EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE HAS RHYTHM.   EVERYTHING DANCES

                                                                                  Maya Angelou

The current rhythm for the universe is swinging into spring.  What a joy it was to wake up this morning and see the nice, warm sunshine.  Even though it has not been that tough of a winter, it's still great to see green grass and plants starting to appear.  I do have several plants (that I transplanted form a different property) that I don't like to see.  They are called Naked Ladies and they are the ugliest darn things.  I tried mowing some off last year, but that didn't stop them.

We only got huge amounts of snow a couple of times this past winter, but then it was so cold, it was impossible to make snowmen and snow forts.  There was such a hard crust on top, it was almost impossible to chip through it..  When I walked across the backyard, I had to kick my heels in to get a grip so I wouldn't sliiiiiide down the hill. 

Since Al has always liked to make snowmen, I had given him a snowman kit which consisted of the plastic "coal" for eyes and buttons, a carrot nose, and some other things.  What I really wanted for him was a top hat.  I knew that even if I found an old real top hat, that the snow would probably ruin it. Yesterday, I went into my beloved Goodwill and found an oversized, shiny black, heavy plastic TOP HAT!  It will be perfect for Alec's snowmen - - - next winter. I realize that I will have to store the darn thing for several months, but at leaswt we have it to make his future snowmen look great with the hat and coal eyes, buttons and carrot nose.

Hope everyone's Easter celebrations went well.  We had Jen, Alec, Cate, and Abby over on Saturday and had a big meal.  It went well, except for my homemade noodles.  Wow, I rarely have a batch that fails, but this time they weren't so good.  Rats!  Before Easter, I was shopping with Nina and spotted those Easter Peeps.  You know what I'm talking about - - -  those marshmallow chicks and bunnies that are coated with pink or yellow sugar crystals. Nina thought they looked disgusting. I didn't buy any, but I wish I had.  That was one of the highlights of my childhood Easter baskets..  Sister Sandy says that they always tasted like eating sand.  It must be a sensory thing with her.  I liked the crunchy crust before hitting the  marshmallow.  Oh, well, to each his own. I guess I'm the only one that likes Peeps.

Growing up, our Easter baskets were always such a treat.  Mother always set four baskets at the bottom of the stairs for us four little girls to find Easter morning. (she did the same thing with four little heart-shaped boxes of chocolates on Valentine's day).  The unique joy of having your own basket was that you didn't have to share. You could eat everything all at once (groan) or pace yourself and make it last a long time.  We also had a egg hunt in our big yard.  For some reason, we always remember the weather being nice and warm on all those Easter Sundays.  What wonderful memories.

COMMERCIAL NOTE:
I saw an interesting infomercial concerning wrinkles. Lovely Jane Seymour was selling something called Crepe Eraser.  Evidently, it is a cream that moisturizes and, well, erases crepey-looking skin.  Since Jane is my age, but looks about 29, I say "Sign me up for a couple of gallons of that stuff!". It probably wouldn't work on me.  Remember, I'm the one that uses Almay make-up and I don't end up looking a bit like Carrie Underwood.

I finally got through watching all six seasons of Gossip Girl on Netflex.  Wow, was I surprised to see who ended up being G.G.  If you haven't see this show and plan to, would ya like me to tell ya who it was???? Huh? Huh? Huh?   Nope, I won't do that.  I made Nina and Jenna keep silent about that until I got to see it myself.

Well, I think I will stop now.  Perhaps I will run into Wally World and see if they have any shopping carts filled with clearance Easter goodies.  Maybe, just maybe, I may run into a slightly stale package of PEEPS!

                                                                    GOD BLESS YOU ALL

LIFE IS TRYING THINGS TO SEE IF THEY WORK.
                                                                                     Ray Bradbury

The other day I was busy assembling my tax information to take it to the CPA.  I can't seem to find one certain paper.  After looking quite a while, I did the only thing I thought would help.  I stopped looking and baked some cookies.  Not the most normal thing to do, but it was that or tearing my hair out (and we all know how protective I am of my hair!).  I am trying not to take life too seriously. I will probably have to call the company and have them send me a copy of the paper.  Big deal.  Whatever.  It's certainly not the end of the world.  Right? 

As I was slapping on a bit of make-up this morning, I made a mental notation to myself to tell you all about a product that I use and like.  However, I fear that I must report some "false" advertising  a'happening.  I have found. . .  wait for it. . .  that when I use Almay make-up, I DO NOT look like Carrie Underwood.  hmmmm  What a gyp.   I also must comment on a TV ad that I find quite amusing.  It is for some brand of super-flushing toilet stool.  This particular commercial shows a teeny woman riding on the back of a great big tall man and she is gushing, "I LOVE YOU!  I LOVE YOU!  I LOVE YOU!".  Apparently he bought her this wonderful stool and it is guaranteed to "flush" away all . . .  uh . . .  splatters, if you will.  Yup, that spells "Love Ya!" in my book.  Too bad Valentine's Day has passed.  I should have asked for the Super-Flusher instead of the huge box of candy I ended up with.

Went to see my regular MD for my annual check-up.  All is good.  The Virtigo is still trying to settle in, but so far I have managed to avoid it.  When talking to my doc, I found out that she and her husband have had some unsettling news concerning his brain tumor.  Evidently it has grown considerably in the last two months.  Since he is severely allergic to steroids that would aid him in taking the powerful radiation that he needs, it is a Catch Twenty-two for them at this point.  Well, Peeps, put your little paws together and say a prayer for this young couple and their boys.  Okay?  Thanks

Talked to Sister Sandy last night, and found out that she has been doing some writing.  She read me her fictional (but oh so true) version of the day/night that Dad escaped from the nursing home.  She did a great job of it.  I hope she keeps up with it. 

Hey, Jenna and I went and got some "culture" on Saturday.  Yup, we went to the theater, Dawling.  The Giving Tree Theater was performing Steel Magnolias.  Now, you all have read how I have a list going of women that I feel belong on my Steel Magnolia list (one of whom is the before mentioned doctor dealing with her husband's illness). And Jenna and I do tend to quote lines from the movie.  So this was right up our alley and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole show.   Anyhoo, the production was wonderful.  And, yes, I ended up mopping my eyes with my handkerchief. 

Jen and I also got tickets to see Theresa Caputo, The Long Island Medium.  We tried to go when she was in our local city, but tickets had all been sold.  I have no idea who we would want to contact if the occasion came up for one of us, but it will be fun to see the show.

Spring break was last week, and Alec came to spend time with me.  You know one of his quirks, due to his Autism, is that he scripts (or quotes) whole scenes from movies.  Well, whenever we sat down to play a board game, he had to go through this whole routine before rolling the dice.  First he would close his eyes, and raise  his eyebrows (well, if he HAD any eyebrows), then he'd clear his throat and say, "That was so good that Mrs. Short told us that was a BAD word.  Classy sophisticates like us shouldn't stain our lips by cursing.  Now, let's play a nice, wholesome game of Snakes and Ladders."

And then we would play a nice, wholesome game of Snakes and Ladders.  And he won.  Again. This scene was apparently from a SpongeBob Squarepants movie.

Okay, I guess it is time to go look for that tax paper.  Grrrrrr.  But like anything else that is lost in this house, it will eventually float to the surface.

                                                                           GOD BLESS YOU ALL

HOME IS THE HEARTBEAT OF MY SOUL.


Hi. I'm back.  Just flew in from Florida after spending a month working on some property that needs to be sold. We didn't have internet where we were staying, so, once again, I had to be off the grid for a while.  Sigh.

My flight home was uneventful. It's amazing that it takes 2 1/2 days to drive there and only 3 hours to fly home. I just brought my purse and a carry-on bag with me. The rest of my crap will be coming with some relatives that are driving back.

I did take advantage of loading up my huge purse to the max. I  shoved in an additional purse, my tablet, camera and about ten pounds of miscellaneous items. My carry-on bag was stuffed to the hilt, too. When I walked through the airport terminal, I tried to look nonchalant as I felt my arms stretching longer from carrying such a load. But I nailed it!  When I was emptying my purse this morning, I found a nice quartz rock that I had picked up and put in. I had forgotten all about that. It's amazing that the purse handles held up under all that weight.

Some people refer to Florida as "God's Waiting Room" since there are so many older people living there. Well, there is one guy who plans on living life to the very fullest. In the local paper, there is a dating section and one old dude wrote the following:

I am an 81 year old man looking for a lover. Am enthusiastic, passionate, and need someone to take care of me. Want a woman for a long-term relationship with the possibility of living with me. I am a Christian and a sometimes nudist.

Okey dokey.   Hmmmm.    (Note: some men are real pigs)   Nuff said.

My kids did a fantastic job holding down the fort here at home.  Dan was in town and was able to come to the airport to pick me up before he had to head back to Minnesota.  Jenna took care of things concerning the house and kept me up to date concerning things happening around the 'hood. Good job, Grasshoppers!

Hope you enjoyed the photo on the last post. We sent Jenna the picture of me holding my "box" of chocolates that Hubby gave me for Valentine's Day. I shared it, so don't think that I ate the whole thing.

I'm going to close now and go through a mountain of mail.  yippie

                                                                GOD BLESS YOU ALL