This past Tuesday I celebrated my best birthday yet ! But then I think I say that every year . . . probably because I am so old I can't remember last years birthday so every year is THE BEST !!
But I do think that this year was extra special. I have hit the THREE QUARTER CENTURY mark. Whoa !! That sure sounds old to me. Good thing I don't feel like I'm three quarters of century old.
I only feel seventy five and feeling pretty good for an old bird of that age. Although it does feel like it was just yesterday that I was celebrating my twelfth birthday back in Queens, NY. How is it possible that all those years have disappeared so quickly? I remember that 12th birthday as if it WAS yesterday . . . I can't remember my 74th birthday at all but twelve is clear as a bell. Guess that's one of the first signs of getting older and I will accept it gracefully but I will NOT give in to the idea of being OLD. My brain will be forever young . . . some might say immature or childish . . . what ever you want to call it, I'm never growing up !! (If Peter Pan can do it so can I)
So when my birthday arrived this year in the midst of Covid 19 pandemic I figured I would make my own party right here at the ole homestead. Dwayne and I planned ahead and ordered live lobsters to be shipped from Maine so we would have a celebratory dinner but I never expected all the extras that arrived during the day. The lobsters got here around 9:00 AM and entertained us all day with their little scuffling sounds from their cooler. Right after their arrival the UPS man showed up with a big package from my WFF (wonderful Florida Friend) Theresa and her husband Steve. It was like Christmas morning opening up the gift basket of wine and goodies ! It was all I could do to keep from cracking open one of the wine bottles and boxes of snacks at 9:30 in the morning. I did manage to contain my excitement because the next thing we knew there was a call from "Edible Arrangements" saying they had a delivery for me. When that arrived we didn't even hesitate to tear into the dozen GIGANTIC, DELICIOUS chocolate covered strawberries from my BFF Sharon and her husband Bob. I mean, these strawberries were as big as billiard balls and covered in dark chocolate . . . OH MY !!!!! Two strawberries a piece later we were moaning in our chairs out on the lanai when the florist arrived with a beautiful arrangement of yellow roses, purple somethings and yellow Lillies. If it wasn't sunny enough out side these flowers just lit up the day ! Especially when I found out they were from the Pompano Grand kids, Smith, Wynn and Grey. By now I was in total heaven! A few days earlier Kyle and Bridget gave me a years subscription to Disney+ channel and Keri and Steve gave me the gift of a "fire stick" so I can get Disney+ on my TV. Life doesn't get much better than wine, roses and chocolate covered strawberries while sitting watching some of my favorite Disney movies.
But the day was far from over . . . Suddenly there was the joyous sounds of Kaelin and Finn running up the path with a balloon, a card and a home made banner. Keri brought them over under the pretense of delivering some groceries she had picked up for us so we had an impromptu party on the lanai. Kaelin had made up a bunch of "questions" so we could play the game, "Never Have I Ever". This was totally unfamiliar to me but we all got into it and I believe Dwayne won because he has done just about everything, including getting thrown off a school bus, cheating on a test and being sent to the principals office. The kids were rolling on the ground listening to his stories regarding all these events in his life. All I can say is it's no wonder he had to hide in with the pigs so his mom wouldn't smack him. He and his 6 brothers must have been terrors . . . God Bless his mother.
Once Keri and the kids left we were sitting catching our breath when another delivery arrived. This time it was a roast chicken, cole slaw and fresh fruit from one of the local restaurants. Kyle and Kent had gotten together and had this sent to us for a dinner so I wouldn't have to cook on my birthday. They didn't know about the lobsters so we had roast chicken Wednesday night instead. After pigging out on our 2 pound lobsters and four pounds of butter we closed off the evening with some Carvel Ice cream cake from Dwayne. Wouldn't you know he would be the one to think about dessert!
And then the celebrating oozed right on into Wednesday when Kent told me to expect a "delivery" around 1:00. He wouldn't say what, just that he wanted it delivered on my birthday but with all that 's going on it could not arrive until Wednesday. Around 1:15 Kent sent a text saying he heard from the delivery guy and he would be here shortly so I should go out side and watch for it. Imagine my surprise when I saw Smith, Wynn and Grey come up the path with balloons, chocolate birthday cake, more chocolate covered strawberries and a special home made card from Grey.
TOTAL SURPRISE !!!!
They visited outside with us for about 2 hours during which I got to give the twins their month late birthday gifts and the Easter baskets that the bunny had left here for the 3 of them. By the time they all left we were all covered in chocolate from cake and strawberries and happy happy happy !!!!!
So . . . it was an EXTRAORDINARY birthday that I will NOT forget any time soon. I shall remember these days every time I get on the scale and see the 40 pound weight gain from the last
2 days !
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Monday, April 27, 2020
LOST FUNNIES
So here we are in week six? . . . twelve?. . . three thousand? . . . of our lockdown and I am trying very hard to keep my sense of humor. Over the weeks I've made a few, what I thought were super funny, remarks to The Man and he does't even smile. (This confinement may be getting to him!) My "funny" for this morning was when I woke up and looked in the mirror. There stood Big Bird from Sesame Street looking back at me. OK, so I wasn't yellow, (Thank God!), but my hair was sticking straight up like the feathers on the head of my favorite Sesame Street character. . . Big Bird.
I REALLY did look just like him, just as large and fluffy, (which is a polite way of saying FAT), with hair, (feathers) sticking out in all different directions. I don't know how I was sleeping but it must have been a wild night to come out looking like that. As I came into the kitchen The Man was sitting pondering something over his fourth cup of coffee and twelfth donut. I gave him my most glowing smile and said, "Look at me . . .I look like Big Bird". NOTHING . . . . Not a smile, chuckle or twitch of the lip. Either he hasn't a clue who Big Bird is or he was inside his "Nothing Box". (The Man is spending a LOT of time in his nothing box these days.) I think it may have something to do with me but I can't be a hundred percent sure. Just cause I walk around making stupid, silly remarks all day is no reason to ignore me. Well, maybe it is but at least give me some warning that you are shutting down so I don't waste time trying to get your attention. Actually this morning Mr. Man was wrapped up in a letter he received last week. It took him a week to ponder the contents of the letter but as soon as I walked into the room, (looking like BB), he needed me to assist him in contacting the bank that had sent the letter to him. Now I had just crawled out of bed and was really not up to doing anything that required any amount of thought. (And I was still enjoying cracking myself up over my Big Bird likeness. ) I had yet to pee and brush my teeth, never mind brush my hair, which I had decided I liked and may never brush it again. But The Man required assistance right then and there. You need to understand that this man, like the previous man in my life, is computer illiterate except for face book. (Ger couldn't even turn the computer on so I guess D is ahead of the game.) But as soon as anything requires the slightest deviation from the tried and true process of turning the tablet on and pressing ONE button we need to call in Tech Support, which in this case came looking like a big yellow bird from Sesame Street. (Are you getting a sense of how much I cracked myself up over this hair do today?) Anyway . . . I stopped and tried to get a sense of what the latest crisis was and what was needed of me. Sounds simple . . . it's not !!! The Man has a habit of starting sentences in the middle with the expectation that I know what was whirling around in his brain prior to his opening his mouth. Usually I can pick up clues and get a sense of where this is going and what is being required of me. This was not the case this morning because my brain was no longer functioning at full capacity. (I think my brain started to atrophy about three weeks ago and it's been a rapid downhill slide since.) Once I finally ascertained the issue we were ready to roll into the world of computer chaos. Not being a computer savvy guy does not slow the man down one bit. He will stand over my shoulder watching what I am doing and offering his helpful hints, such as, "No NO ! Stop there! I saw what we wanted!", only to discover it was an advertisement for hemorrhoid cream. So on we go with this process as I patiently stop every three seconds to explain that what we are looking at is not what we need. It's a long and grueling ten minutes until we finally arrive at the information needed which, had I been doing this alone, I would have come to about nine minutes earlier.
In order to keep my sanity I inject a small comment here and there to lighten the situation. These fly past The Man with the speed of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier. I don't get any reaction at all because he has not heard a thing I have said. Which actually it to my benefit because I'm sure most of my comments would have to be explained. But at least I am entertaining myself enormously.
Do you think that's one of the signs of loosing your mind ?????
I REALLY did look just like him, just as large and fluffy, (which is a polite way of saying FAT), with hair, (feathers) sticking out in all different directions. I don't know how I was sleeping but it must have been a wild night to come out looking like that. As I came into the kitchen The Man was sitting pondering something over his fourth cup of coffee and twelfth donut. I gave him my most glowing smile and said, "Look at me . . .I look like Big Bird". NOTHING . . . . Not a smile, chuckle or twitch of the lip. Either he hasn't a clue who Big Bird is or he was inside his "Nothing Box". (The Man is spending a LOT of time in his nothing box these days.) I think it may have something to do with me but I can't be a hundred percent sure. Just cause I walk around making stupid, silly remarks all day is no reason to ignore me. Well, maybe it is but at least give me some warning that you are shutting down so I don't waste time trying to get your attention. Actually this morning Mr. Man was wrapped up in a letter he received last week. It took him a week to ponder the contents of the letter but as soon as I walked into the room, (looking like BB), he needed me to assist him in contacting the bank that had sent the letter to him. Now I had just crawled out of bed and was really not up to doing anything that required any amount of thought. (And I was still enjoying cracking myself up over my Big Bird likeness. ) I had yet to pee and brush my teeth, never mind brush my hair, which I had decided I liked and may never brush it again. But The Man required assistance right then and there. You need to understand that this man, like the previous man in my life, is computer illiterate except for face book. (Ger couldn't even turn the computer on so I guess D is ahead of the game.) But as soon as anything requires the slightest deviation from the tried and true process of turning the tablet on and pressing ONE button we need to call in Tech Support, which in this case came looking like a big yellow bird from Sesame Street. (Are you getting a sense of how much I cracked myself up over this hair do today?) Anyway . . . I stopped and tried to get a sense of what the latest crisis was and what was needed of me. Sounds simple . . . it's not !!! The Man has a habit of starting sentences in the middle with the expectation that I know what was whirling around in his brain prior to his opening his mouth. Usually I can pick up clues and get a sense of where this is going and what is being required of me. This was not the case this morning because my brain was no longer functioning at full capacity. (I think my brain started to atrophy about three weeks ago and it's been a rapid downhill slide since.) Once I finally ascertained the issue we were ready to roll into the world of computer chaos. Not being a computer savvy guy does not slow the man down one bit. He will stand over my shoulder watching what I am doing and offering his helpful hints, such as, "No NO ! Stop there! I saw what we wanted!", only to discover it was an advertisement for hemorrhoid cream. So on we go with this process as I patiently stop every three seconds to explain that what we are looking at is not what we need. It's a long and grueling ten minutes until we finally arrive at the information needed which, had I been doing this alone, I would have come to about nine minutes earlier.
In order to keep my sanity I inject a small comment here and there to lighten the situation. These fly past The Man with the speed of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier. I don't get any reaction at all because he has not heard a thing I have said. Which actually it to my benefit because I'm sure most of my comments would have to be explained. But at least I am entertaining myself enormously.
Do you think that's one of the signs of loosing your mind ?????
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
HEARING AID
I have an idea for a new type of hearing aid . . . not one that will improve the volume of what a person hears but something that will get the attention of the person who is SUPPOSED to be listening.
I have seen a comedy routine several times about the different types of minds of men and women. To "quote" the comedian who came up with this very funny and unique idea . . . Men and women have very different types of brains. Women have a brain that is comprised of a mess of wires, criss crossing all over the place, shooting electric charges in every direction and never stopping. Men are just the opposite. They have much simpler and organized brains. A man's brain is comprised of several different boxes, each one kept separate from the other. When a man wants to think about something he goes to that box, opens it up, thinks about what is inside that ONE box and then shuts the box and moves on. Included in a man's brain boxes is a very large box that contains NOTHING. The nothing box is where a man spends most of his time when he is not using the sex, food or sports boxes. (You have to check out Youtube and watch Mark Gungor explain "The Nothing Box". It is hysterical and never gets old no matter how often you watch it. )
My idea for the new type of hearing aid is a device that will shut down all circuits in a woman's head and close all the boxes in a mans head so that when someone is speaking to the man or woman they will have nothing else to focus on except what the speaker is saying to them. Added to this "shut off" feature of the hearing aid there should also be an added signal that keeps the receiving party from speaking. Then and only then can the speaking party say something and actually have it heard by the receiving party with the hopes of the receiver listening and comprehending what is being said to them.
All this stems from a need on my part to be heard and understood when I speak. I have often mentioned in my blog that I wonder if I am speaking English because the persons around me do not seem to ever hear me no less understand what I am saying. The perfect example, most recently, had to do with the latest jigsaw puzzle Mr. Man and I are working on. Last night he handed me a puzzle piece and said, "Can you see where this piece goes?" I took the piece, searched the picture on the box cover and found where it should fit in. I showed The Man the picture on the box and held the puzzle piece next to where it looked like it would go. It made perfect sense to me but not for The Man. He was hung up on a small white line that, in his mind, HAD to go on the edge. The problem being that ALL the edge pieces were already in places so the piece he handed me could not possibly fit in the edge. (Here we have a perfect example of the "puzzle box" in Mr. Man's brain is open and has left no room for common sense.) I tried to explain in a simple manner that the line he was convinced was an edge line was indeed a line in the middle of the picture. It "looked" like an edge line but it was not. This explanation was not being heard by The Man and no amount of reason was going to help him see it. It was at this point that I "had" to see to dinner and walked away. A few minutes later there was a great deal of pounding and cursing coming from the area of the puzzle but now it was my turn to ignore.
But Mr. Man is not the only person who has this type of hearing problem. I know several people, mostly women, who hear nothing that anyone says because they are so focused on what they are thinking about. This is a case of too many wires firing signals in too many directions at the same time thus causing them the total loss of the ability to HEAR. I'm sure you know people who are "talkers" . . . That person who just talks and talks and talks and doesn't let you say a word. Every so often the "talker" throw you a bone and ask you a question but just as soon as you open your mouth to answer they are off and talking again without ever giving you a chance to respond. My new "hearing aid" would help this by silencing the "talker" and giving you a chance to speak and hopefully be heard and understood.
And that is probably why I enjoy writing so very much . . . If you don't want to focus on this I'll never know.
I have seen a comedy routine several times about the different types of minds of men and women. To "quote" the comedian who came up with this very funny and unique idea . . . Men and women have very different types of brains. Women have a brain that is comprised of a mess of wires, criss crossing all over the place, shooting electric charges in every direction and never stopping. Men are just the opposite. They have much simpler and organized brains. A man's brain is comprised of several different boxes, each one kept separate from the other. When a man wants to think about something he goes to that box, opens it up, thinks about what is inside that ONE box and then shuts the box and moves on. Included in a man's brain boxes is a very large box that contains NOTHING. The nothing box is where a man spends most of his time when he is not using the sex, food or sports boxes. (You have to check out Youtube and watch Mark Gungor explain "The Nothing Box". It is hysterical and never gets old no matter how often you watch it. )
My idea for the new type of hearing aid is a device that will shut down all circuits in a woman's head and close all the boxes in a mans head so that when someone is speaking to the man or woman they will have nothing else to focus on except what the speaker is saying to them. Added to this "shut off" feature of the hearing aid there should also be an added signal that keeps the receiving party from speaking. Then and only then can the speaking party say something and actually have it heard by the receiving party with the hopes of the receiver listening and comprehending what is being said to them.
All this stems from a need on my part to be heard and understood when I speak. I have often mentioned in my blog that I wonder if I am speaking English because the persons around me do not seem to ever hear me no less understand what I am saying. The perfect example, most recently, had to do with the latest jigsaw puzzle Mr. Man and I are working on. Last night he handed me a puzzle piece and said, "Can you see where this piece goes?" I took the piece, searched the picture on the box cover and found where it should fit in. I showed The Man the picture on the box and held the puzzle piece next to where it looked like it would go. It made perfect sense to me but not for The Man. He was hung up on a small white line that, in his mind, HAD to go on the edge. The problem being that ALL the edge pieces were already in places so the piece he handed me could not possibly fit in the edge. (Here we have a perfect example of the "puzzle box" in Mr. Man's brain is open and has left no room for common sense.) I tried to explain in a simple manner that the line he was convinced was an edge line was indeed a line in the middle of the picture. It "looked" like an edge line but it was not. This explanation was not being heard by The Man and no amount of reason was going to help him see it. It was at this point that I "had" to see to dinner and walked away. A few minutes later there was a great deal of pounding and cursing coming from the area of the puzzle but now it was my turn to ignore.
But Mr. Man is not the only person who has this type of hearing problem. I know several people, mostly women, who hear nothing that anyone says because they are so focused on what they are thinking about. This is a case of too many wires firing signals in too many directions at the same time thus causing them the total loss of the ability to HEAR. I'm sure you know people who are "talkers" . . . That person who just talks and talks and talks and doesn't let you say a word. Every so often the "talker" throw you a bone and ask you a question but just as soon as you open your mouth to answer they are off and talking again without ever giving you a chance to respond. My new "hearing aid" would help this by silencing the "talker" and giving you a chance to speak and hopefully be heard and understood.
And that is probably why I enjoy writing so very much . . . If you don't want to focus on this I'll never know.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
IT'S PUZZLING TO ME
Anyone else out there starting to "loose" it ??? I do think I would prefer to be going through this isolation ALONE because at least then I could do what I want to do when I want to do it. Take for instance tonight's dinner. I did not want to eat nor did I NEED to eat but because the man didn't eat anything today except three donuts and a half a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies, (Yes, I still have GS cookies) the man was hungry at dinner time. I had eaten some leftover chili for lunch and that would have sufficed for the night. Instead I found myself in the kitchen at 7PM cooking burgers and fries for both of us.
Did I want to eat dinner ? . . . NO !
Did I stuff my face with burgers and fries . . . OF COURSE !
And now I sit here feeling like I could blow up and fly around the room like a deflating balloon except there is no balloon in history that weighs as much as I do right now. So I guess if I did blow up I would just splatter the walls with globs and globs of fat. It has been a loosing battle of the scale here in this house. The Man eats nothing but sweets and gains nothing . . . I eat 2 cookies in a week and gain ten pounds. There is no justice !
So all this weight gaining going on here has put me in a foul mood. Nothing new there. I can get into a foul mood just by waking up. It's getting to be more and more of a struggle to be nice to The Man just because I never do well with a lot of together time. (As you well know if you have followed my blog for any amount of time.) I could live with the Pope and he would drive me nuts ! It's just that I NEED alone time and I'm not getting much of that lately. Even with the saving grace of jigsaw puzzles keeping the man busy it still isn't even enough. And of course me being me I am delighted that he is working on a puzzle and leaving me alone but then I get angry that he is doing the whole puzzle without me ! It is not a situation where The Man is going to win. He is up Shit's creek no matter what he does.
Tonight as I was making dinner, (it took all of ten minutes to make a burger and fries so I am not exhausting myself), Mr. Man was working on the latest puzzle that we have sitting on the kitchen counter. My counter is quite large with plenty of space for a large jigsaw puzzle on a board and room to spare for me to cook, The Man knows enough to stay away from the kitchen side of the counter while I'm in there so he was working across the counter putting in pieces. In between cooking I would stand on the opposite side of the puzzle board and add a piece or two except that the pieces I was trying to put in just weren't fitting correctly. Now let me take a moment here to say I LOVE jigsaw puzzles . . . Always have ! I have been addicted to them since I was a kid and had a lot of alone time to take up my days. I take pride in being able to look at a space or a piece and see exactly where it should go so tonight when I was having trouble I had to look more closely at the pieces The Man had already done. You know the proverbial "Square Peg in a Round Hole" expression ? Well that is just about what I found with the pieces that had been put together by you know who. Now this is something I am totally used to because Husband was THE WORLDS WORST jigsaw puzzle doer. The man would pound a piece with his fist in order for it to go where he thought it should be. This man is much more subtle but basically has the same approach. "This looks like it should go here and so it WILL go here", push push push !!! I took a total of six pieces out of where they had been stuck by The Man before I was able to put the correct pieces together. Thankfully he was busy jamming pieces in on the other side of the table.
I'll have to sneak out here in the middle of the night to fix that mess.
A P.S. to all this is WHY is the word PUZZLE spelt like that ? Shouldn't it be spelt. PUZZEL ? I mean putting the "E" after the "L" should make the word sound French . . . PUZZ Le ? NO ?
Did I want to eat dinner ? . . . NO !
Did I stuff my face with burgers and fries . . . OF COURSE !
And now I sit here feeling like I could blow up and fly around the room like a deflating balloon except there is no balloon in history that weighs as much as I do right now. So I guess if I did blow up I would just splatter the walls with globs and globs of fat. It has been a loosing battle of the scale here in this house. The Man eats nothing but sweets and gains nothing . . . I eat 2 cookies in a week and gain ten pounds. There is no justice !
So all this weight gaining going on here has put me in a foul mood. Nothing new there. I can get into a foul mood just by waking up. It's getting to be more and more of a struggle to be nice to The Man just because I never do well with a lot of together time. (As you well know if you have followed my blog for any amount of time.) I could live with the Pope and he would drive me nuts ! It's just that I NEED alone time and I'm not getting much of that lately. Even with the saving grace of jigsaw puzzles keeping the man busy it still isn't even enough. And of course me being me I am delighted that he is working on a puzzle and leaving me alone but then I get angry that he is doing the whole puzzle without me ! It is not a situation where The Man is going to win. He is up Shit's creek no matter what he does.
Tonight as I was making dinner, (it took all of ten minutes to make a burger and fries so I am not exhausting myself), Mr. Man was working on the latest puzzle that we have sitting on the kitchen counter. My counter is quite large with plenty of space for a large jigsaw puzzle on a board and room to spare for me to cook, The Man knows enough to stay away from the kitchen side of the counter while I'm in there so he was working across the counter putting in pieces. In between cooking I would stand on the opposite side of the puzzle board and add a piece or two except that the pieces I was trying to put in just weren't fitting correctly. Now let me take a moment here to say I LOVE jigsaw puzzles . . . Always have ! I have been addicted to them since I was a kid and had a lot of alone time to take up my days. I take pride in being able to look at a space or a piece and see exactly where it should go so tonight when I was having trouble I had to look more closely at the pieces The Man had already done. You know the proverbial "Square Peg in a Round Hole" expression ? Well that is just about what I found with the pieces that had been put together by you know who. Now this is something I am totally used to because Husband was THE WORLDS WORST jigsaw puzzle doer. The man would pound a piece with his fist in order for it to go where he thought it should be. This man is much more subtle but basically has the same approach. "This looks like it should go here and so it WILL go here", push push push !!! I took a total of six pieces out of where they had been stuck by The Man before I was able to put the correct pieces together. Thankfully he was busy jamming pieces in on the other side of the table.
I'll have to sneak out here in the middle of the night to fix that mess.
A P.S. to all this is WHY is the word PUZZLE spelt like that ? Shouldn't it be spelt. PUZZEL ? I mean putting the "E" after the "L" should make the word sound French . . . PUZZ Le ? NO ?
Friday, April 17, 2020
W T H (WHAT THE HECK)
I seem to remember BITD (back in the day) when we humans communicated using words. You remember W O R D S don't you ? That was when you took a series of alphabet letters, strung them together to form a thing called a word that when written or spoken produced a mental picture of something. For example . . . the letters D - O - G when spoken or viewed made you think of a friendly four legged creature with a wagging tail and a passion for licking your face.
No so anymore . . . with the advent of our advanced (?) technology people, especially YOUNG people, can no longer take the time to string words together to form sentences. (Remember sentences? When you put a bunch of alphabet letters together to form "words" and then strung those words together to create a thought.) All that is in the past thanks to texting. (That word alone is one that never existed WIWAK (when I was a kid). Now we all must convey our messages and thoughts as rapidly as possible because we are way too busy to take the time to speak or write entire words and sentences. NTM (not to mention) the problem of wearing out our thumbs from all the typing on the face of that phone. ICR (I can remember) when it took all 10 fingers to type a message . . . just as I am doing here. I LOVE, (that is actually a word), to type. That feeling of transposing a thought in my head to written words delights the hell out of me. I remember complaining to my mom when ever she made me write thank you notes to people who had given me a gift. I HATED, (another actual word), writing notes. "What should I say?' I would whine to my mom and her answer was always the same . . . "Write down what ever words you would speak if that person were standing in front of you". And it worked ! I still hated the actual "writing" of the notes because I was a kid and it was something IHTD (I had to do) but it gave me a great foundation for being able to keep journals and write letters. Much of my youth was spent writing to friends that I made who lived a distance from me. My BFF, (best friend forever), Gloria lived in Maine and we wrote back and forth for years. When I made friends at Girl Scout camp one summer we would write to each other during the year making plans for the next summer at camp. The excitement of going to the mail box and finding a letter surpassed anything else in my life. I would take the letter and put it in my room unopened until I found a block of quiet time when I could read it in private treasuring each and every word. I would then immediately begin writing my response which could take days, weeks or months to finish. I would write pages and pages of written words that would only get sent when the volume of pages would not fit in an envelope. There were letters written on napkins, toilet paper and cloth if a thought would strike me and I didn't have any paper near by.
All that explains why I blog but I have totally gotten away from the point I was attempting to make.
Each day I receive an email from someplace that is called, "Brain Candy". These days I look forward to these ten to fifteen question quizzes as one thing in the day that will challenge my mind. (During this pandemic about the only challenges my mind gets is deciding what to eat next or what to watch on TV. I don't even have to think about WHEN I want to do those things because there is nothing else to compete for my attention.) The quizzes range from naming parts of the English language to identifying capital cities to finishing song lyrics. It changes daily. Yesterday's quiz was . . .
"How Many of These Text Abbreviations Do You Know?"
I actually surprised myself that I got nine out of the ten right. Mostly because of common sense and the fact that the quiz gives you three answers to choose from. But the quiz did get me thinking about how silly it is that we are now talking in letters rather than words. How LAZY can we get ?????
No so anymore . . . with the advent of our advanced (?) technology people, especially YOUNG people, can no longer take the time to string words together to form sentences. (Remember sentences? When you put a bunch of alphabet letters together to form "words" and then strung those words together to create a thought.) All that is in the past thanks to texting. (That word alone is one that never existed WIWAK (when I was a kid). Now we all must convey our messages and thoughts as rapidly as possible because we are way too busy to take the time to speak or write entire words and sentences. NTM (not to mention) the problem of wearing out our thumbs from all the typing on the face of that phone. ICR (I can remember) when it took all 10 fingers to type a message . . . just as I am doing here. I LOVE, (that is actually a word), to type. That feeling of transposing a thought in my head to written words delights the hell out of me. I remember complaining to my mom when ever she made me write thank you notes to people who had given me a gift. I HATED, (another actual word), writing notes. "What should I say?' I would whine to my mom and her answer was always the same . . . "Write down what ever words you would speak if that person were standing in front of you". And it worked ! I still hated the actual "writing" of the notes because I was a kid and it was something IHTD (I had to do) but it gave me a great foundation for being able to keep journals and write letters. Much of my youth was spent writing to friends that I made who lived a distance from me. My BFF, (best friend forever), Gloria lived in Maine and we wrote back and forth for years. When I made friends at Girl Scout camp one summer we would write to each other during the year making plans for the next summer at camp. The excitement of going to the mail box and finding a letter surpassed anything else in my life. I would take the letter and put it in my room unopened until I found a block of quiet time when I could read it in private treasuring each and every word. I would then immediately begin writing my response which could take days, weeks or months to finish. I would write pages and pages of written words that would only get sent when the volume of pages would not fit in an envelope. There were letters written on napkins, toilet paper and cloth if a thought would strike me and I didn't have any paper near by.
All that explains why I blog but I have totally gotten away from the point I was attempting to make.
Each day I receive an email from someplace that is called, "Brain Candy". These days I look forward to these ten to fifteen question quizzes as one thing in the day that will challenge my mind. (During this pandemic about the only challenges my mind gets is deciding what to eat next or what to watch on TV. I don't even have to think about WHEN I want to do those things because there is nothing else to compete for my attention.) The quizzes range from naming parts of the English language to identifying capital cities to finishing song lyrics. It changes daily. Yesterday's quiz was . . .
"How Many of These Text Abbreviations Do You Know?"
I actually surprised myself that I got nine out of the ten right. Mostly because of common sense and the fact that the quiz gives you three answers to choose from. But the quiz did get me thinking about how silly it is that we are now talking in letters rather than words. How LAZY can we get ?????
Monday, April 13, 2020
FUNNY STUFF IN A NOT SO FUNNY TIME
I really think this virus has given us more gifts than we realize. I know families of people who have died from this horrid disease would not see the humor in it but sitting here safe and sound in my home I am laughing my head off. I guess now that people aren't racing off to work 12 hour days in a stuffy office they can find time to amuse themselves in ways we never thought of. The funny things that are being posted on the internet every day are hysterical and definitely helping us all to keep our sanity.
(Speaking of Sanity . . . What's that age old definition of "sanity" ? Isn't it "doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result"? I have the perfect example for you . . . Last week I stripped the sheets off our bed and threw them into the wash. As I was pulling them out of the washer to put them into the dryer the remote control for our adjustable bed went flying across the floor. It seems that The Man had left his remote IN the bed when he went to sleep the night before and I did not see it when I pulled the sheets off. Note to self . . . anything electronic should NOT be laundered. When I finished cursing him and myself for this stupid error I put the remote into a plastic bag of rice with hopes that it would dry out over night. Next morning it still would not work, even after all the rice was shaken out of it and the batteries were replaced. That was good enough for me to call the bed manufacturer and order a new clicker. NOT so for The Man. He insisted we leave it for another 24 hours, which we did with the same results as the previous day. Then He decided the batteries were probably no good so we changed the batteries THREE times !!! After another 24 hours passed He insisted on trying it again with yet another batch of batteries. Still not working !!!! I have placed an order for a new remote but EVERY day The Man insists on putting new batteries in the laundered one and trying it again. In my book he is insane . . . but since we are co captives in this self isolation I am not pushing the issue.)
But back to the funnies that are popping up on the internet. God Bless my friends who have fantastic senses of humor and share all the silly stuff that they receive. Every day I sit and laugh till I cry reading some of the emails I get. Who writes this stuff ? There is more talent out there than we ever realized and it is keeping me sane . . . Well . . . sort of. The other day I got 2 or 3 different things from friends that had me laughing all day. Then today I went to my chiropractor because I just couldn't take another day of aching back after not having had an adjustment for over a month. I wore my mask and gloves and set off for an adventure. My chiropractor is awesome and had me laughing at myself by commenting on the mask and gloves. I told him I was planning on wearing the mask for the rest of my life because it was great at hiding all my wrinkles and double(triple/quadruple) chins. We then got into a discussion of whether a woman wearing a burka wears a mask under or over her face covering. These are burning questions in the minds of us folks who have nothing better to do with our time.
One of the funniest emails I got came the other day. It said, "Lately I have been absorbing so much soap and disinfectant that when I pee it cleans the toilet". I only wish this was true because of all the things I am finding to do during this time cleaning is not one of them.
Keep laughing and remember this will end eventually.
(Speaking of Sanity . . . What's that age old definition of "sanity" ? Isn't it "doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result"? I have the perfect example for you . . . Last week I stripped the sheets off our bed and threw them into the wash. As I was pulling them out of the washer to put them into the dryer the remote control for our adjustable bed went flying across the floor. It seems that The Man had left his remote IN the bed when he went to sleep the night before and I did not see it when I pulled the sheets off. Note to self . . . anything electronic should NOT be laundered. When I finished cursing him and myself for this stupid error I put the remote into a plastic bag of rice with hopes that it would dry out over night. Next morning it still would not work, even after all the rice was shaken out of it and the batteries were replaced. That was good enough for me to call the bed manufacturer and order a new clicker. NOT so for The Man. He insisted we leave it for another 24 hours, which we did with the same results as the previous day. Then He decided the batteries were probably no good so we changed the batteries THREE times !!! After another 24 hours passed He insisted on trying it again with yet another batch of batteries. Still not working !!!! I have placed an order for a new remote but EVERY day The Man insists on putting new batteries in the laundered one and trying it again. In my book he is insane . . . but since we are co captives in this self isolation I am not pushing the issue.)
But back to the funnies that are popping up on the internet. God Bless my friends who have fantastic senses of humor and share all the silly stuff that they receive. Every day I sit and laugh till I cry reading some of the emails I get. Who writes this stuff ? There is more talent out there than we ever realized and it is keeping me sane . . . Well . . . sort of. The other day I got 2 or 3 different things from friends that had me laughing all day. Then today I went to my chiropractor because I just couldn't take another day of aching back after not having had an adjustment for over a month. I wore my mask and gloves and set off for an adventure. My chiropractor is awesome and had me laughing at myself by commenting on the mask and gloves. I told him I was planning on wearing the mask for the rest of my life because it was great at hiding all my wrinkles and double(triple/quadruple) chins. We then got into a discussion of whether a woman wearing a burka wears a mask under or over her face covering. These are burning questions in the minds of us folks who have nothing better to do with our time.
One of the funniest emails I got came the other day. It said, "Lately I have been absorbing so much soap and disinfectant that when I pee it cleans the toilet". I only wish this was true because of all the things I am finding to do during this time cleaning is not one of them.
Keep laughing and remember this will end eventually.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
TODAY'S PANDEMIC POST
I'm really not having any problem with all this "isolation" but today I had the opportunity to
GET OUT into the world ALONE and it was WONDERFUL !!!!!!
It has been a long month since all this Covid 19 panic has turned our world up side down. It came out of the blue and whupped us up side our haids. (That's head for any of you who don't speak Brooklyn). None of us had a clue what we were in store for but we all found out soon enough just how creative and interesting we and our families are. (Sadly some of us found out that we are boring as hell and have no ability to entertain ourselves longer than three minutes.) I'm not one of those folks but I will admit that even I, after three weeks, am getting a little antsy and tired of all this staying at home. This is probably the longest I have stayed in one place in years. So today when I realized I had to go out to pick up a prescription at Publix I was all in for an adventure !
First let me note that unfortunately there are a LOT more people out on the roads and in the stores than there were a week ago. I really hope people remain smart and don't jump the gun and spread this virus any further than it already has gone.
We have been doing our part in social distancing. Dwayne has not been out of the house or out of his car since all this started. Our biggest adventures up till today have been to Mac Donald's drive through, the stay in your car Car Wash and a really all out wild time at Sonic for lunch the other day. Sonic was ahead of it's time with their "car Hop" food service which is why Dwayne loves it. Pull in, order and the food is brought to you! When we were there on Monday it was more crowded than it has been in the past three years.
This morning I had to make a quick trip to the doctors office which I really did not want to do but they would not write me a prescription over the phone. The office was amazingly sterile with one of the nurses constantly disinfecting the doors and furniture as soon as anyone entered the office. There was only one other person there in the waiting room and I was taken in as soon as I checked in. I had on my mask and gloves and was in and out with out any problem. There was even a garbage can where I could dispose of my mask and gloves as soon as I exited.
From there I had to go to Publix to pick up my medicine . . . with ONE SMALL DETOUR . . . since I was out any way I made a quick stop at the liquor store to replenish the vodka that I have been drinking at an alarming rate. I heard that there is lots of vitamin C in tomato juice so I have been keeping up my immune system with lots of Bloody Marys. It's a win win because not only am I getting vitamin C I am eating lots of vegetables . . . celery, olives and even a green pepper on occasion, all soaked in vodka and tomato juice. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
The liquor store is one of those massive ones that sells EVERYTHING from wine to all sorts of liquor and anything else that might be needed when doing some serious drinking. The parking lot was packed !! I had wondered if the store would even be open since I wasn't sure it was considered an "essential" business. HA !!!! Silly me !! Of course it is essential, more so now than ever before. Inside the store was fairly empty but the "take out", "curbside pick up" was hopping and the people in the parking lot were driving like idiots. I managed to get out of there with my gallon bottle of vodka without any mishap but I do think a lot of those customers should rethink their alcohol consumption while driving.
From there I headed over to Publix which also was packed with people and cars. I had not been to my Publix in weeks except to pick up a different prescription a week ago so that was just an in and out for me. Today I armed myself with gloves and mask and headed in. The store had made one of their entrances for entering and the other "entrance" was EXIT! In one door and out the other. Once inside the store we were directed to "follow the arrows" taped on the floor in blue tape. (I felt like I was in IKEA.) Up one aisle and down the next . . . I was surprised at how many people were in the store with out gloves or masks. SILLY !!! I got through my list, checked out and threw out my mask and gloves as soon as I got out. Bringing in the groceries is also an adventure involving lots of hand washing with each bag emptied.
But the bottom line is . . . I was out on my own and it felt GOOD !! Just that little time alone with my brain was wonderful. (My walking each day has been curtailed thanks to a sore back and outside temperatures in the 90's)
Hang in there everyone . . . We're doing good, don't blow it now !!
GET OUT into the world ALONE and it was WONDERFUL !!!!!!
It has been a long month since all this Covid 19 panic has turned our world up side down. It came out of the blue and whupped us up side our haids. (That's head for any of you who don't speak Brooklyn). None of us had a clue what we were in store for but we all found out soon enough just how creative and interesting we and our families are. (Sadly some of us found out that we are boring as hell and have no ability to entertain ourselves longer than three minutes.) I'm not one of those folks but I will admit that even I, after three weeks, am getting a little antsy and tired of all this staying at home. This is probably the longest I have stayed in one place in years. So today when I realized I had to go out to pick up a prescription at Publix I was all in for an adventure !
First let me note that unfortunately there are a LOT more people out on the roads and in the stores than there were a week ago. I really hope people remain smart and don't jump the gun and spread this virus any further than it already has gone.
We have been doing our part in social distancing. Dwayne has not been out of the house or out of his car since all this started. Our biggest adventures up till today have been to Mac Donald's drive through, the stay in your car Car Wash and a really all out wild time at Sonic for lunch the other day. Sonic was ahead of it's time with their "car Hop" food service which is why Dwayne loves it. Pull in, order and the food is brought to you! When we were there on Monday it was more crowded than it has been in the past three years.
This morning I had to make a quick trip to the doctors office which I really did not want to do but they would not write me a prescription over the phone. The office was amazingly sterile with one of the nurses constantly disinfecting the doors and furniture as soon as anyone entered the office. There was only one other person there in the waiting room and I was taken in as soon as I checked in. I had on my mask and gloves and was in and out with out any problem. There was even a garbage can where I could dispose of my mask and gloves as soon as I exited.
From there I had to go to Publix to pick up my medicine . . . with ONE SMALL DETOUR . . . since I was out any way I made a quick stop at the liquor store to replenish the vodka that I have been drinking at an alarming rate. I heard that there is lots of vitamin C in tomato juice so I have been keeping up my immune system with lots of Bloody Marys. It's a win win because not only am I getting vitamin C I am eating lots of vegetables . . . celery, olives and even a green pepper on occasion, all soaked in vodka and tomato juice. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
The liquor store is one of those massive ones that sells EVERYTHING from wine to all sorts of liquor and anything else that might be needed when doing some serious drinking. The parking lot was packed !! I had wondered if the store would even be open since I wasn't sure it was considered an "essential" business. HA !!!! Silly me !! Of course it is essential, more so now than ever before. Inside the store was fairly empty but the "take out", "curbside pick up" was hopping and the people in the parking lot were driving like idiots. I managed to get out of there with my gallon bottle of vodka without any mishap but I do think a lot of those customers should rethink their alcohol consumption while driving.
From there I headed over to Publix which also was packed with people and cars. I had not been to my Publix in weeks except to pick up a different prescription a week ago so that was just an in and out for me. Today I armed myself with gloves and mask and headed in. The store had made one of their entrances for entering and the other "entrance" was EXIT! In one door and out the other. Once inside the store we were directed to "follow the arrows" taped on the floor in blue tape. (I felt like I was in IKEA.) Up one aisle and down the next . . . I was surprised at how many people were in the store with out gloves or masks. SILLY !!! I got through my list, checked out and threw out my mask and gloves as soon as I got out. Bringing in the groceries is also an adventure involving lots of hand washing with each bag emptied.
But the bottom line is . . . I was out on my own and it felt GOOD !! Just that little time alone with my brain was wonderful. (My walking each day has been curtailed thanks to a sore back and outside temperatures in the 90's)
Hang in there everyone . . . We're doing good, don't blow it now !!
Monday, April 6, 2020
GETTING TO THE POINT BY WAY OF TIBET
O. M. G. Is it really too much to ask for a simple, DIRECT conversation? Or how about giving directions ? I now know why men NEVER ask directions. It's because they can not get to the point in less than an hour and once they do get to the point they are incapable of listening to an answer for more than three seconds.
Apparently our male population has never WRITTEN "Cliff Notes". I know plenty of men who only got through high school and/or college thanks to reading Cliff Notes or comic books. (Do you think there is a "Graphic Novel", AKA "comic book", for War and Peace?) I have been known to use short cuts to cram for exams but I also think I can make a point in a conversation in less than three hours. (Unless I am blogging)
All this is brought to mind this morning as I walked through the living room on my way to the toilet. (FYI . . . do NOT stop me when I am headed to the potty! It will not end well for either of us.)
Any way . . . There I was walking from the kitchen, around the counter, through the living room when a voice from the couch said, "Cathie, come here!" in a tone of voice that sounded like there was a man eating tiger about to attack. Now at this point I have to make the executive decision as to whether this new "crisis" is more important than me wetting my pants. I opted for the crisis just for the hell of it. I stopped my forward momentum and turned to the man with a look of expectation, knowing full well this was going to be entertaining to say the least. The man asked me to come over to the couch and sit down so that he could then point across the room to where I had just been standing three seconds ago so I could see that there was a situation in the making. The conversation went something like this . . .
D . . . "Look over there" as he pointed in the general direction of the TV
Me . . "Yes ?
D . . . "Do you see it?"
Me . . . "What? The TV?" (Which was off)
D . . . "No. Your thing!"
At this point I'm at a total loss as to what the hell he is talking about and am two steps from either hitting him up side his head or calling the local insane asylum to have either him or me committed.
Me . . . "What thing?"
D . . . " Your computer! It is going to slide off the TV stand"
I am now practicing DEEP BREATHING and Zen Yoga to remain calm and to not burst out laughing hysterically. There on the end of TV stand sat my lap top. I had put it there yesterday when I finished using it and when I put it down I laid it on top of it's carrying case so it was sitting half on and half off the case tipped at a slight angle. It had not moved since I had put it there 24 hours ago and probably would not have moved even if we had a 7.6 earthquake but The Man was alert to it's "precarious" placement. The fact that he could very well have gotten up and moved it himself apparently never occurred to him. Nor did did it occur to him to just point it out as I walked by.
Nope . . . That is not how we do things . . . Everything must be an "event".
I realize that during these times of quarantine we are looking for things to entertain our selves with but some of us do have priorities . . . and going to the bathroom just happens to be one of my top priorities so please get to the point before I get to the point of peeing on your foot !
Apparently our male population has never WRITTEN "Cliff Notes". I know plenty of men who only got through high school and/or college thanks to reading Cliff Notes or comic books. (Do you think there is a "Graphic Novel", AKA "comic book", for War and Peace?) I have been known to use short cuts to cram for exams but I also think I can make a point in a conversation in less than three hours. (Unless I am blogging)
All this is brought to mind this morning as I walked through the living room on my way to the toilet. (FYI . . . do NOT stop me when I am headed to the potty! It will not end well for either of us.)
Any way . . . There I was walking from the kitchen, around the counter, through the living room when a voice from the couch said, "Cathie, come here!" in a tone of voice that sounded like there was a man eating tiger about to attack. Now at this point I have to make the executive decision as to whether this new "crisis" is more important than me wetting my pants. I opted for the crisis just for the hell of it. I stopped my forward momentum and turned to the man with a look of expectation, knowing full well this was going to be entertaining to say the least. The man asked me to come over to the couch and sit down so that he could then point across the room to where I had just been standing three seconds ago so I could see that there was a situation in the making. The conversation went something like this . . .
D . . . "Look over there" as he pointed in the general direction of the TV
Me . . "Yes ?
D . . . "Do you see it?"
Me . . . "What? The TV?" (Which was off)
D . . . "No. Your thing!"
At this point I'm at a total loss as to what the hell he is talking about and am two steps from either hitting him up side his head or calling the local insane asylum to have either him or me committed.
Me . . . "What thing?"
D . . . " Your computer! It is going to slide off the TV stand"
I am now practicing DEEP BREATHING and Zen Yoga to remain calm and to not burst out laughing hysterically. There on the end of TV stand sat my lap top. I had put it there yesterday when I finished using it and when I put it down I laid it on top of it's carrying case so it was sitting half on and half off the case tipped at a slight angle. It had not moved since I had put it there 24 hours ago and probably would not have moved even if we had a 7.6 earthquake but The Man was alert to it's "precarious" placement. The fact that he could very well have gotten up and moved it himself apparently never occurred to him. Nor did did it occur to him to just point it out as I walked by.
Nope . . . That is not how we do things . . . Everything must be an "event".
I realize that during these times of quarantine we are looking for things to entertain our selves with but some of us do have priorities . . . and going to the bathroom just happens to be one of my top priorities so please get to the point before I get to the point of peeing on your foot !
Sunday, April 5, 2020
WHEN THE MOON IS IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE
"And Jupiter aligns with Mars" . . . If you are one of my fellow "hippie" leftovers from the 60's you may recognize the reference to the Musical "HAIR" which was one of my all time favorite show's. That and "Jesus Christ Super Star" remain in my CD collection so I can relive my college years when things get too oppressive now that I'm facing my 75th birthday. Was it REALLY 55 years ago ???!!!!
But I"m not here to reminisce but to rather explain that when the stars are all in alignment you just have to roll with it and seize the moment. Today is just that kind of a day . . . First off we are confined to our homes going on three weeks now so things are starting to get pretty routine and boring. Not to complain but the weather down here has been FABULOUS with temperatures in the 80's with low humidity and BRIGHT BRIGHT sunny days. I realize that those of you not lucky enough to be down here would think this is Heavenly but even a good thing can get tiresome after a while. So yesterday when I checked the weather for the weekend and saw that today it was supposed to rain I did a little happy dance. It has not rained here in probably a month so everything is dry, dry, dry. Our "Lakes" all have beaches around them because the water is so low. The alligators are searching for swimming pools to cool off in which is fortunate for them because all the community pools have been closed to the public. We really can use some rain and today was supposed to be that day. (As of 3:30 PM there is still not a drop of rain but I am still holding some hope.) In spite of the lack of precipitation I did wake up to CLOUDS in the sky. No bright, brilliant, cloudless blue sky like we have had this past month. Instead the sky is grey and looking like there actually is a promise of rain. This combined with the fact that today is Sunday, (which normally would be "the weekend" but since our lives are just one constant weekend it really doesn't matter), set me into my "rainy day" mood which ALWAYS calls for baking. When it is gloomy outside I bake . . . it's a combination of something to do when you can't be outside and it is "comfort" activity that goes way back to rainy days spent in the kitchen with my mom creating all sorts of yummy treats.
But before all my creativity could be channeled into banana bread and chocolate chip cookies I took time to watch Palm Sunday mass celebrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. I MISS my church here in Palm Beach Gardens more than I could have imagined. I miss my pastor and the other priests who celebrate mass at my parish of St. Patrick here in Florida. Their homilies are always so enlightening and personal that this separation from my church has hurt more than I ever thought it would. The past two weeks I have thought I should watch mass on TV but unfortunately that thought always entered my head at about ten o'clock at night. A lot of good that did me. So yesterday when I realized that today was Palm Sunday I made a point of finding when and where I could watch mass this morning. IT WAS WONDERFUL and I found myself in tears watching it. Go figure ! Being reminded that we are going into Holy Week where we should be especially attentive to the suffering of Christ it makes all this isolation and separation from our friends and family seem insignificant in comparison. We can do this . . . Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy . . . This too shall pass just like todays rainy day will pass and by tomorrow the sun will be out again and in a month all will be right with the world. And I will be forty pounds heavier because today the stars were in alignment and I'm baking again !
But I"m not here to reminisce but to rather explain that when the stars are all in alignment you just have to roll with it and seize the moment. Today is just that kind of a day . . . First off we are confined to our homes going on three weeks now so things are starting to get pretty routine and boring. Not to complain but the weather down here has been FABULOUS with temperatures in the 80's with low humidity and BRIGHT BRIGHT sunny days. I realize that those of you not lucky enough to be down here would think this is Heavenly but even a good thing can get tiresome after a while. So yesterday when I checked the weather for the weekend and saw that today it was supposed to rain I did a little happy dance. It has not rained here in probably a month so everything is dry, dry, dry. Our "Lakes" all have beaches around them because the water is so low. The alligators are searching for swimming pools to cool off in which is fortunate for them because all the community pools have been closed to the public. We really can use some rain and today was supposed to be that day. (As of 3:30 PM there is still not a drop of rain but I am still holding some hope.) In spite of the lack of precipitation I did wake up to CLOUDS in the sky. No bright, brilliant, cloudless blue sky like we have had this past month. Instead the sky is grey and looking like there actually is a promise of rain. This combined with the fact that today is Sunday, (which normally would be "the weekend" but since our lives are just one constant weekend it really doesn't matter), set me into my "rainy day" mood which ALWAYS calls for baking. When it is gloomy outside I bake . . . it's a combination of something to do when you can't be outside and it is "comfort" activity that goes way back to rainy days spent in the kitchen with my mom creating all sorts of yummy treats.
But before all my creativity could be channeled into banana bread and chocolate chip cookies I took time to watch Palm Sunday mass celebrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. I MISS my church here in Palm Beach Gardens more than I could have imagined. I miss my pastor and the other priests who celebrate mass at my parish of St. Patrick here in Florida. Their homilies are always so enlightening and personal that this separation from my church has hurt more than I ever thought it would. The past two weeks I have thought I should watch mass on TV but unfortunately that thought always entered my head at about ten o'clock at night. A lot of good that did me. So yesterday when I realized that today was Palm Sunday I made a point of finding when and where I could watch mass this morning. IT WAS WONDERFUL and I found myself in tears watching it. Go figure ! Being reminded that we are going into Holy Week where we should be especially attentive to the suffering of Christ it makes all this isolation and separation from our friends and family seem insignificant in comparison. We can do this . . . Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy . . . This too shall pass just like todays rainy day will pass and by tomorrow the sun will be out again and in a month all will be right with the world. And I will be forty pounds heavier because today the stars were in alignment and I'm baking again !
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