first robin at our house (Charlie saw one on Monday in River Falls). Normally they are here right on March 15, but something detained them this year. Cardinals are singing their spring song, and the sparrows have moved into the woodshed and are yelling their heads off. Red-wing blackbirds appeared earlier in the week, and the goldfinches are almost completely gold again. They turn olive green in winter then (the males) turn gold in the spring. We had a furious argument with Ted about this once, who insisted they'd been gone all winter and had just come back. I don't know if we ever convinced him. It was the kind of maddening argument that I once had with Julia, who (at the age of ten or eleven) was convinced that eleventh grade was the last year of high school. She got pretty huffy about it; "Well, maybe when YOU were in school there were four years of high school, but now there are only three." I had to give up. Several months later she conceded that I had been right.

Another sign of spring: some huge blasts of thunder and lightning just as we were going to bed last night. Very nice.

Ah, yes, now you understand my grief when Kowalski's ceased to have The Olives. I first found them in a fish shop in Eau Claire, and thought I was insane for spending $10 for a jar of olives. When they turned out to be so good, I used to go back there for them, but sometimes they were expired (and the expiration date is hidden by the cute little snood they put on them). I was thrilled when Kowalski's started having them, at only about $6.50, and then, like your store, they started having just the other two kinds. Twice I discussed this with the people behind the desk there, and twice they wrote it down. Nothing happened, and about six months later the other two kinds disappeared from the shelves. At least I was able to find them on the 'net, but at $10 a jar again (including shipping), I ration them.

Your salmon sounds good. I sometimes make the little citrus relish from FC #79 (Q & D section), and that's good too. We get fresh wild Alaskan sockeye from Kowalski's, which is quite good (and the only salmon Charlie will eat).

You got my slicer email, I hope, Suzy. For the record, it's Chef's Choice model VariTilt Model 632. It came from Williams-Sonoma about a year and a half ago.

I'm multitasking this morning. Doing laundry, doing this, helping Charlie work on the kitchen when he needs me. We're putting up light boxes that run east and west across the ceiling. Very hard to imagine (I haven't understood them until today), so I'll take a photo or two when we're done. He's also run trim boards around the dropped ceiling part and has enclosed the pipe over the vent hood. These are huge steps forward, all in preparation for, finally, the kitchen floor! We have now purchased both the tile and wood, and they'll go down in May, when the tiler finally has time. We've been saving up for this floor for quite some time. I am most pleased that it's finally going to happen. A major step! Mom remembers how this goes when one is building slowly; each bit of progress is thrilling.

In the new FC there is a wonderful dishwasher/sink combo. Now I long for that on the east side of the kitchen to do my prep dishes. Many other things will come first, though! The sink/stove combo is intriguing, too. What will they think of next? I haven't made anything out of the new FC yet, but I just got it yesterday. Ruth and Dave Wood just subscribed to it (at Christmas), so for Dave's birthday I bought them issues #40 and #79, my two favorites. I have all issues from about #23 on; the others are not available from Taunton. I should check eBay some time.

Speaking of which, I made my first purchase there last week. I got "Volcano Valley," a Gladstone reprint. Beautiful condition, and under five dollars, including shipping. It's one of the first comics I remember. I was five (Ben's age, think of that) when it came out. Actually a pretty grim and grisly tale, but entertaining anyway.

I shall have to look for Will in the World. I've finished all of Jane Austen now, except for the fragments, and I guess I won't read them now. I'd skipped P&P, having read it so many times, but when I'd finished the other five, I had to go back to it; they're all great fun, but P&P is by far the best. Poor Jane; I just discovered that she never even went to London, and for sure there was no Darcy in her life. The mysteries are strangely redemptive in this way. I've got to get my hands on a biography of her. Don't know what I'm reading next. Ruth lent me some books a couple of days ago, so I'll look into them.

Food. Here's a recipe that I make fairly often (had it this last Sunday noon).

Chicken Thighs Baked with Lemon, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (Hey! might make a good song!) This is cut down from the original recipe (FC 46). NOTE: start early; the chicken wants to marinate for a couple of hours.

2 cloves garlic
a good-sized pinch of kosher salt
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
4 skin-on bone-on chicken thighs or two skin-on bone-in half breasts (I use breasts)
1 lemon, with four 1/4 inch rounds cut from it
4 two-inch pieces of fresh rosemary
8 two-inch pieces of fresh thyme
4 big sage leaves
freshly ground black pepper

Cut up the garlic, then smash it with the pinch of salt. This can be done with a mortar and pestle, the side of a knife, or the garlic could go through a press and be mixed with the salt. Add the oil. This is supposed to become a creamy mayonnaise-like substance, but I never achieve that, and I don't care. Just mix it up well.

Put the chicken in a bowl. Rub the garlic-oil mixture all over it, including under the skin. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to overnight (I guess you should have it for breakfast? This is an instruction I never get!).

Heat the oven to 425 and set an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Arrange the lemon slices in one layer in your little braising pan (or if you're serving company, too, use a larger flat pan). Top each slice with a piece of rosemary, two of thyme and a sage leaf. Set one thigh on each piece of lemon (or, if using breasts, put one breast on two slices of lemon), and sprinkle lightly with salt and generously with pepper. Bake until the skin is golden and the juices are clear, 45 minutes to one hour (less time for breasts - 35-40 minutes, but check with a thermometer to see if they are done -- temp should be about 170).

Sometimes the lemons and chicken (partic if it's thighs) produce a lot of juices. In that case, transfer the chicken, herbs and lemons to a plate and cover quite loosely with foil (the skin is very crisp, and you don't want to sog it up). Tilt the pan, spoon off what fat you can, add a little chicken stock, and boil it up, scraping up anything stuck to the pan. (I don't usually do this, since breasts don't give out much juice, and I tend to have a burned bunch of lemon in the bottom of the pan.)

Anyway, this is an easy recipe, very good, and the skin is amazingly crisp and delicious.

Well, I must draw this to a close, since I leave for Elk Mound in about 20 minutes to visit a school.

(I tried to add some images, but so far the new blogger doesn't like my formats, though it says it wants jpeg.)

The Journey of a Zillion Comics...

Gainesville

My first day of real work with the comics collection. I worked over 6 hours, and handled around 300 comics, entering them into the existing spreadsheet list. There are probably about that many again, and all the stuff we got from Michigan State last May will be inventoried. Most of the sorting had already been done, so this was mainly data entry. The spreadsheet was in much better shape (and twice as long) as the one they've made available online for the past few years. Still, it needs work, and I've already started to rationalize the copy I made for myself.

I'll probably go in again on Friday, and try to finish up this data entry phase. It was great fun today! I learned a lot about what the collection is like, and refined my ideas about what's needed to get it under proper control.

But I am truly tired now-- sitting at a computer in a less than optimal chair for that long is hard on the spoiled retiree.

My Cuisinart bowl is cracked, and now leaks so bad I can't use it for anything liquid. Bill found a place to order just that, and not the top-- half as much. It arrived today, and I was pleased I'd be able to take on a Cream of Artichoke Soup I had planned. Alas! The new bowl refuses to mate with the old top! Just a tiny difference in the design. Balderdash! Now we have to order a new top too, which brings the cost up to half what it would be to just get a new one. And the bowl just BARELY wants to fit on the base...

Anyway, no soup for you! (us) I had another soup recipe in the wings, but then discovered I had only one can of clams, and it wanted two! @#$%$ Ended up emptying the fridge of this week's leftovers and making a big tossed salad. I don't do that often, because Bill is not especially enamored of Soares-style salads, but I had a lot of stuff that needed using-- some tomatoes, the beautiful avocados, some sliced raw zucchinis, sliced scallions from last night's salmon... It was pretty wonderful.

Mom, there is a way to tell the size of a book on Amazon: just scroll down to the section called "Product Details," and there you will find "Product dimensions."

Nice description of the Christmas Eve ceremony in the cemetery. Fascinating. That's the kind of thing you don't learn about unless you live there.

Much as I enjoyed today, I'm so glad I don't have to get up early and do it again tomorrow. Once or twice a week is the most I can manage at this point.

21.III.07 - MoM

Again, I did not accomplish much today and don't know where the time went. I did get the rest of the rotiss chicken vacuum sealed. Also, sealed the Schwan meatloaf pieces. And, I have another pot of good chicken broth cooking on the stove. Will cool it overnight in the sunroom and if it is "jellied" tomorrow, I will consider it done and ready to freeze. Otherwise, I will cook it down some more.

I ordered 3 easy x-word books from Amazon last week. It was hard to tell from the pictures the size of a couple of ones. They came today and I am delighted as they are the 8 ½ X 10 or is it 11" that I like so much. They are easy to read even without my glasses and just challenging enough to keep my brain churning and make me think. I keep them in the bathroom. However, I should live so long to finish all of these -- 2 books of 200 each and one of 500! They are NYTimes and edited by Will Shortz, my favorites. They are just in time, too, as I only have 5 left in my current book. I might keep one in the living room as that could be enough to woo me away from so much Freecell.

Tomorrow or the next day, I should receive my new AeroGarden but will wait until Charlie is here to set it up. After doing my first one Christmas Day, he is now experienced. I saw in another catalog that they have a new selection for the tomatoes with 3 different kinds in one planting. The one I have only has one kind of mini. I am looking forward to getting it going.

For some reason I had gotten the slicer in my brain as a Mandoline-type thing instead of the one I bought last year. I don't know if Sandy explained how come I park it at their place. The little old one we had for years was usually only used to slice bread when I was using my bread machine a lot, but it was falling apart and needed two sets of hands to use. When I got the new one I soon decided I was too lazy to clean it for slicing for only one person, so I sent it home with them and they slice what little I need done out there.

* * * * *

Tonight's letter is a continuation of a letter to Sandy and Bob, started the day after Christmas and mailed on 30.XII.84 -- our first Christmas in Saalfelden.

I also got a doll for Christmas. When we were in Kitzbühl another day last week, I fell in love with a "costume" doll. Later, saw the same ones in a kit form for a little less, but this one was beautifully made. Friends from DoD's office days (Charlie Buxton) are heavily into doll collecting -- I am sure I showed you the picture of their Swiss doll. His letters are getting me interested in it and as you know, I always did enjoy dolls. This one was named "Sophie" but I am not fond of that name. I remembered Dan saying that every German family should have a "Gabi" so I renamed her. (I presume there are Austrian Gabies.)

I think I told you we had invited the Wontrobas for a Sunday. We were going to use the plum pudding. Herr Wontroba came by a few days before and showed us a list full of prescriptions for his wife for a bad eye and sinus infection and said they would not be able to make it, and that they would also have to postpone the Second Christmas Day invitation. I was not all that unhappy even tho we like them a lot. Then one evening last week they came by with a big pot of azaleas and primroses for us and she was better so their invitation is back on (today). We had been in Kitzbühl all day and they had been by several times looking for us. They didn't want to bother us in the evening (about 7 p.m.) but we insisted they come up "for a drink." We were having late dinner of tacos and were on our last drink before dinner. She had a coke and he enjoyed his first drink of American whiskey in a long time. I did not try to get out snacks as I knew they would not stay if I tried. We had a nice visit and they were able to see our decorations. We still have not made it to Italy so I will wait until our passes expire in mid-January before I re-invite them. Still have the plum pudding. Glad we were not on that train to Florence that was blown up. DoD has been dragging his feet on Italian trips, but as you know, that has not made me all that unhappy. We recently cut a planned 10 day trip including Rome back to the Verona-Florence plan. Of course, that does not mean that plans may change again on very short notice. Either tomorrow or Friday we are going to make a pickle run to Vienna. DoD read about the Christmas tree in front of the Rathaus there and it caught his fancy we will include the pickle shopping. [It was great to be able to be spontaneous for travel plans.]

Frau Mänhart called us a little before 6 p.m. Christmas Eve to tell us we should attend the ceremony at the cemetery at 6. It was very unique. It is the custom for everyone to gather at the family graves and bring little trees or evergreen branches with candles on them. Then they stand there with all these lighted trees while the band plays Christmas carols ending with "Silent Night." I think almost every one in town was there. It only lasts for 15 minutes. It was beautiful in the snow. There were only a few graves without even a candle burning, so I want to adopt one next year.

Spring Has Sprung

Gainesville

Oh my-- vibrant and creative Mom has caught the attention of the local press! Better hire yourself an agent and an assistant. This should be interesting. Maybe even spectacular, as the horoscope suggests.

I'm down to the last chapter of the last book on my previous stack; time for another visit to B&N. Also, another For Better or For Worse collection is out, so of course I have to have that immediately, and will read it first. I picked up the 2nd and 3rd Jane Austen Mysteries, Hunter Thompson's last book (Hey, Rube), a graphic novel version of Neil's Neverwhere, and, finally, volume one (of 4) of The Absolute Sandman, a huge brick of a book in a slipcover. That is part of my Christmas gift from you, Mom. Thanks!

And speaking of Christmas, the latter you transcribed today reminded me that I want to get a new slicer. What is the consensus of the group as to what's best?

Made the trek to Fresh Market. To my despair, the Magic Olives were no longer there! Two other Morea types, but not the pimento ones. Woe! Misery! Next time I'm in there, if they still aren't there, I need to buttonhole someone and beg them to order some more. My main mission there was to pick up some salmon for dinner tonight (some wonderful wild coho, not even that expensive) but also picked up some huge beautiful avocados, a wondrous loaf of olive bread, and the most amazing radishes I've ever tasted that weren't straight out of a garden-- a mixed clump of what they called "Easter Egg" with the tops and roots still on them-- red, white and pink. Heavenly! Bill doesn't like radishes, so they're mine, all mine...

Shopping sucked most of the time and energy out of the day, so no decluttering got done. I fixed the salmon by salting and broiling it, then putting orange slices, sliced scallions and cracked pepper on top and broiling for another minute. Simple, but quite good. Had the cuke-sour cream salad (with some good chives from FM) and some sushi from FM which I thought was way superior to Publix's, but Bill said he couldn't tell the difference. He did note how good the salmon was, though.

Tomorrow I go into work to get started on the comics. Would probably be a good idea to get a decent amount of sleep, so I will cut this short. Equinoctal Greetings to One and All...

And to all, a good 12 hour night.

20.III.07 - MoM

Happy Vernal Equinox!

Currently, I am happy with each day closer to spring and the bulbs and flowers. I am not sure what I am getting into, but today I got a couple of my flower "notes" ready to mail to the girl [Sandy interposes: the "girl" is one of the main newspaper reporters for the RF Journal] I met at the Woods' who was so interested in seeing them. I called her to check the address and she was delighted that I was going to be in contact. She said that she had been telling her boss about me this morning and suggesting doing an article. WHAT AM I LETTING MYSELF IN FOR!

Since the horoscopes are on the comics page, I usually give them a quick glance and forget it. However, after the Woods' party, my unexpected appearance there and my conversation with Pat Hunter, I decided to clip and save it. It's strange: "Your plans are revised because you're adjusting to circumstances beyond your control. While this sudden shift may be frustrating and could inconvenience you temporarily, the end results will be spectacular."

Only 3 BEBugs today and it was hot out there so I didn't even bother to suck them up. Saw none in the kitchen or the rest of the house either.

I was able to eat breakfast at my desk but did not watch TV to the left, just had it on for sound. Turning my head to the left is still painful. Now that I know I need to avoid that, it was a less painful day.

I'm really impressed with your FL progress, Suzy! It is inspiring me to make an effort to spend some 15 minute stints on my bedroom and closet!

Trying for early to bed tonight, for a change.

* * * * *

Tonight is another letter to Sandy and Bob, from 30.XII.84 -- evidently the day I finally mailed the letter.

Dear Sandy and Bob,

Really beginning to wonder how much time I save using this thing to write my letters. I spend so much time editing them till they say what I really want to instead of batting them out any old way. Try to write one, then I patch it for several other letters. But I am getting faster with it. I did spend a lot of time on a long letter to the Fendrichs as they wanted some information about trains, sightseeing, etc. They were over for the first time last September but with an American Express Tour. Some of the stuff can be used for some other people who are asking for information. Kenny Maas is just waiting to make her plans when I write and tell her we are free. Right now Suzy is holding up things. Have Bob's "window" penciled in for mid-April. We are looking forward to seeing him.

We had a good Christmas yesterday and due to a 6" snow and several other little ones during the past week, it was white. We have had colder weather than we had last year in Switzerland, thank goodness. Nothing like yours, but we are staying pretty consistently below freezing day and night. Lowest so far is 8 F. Things look pretty as we have much fog that freezes on the trees (and sidewalks). I love having my own room as I can have the windows open and the room is in the low 30's. DoD only has a crack of air and his room seems so hot and stuffy. He moved his bed to the other side of the room a couple of days ago. He loves to move furniture. It looks good.

The present department included an electric slicer, much the same design as the one we left behind; a nice barometer and thermometer in a glass case for placing on a table. Looks great on the bookcase in DoD's room. We had saved the tableware we bought in Vienna at the start of our trip for a Christmas present. We are going to get another set (6) so we don't have to have such mixed messes of silver when we only run the dishwasher about every other day. Then, when we were in Innsbrück last week I began to look for a Robert Coupe. Could not find that, but did find a Krupp with the same design of blades and works so bought it. What a blessing it is for me. My chest and back problems are getting worse all the time and the painful time is using my arms in the kitchen. I wear the 2" funny platform shoes I have, but the cramps are almost unbearable at times. Have tried taking arthritis medicine (Clinerol), calcium tablets, Valium, etc., but not much help. A couple of Tylenols and martinis at night seem to help a little, but can't do that all day. So being able to cut down the cutting and chopping time is wonderful. I could just fix plain food but do enjoy the cooking and now enjoy making cookies, fruit breads and want to do so many more things. One of these days I am going to have to break down and have it checked further by a doctor. Luckily using the Apple does not bother it as I can keep my arms close and in one place.

The Stir Fry Connection

Gainesville

FlyLady would be proud of me: I did 15 minutes in this week's Zone (the Master Bathroom), 15 minutes clearing part of another Pantry shelf (tossing another heavy bag of old stuff), and set Scooba loose in the kitchen. In addition to the usual routines, of course.

And I even played my keyboard for a few minutes-- although it took me many more minutes to figure out where to plug it in, and more still to get it reset to play normally-- the cat has apparently walked on it a few times and left some bizarre settings. I played the easy version of "The Rainbow Connection," one of the few things I can still sit down and play at once, and that I truly love.

Made a nice ad lib stir fry from an all but untouched 9 oz Outback steak from Thursday (it was too rare even for me, and I wasn't hungry anyway) using a bag of pre-fab stir fry mix (broccoli, snow peas, shredded carrots and broccoli), some onion slices, a leftover portabella mushroom cap diced, and the usual minced garlic, ginger and jalapeno. Over cauli-rice, of course.

I emailed my proposal for volunteer work with the comics to the people involved, and it looks like a go. May be a bit bumpy at the start, though. There is talk about paying me, but I do not want to get into that situation just yet. There are all kinds of rules during the first year about going back to work-- worst case, it could void the DROP retirement payments. Besides, I want the freedom to work when and if I feel like it.

Also, it looks like the final retirement hassle has been cleared up: my sick leave payout has finally been deposited to the right place. It has taken just under six months to get this straightened out. I need to send Tina, the woman in Library Personnel who bird dogged this through, some flowers or something.

Not much chance to read today, so I'm going to go and do some of that now.

19.III.07 - MoM

LAST Night of Winter!

I really wanted to accomplish a lot today, but spent most of the day in my recliner as my neck doesn't give me fits when I sit there. At breakfast at my desk, it was only minutes until the pain began, so I had to take my cookies and tea to my chair. I also had the rest of the shrimp dip and chips while enjoying my Monday's NYT easy x-word. That is just challenging enough for me. I only had to check 2 things with Google.

I am delighted with the results of my bug purge last week. There were only about 15 BEBugs -- hardly enough to make it worth while to take the "snood" off the vacuum hose. I was able to enjoy a couple of short naps in Lafuma. With the door glass panes open and the shades pulled against the sun, the temp was perfect for napping. There is no neck pain in that chair, either. Thank goodness, it doesn't bother me in bed either. Enough complaining.

I realized this morning that when I was walking without the walker that I sometimes was favoring my bad leg causing me the limp around and that perhaps it was becoming a habit. So, I told myself I may be old, but there is no reason to hobble like I am. I found it didn't hurt that more when I made the effort to walk normally. This is my new crusade.

Will be having some more of the rotiss chicken, another potato ball, and the V-8 veggie substitute. Perhaps, I'll get out some freezer broccoli or peas, if not tonight, soon..

* * * * *

This is a continuation of a letter I wrote to Sandy and Bob in Dec of 1984 from Saalfelden, Austria.

In the same mail was a note from Albert Pico, that Treedy has been in the hospital for several weeks with a variety of problems and would soon be transferred to a convalescent hospital. The note was written Dec. 3. [At that time she had a beautiful apartment in Riverside and Fina was taking care of her. Later, Al got a house for Tweedy and her sister Ruth in Lompoc where he lived. Fina had "retired" back to Mexico.]

Have my addresses all on FILE now, and enough information that I could almost make an FBI report from them. Started a recipe file today that will be mostly for where to find the recipes and what ingredients are needed. Can put the recipe on too, where necessary. Have done a little work on the examples on REPORT but need more time to work that out. DoD says he will welcome any suggested uses for either. We ordered 3 of the solutions things, but as you know it may take a long time to get them. When I take the keyboard in about the "a - y" problem, I am going to see if they can adjust the space bar, too. Forget if I told you that the little switch by the 80-40 column one is to change the keyboard to American and the symbols are not at all in the same place so they gave me a little sheet that tells where they are. To follow the programs will make this switch necessary. So - I can't be hitting the y accidentally for the a as that is really the z key as it is really underneath it all an American board. Wow -- what a sentence that is.

Finely used up all of the parsley from the freezer, and the dill we put in went into pickles last week that are not too bad a substitute until I can get back to Vienna. They have been working for a week so will take them out tomorrow and put them in a jar.

It is snowing on Pa's Gang [Leogang - some nearby mountains] and seems to be moving this way. Last time I looked it was about 36 F but could drop, I hope. Also, snowing on the other mountains around us. (What did come in was cold rain and 36 F all night.)

DoD says that the high point for him of our travels was the landing beaches and the museum. He is rereading his Time-Life World War II books with the map he got on the trip beside him and enjoying it so much more. I got good slides of the maps in the Memorial and the one at the the beach. Also, a good one of the roses. And, have some of the "stones." As usual, have plenty of hotel pictures, but they will go into the information on the hotel FILE I am setting up. I plan to use it for friends that want info about places over here. Jan and Bill Fendrich are planning a trip in April and are looking for $50-70 range near the station. Could help in a few of the smaller places, but they are thinking of the larger cities in Germany and Austria. We will try to get them to stay for a night at least. Does Bob have a "window" for his time over here yet? I am still trying to hear anything at all from Suzy. From the letter we got from Chris with a small packet of mail this week, I know she is still around.

NEXT MORNING -- 6:00 a.m. (11.XII.84) Yesterday DoD moved the bed in "das Büro" back to the corner to give him more room around his desk. This morning when I went out to dust, I remembered the lost earring, looked on the floor about where the front of the bed had been and there was the poor little mashed thing. It looks repairable, but I will send it to you as is and let you get a local person to repair it as you probably know the jewelers there better than I know the ones here. (Time out to finish housework)

Well, DoD just finished his breakfast (he was still asleep at 7) and now has just informed me that he wants time on the Apple to study some on FILE. This is more than long enough. Happy Holidays, and THANKS for sending People.

Book Got Me

Gainesville

No post from me last night because I could not make myself put down the book I'm reading, Will in the World, a new biography of Shakespeare. It's a wonderfully written and thought-out book, and it's been a best seller, but it is especially fascinating to me because of all the time I put into trying to understand the Shakespeare allusions in The Sandman. I stayed up til 3:30 AM last night reading it! Now that is bad craziness. I'm about 3/4 through with it now. Spent too much of reading it yesterday, too. Also picked up the Thursday crossword I'd done a little bit of on Friday, and got it almost done! Persistence pays off-- once I solved the main clue, "oxymoron." Still have about 10 letters unsolved.

Last night I fixed the meal I had planned for Wednesday: a quick saute of sliced Kielbasa, onions, and Brussels sprouts put through the Cuisinart slicer. Brainlessly easy and surprisingly good. Had grilled (in the grill pan) eggplant slices with.

Got the fridge partly cleaned out yesterday, and finished it today, then out for a late shop. Tonight we had an old fave, leftover pork roast cubed and briefly sauteed in a tangy sauce. Spozed to be served over french rolls, but we skip that part. Baked turnip fries and fruit salad as sides.

Got sheets and towels changed and laundered. Good Suze.

Part 1 of season three finale of BSG tonight. Ooooo-weeee! I don't understand how this show can be so gripping and so GOOD for so long. Feels like I just watched 5 great movies back-to-back, they pack so much into 42 minutes. Yowza! When I get done here I'm going to go watch it again.

I don't remember hearing about the Searing car theft. How awful. But still, subsequently living through a major earthquake and that horrendous wildfire makes that adventure look pretty tame in comparison.

Hope you neck feels better soon, Mom. I occasionally get things like that, and sometimes they last for days. I've been having less trouble with that lately since I gave up sleeping on two pillows. One ultra-soft feather pillow seems to work best; though it's harder to fall asleep on it, the results in the morning are worth it.

It has been COLD the past few days-- unusual for this time of year. Highs barely making it out of the 60's, lows in the 40's. Pretty strange to have the heat coming on this late in the year. But crystal clear and beautiful sunny days. Some more of these, please, before the steam bath descends.