Catch-Up

Today, I am grateful that I am an Easter person.  

I live on the other side of Easter.

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I am sure to offend someone.  I don't wish too.  I do not wear a crucifix around my neck.  Karen and I were discussing this the other day.  Karen, a strong Methodist who converted to Catholicism and is a strong Catholic.  She sometimes wears a crucifix and sometimes just a plain cross around her neck.

She said, "It is to remind us of what torture Jesus went through to save us."

"Okay...but why concentrate on that?  Jesus isn't still hanging dead on that cross.  He is risen and alive.  The cross is empty.  The grave and death couldn't hold him and it can't hold us."

That is the reason Protestant churches have "empty" crosses.  That is why I wear an "empty" cross--well, mine does have a dove on it--representing the Holy Spirit---I suppose.  

So I told Karen, "I am an Easter person.  I concentrate on Easter and what happened that day and after.  I don't concentrate on what happened for a few hours on that terrible day."

"Well, Mom...I do too."

A difference of opinion?  A difference in denominational beliefs?  No big deal.

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I have been busy!!  Thursday I went to hometown Byron to have lunch with the Old School Gal Pals--we tried the new deli.  Small, but they do have a couple of long tables.  I had the Italian Wrap and it was better than the Italian Sub-Way that I like.  We laughed and giggled and it was very fun.

Then out to the cemetery to visit Fred and my ancestor's, then to The Farm to visit Lil' Sis.  We played a game of UpWords and our Mother's favorite ForeSite.  Both word games.  We usually are pretty close in scores, and I always win, but this time she beat me and you could see the "AHA" niggle of a smile on her face.

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Friday, I started the work on my dingy, old lampshade for the hanging light in my kitchen--which I never turn on, but...the shade was driving me nutz!

As you can see, it has a special hanging thingie on the top.  I have not been able to find a replacement shade, so I decided to paint it with latex paint.  Yes, I said, paint it.

No, the paint did not make the fabric stiff.

(Note: slippers and sox on kitchen table.  I am such a slob.)

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I was so excited on Friday because Michigan State was playing in the NCAA basketball tournament and I was already.  I had my snack's on my plate for lunch and settled in.

I checked my "bracket" to see what channel the game was going to be televised on.

WHAT THE WHAT?

I have four hundred and fifty million channels on my cable package, however I do not have TRUtv, which is the channel the game was going to be on. 

Why would they not show it on a local channel in this area?  Considering MSU is in this area?

Not to be undaunted, I just turned on the local CBS channel and watched the Indiana game so that I could watch the "ticker" at the top of the screen that was keeping track of MSU v Georgia score.  HAH!  We won and I will be able to watch tomorrow when it is on TBS..or is it TNT?  No matter, I get both of those channels.

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Then Dar came over!!!  Her first day back at work since her 3-day diarrhea incident.

She was all charged up and flying high.  She is soooo tiring!!  She wears me out just listening to her because she talks fast, jumps from topic to topic and throws in people's names that I do not know.  I guess she assumes I know who Greg is?

"Wait--who's Greg?

"My nephew.  You know that."

<ah, no I don't.  Never heard of him>

Apparently her estranged daughter is coming for a visit next Saturday and bringing two of the grandchildren with her.

"Where are they staying?"

"Not at my house!" Dar exclaims.

"Where are you going to see them?"

"At the restaurant up the road."

"But...that's only a half mile away.  Won't they want to stop in and see your house...especially the grand kids?"

"I don't care.  They are not getting in.  Connie might get in and then declare residency and kick me out!"

"How in this world are you going to consider a reconciliation if you start out with this defeatist attitude?"

"It's up to her to apologize!"

"Well, it's going to be difficult to get into any meaningful conversation in a restaurant."

"Well, that's the way it's going to be."

<sigh>

"Have you heard anything from Jeff?  Did he go back to rehab?"

"I don't know and do not care.  He isn't bothering me anymore..that's all I know."

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GEEZ LOUISE!!

Heavenly Sunshine, Heavenly Sunshine, filling my soul with Glory divine.....................

Today, I am grateful for Minions

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I woke up at 7:45!!  Felt great--although my joints were a bit stiff, but that is normal.

At 9:30, Pammie called me to tell me she was "taking Consumers Energy for a ride!"  She signed up with their service plan on her furnace and water heater in December.  She had them come out to fix her furnace in January--it needed a new circuit board= $400.00.  Today, they came out to fix the inductor/capacitor = $350.00.  The service plan costs about $140.00 for a year, so it has already paid for itself 5 times over.  She and I just chuckled about it.  

"Thanks for telling me about the plan, Momma."

"Your welcome Sweetie.  As long as you don't get a hole in the fire box, you can get new parts on that thing and it will last forever!"

We yukked it up and laughed a lot.  I love that girl!!
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Then I jumped into my clothes and trotted up to Pearl's.  Thirty degrees this morning--it was a bit breezy and cold with only my sweatshirt on.

I handed Pearl her "script" for when she calls Comcast.  I have to write out a script for her to know what to say when she calls them or the computer repair place or she gets confused and just hangs up mid-way through the conversation.  Of course, it doesn't help that the Comcast people all speak with an East Indian dialect.  

Then, I asked her if she'd would come into the kitchen and I started off with:

"I got to thinking about your Crock-Pot last night after I got home.  I think I know the problem."

"What!  Tell me."

"This dang thing is so fancy--it's another fancy-schmancy electronic device that drives us crazy.  See here?  It has two, four and six hour times on it.  See?"

"Yes.  I put it on high for six hours, but it didn't really start cooking until three hours.  You know--cooking when you can here the top dancing?"

"I think those timed settings mean that it is how long it will cook before it is ready to eat.  You put the corned beef in at two and hit the six hour button--which means it wouldn't be done for six hours or at eight o'clock.  It cooks real slow for a couple of hours and then kicks in and cooks hotter and faster."

"Oh...you're saying if I wanted to eat at six, I'd put the stuff in at two and hit the four hour button?"

"Yeah.  I'm pretty sure."

"No wonder the corned beef was tough and raw!  This damn thing is just like my computer!  It's more than my brain can handle.  I just don't get how these electronic devices work!"

"I know.  Everything today just seems so complicated...not easy like the things we used to use.  My Crock-Pot has low and high--that's it.  Pretty simple."

"Well, my daughter thinks I need all this new fancy stuff--like that lap-top and smart phone she got me.  I never could figure out how to work them and she just got mad at me when I gave them back.  She got me this Crock-Pot.  I should have just cooked it all in the oven--I know how that works!"

...and we both chuckled.

At least she wasn't mad or upset with me showing her--I wondered if I should say anything at all about it, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but on the other hand, I didn't want to be invited up for roast beef dinner and have to eat raw and tough meat again!!  HAH!!
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The last week or so, I have been working on the completion and editing of my How To book.  It's pretty good actually--helpful and humorous.  I don't have any idea if there is a market for it, but I can always give a copy to my girls and friends and the like.
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I did manage to get up to Wal-Mart this afternoon and got some hamburger and cabbage to make Crock-Pot cabbage rolls.  I also got a nice supply of Diet Pepsi at $1.00 a jug AND I got a small can of white latex paint.

Did you know you can paint fabric and upholstery with latex paint?  Me neither!  They have You-Tube videos on how to do it and blogs of different people who have changed out an old, stained covered chair with latex paint.

I have a hanging lamp over my kitchen table.  It has a shade purposefully made for that lamp and I cannot find a replacement anywhere, including on-line.  The white shade is of course, after 17 years, rather golden from the smoke and cooking.  I have been hitting it with 409 and washing it down in the shower for years, but............so..............this latex paint says, "for any surface" and I am going to paint that puppy and see what happens.  Got nothing to lose, right?

I almost succumbed to purchasing a pretty bookay of spring flowers--Lilies and roses and a few of those "painted" flowers, but at $15.00, I figured--no way!  I miss getting bouquets like I did when Freddie was here.  He'd bring back a bunch every month for me.
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I got home and unloaded and noticed that Dar's car was parked and hadn't moved in two days and I knew, she was supposed to be working.  I sat down to rest up from the unloading groceries and called her.

"Hello?"

"You sound weak, are you okay?"

"I've got some sort of stomach bug.  I've had diarrhea for over twenty-four hours!"

"Well, I noticed that you hadn't been out since early yesterday morning, so I thought I'd better call to see if you were dead."

"Not yet, but it might be soon.  I think I might have to go to the ER if it doesn't stop."

"What are you taking for it?"

"I had Shelia get me some water and Ammodium on her way home.  She got the liquid Ammodium--God it tastes terrible!"

"Is it helping?"

"No.  I've taken the maximum amount and nothing.  Too bad this didn't wait until the twenty-ninth when I have to prep for my colonoscopy."

"Are you dehydrated?"

"No--I'm drinking tea and water."

"You might need some Gatorade to replace your potassium--your electrolytes."

"I never thought of that.  I'll call Judy L. and have her stop and bring some home for me."

"Okay--let me know if you need anything."
<me who had just been to Wal-Mart and could have picked up some for her there.  I should have called before I left>

On the one hand, I should have gotten back in my car and ran up to the store to get her some Gatorade.  On the other hand, I'm so grateful she has other minions to help so I don't get near her germy self.

I truly am not a very nice person!

  

Mid-Month

Today, I am grateful that March is half over.

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Sunday--March 15th--Beware the Ides of March.  The 45th anniversary of my Mother's death, at age 53.

Monday--March 16th--the 77th anniversary of my parents wedding day.

Today--March 17th, and all I can say is:

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A mid-afternoon snack.  Delicious!!

At 4:00, Pearl called me and wanted to know if I wanted to come up for supper with them at 5:30.  "SURE!" and up I walked.

She had put the corned beef into the Crock-Pot at 2:00 and set the timer to cook 6 hours.  She wondered why 3 1/2 hours later, it was still tough and raw.  I didn't want to tell her that she didn't understand her Crock-Pot, so we had delicious cooked cabbage, potatoes, carrots and Italian bread sticks with garlic butter.  Corned Beef perhaps tomorrow?

I love her!

Mundane Monday

Today, I am so grateful for mostly sunny and 68 degrees.

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Sally, yes I watched the game between Michigan STATE and Maryland--exciting.  As was the title game on Sunday,, but we lost to Wisconsin in Over Time, which is okay because I also like Wisconsin and we weren't even supposed to come close to beating them..

Now--I have to give you a gentle lesson--when speaking of Michigan State you do not call them just "Michigan".  Michigan is that other university south-east of here that we Michigan State fans hate. :-)  Kind of like the difference between Florida State and Florida.  Got it?
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Marla & Judi--Wish I had purchased a few shares of Amazon stock  when it first went public.  By the amount of things I purchase from them, and the huge stock increase, we'd both be rich!!!!!
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Jean & J.B.--I thought of using a screwdriver, but the letter opener was nearby--and yes, one of the clips flew off and just missed my forehead--I had my glasses on.  J.B.--it is part of the beach cottage thing I have tried to incorporate in this Michigan wee home.  I have quite a bit of bead board also, and painted furniture and a couple of oil paintings from the Outer Banks of NC.
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Jan--thanks.  I wish now it was twice the size. :-)
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Laundry today and a bit of clean up.  It is not advisable to walk out on the lawn and back to look in the shed in only your slip-on low moccasins.  The ground may be free of snow, but very, very soggy.

Dar came over for a half-hour at 4:00--she left at 6:00.  As usual, it was all about her.  I asked her to look at my new picture, she glanced that way, but did not comment.  She keeps telling me how alike we are.  Lordy--Lordy, I sure hope not!!!

And the highlight of my day:

Skippy Chippy came out of hibernation to start the clean-up under the bird feeders.

Isn't he precious?

Satisfaction

I have a beautiful photo I purchased.  I wanted it matted and framed.

Michael's wanted $100.00 to do it for me, BUT, they didn't have the narrow silver metal frame I wanted.

JoAnn's was a bust too.

So--I ordered a double mat from Matboard.com--they are located in New Mexico and even called me to make sure they had the dimensions correct.  Great customer service.

Got the mat--loved it.

Looked all over this area, no 12 x 16" narrow, silver metal frame.  So--ordered a perfect one from Amazon.  It arrived--perfect.  However the hanging wire that was supposed to be included was missing AND I could not figure out how to get the sawtooth spring clips off the back of the frame.  The instruction book, that was supposed to be included, also missing.

Pretty simple.  Right?  Push down on the spring clip and slide toward the center of the backing.  Unfortunately, I have no strength in my thumbs--or, if I managed to get it pushed down, I could not slide it out at the same time.

I jumped on-line with Amazon Customer Service and explained about the missing parts and how to get the clips out.

I got this message back from them.

"Hello, I'm sorry to know about the problem you've with the "Timeless Frames Metal Wall Photo Frame, 12 by 16-Inch, Silver". That's something we don't want our customers to experience. I've forwarded this issue to the appropriate department in the company. Each report they receive is investigated and the appropriate action is taken. We take this kind of information very seriously as it is valuable to us so that we can make sure this doesn't happen again. Given the situation, I'm not sure how you'd like me to proceed, so I'd like to offer the following options for you: 1. If you're interested in keeping the item, I'd like to offer you a partial refund of $6.79 which is 40% off the item price or; 2. If you want we can replace the entire item with upgraded One Day Shipping at no additional cost or; 3. If you want you can return the item for free and get a full refund. Please visit the following link to provide the information we requested:" I responded that I thought $6.75 was too much of a refund just for the hanging wire and that I didn't want to return the item and thanked them. An hour later, I got this message from them: Hello, Thank you for letting us know that you want to keep this item for a refund. In this case, there's no need to return the item for us to issue a refund. You're welcome to keep, donate or dispose of it--whichever option is most appropriate and convenient for you. I've requested a refund for $24.74, which includes the cost of the item and any shipping costs. You'll see the refund within the next 2-3 business days. Once processed, you'll also be able to see the refund here" So, I got the entire price of the frame plus shipping credited back to my Debit card.  WOW-- ================================================= : Now all I had to do was figure out how to get those clips off the frame so I could get the backing off. Got the letter opener.  Stuck the tip at the outer edge of the spring clip, nearest the backing, pushed down on the clip as hard as I could and pressed the tip of the letter opener against the frame and push/slid it out. I had to stop every second clip to rest my thumbs, but I "got 'er done"! I am very happy with my little vignette.

Happy

Today, I am grateful that Tulip noses are poking through the cold, damp soil where some snow has melted.

Yes, Virginia, there will be spring!

Okay--I want to apologize for that last post when the words were banded with White.  I tried everything to go back and change it, but I guess I don't have enough knowledge to figure it out.  I did manage to get Feedjit back on my side-bar, although it took me five times.  Wasn't I just bragging the other day about my computer expertise?  PRIDE GOETH BEFORE THE FALL!!
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Very quiet today.  I have spent an inordinate time watching the Big Ten Basketball Tournament on TV.  Crocheting slippers and puttzing around.

A photo of my "healthy" lunch:

I saw healthy because I had meat, grain, dairy and veggies.  HAH!!  I do love Summer Sausage, cheese and cracker sandwiches.


TBT:  My wonderful parents by marriage, Paul and Arlene Miller and my kids

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Wacky Day

Today, I am so very grateful for beautiful spring weather and a new crown.

I got rid of Feedjit--did you notice.  East Orange, New Jersey was driving me nutz!  You cannot convince me that IT was a real person--not with it being on several blogs--open at the EXACT SAME TIME.  On mine for 2 secs and on another's at 3 secs, and another's at 6 secs?  That is just impossible!  I cannot be on your blog and another's blog at the same time.  So--I removed it from my side-bar--such power I have.  I will either find another thingie like it or I will put it back on--later.

I had spring fever today!!  It just jumped up and grabbed me and I was smiling all day and totally twitterpated!  The snow is gone from part of my front garden and little Tulip noses are through the ground!!

I drove up to Howell and got my permanent crown glued on.  It is so pretty white--two of them right in a row.  One of these days, I am going to eat popcorn and just crunch the heck out of it--three crowns above these two bottom ones, so I have no fear of breaking a tooth!!!!!  I am practically royal!!  Actually, my teeth are probably the most expensive thing I own!  LOL

Reminds me of Fred.  He had all his teeth pulled and brand new dentures--6 months before he died.  At least he went to Heaven with a gorgeous set of chompers!!  Actually, the mortician asked me if I wanted the dentures.  I looked at him like he was nutz!  I continued to pay for them for 3 more years.  I should have taken them and tried to return them and see if I could have gotten part of the $$$ back? (You do know I have humour noir when it comes to funerals and that sort of thing, right?)

I stopped at the tire store and had them check the pressure and air up my tires. I told the kid, it was spring and time to get into some drag racing, so I needed to make sure the "rubber met the road." He looked at and said, "I wouldn't put it past ya." and he doesn't even know me--and realize that what I said is true. or was true. or still could be true, depending on my mood.

Then I stopped at Wally World to pick up some Diet Pepsi and got a bit astray. PEEPS--two boxes of the wonderfully sweet, marshmallow chicks. Do you know they make green Peeps? YUCK! It has to be yellow chicks and white rabbits--I am into realism! (No--I'm not!)

4:00--Came home, carried in the groceries and sat down--Dar walked in. Egads and little fish hooks!!

"Why are there bags of groceries all over. There is no place to sit," she said and then laughed her horsey, Three Stooges kind of laugh.

"I just got home. You wanna sit down, put away the groceries."

and she did! HAH

Well-she was on hyper-manic mode and just had to tell me that she has had an epiphany and, she doesn't want to be anywhere near her children, so....she is going to move to Arizona!!

"That's a great idea!" I said. "You will love living in a warm all year climate!"

She went on and told me how her plan is going to come to fruition and yak a yak a yak-----then Pearl walked in.

Pearl hasn't been able to walk down here for five months! I was so glad to see her. She sat and we both listened to Dar's Dissertation--I was hoping there wouldn't be questions later because I was having a hard time understanding, then finally she said, "Oh I just keep jumping from topic to topic!"

Pearl: "I noticed that. I wasn't quite able to keep up with you and I thought it is just because my brain is slow today."

Dar: "No--I'm just all excited today. Jesus told me last night what I'm supposed to do and, because He told me, I know it is what I am supposed to do."

"That's so great." I said.

Pearl: "What did the Lord tell you?"

Dar: "I'm selling the house and moving to Arizona--hopefully this coming fall!"

Pearl: "I thought your daughter owned the house."

Dar: "Her name is on the title, but I am seeing an attorney this week and we are going to figure out how to get her off it and....."

Pearl: "That is going to cost you a pretty penny."

Dar: "Not with my connections!"  
<Three Stooges nuck, nuck laugh.>

She finally left at 6:00.

Pearl: "Lordy! That woman--everything in life is all about her, isn't it?"

I nod.

Pearl: "When I came in, I almost turned around and left! She didn't even ask how I'd had been--nothing."

"She wasn't over here to inquire on anyone else's life. She wasn't here to converse. She was just here to tell me her news, so...I just basically sat here and listened."

Pearl and I had a nice chat and since I didn't have to put away my groceries (LOL), I wasn't in any hurry. At 7:00 I realized what time it was and that I hadn't eaten a thing all day.

Just about then it was starting to get dim outside, so Pearl toddled back home--using her walker so she can walk pretty good. I stood out in my driveway and watched until she got home, up her drive and into her house okay.

I had warmed up Goulash for supper--nom, nom.