Field Trip Friday

This week I went on my own Friday Field Trip. My friends from high school and I have had to cancel several lunch dates starting in late November due to illness, roads, spouses health, our health, grandchildren. We finally made a date! And one friend's GPS sent her to the wrong address. We finally got to the same place and I ordered the world's biggest Monte Cristo sandwich. This picture does not do justice to the size of this sandwich. 

That dish of raspberry compote was the size of a large soup bowl! 

My friend just purchased an embroidery machine and practiced by making us each a personalized "rug mug". 

Isn't it fabulous! 

After two and a half hours of conversation, we parted and my car accidentally stopped at the cancer thrift shop on the way to the grocery store (I have another recipe challenge for this weekend). 

I spotted some items in this photo from their Facebook page. I have about 4 Beatrix Potter figurines from Boswick that I have collected over the years. It looked like there were some in this cabinet. 

These are the 18 new figures I bought to go with my collection of four. They were ridiculously under priced and I couldn't leave any behind. I think 2 are Royal Doulton but I am not holding that against them. I am behind in love. I actually left about a dozen behind and I am tempted to go back.  The volunteers told me a woman had collected them for years and when she passed, her 90 something year old husband was going to assisted living and sent them to the shop. There are also a trillion other Beatrix Potter items from dishes, to tea pots, to books to paintings. 

Here are some things I didn't buy. 

My hands were too full to take more photos. 

Just a selection of eggs from my farm lady this week. I try to keep the smallest ones (normal size large) for baking because the others are too large for recipes. 

I met my friend Susan about nine years ago. She was at an event I attended and told me this horrible story about her son-in-law who was, at that time, active military having served two terms in Iraq who was fighting military burn pit exposure illnesses and getting no help from the military health services. 

I first took this with a grain of salt because I could not have had a more positive experience with my father who I was transporting to a VA hospital with leukemia. The facilities and the staff were exemplary. He then had a massive stroke and I moved him into an assisted living unit and eventually a nursing home, both located in a VA home.  Every interaction (and I was there most days) could not have been kinder, more helpful and warm. 

But then I paid more attention to her son-in-law's plight. The families of these victims of the military use of burn pits had found each other on social media and were pressing our government for help. They even did a session on 60 minutes. 

These young men and women were developing fatal illnesses and receiving no help from our military. 

Through the efforts of these families, congress members they enlisted, and even advocate Jon Stewart, they were able to get the Heath Robinson Act passed to award benefits to the dying soldiers and their families. Susan fought this battle to the end, even though Heath died before her own family could benefit.  Susan's daughter Danielle was a guest at the State of the Union and little Brielle has the pen that it was signed with. 

Last night every Republican member of the Senate, including senators who had championed and fought for this legislation when it was passed, vote NO on funding it for the future.  

Thursday

Thursday. 

Not Funny. 

We woke up to a surprise 3-4 more inches of snow covering a layer of ice.  Again.  

Some grandchildren had a 2 hour delay. One grandchild's school was cancelled due to the parking lot being a sheet of ice.

I am not sure, but I think this makes the 1,000th snow day or delay since January.  

I worked in the church office which makes a tricky juggling to get some on a bus that arrives when I am supposed to be unlocking the office. The new hours are going to have to be set back 15 minutes on snow delay days. 

Meanwhile.  I called the woman from Monday who was out of our area.  I had given her a list of resources and wanted to check on her due to her desperation.  

She had followed through with all my suggestions, two organizations have gone together to pay her rent. Another organization gave her two gas cards so she could go to her job interview today and have gas to start work.  Another organization (or maybe a nice person who has some gift cards in their wallet) gave her a $25 drug store gift card.  She told me when she was getting ready for the interview she realized she was out of deodorant. She was able to stop on the way and purchase some. AND she got the job! I am so happy, she is so happy, we were both crying happy tears. 

50 States 50 Marches

There were marches held in all 50 states on Presidents Day that were protesting the cruel and unusual changes in our government that began January 20th.

There was a march in every state capital as well as most major cities and other locations.  People with more fortitude than me braved very cold temperatures to try to call attention to what is going on. 

What was the point? Well, to me one point is that our news media is either being denied or making decisions to gloss over the fact that the current president and his bomb squad is killing our constitution and ridding our country of both a constitutional republic and a democracy.  

I post news on facebook and several people told me they were unaware that as a country we are siding with Russia against the countries in Europe who also held a special meeting on Monday to band together against Russia (and their new supporter the United States). 

I was asked to share some photos n support since most of the main stream media is afraid to cover the events. The Washington Post agreed to run the paid ad below and then withdrew the commitment. 

The highest paying factory in my town was closed for three weeks over the holidays for retooling. They make something for vehicles. I learned most employees were living pay check to pay check when they came to my agency for assistance.  Today they laid off workers due to a parts shortage from China and Canada. I am not sure who will be left to be donors to those who are in need. The last layoff was during Covid when we were not receiving shipments from China. 

In An Instant

 In an instant.  I had met Debbie in the 1980's when we each had a child playing beginner soccer. I felt like I knew her because we were so much the same. She wrote a weekly newspaper column in our smalltown news titled 4 under 6. The oldest of her four, the lovely Laura, would sit on the field and pick weed flowers. One day Laura started a low temp and didn't feel very good. She gave her some Tylenol, put her to bed and got up to check on her. Laura had vomited and aspirated. Debbie grabbed her and drove one block to the hospital, but it was too late. 

She gathered her strength in that dark time. She was fairly new to the community, her Jewish faith had set her apart in this very Christian area. She ended her column. A year later she had her fifth child. 

Debbie's children flourished and became outstanding scholars. Leaving our community for Ivy League schools, living and working in exotic places like Chili and Russia. They are all married now, living in all four corners of the United States. 

When they left for college, Debbie accepted a position of English Teacher and Newspaper Advisor at our local high school, inspiring and empowering another generation. She retired recently and started another newspaper column in our on-line paper - A View from the Kitchen. She shared how she does weekly storytime via zoom with all her young grandchildren. 

In late January she wrote her last column. A week later she told the editor she was ill and her children were coming to visit and she would be unable to write her column for February 5. That was the day of her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. She died on February 15, ten days later.  In an instant. 

We woke to another snow and ice storm on Sunday. This is beginning to be a habit. Some enjoyed it more than others. 

This week's recipe in my goddaughter's recipe challenge contest was Sausage and Tortellini.  I had the ingredients and made it for my husband. 

Then I added the remainder of the chicken broth and heavy cream and turned it into soup for me. 

The person working in our charity office woke up with the flu yesterday so I spent an extra day in the office while Mr. Merry chauffeured elementary basketball players to practices on snow covered roads.  Here was my view. 

Three clients came to see me and two people phoned to make sure I was in the office, but never showed up. 

One of the clients lives outside our area. She arrived in tears and I spent a lot of time finding resources in her area. She has a job interview on Thursday and I asked if I could call her in the afternoon (from the office, not my personal phone) and see how it went. It is people like her that make me feel I am doing something even when I am doing nothing. 

Reporting backwards I was able to watch my grandson swim in district meets from the comfort of my recliner for the price of an $8 online ticket. The roads were ice that evening, too. He did not progress to state this year, but did very well especially considering he started the year with a rotator cuff injury and had two bouts of norovirus during the season. He won his heat so that was pretty exciting. 

We are running on a theme here. Our city's schools are open today so we did put one on the bus.  My way out in the country grandson's school is closed so they went to their nana's. My other local grandkid's mom is a teacher and all their schools are closed. We had another night of rain freezing into ice and then a few inches of snow on top it. I was surprised any school buses could get on the road this morning after the multiple semis reported in ditches last night. 

No grandchildren has meant I have spent my morning on the phone.  Somehow our local medical center who also owns our doctor and lab decided to change our insurance to our supplemental instead of Medicare. Mr Merry had a variety of tests and appointments in January and our supplemental is refusing payment because they need to be billed to Medicare first.   

Every time we check in or register, they have asked if our supplemental is our primary and I say, no - you bill Medicare first - which is actually how the system should work.  Of course the bills revealed what I thought was going on when I received them on Saturday.  I spent almost an hour on the phone with billing this morning and progressed to a supervisor.  They can "see" what happened and are trying to fix it.  But at this point we have progressed to the supervisor's supervisor and I have been waiting two hours for a call back. 

I understand that people make errors. But I am not happy that three different times that I remember I tried to clarify this when the question was asked.  And obviously they just brushed off the little old lady. I am being very polite and nice on the phone right now because I want it fixed.  But inside I am steaming.  

So I guess I will go eat a treat and get back to patiently waiting.  

Stay Warm bloggies.!!!! 

No Where to Go

It is Saturday and we have no where to go!  Last week was the final week of third grade girls basketball so little brother did not arrive at dawn and spend the morning here. No one is scheduled to visit.  Although it is currently 35 degrees and raining, in three hours it should be freezing the rain into a layer of ice and covering it with a few inches of snow.  It is noon and I am still in my pjs. 

Before I show a bunch of photos, I would like to answer a question from Mulewings about the reason no one came to my charity office this week.  It is complicated and both psychological and generational. This was not a shut off week.  Most rent payments are due on the 1st, so the first week is when families receive eviction notices if they haven't paid the previous month.  Utility bills begin to arrive the second week, but shut off dates are the third or fourth week.  Many low income households are not as concerned as, let's just say you and me. They have this hope and more of an assumption that something will happen or someone will step in until the last minute when no one does.  There is a name for this that we learned at a conference a decade or more ago but there it is. Last week we had sixteen applications and we will probably have that next week too.  

Another factor is February is income tax returns. People let bills get behind in anticipation of paying them with their tax return. They also borrow against the return to pay bills, losing up to 25% in fees. It is disheartening.  

So anyway - Valentine's Day Dinner! 

I went into the kitchen to wash potatoes to make twice baked.  Fortunately I was getting the ingredients out of the refrigerator first because I discovered the Parmesan and Truffle heart shaped ravioli that I had purchased two weeks ago and had forgotten about.  I think it was under $4 at Aldi and it was sensational! I will watch for it again next year. The ravioli was bright red, but faded to a nice pink in cooking. 

Two Porterhouse steaks, the first steaks from our beef quarter purchased last month and served on our "wedding china", free place settings with each $20 deposit during 1973.  I had 12, but have been finding more at thrift shops in the area as people clean out their parent's cupboards.  I used them once at my house for a potluck for my husbands family. They were shocked at "good china" for a meal like that. I have over 30 of the dinner plates so I am good to go. 

Chocolate Lava Cakes for dessert. A two pack was under $5 at Trader Joe's and you just pull them out of the freezer, put them on parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes.  I will be watching for these next year too. 

Two more Trader Joe's plugs.  I picked this up at Christmas and we loved the bread. I bought more boxes this week (not many left!) and made cake donuts. Fabulous! 

This expires this month. I hate to buy heavy cream which is so expensive in a large container. And the large container at Aldi is the same price as a small container at IGA (we don't have a lot of grocery store choices in a small town).  We asked and it is "seasonal" and comes out in October. So watch for it. It is juice box sized. 

To fill up the rest of the blog today I am posting photos from my little grasshoppers. I have taught my daughters well, LOL.  Here a snapshot from a video of my youngest daughter's Super Bowl party for her husband and two young children. She has learned that everything is an excuse for a celebration even if it is just your family of four! 

And here was her Valentine's post. Christopher is her Valentine, lol. 

My oldest daughter volunteered herself for some kind of scholastic banquet. Here is her decorated lobby for the kids and parents. (It was a huge event, over 100 people and catered). 

She is pretty amazing at planning events and more at following through! She organizes (or threatens) help and volunteers, seeks donors and is a master at what she does. I remember when her 3 were in grade school and she lead an effort to get chrome books for every second grader. It took her a month. She does all this while (at that time) working on her Phd and working fulltime as a nurse with three small children. Now she is a fulltime college professor, has a second job teaching at another school since she has three kids getting ready for college and is an active sports mom planning a family trip in 30 days to England for her husband's milestone birthday. I keep telling her to ask for asylum while there.  

Unfortunately for my daughters, they have inherited my party gene, my planning gene, my people person gene and my volunteer gene and my ability to never say no.  I'm sorry.  

Friday Field Trip Again

 

Yes, that is sunshine coming in through the window on this week's version of a Friday Field Trip! 

First stop, drop off water bill.  After reading the amount and a mild heart attack, Mr. Merry actually read the bill with included 10 extra days due to meter reading delays with the weather. 

On to the post office to drop off FOUR birthday cards for grandchildren in February.  The map was automatic. We know our way to the mailbox. 

A stop at Walgreens for the best price for Pepsi Zero. Mr. Merry had switched to Coke Zero due to A1C levels. Not only are his levels perfect with no medication, Mr. Skinny lost ten pounds. He has switched to Pepsi for political reasons. 

Next stop Dollar Tree for imitation lego bases. Everyone in line behind us had balloons and cards. I mentioned it to Mr. Merry and he mused that there must be a lot of people with birthdays.  I said no, it's Valentines Day and that is why you bought me roses. Then I told the amused line, he did not buy me roses, I bought them myself. We have been married almost 50 years and you learn to take care of what you want, lol. 

Our Aldi had closed Wednesday morning for a complete rearrangement of goods. We did not find it as confusing as everyone on local Facebook pages had complained about. 

Last week I accidentally picked up creamed corn at the store.  I almost kept it in case of emergency when I read that residents in Columbus had used canned creamed corn to bean some Nazis who were walking through their neighborhood (The Nazis then called the police, LOL). But my sympathy for the hungry families prevailed and I donated it to a blessing box. 

We went to the bank. 

And we went to Mr. Merry and my grandson's favorite place for lunch.  

This is the picture of all four of my February birthday grandchildren now aged, clockwise from the top left, 15, 9, 11, and 17.   They are also the four out of ten grandchildren who have experienced a broken arm, not sure if these facts are related. 

LOL -CORRECTION.  This is the four grandchildren who have had broken arms. February is not the 11 year old's birthday month.  The fourth birthday is actually the twin of the little guy in the top left corner - both are now 15. 

Mom did not have a 15 candle, so she made due with "8", "2", "1" and "4".

I sat for four and a half hours in this office yesterday without a single client. I did have a phone call from a desperate mother who told me she was coming in with an overdue utility bill so I waited the extra half hour for her.  She did not appear. 

Our office is located in what was originally the hospital for my town. A businessman purchased the building in the early 1950's when the new hospital was built and made it into offices.  His son who runs the accounting business in the building and the gym in the basement has donated the use of this office as well as his office wifi to our church organization. We salvaged the furniture from the church when they kicked us out for more room for them. 

In 1919 my grandfather was a patient at this hospital when he had his appendix removed. I have heard that the nurses had a dormitory either in the basement or in an out building. Either way, his nurse was a cute little orphan farm girl who had left her grandparents to attend a nursing school in Cleveland and come back to our town to work.  At the end of his convalescence at the hospital, he was released and the couple got on the train and rode to the end of the line (Detroit, Michigan) and rode it home to announce they had eloped. And that couple was my maternal grandparents.  I only found out this information when I was researching family history in local newspapers on microfilm.  

This was my view out my window for four and a half hours. I believe there is a new tenant. Last summer this duplex had a cute little table set with an umbrella, a different grill and planted all kinds of flowers. It just doesn't seem like the same household. 

The building is an interesting mix of businesses. There is a beauty parlor at the far, far end where the ladies room is. There are at least 3 massage therapists, one reflexology, two reiki people, and one person who does fancy facials of some kind. This group are mostly part-time or evening workers, although some have day appointments. There is an unmarked office that someone has rented to write a novel. There is another office where the biller for an anesthesia practice comes in, locks the door and does all the billing for the practice. There is an insurance agency in a suite of offices and there is an abused women's charity who is using the large sun porch (possibly as a donation, too) for their office and evening meetings.  

The massage/reiki people seem to burn a lot of incense and candles so there are some interesting smells.  They are all at least a wing away from us (and so is the ladies room) so we don't have to smell it all day. There are 3 mens rooms located closer to our office.  We are also located the furthest from the ramp entrance, but beggars can't be choosers. 

We will be enjoying our first two steaks from our beef quarter for Valentines Day and I might even make some twice stuffed potatoes. Festive foods were pretty picked over at Trader Joe's this week, but I did get two little chocolate lava cakes. If we are going to have dessert, I guess I should close and read the directions!