Happy, Little, Time Wasters

 

Ode To Joy

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Himself's birthday dinner courtesy of Outback

2. I saved some of the coconut shrimp and salad from dinner and had it for an awesome lunch.

3. While Roy was out gardening, I watched Remarkably Bright Creatures starring Sally Field.

4. We went out to dinner after my class and got home before the thunderstorm hit

5. Another weekly visit with Teague and not so cold that we couldn't enjoy our visit in her sunroom

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

  In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Just Say No

Usually children pit one parent against the other. If the child wants something and one parent says "no", the child goes to the other parent to try to get his way. At odd times while dealing with my weebles, I have become the parent.

Ma had a stack of letters to be mailed. There must have been a dozen or more. All were being sent to some sort of contest, psychic, or bogus charity. No doubt each envelope contained a check for a small amount, $5 or $10. A dozen letters and this was just one days' mailing.

She asked me to stop at the post office downtown on the way to the doctor's office. I said no. If these were bills to the electric company or property taxes, I would have stopped. (Well, in all honesty, not without a bit of whining. I hate driving downtown.) I thought "no" would be the end of it, but I should have known better.

A short time later, Dad approached me.

"Mother has some letters she needs to mail. She needs you to stop at the post office on the way to the doctor's office."

"Mother" when he's in the "I'm the Father you will do as I say" mode.

I would have used a very common, Bostonian expression, but it isn't politically correct, not that it ever was. I will substitute. What are you on, crack? She just asked me, and I said 'no'. I'm not going to enable her. She's only sending out things to the scammers. She can put the letters in the mailbox for your letter carrier to pick up. Though you should take them, tear them up, and throw them away." End of discussion, though I should have known better.

"She says you always do things for me and not for her." There was a note of glee in Dad's voice.

"Well, you can abuse of her of that notion. I just shot you down too. You can also remind her, she did not push her walker the two miles to the emergency room, or the eleven miles to Market Basket, the twenty doctor's appointments or the million other shuttle runs where my Toonerville Trolley takes her."

Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother. Easier carved in stone than done. Help me, Lord, I'm trying. There should be a corollary to that rule. Except when they are doing something stupid like flushing their income down the commode. Than thou shalt just say 'no'

Doodling for Stress Reduction

 

On Mondays via Zoom, I participate in a class where we spend a half an hour doodling our stress away. 

The suggestion for the class was to draw a border.  Inside the border to draw arches. In the arches to draw some lines, and then to doodle inside the arch. I used circles or bubbles and then colored in the larger circles.

T Stands for Mother's Day Dinner

 

Himself asked me what I wanted or where I wanted to go for Mother's Day dinner. I wasn't sure of what I wanted, but I knew where. I don't like going out to eat on holidays, even the Hallmark holidays. Places are crowded, busy, and you're rushed through your meal. Nope, not me. I wanted a leisurely dinner at home.

Then I read BioArt Gal's blog where she said her and her hubby had gone to Pop's Clam Shell and they got a Fisherman's Platter. I blame her because all I could think of was fried clams.

Pop's is too far from me so I had to be satisfied with Harry's where fried food is considered a food group. 

We did a buy and fly on Saturday. The parking lot was almost full when we pulled in to pick up our order. I guess others had the same idea of beating the crowd.  I ordered the Big Belly Plate, clam chowder, and a Raspberry Lime Rickey.

The Eldest was off for Mother's Day weekend so we had a nice, leisurely dinner. She had fish and chips, along with lobster bisque. Himself had the lobster bisque, a scallop plate, and a coffee frappe (what the rest of the world calls a shake)

I only eat half of what I order in a restaurant so I had leftovers and no cooking on Sunday. A perfect day.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

 

and me finished the length statistic for the baby gift.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

New birdfeeder pole and feeders and Himself's birthday spinner

Sweet potatoes seem to be  a dud. (left) White potatoes ( right) growing full steam ahead.

Beets in the front and broccoli behind

Peas or maybe beans. Some sort of climbing green thing

Blueberry flowers

Hanging Fuschia

A pansy all by it's lone.

Snowball bushes getting ready to avalance

The Farm

Iris with Ink in his garden. Ink needs a new coat of paint.

Violets and Lily of the Valley

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Wasters

 

5 more minutes of fun - try my 3x3 model for collage! 

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Everything was going well with the new phone except I couldn't get an Outlook email address to work. After finding out about MS Authenticator, I finally got it working. I was insufferably pleased with myself all day

2. The Eldest treated me to an Earl Grey latte and a scone

3. A trip to the Apple store to trade in my old phone. Apple gave me a much better price for it than Visible did.

4. While out and about I met an acquaintance I hadn't seen in a while.  We had a nice chat.

5. I had an eye doctor appointment. No changes to vision so no new prescription. Yay!

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

  In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

The Amazing Carnac

Tea. A calming ritual. No matter how hectic or frazzled a day, the fragrance and heat of tea drains the tension. I don’t know how many cups of tea I’ve shared with Ma around the kitchen table. We’ve sipped tea since I was a teen. Himself’s mother used to be a part of the klatsch. We would laugh, gossip, share recipes, and the older women would impart bits of wisdom to me. Thou shalt do it this way.

With cups of tea in front of us, Ma always seems to be more like her old self. Opinionated, but good natured. We were having a cup of tea after the visit to the orthopedist. I took a sip from my favorite blue cup.

“Oh, we could have used you yesterday,” she said.

“What was yesterday?”

“Roche Brothers had Pastene tomatoes on sale for 77 cents.”

I could hear the good nature of the statement. Seventy seven cents must be a good price for a can of tomatoes. And behind the statement, the opinion that I had neglected my filial duty. I tried not to roll my eyes and looked in the bottom of my tea cup. Sadly, we use tea bags, there were no tea leaves to read. “Kreskin might be able to bend spoons with his mind, but I haven’t perfected mind reading just like you haven’t perfected mind control. Thank, God,” I thought and I bit back the sarcasm. So I pictured the Amazing Carnac holding the envelope to his forehead.

“Oh, wow,” I said.

And the question is, what do you say when you hear you should have called your mother the day before?

Heigh-oh!

Doodling for Stress Reduction

 

On Mondays via Zoom, I participate in a class where we spend a half an hour doodling our stress away. 

The suggestion for the class was to draw a border.  Inside the border to divide the paper with a zig zag and then to doodle in triangle spaces.

We are always free to do our own thing. I saw pennants and then wrote some aspirations.

T Stands for Grandpa Wasn't Wrong

 

After visiting the Apple Store, we went to Longhorn Steakhouse to grab a bit to eat. We were shown to our table and after a short amount of time our waitress arrived. Just as she was leaving with our appetizer and drinks order, an older couple came up behind me. The gentleman leaned over and said the waitress was a lovely girl. It turned out the older couple were her grandparents. As he was leaving, Grandpa said to make sure we ordered the strawberry shortcake for dessert. We wouldn't be disappointed.

When the waitress returned with our drinks. She laughed and said her grandparents had just returned from wintering in Florida. They were excited to come to the restaurant where she worked and wanted the strawberry shortcake.

She was a fun waitress, a little perky, but attentive. We had a nice dinner and then decided to take Grandpa's advice and ordered the strawberry shortcake.

I was too busy enjoying dinner and talking to Himself that I didn't take any pictures. The only picture of a beverage is the remains of the Half-Lemonade, Half Iced Tea (It wasn't called an Arnold Palmer on the menu)

The shortcake arrived and was a beautiful presentation and a lot bigger and different than we expected. It wasn't technically shortcake. There was no shortcake or biscuit. It was a 3-layer yellow cake with whipped cream, strawberry coulis, and strawberries. 

When the waitress came to ask how everything was. I told her I was surprised as I was expecting a shortcake biscuit, and her Grandpa was right. The strawberry shortcake was delicious. I also told her she needed to split her tips with Grandpa. She laughed.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

 

finished the Great-Nana panel.

Cobbler, cobbler mend my shoe 

Have it ready by half past 2

recited by

Great-Nana

Thank you all for your input last week. The Young One was the first to leave a comment on the post. So after reading her comment, I had already made up my mind how I was going to handle the attribution.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Himself said he planted in the Winged Pig planter. I asked what did he plant? He said flowers. He planted the Queen of Hearts petunia in the planter. The Winged Pig is now Petunia which is also the name of cartoon Porky Pig's girlfriend.

No Mow May has started. No mowing the lawn the month of May. Dandelions are the first food for bees and other pollinators. This gives them a chance for a food source after a long Winter.

The cardinal pair came to visit. Hi Ma! Hi Dad!. Can you see him? He's on the bottom branch of the tree in the foreground. She was on the ground and feeding while he watched over her.

Sunset

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

I Watched This Tiny Pond for 5 Minutes… and This Happened

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Himself brought home fish and chips so I didn't have to cook

2. I got my hair cut

3. While I was in the Education Office at the museum where I work, they had a basket of little dragons, I admired them and B said if I wanted one, I could take one. So I did.

4. I had issues with the phone, Chat techs were very helpful but no joy. So...

5. I now have a new phone and was surprised how quickly I was up and running

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

  In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

The Silent Meeting

The waiting room was long and narrow with a row of chairs along each wall. It reminded me of a subway car only there were no advertisements above the heads of the passengers to allow you to discreetly observe fellow travelers. A young man sat across from me. He was thoroughly absorbed in one of the dozen of sports magazines in the doctor’s waiting room. Next to him sat an elderly women with her arm supported in a sling. A woman roughly my age was sitting next to the elderly woman. We smiled politely to each other.

Ma started grousing about the wait.

I tried to count the impressions on the dentil molding and not to eavesdrop on the elderly woman and her companion. The elderly woman was complaining about the wait too.

I smiled politely to the companion. She inclined her chin towards Ma and Dad and then pointed her chin my way.

I nodded with a sheepish smile. Yup, they’re my folks.

She tipped her head towards the elderly woman sitting next to her and then rolled her eyes. This is my Ma.

We both hid our smiles. We had made a connection like Masons and the secret handshake.

Ma was called into the examination room. Dad trailed after her dragging the pockabook behind. Several minutes passed and then Ma could be heard complaining about the wait. She had to use the ladies’ room and it would serve the doctor right if she went right then and there.

I shook my head at my sympathetic companion and rolled my eyes. Help me, Lord!

She shrugged. What can you do?

A short time later, Ma’s examination was done and she pushed her walker down the hallway. More complaints about the wait. At least she seemed happy she didn’t have to wear the sling any longer.

I got up and opened the door to the lobby. I was standing next to the woman with the elderly mother. Sotto vocce, I hummed the theme to Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighbor…

The woman patted my hand. You are not alone.

Doodling for Stress Reduction

 

On Mondays via Zoom, I participate in a class where we spend a half an hour doodling our stress away. 

The suggestion for the class was to draw a border.  Inside the border to draw some organic shapes. In between the shapes to draw crescents going this way or that way.

Inside her shapes, she drew some flowers. While she was demoing the project she mentioned something about googly eyes and that got stuck in my head.

T Stands for Need Help

 

Grab your favorite beverage and let me know what you would do.

As some of you know I'm working on a baby gift for our niece. On the last panel, I've written out and illustrated a nursery rhyme my Mother-in-Law used to chant to the babies in the family.

I remember her saying the rhyme to Himself's three youngest siblings (If you didn't know, Himself and I grew up next door to each other). She also said this rhyme to the Eldest. My MIL is was too ill to say this rhyme to the Young One and she passed away when the Young One was two years old.

Anyway, I want to add her legacy to the panel, but need some help on the wording.

1. This rhyme was chanted by Mother-in-Law's name or

2. This rhyme was chanted by Great-Nana Last Name

I don't have a lot of space on the panel to put Great-Nana Full Name

Which would you choose?

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

 

finished the first panel to fit inside a 3.5 in. x 3.5in. photo cube to be given as a baby gift for our niece. This is the top of the block.

When the niece texted that her daughter had arrived, I asked for the baby's statistics. Name, birthdate, time of birth, weight, and length.

I also asked if there was a theme like teddy bears or bunnies for the baby's nursery. I was told there was no theme just the colors mauve and green.

The niece has two tuxedo cats so I decided to use them as my theme along with the color scheme.

One side down. Four more to go. 

Does Your Garden Grow?

Bi-color Narcissus

Peach blossoms

Violets

Pansies

Hardening the plants

Leaves on the Japanese Maple

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

CJ and Ink

"NASA has a website where you can type in your name and see it spelled out using real satellite images of Earth.

The tool is called Your Name in Landsat, and each letter comes from an actual landscape captured from space, rivers, mountains, coastlines, ice, deserts, and other features that naturally look like letters.

You can type in your name, your kid’s name, your partner’s name, or the name of someone you’ve lost, and see what parts of the Earth come together to spell it."

Your Name in Landsat

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. The new fleece jacket with zippers in the pockets arrived. I hate carrying a purse.

2. I bought some comfy socks for Summer

3. I made pizza, and the yeast decided to add an ingredient

4. I made the Young One's delicious sausage soup recipe

5. I finished the layout for the baby gift

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

 In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Solution

The following day after Dad's phone bill arrived, I called Dad to tell him the amount on the phone bill. He had the same reaction I did. Pissed He asked me to call the phone company to see if they would remove the charge from the bill.

"Like they did for the past two months?"

"Uh, yeah, and see if they can block the number so Ma can't call.

"I'll try."

Kelly at the phone company was very sympathetic and understanding. "I'm not allowed to credit calls to Jamaica anymore", she said. "However, I will give him a credit as if he had the International dialing plan on his service. That would bring the call to Jamaica down to 38 cents per minute instead of $4.96 per minute. That call would be $8.74 plus tax."

I thanked her and then asked if there was anyway that could prevent Ma from placing international calls. She suggested having the international plan of $4.00 per month added to the bill. As she pointed out, Ma isn't going to stop calling these scam numbers and at least the phone call would be a reasonable amount to pay instead of the $100 calls. She had a point, but I wanted to find a better solution. I asked to be connected to the fraud department to see if they could help out.

After spending the day on the phone talking to the phone company representatives, I was sharing a large glass of whine with a friend. "Other than the international calling plan, the only other thing they could suggest would be to prevent the Weebles from placing any calls where they have to dial a one before the number. Only that wouldn't be good because then if they needed me, they couldn't call me."

"I'm not seeing the downside to the problem," she said.

Himself had the same reaction.

While pacing from the kitchen to the livingroom, I came up with a solution. "I know what to do."

"Yeah, what?" Himself asked.

"I'll give Tony Soprano a call.

A Journal Page

 

playing around with ideas for a new project.

T Stands for Dietetic Pink

The Pink Panther in "Dietetic Pink"

Did you spy the beverage? 

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.

Monet and Me

 

are working on a new baby gift for our niece's new baby.

What are you working on today?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

So much for the 70° F. weather we enjoyed. It's back to Winter for us. Oh, look! The month and the first numeral of the date is a 42! I haven't posted 42s in a long time.

This week, it's all about the Visitor we had.

Can you see him/her? S/he's camouflaged pretty well. Look on the bottom branch

Here's a better shot. It's a Cooper's Hawk (I think)

Cooper Oakensitter has spent the afternoons flying to his/her bottom branch of the oak tree, flying down to the ground and to another tree in the woods before flying off. 

The Eldest planted some Sweet Williams (Dianthus). They can grow pretty tall so I hope they have enough room

42 showed up again in the time and the date is a 42 palindrome

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

How To Make An Easy Homemade Storage Organizer

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1.A dreary, rainy Sunday. Perfect for crafting

2. The Coopers hawk is back surveying his territory

3. The Young One and I had lots of laughs on our video call.

4. I made beef soup and bread. Perfect for a chilly day

5. The Eldest planted Sweet Williams along the front walk

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

 In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

September 27, 2007

The Bill

Last month after talking to customer service about Dad's phone bill, I was warned the FIOS portion of the bill would be high as the installation crossed into two billing periods. The bill arrived and the to be paid number forced the words "what the eff" up out of my throat. Something was very wrong, and if we were billed for the FIOS installation heads were going to roll as I had been assured there would be no installation fee.

I scanned the itemized section to see where the problem was. There was the $39.99 for the flat rate talk all you want all across the lower contiguous 48. Ok. There was the month and a half FIOS. I scanned further down the bill. I could hear the theme music from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho playing in the background. Ning, Ning, Ning, Ning...$114.08 plus tax for a call to Jamaica. 🤬

Himself happened by about this time. "Something wrong, Kid?"

"Is something wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong! $114.08 plus tax for a call to effing Jamaica! That's what's wrong!"

Himself choked back a laugh.

"You're not being very helpful."

"Come to Jamaica and be alright," Himself sang. "Better?"

"Much."