Together in Spirit

We moved to Illinois when I was 25 years old and lived there for 35 years. We started our  move back to Hawaii in 2006. Therefore I've actually lived about half my life in Hawaii and half in Illinois. My heart is pretty much evenly divided.

Some of the happiest times of my life were with the teachers who became the best of lifelong friends. They supported me throughout my teaching career and beyond. I can't remember when it got organized but a bunch of us started going out to lunch once a month. Whenever we returned to Illinois to visit our daughter, the group got together so we could catch up on our lives.

When Art and I left Illinois, our "Girlfriends Group" threw a party for us. They gave it a Hawaiian theme.

And yes, of course I was very, very touched... and so very sad to leave.

The group continued meeting through the years but had to stop when COVID hit. We do however keep almost daily contact through a group text chat-line.

When it seemed almost safe, they opted to meet again at an open air restaurant a month ago. I was so happy they could, but sad I couldn't join them.

And then... suddenly... I got this strange package in the mail last week. I hadn't ordered anything, so was truly puzzled.

What a surprise!

The "girlfriends" had sent me a card with little messages from all of them, except one dear friend who sadly hasn't gotten vaccinated and chose to not expose them to possible infection.

They included a VACCINATED pin saying that whenever we put it on, we could think about each other with wishes for our safety and good health. 💖

It touched me more than you can know.

Hawaii in CRISIS!

I've mentioned before how proud I am of my nephew who is a dedicated ER nurse here in Hawaii. I've also mentioned how upset my classmate is for her son-in-law who is also a nurse and contracted COVID while working at the hospital along with other nurses. He is now suffering the long haul COVID which has drastically affected his ability to go back to work.

I got this text message from another dear friend who told me about her sister's brother-in-law here on Oahu. I asked if it was OK to share his Instagram post and she told me that she's sure he would want this message out everywhere. Just in case, I'm removing his name.

POSTSCRIPT: KITV News just put Kenny Akamu on their news website so I guess it's OK for me to tell you who he is. 

Can you imagine how tired these nurses are of treating unvaccinated patients? They ARE heroes because they put their lives on the line every time they go to work treating people who just wouldn't help the country by getting that shot that can make all the difference. 

Then I saw this last week.

It's absolutely flabbergasting! Our numbers weren't this high before we got the vaccination. But the Delta variant is now spreading like wildfire on the islands.

It was in the paper that Monique Chyba, a University of Hawaii professor working with the Hawaii Pandemic Applied Modeling Work Group (Hawaii epidemiologists, scientists and health professionals) projected 400 cases a day for Honolulu and then increasing to 600 and reaching 1,200 by October. She did this on August 5th. However, now that we hit a daily count of 845 on August 15th, the forecast is for 3,700 cases by October 8th!!! 

(This past Friday our infection count was 1,035! On Saturday it was 938. I can’t believe this! And still Mayor Blangiardi is saying he’s only considering using vaccine passports for restaurants. And Governor Ige is waiting until the time there are no more hospital beds available on the islands. Seriously?) 

Yesterday,  we got 1,678 infections!!! This is absolutely insane!!! 

Ms. Chyba said the problem is that she thought more people would be vaccinated by now and that even a small increase in the vaccination rate would make a big difference.

Forgive me for writing so much about my frustration with COVID, COVID deniers, Anti-vaxxers, mandate protestors, indecisive government leaders, etc. but Hawaii is in CRISIS mode right now and it's constantly, constantly on my mind.

POSTSCRIPT: My (vaccinated) granddaughter who just started high school a week ago in Chicago was exposed to COVID in the classroom and had to be tested. Thank goodness she got a negative result.

Looking for Rainbows

I was looking through my old emails of last year and came across this You Tube video of Chicago that my daughter sent me of a deserted CHICAGO from March 22, 2020. We lived in Chicago for 35 years so seeing the deserted streets was eerie and unnerving.

Things had shut down because of COVID. This was the old COVID, not the more infectious, more deadly Delta version. I was then surprised to see that the shut down was because there were 168 infections and 1 death in Chicago at the time.

Recently there were protestors harassing our Lt. Governor, Dr. Green at his condo about the vaccine mandate for state and county workers. Yesterday’s news reported that Dr. Green was now the target of a hate campaign with signs going up with his face and the words JEW below it. Absolutely shocking for Hawaii, the Aloha State.

Chicago has a population of 2.71 million (as of 2019). Their running weekly COVID average was 454 infections last week.

The state of Hawaii has a population of 1.416 million (as of 2019). Hawaii's running weekly COVID average is 719 infections.

And yet, we've got these protestors complaining about any mandates being put forth to mitigate the infection rate.

We're all for businesses requiring you to show proof of vaccination to enter a restaurant, bar, or venue, but the government is afraid of it. They've tried incentivizing vaccines which didn't do a lot of good. They think forcing people to have proof of vaccination would hurt businesses. I'm thinking that if you do, all those people who ARE vaccinated would feel safer about going out to businesses.

That's what we think anyway. 

Whatever the case... our hospitals are filling up or are already filled, and we're having to beg for hospital staff from out of state. 

It seems that's not enough to convince people that something has to be done.

I'm looking for rainbows, but it's cloudy and gray outside.

POSTSCRIPT 1: Governor Ige is now saying the state is working on a vaccine passport, BUT it would be voluntary for businesses to use them. Unfortunately businesses are saying that unless it’s mandated by the state, they are open to harassment. It is an untenable situation.

POSTSCRIPT 2: Good gosh!!! I just saw today's daily COVID infection and death count for Hawaii! This is THE worst! 

# of Infections: 1,035!!!

# of COVID Deaths: 9!!!

Loving Ogo

Our family has always loved ogo. We used to pick the Hawaiian seaweed in Ewa beach a long time ago. We got up early in the morning when it was cool and gathered the seaweed wonderfully littered on the beach. Here I am in 1980 with a long time buddy from elementary school.

Sadly, I'm told that too many people began diving for the seaweed and over harvesting them so now the precious seaweed can no longer be found on the beach.

Ogo (according to Sea Grant California) is considered a “superfood” because it has healthy amounts of important trace minerals, and potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium and iodine. 

This was mom's recipe which I now use. There are tons of different recipes online.

1 1/2 -2 pounds ogo
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 inch fresh ginger minced
1 tsp. sesame seed oil

Green onion and/or round onions. (I just use 1 sweet onion.) You can add cucumbers too.

Bring water to boil and dunk in the ogo. Do NOT overcook. I wait just until the color of the ogo turns from red to green and gets a little soft. That's just a few seconds.

I hadn't been able to find ogo in such a long time and then Sam's Club started stocking them. 

Yay! We now have it as a side dish each evening.

Poisoned By Fox News

I saw this on ABC news (August 20, 2021):

"Mississippi's poison control center has seen an increase in calls of people taking ivermectin, including versions of the deworming drug intended for livestock, to treat or prevent COVID-19, according to state health officials..."

"...At least 70% of the recent calls have been related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased at livestock supply centers," stated the alert, which did not specify the number of total calls."

It seems FOX news with Tucker Carlson is passing on misguided information saying that ivermectin can be used to treat COVID. 

And it looks like people who don't trust the government and don't trust the FDA or CDC or the vaccine because they don't know what's in it, trust ivermectin because they know what it's used for. It's used for horses.... for parasitic worms. It's used for people in highly regulated doses and different from the type used for animals.

And yet you've got people trusting FOX news and poisoning themselves in the process. I understand Trump and some Republican leaders are also still promoting hydroxychloroquine even though Trump was actually saved by Regeneron's monoclonal antibody. Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria.

Trump and family were vaccinated before leaving office. Tucker Carlson continues to say that disclosing whether he's been vaccinated is like asking about his sex life.

Still sitting here shaking my head as the infection numbers in Hawaii have surged even higher than when we didn't have the vaccine. Now we have Delta causing havoc among those people still not wanting to be vaccinated. 

I'm sad and I'm scared.

Bucket Problem Fixed

One very common thing in Hawaii is that plastics deteriorate... fast. I had some items stored in plastic bags and was appalled one day to find the plastic bag had broken apart. Reusable bag handles fall apart too which is nasty if you have breakable grocery items in it.

The garden hose that mom uses had sprung one too many leaks after Art had been repairing and repairing it.

Anybody who knows Art knows he hates to throw things out until he absolutely, absolutely has to. (He did work for the U.S. EPA in Chicago.)

Well, the time had come for this hose to go.

But then he remembered something he'd read before.

He cut off sections of the hose and is now using them for bucket handles to replace the plastic ones that fell off a while ago.

I wonder what he'll do with the rest of it.

Blogging Hint

A dear friend of mine recently texted me that she knew I'd written a post about a mattress pad experience but wasn't able to locate when I'd written it. 

I felt awful for her since I've been writing on this blog now since 2008. I've written over 3,600 posts. In fact, I can't even remember what I've posted about. I KNOW I've repeated myself tons of times and I apologize for that.

Anyway, I showed her how to locate something on my blog the next time she wants to search for a particular topic.

See that little box to the left? You can type what you're looking for and it will bring up all the posts on that topic.

It's helped me tons of times when I try to figure out if I've already written about that particular topic.

Hmmm... I wonder if I've already written about this. Could be... 😆

Saying Goodbye to Mungo

Most people know I'm not a super dog person, but dogs don't seem to know it. Well, I made a sincere effort to get to know my grand-dog, because well... he was my only grand-dog.

When Keola and Sarah adopted him in October of 2009 he sent us this email and photo from New Mexico.

"It's a name that I'd thought of a long time ago, but it didn't seem like a good fit for this dog. It's Mungo, after the Scottish explorer/traveler Mungo Park. I've always wanted a dog that I could name Mungo. Mungo Park was the first westerner to see the Niger River. What sealed the deal: according to Sarah's dictionary, Mungo means "reclaimed wool of poor quality." That seems very appropriate for this stray who was picked up on a reservation. He used to be so timid that it seemed ridiculous to name him after an explorer. He is not timid anymore and is mostly happy and energetic."

 

Keola told us that Mungo must have been mistreated by a man with glasses wearing a hat because he would growl at any man who wore them. Art made sure he didn't wear a hat but he needed his glasses. Mungo would NOT let Art into the house unless he had a treat. It's amazing Mungo wasn't fat because he got a lot of treats from Art. Art LOVES dogs so he was determined to win his grand-dog over. As for Tiffany, KC and me, Mungo was very happy to be near us.

When grandson JD joined the family, Mungo watched over him and tried to figure out what this new creature was like.

In 2017, Mungo was probably disconcerted at the extra family member who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Art and I tried to spend time with Mungo whenever we visited while his family was out to work or very busy. As for Art, Mungo had finally learned that he was a friend who would take him for long walks and give him lots of attention.

I spent quite a bit of time talking to him during this last trip. On our final night there, he slept outside the room Art and I stayed in. That was a surprise. It felt like a goodbye.

Last October, Mungo was slowing down and Keola, Sarah, JD and RK celebrated his 13th birthday.

Keola used to say that Mungo was like the Phoenix because whenever he got sick or hurt, he always came miraculously back to health and vigor.

However, three weeks ago, Mungo suddenly had trouble eating and walking. (Photo to the right was taken then.) The vet said he had acute leukemia, but seemed to come back again after being put on medication. Then last week he wasn't able to move or eat much at all and they had to make the sad, difficult decision to let the vet end his suffering. Mungo passed away quickly and peacefully.

My grandsons are absolute dinosaur enthusiasts. Keola texted that 6 year old JD had told them that "Mungo went in a time machine and went back to dinosaur times." 

I'm sitting here writing with tears in my eyes and imagining JD saying "Mungo is chasing microraptors through the swamp."

And that made me smile.

Should Churches Be Exempt from COVID 19 Mandates?

The Delta Variant is surging across the state of Hawaii. Governor Ige recently re-instituted some COVID-19 restrictions.

• Indoor social gatherings are limited to 10 people.
• Outdoor social gatherings are limited to 25 people.
• Bars, restaurants, and gyms must adhere to a 50% indoor capacity. Patrons can only sit with their personal parties and there must be 6 feet of distance between groups. “Mingling” is not allowed and masks must be worn when not eating or drinking.

However, he must have gotten a push back of some sort because the following day he said churches would be exempt.

Seriously? 

On August 13th, the Star Advertiser wrote:

"In late July, the Hawaii Department of Health warned that places of worship continued to be among the settings where clusters of COVID-19 cases were erupting, along with restaurants, lodging and social gatherings. 

The Hawaii government is saying that each county has unique differences in dealing with churches so they are exempt from the rules.

I've even heard people saying that God would keep them safe. So those people in the ICU are not Christians?

Sigh...

We still have only 61.3% of the population vaccinated and infections are exploding! 

I'm sitting here shaking my head and getting really tired of all the misinformation and indifference of people unwilling to help mitigate the spread of this horrible pandemic. 

Here's the Question of the Day in the Star Advertisers where readers can vote on a different question each day. I guess I'm not the only one who feels this way.

POSTSCRIPT 1:

I wrote this blog post last week.

The situation has gotten much more dire in the last few days. 

We went from an average of 50 cases a day last month to now 600! 

It's crazy!

A couple of months ago, we were even contemplating going to see our children and grandchildren in Maryland and Illinois.

The Hawaii Department of Health is now asking us not to travel because travelers are bringing the virus home (from places they visit or by contracting the virus on the airplane) and causing the community spread.

I saw this Letter to the Editor in the Star Advertiser and I think it voiced what lots of responsible, vaccinated people are feeling.

I'm really so very tired of this pandemic. 

Our granddaughter was a pre-teen when we last saw her in person. Now she's as tall as her mother. Our grandson, RK was just a baby and JD wasn't reading yet. Now RK is chattering away and JD is reading and writing with ease. 

Oh... yes. I'm so tired of the pandemic and those who won't help end it.

POSTSCRIPT 2:

I realize now that I should explain why I'm so very upset about those anti-vaxxers right now.

I've been very, very worried about a dear family member who is an ER nurse at the hospital. He tells me of the people coming into the ER seeming to have no symptoms, but testing positive for COVID. (And they're just walking around out there and spreading their viruses.) I'm frightened for him even though he reassures me (or tries to) that the hospital provides them with important PPEs.

And now yesterday, I got an email from a dear friend/classmate telling me that one of her close family members who is also an ICU nurse at the hospital caught COVID in February is now suffering from long-haul COVID. He has brain fog, difficulty breathing at times and tires easily. He tried to go back to work but does not have the mental or physical strength to do so. He has therefore had to stop working. 

Right now almost all of the COVID patients admitted into hospitals are unvaccinated people who refused to be protected and are burdening the healthcare system. Hawaii has had to bring in nurses from out of state. 

I'm going to stop here. It's just too upsetting for me.

A Grand Experience

In June, 2013 we took mom on a trip through canyons, deserts and well... Las Vegas. We passed through Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Antelope Canyon, Grand Canyon South and North Rim. Mom often looks through the photo album to enjoy the wonderful experiences she had.

Although the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is far more popular, mom loved the North Rim even more because there weren't as many tourists there. It was just more relaxing.

She loved the pioneer cabins at the North Rim. Her first thought when we entered it was that this must be the kind of home Abraham Lincoln lived in. 

Having breakfast in the log cabin was such fun. This unique experience really amazed her.

Our daughter and family went to the Grand Canyon a while ago and had another unique experience with accommodations completely different from ours.

It was called Grand Canyon Geodome Glamping.

Apparently, my son-in-law wanted to see the night sky without Chicago's city lights to interfere with their view.

At first I wasn't sure it was a great idea with everything so exposed. I was glad to see they had curtains for privacy when they went to bed.

They'd chosen a larger geodome that came with a sofa bed for granddaughter, KC.

And yes, they did enjoy seeing the night sky.

POSTSCRIPT: 

I just want to reassure you all that my daughter said they weren’t really sitting on the edge of the canyon. That was just my son-in-law’s clever photographic angle.

Getting My Dander Up

An email was recently sent out to our group that absolutely got my dander up. There were a series of attachments that surprised and then ... well... ticked me off.

Seriously?

You're saying you shouldn't have to wear a mask and you don't want government to establish some mandates that would protect everyone so you can do whatever you like, never mind the people you might infect, never mind the fact that you could be creating more variants?

And you should risk death so those people who don't seem to care about others can "preserve our way of life?" 

And you equate this to brave soldiers who put their lives on the line for our country? 

AND you're saying the 2 biggest things that led to the creation of our nation are guns and the Bible and that’s what liberals want to get rid of?

Have you heard of the separation of church and state? Not everyone is Christian in this country. There is a reason for that separation being established by our founding fathers.

And are you thinking that because guns were used during the Revolutionary War in 1775, that everybody should be allowed to have a gun today? Have you seen how many guns we have in this country compared to other countries? Have you seen how many deaths there have been due to gun violence?

And here's more.

I got this from Wikipedia:

"Person of the Year (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1999)is an annual issue of the United States news magazine and website Time that features and profiles a person, a group, an idea, or an object that "for better or for worse... has done the most to influence the events of the year".

Time did not think Hitler was a great person. They were just showing who "has done the most (and worst) to influence the events of the year."  

And yes, he certainly did in the most evil of ways.

AND, of course, you had to expect this.

The person who sent these out to all of us probably thinks those were patriots who stormed and damaged the capitol building.  Does he not realize that those were insurrectionists who violently injured and have now caused suicides of those who were fighting to protect democracy against these insurgents?

We had about 200 people last week protesting at our capitol because of mandates to vaccinate all state workers and requiring high school athletes to be vaccinated to play sports. 

My daughter was surprised that our infection rate in Hawaii right now is worse than in Illinois. The Delta variant is the main cause and hospitals are in danger of overflowing. 

A few mornings later, I saw this in the Star Advertiser Editorial page.

So yes, my dander is up. And I guess I'm not the only one.

Letter From a Student

I often look back on my teaching days in my mind and remember the children I taught and loved throughout the years. However, there are doubts that sometimes creep in. Did I do a good job? Did each child feel I cared about them? Did I do enough? Was I good enough?

It’s silly, but I wonder if I could even handle a classroom if I had to do it right now? I’m sure glad I don’t have to with the pandemic raging everywhere. It’s a scary time. I don’t know if I could handle in-class as well as the digital learning that is going on. 

I remember researchers from the university coming to our school to meet with all the first grade teachers and asking what was necessary to teach a class online. This was a long, long time ago before online advances. As teachers, we were shocked. How can you teach a class without giving each one individual attention? Children learn best if they know you care about them. 

I received a letter from a very wonderful student the year after I retired in 2005. 

I found it a few days ago while looking for some information for our family photobook. 

It almost made me cry. I'd forgotten about this letter. It was a rather long one detailing all the activities she remembered enjoying in class. I didn't think children would remember a 1st grade teacher.

Here's parts of it:

"...I'm not sure you'll remember me because so many years have passed since I was in your first grade class. This semester, for my sophomore English class, our teacher gave us an assignment to write a letter to someone we really appreciate. The first person I thought of was you. The creative activities you had for us, your great ability to teach and the way you made everyone feel special are three things that made you my favorite teacher...

...Last but not least, you made each and every one of us a special person. You loved each of us for who we were. Even though I was only in first grade, I was old enough to know that you really cared for every student in our class. You once had us sit on a chair between the wall and an overhead. The shadow of me sitting in the chair would cast on the white wall. You traced this on a black piece of paper. Then you cut it out, glued it on white paper, and laminated it. At the bottom, you wrote all the good things about me and you did this for everyone in our class! I always wondered when you would have the time to do all of these things. The journals are also something I still remember. I think it was almost everyday, we would write in our big journals. It was to you. We talked about pretty much everything; school life, friends, family, what we liked and didn't like. You replied to every journal entry by responding to our thoughts and feelings. Everything you did really showed how much you cared for us, and I really thank you for that...

...You always cared for me and loved our class for who we were. You didn't just look at our grades in class, but you saw beyond that and looked at our talents and abilities. It wasn't just schoolwork you were interested in, but simply just saw me as a kid..."

Her name was Grace and yes, I certainly do remember her. I hope her teacher gave her an A+ for this assignment.

Grace must be about 30 years old by now. I know I would have written back to her then, but I wish I knew where she lived so I could tell her how much it means to me now 16 years later.

International Left Handers Day!

Jan of The Low Carb Diabetic did a post on August 1st listing different Facts and Dates about August. Two special days jumped out at me.

August 3rd was National Watermelon Day. Art was thrilled! Watermelon is his favorite fruit/dessert/food and he loved having an excuse to go out and get one.

August 13th is International Left Handers Day! This is what it says on the National Day Calendar website:

"Approximately 10% of the population are southpaws. Scientists don’t know why a person develops left-handedness. But it’s more likely a child will be left-handed if one parent is a lefty, too. Parents of left-handed children used to force them to use their right hands. In the eyes of right-handers, the predominant use of the left hand seemed evil. Parents feared their communities would shun their children. While we accept left-handedness more readily than days gone by, its occurrence hasn’t increased."

Art's mom was ambidextrous. She told us she was originally left handed but teachers back then forced you to use your right. She therefore became ambidextrous. Art thought it was cool to be ambidextrous, so he used to hand things to Tiffany's left hand when she was a baby assuming she was right handed since everybody else in the family (we thought) were right handed.

I thought he was the one that made her left handed.

We had to get special scissors for her and I had to adjust how I helped her hold a pencil or paintbrush.

When we were visiting them a few years ago, I was trying to cut something and none of her scissors worked.

I asked her for a different pair of scissors and she laughed saying, "Welcome to my world."

Well, you can see who else is in her world. 😁

AND... Leonardo da Vinci, Bill Gates, Oprah, Babe Ruth, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, Neil Armstrong, Paul McCartney, Napoleon, Keanu Reeves, Lady Gaga, Helen Keller, Michelangelo, etc. were also in the Leftie World.

And as for Tiffany these days. Being left handed is not a problem.

The funny thing is that while she was in high school and learning to use the computer, there were no left handed mouses (mice?). 

She is therefore much more comfortable using the mouse with her right hand. 

So in the end, I guess Art did sort of get an ambidextrous daughter.

And as for left handers, it turns out that mom's sister is also left handed as are several cousins.

I would therefore like to wish all you left-handers out there a very happy day!

Camellia Oil Experiment

I wrote a post in the middle of June about trying the camellia oil that mom swears by... I mean really swears by. I scoffed at her need to have it, but she insisted it helped to keep her hair from going all white and also to not lose it.

OK. I decided to give it a try. Besides, I am losing quite a bit of my hair and yes, it is going white and my scalp does get itchy.

So I ordered it on Amazon. I followed the directions about rubbing a few drops into my scalp.

Uuuuummm...

I wanted to see improvement. The first time I did it a WHOLE bunch of hair fell out, probably because I was rubbing my scalp so much. However, there wasn't much hair falling out for the next couple of days. Granted I was only doing the "treatment" every 3 days or so. Eventually, I didn't see any improvement and my scalp is still itchy.

So I'm giving up.

Mom can have the rest of my bottle. Maybe you have to do it for decades like she has, but I'm afraid I'm too impatient. And maybe you have to just believe to make it work. Whatever the case, I know she'll be happy to have the extra bottle.

Sigh...

ZOOMing a Memorial Service

My cousin "Char" passed away at far too young an age and even though her parents are also gone, her brother remembered to hold a 17th Year Buddhist service of remembrance for her. I always forget when you're supposed to hold these services so I looked it up.

It's to be held on:

• 49th Day
• One-Year Anniversary
• 3rd Year
• 7th Year
• And years ending in 3 or 7, until the 50th Year

Mom has already hinted that we not forget this when her time comes.

My cousin said it would be a ZOOM service because of the COVID surge in Hawaii and that was reassuring.

I decided to use my MacBook since it has a bigger screen than my iPad which I've used before. I didn't want to use my desktop computer because #1 it doesn't have a camera and #2 it would be difficult for mom to climb the stairs up to my office.

Then I couldn't remember if I needed to download an app or whatever so of course I texted my teenage granddaughter who told me that yes, I needed to do that. 

OK, I did that. 

At the appointed time, I changed my top, got mom ready and turned it on.

I saw quickly that unless you MUTED yourself, every time you made a sound everybody would only see your picture. 

That was weird. I don't recall that happening on the iPad.

OK... I muted our end and it began.

And it was fine. Granted, it wasn't like a regular service, of course, but it felt good to be part of it. It was good to remember Char and all she did for mom when we lived on the mainland. It was good to know what a lovely, beautiful person she was and how lucky we were to have her in our family for even too brief a time. 

And of course, that is what the memorial service is all about.

Determined to Exercise

Mom IS getting forgetful, but at nearly 92, she's doing pretty darn good. She's forgetting names, things we told her the day before, foods we gave her a month ago (she thought she'd never had Costco hot dogs), and so on and so forth. 

But she insists on cleaning the two downstairs bathrooms weekly, vacuum her family room and Swiffer clean the rest of the area, go on the treadmill once a day (used to do it twice a day), cook her own breakfast and lunch, maintain her small garden, clean the street of stray leaves (there's plenty), etc. 

This morning, Art was passing by her family room and saw her doing this.

She wasn't able to go outside to do her yard cleaning work since it was raining and decided to exercise with her NHK Japanese TV show.

I wish I had her determination to exercise. Art is also very focused on exercising EVERY day. I'm trying to follow their example, but somehow I did not get that gene or mindset. 

Is that why I'm finding my word retrieval capability diminishing? Sigh...

I know. I know. I did go for a walk this morning. Art forced encouraged me.

Plunger Remorse and Relief

The other morning the toilet suddenly got stuck. This has not happened to us in the 13 years we've lived here.

What to do. What to do.

Well, I know I saw on the Internet a long time ago that the plunger you use for a tub or sink drain is very different from what you use on a toilet.

Since we haven't needed one and therefore didn't have that particular kind of plunger, we stopped by Walmart on the way home from grocery shopping and picked up this toilet plunger for $19.27. (It's the only one we saw there.) That was awfully expensive for a plunger but... cheaper than hiring a plumber so we bought it.

Would you believe I just checked the Walmart website and discovered that if I had bought the plunger online beforehand and picked it up at the store I would have saved $2.80?

Arrrghhhh!

But did it work? Yes, absolutely. It worked perfectly so we're happy and very relieved. 😁

A Pandemic Birthday

I recently had a birthday. Art always asks what I would like to have for dinner or what I would like to do and I know he wanted to make it special for me, but I really didn't know. 

I know. I know. It sounds like I'm unhappy. But I'm not, not really. My children and grandchildren are not here and we can't really get together with anyone so I figured it would be like any other day. 

And yet... it became special in all kinds of ways.

First of all, there were cards to open.

Each one had a special message. My granddaughter even sent a beautiful poster which made me smile every time I looked at it throughout the day.

There was a card from my nephew and family and several teacher friends. Then came loving birthday wishes by text.

My spirits were lifting.

Art and I had shopping to do and on the way home we stopped at Starbucks. I got my free birthday mocha Frappuccino with almond milk (I'm lactose intolerant). I cashed in Starbucks Stars for a free matcha Frappuccino for Art. And we sat under some shower flower trees and just chilled out. We only do this on our birthdays.

It was nice... very nice.

At noon, there was a long ZOOM call with the kids and grandkids with lots of happy laughter. 

It was great.

Do you remember my saying before that I wanted to get Sam's Club combo pizza again and add mushrooms and spinach? But I also wanted to try adding ANCHOVIES!

Do you see the anchovies? Art added a can of it. Next time, I'd add TWO cans.

I'd also gotten this small box of Dove Minis the day before. The pieces are tiny, but I loved it. I mean I really LOVED it. It reminds me of ice cream bonbons.

Mom said it was the best pizza she'd ever had and much better than any of the pizzas we've ordered before.

And so my day ended and you know what?

It was wonderful... really, really wonderful!

Spotted In Hawaii

We were driving along one day and saw a strange sight. At first, I wasn't sure if that really was a man walking with something on his head.

This fellow was pretty far away so I couldn't be sure he had anything on his head. It could just be a weird hat.

Yup. It's actually a very fit fellow walking with a bottle of water on his hat.

Can you imagine? 

I wondered if maybe it's actually easy to balance a water bottle on your head and walk at a brisk pace like he was. 

Soooo.....

I got a bottle of water, put it on my head and tried walking.

I was able to take about 4 steps and the bottle fell. 

Go ahead. You try it. Let me know how you do. 😄 I dare you.

Wait, maybe I need a hat.

POSTSCRIPT:

Hey... We figured out the trick! Just fill the bottle about 1/3 to 1/2 full and then walk. I could walk at least 25 steps before it fell. Granted I did it in the kitchen where there were no bumps in the road or wind.

Butterfingers

I seem to be all butterfingers these days and it's really annoying and a little unnerving. 

When the kids were little, we always had Melmac (plastic) plates. 

I don't think we were comfortable enough to switch to Corelle until they were almost ready for college. After all, kids drop things all the time.

I do recall the kids once asking when we'd switch to grown-up dishes.

We kept a few pieces for grandkids and even brought some of those plastic dishes to Hawaii when we moved from Illinois.

We do have some other nice plates, but we'd bought a bunch of Corelle plates and dishes at the Outlet Mall once we knew we could trust the kids to be careful.

Well...

Time went by. 

I'm a little older and find myself with those butterfingers I mentioned before.

The other night, I was putting this Corelle bowl in the dishwasher and it slipped out of my hands, took a flying leap and crashed on the floor.

And...

it didn't shatter.

Art was drying dishes at the time and we both looked up startled because it made a terrible sound.

And there were no chips either.

I know Corelle dishes are only shatter resistant and NOT shatter proof, but this was pretty shocking.

Someday, when we're able to travel again to visit the kids, I'm thinking of buying some Corelle dishes for them. 

Not for the kids, but for me.

POSTSCRIPT: 
I just got a message from my friend, Linda in California. She said, “Corelle does shatter. The shards are sharp and bounce far and high. I have ceramic tile flooring in the kitchen.”

Ahhh well... I guess I'm going to have to be more careful in the future.

So?

I am so stuck on the word so and use it so many times that it's become rather a problem for me. It's not so much that I can't think of another word, it's just that it works so well. 

So then... is there a word you use a lot and have to stop yourself?

I just want you to know I'm so sorry if you've noticed this. I've tried using very or a lot or truly or really, but somehow my fingers keep wanting to use so. It just seems so perfect for what I'm trying to say.

Sigh....

I just looked up "so" and this is what I got from the Google dictionary.

adverb: so

1. 1.

   to such a great extent.

   "the words tumbled out so fast that I could barely hear them"

   • extremely; very much (used for emphasis).

     "she looked so pretty"
   • INFORMAL

     used to emphasize a clause or negative statement.

     "that's so not fair"
   • INFORMAL

     used with a gesture to indicate size.

     "the bird was about so long"
2. 2.

   to the same extent (used in comparisons).

   "he isn't so bad as you'd think"
3. 3.

   referring back to something previously mentioned.

   • that is the case.

     "if she notices, she never says so"
   • similarly; and also.

     "times have changed and so have I"
   • expressing agreement.

     "“It's cold in here.” “So it is.”"
   • INFORMAL

     used to emphatically contradict a negative statement.

     "it is so!"
4. 4.

   in the way described or demonstrated; thus.

   "hold your arms so"

conjunction

conjunction: so

1. 1.

   and for this reason; therefore.

   "it was still painful so I went to see a specialist"

   • with the result that.

     "it was overgrown with brambles, so that I had difficulty making any progress"
2. 2.

   with the aim that; in order that.

   "they whisper to each other so that no one else can hear"
3. 3.

   and then; as the next step.

   "and so to the finals"
4. 4.

   introducing a question.

   "so, what did you do today?"

   • introducing a question following on from what was said previously.

     "so what did he do about it?"
   • INFORMAL

     why should that be considered significant?

     "so what if he failed?"
5. 5.

   introducing a statement which is followed by a defensive comment.

   "so I like anchovies—what's wrong with that?"
6. 6.

   introducing a concluding statement.

   "so that's that"
7. 7.

   in the same way; correspondingly.

   "just as bad money drives out good, so does bad art drive out the good"

It's no wonder that I'm so addicted to this word.