Chronicles of Nani - Almost Didn't Make It

Another week of things going wrong punching me in the face. BUT another week when my face survived!

It was also another week where I recorded edited and did the whole shebang on Wednesday all day and most of the night. I'm uploading and going to sleep.

Hopefully things are getting back to normal and I'll be tackling "list 2” to get my life back!

#CyberCoffeeShop
#HerbalTea
#MikePiazza
#MötleyCrüe

The Chronicles of Nani - Coffee, a le cyber-café

Don't worry if you don't speak French! There's only a little bit of French at the beginning of the vlog and there are subtitles in English. I just wanted to show off that I still actually remember some of my high school French. (I took French 101 and 102 in college because I needed some "easy" elective credits.) I only had to look up one word in the intro that I speak in French.

But this video is about COFFEE! It talks about my personal coffee history, what coffee actually means to me, my favorite coffee and the ridiculous tendency to judge people by their choice of coffee. 

So, stir up your favorite cyber coffee shop beverage and enjoy!

(BTW, demitasse means "small cup." I do realize that every time I say "demitasse cup" I am being redundant.)

The Chronicles of Nani Face Masks & Pumpkin Spice

While I'm locked up in the house, I've gotten some fantastic gifts from friends. My friend Edna made me a fantastic cool lapghan that gets me outside for a few minutes on hot summer days while staying cool with cotton yarn lap again without having to get fully dressed to protect my dignity to be outside for a few minutes. I got some great FaceTime calls around my birthday and a package of cat stuff from my friend Sheri, that I received on my birthday but it was not a birthday present because she knows I prefer presence over presents, but that included a mask for when I can eventually get out. I also got the gift of some absolutely wonderful cupcakes from one of my aides.

Just this past Wednesday another aide brought me medicinal coffee. It's medicinal because my doctor got me hooked on it, right? Bad doctors will let you get hooked on prescription drugs. Good doctors get you hooked a new coffee drinks!  When I was seeing my doctor every week at the end of 2018/Beginning of 2019, because I had broken bones in both of my feet, she brought me Butter Bear from Biggby Coffee a couple of times and it was enough to get me hooked. As my feet healed she helped me wean off the opioids I was on for the pain, but she never told me to stop drinking the coffee!

This week I talk about face masks, many types of which I've received as gifts, and my favorite - PUMPKIN SPICE SEASON is here!!! It's a combination of fantastic gifts I've received from beautiful enabler's of my of my lifelong passions! (Thank you to everyone of you who has contributed to that addiction over the years!)

Checking In

There has been so, so, so much going on! Don't worry, I am NOT “hanging in the balance" or anything like that, but I can say that I much prefer going to the local hospital during the day when the good coffee bar is open. There're a few things coming up in my too many doctors world that should make the future much more bright. In the meantime I'll be using the last month of the year to really plan for getting my act together next year. I just have to remember “baby steps."

I will, or won’t, share more details about hospitals later. The only thing I'll say now about hospitals is ladies, make sure you get your mammograms! Do it for yourself. Do it for the people who love you. And for those of us older ladies, yeah, every year. This is why the quality of the coffee at the hospital you choose is so important. After a mammogram I've EARNED a real latte and one of the BEST banana muffins in the world!

I'm getting ready to start work on my Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies gift for this year. I'm not totally sure what it will be yet but it will be available here on December 1.

In the meantime, I stumbled upon a set of templates in my hard drive. These were in my Scrap Bird Store in 2009. It took me a minute to remember to them! It's a simple set of templates that is now on my MediaFire Account to share!

click on image to go to MediaFire

I hope you enjoy the templates. I'll be back soon!

Coffee Crankiness

I’m finally starting to hear some good news! Yesterday when I called in to see what the status is of my new power chair I was told it's done and in shipping. That means it maybe at Reflection Medical today or the beginning of next week! When I told Rick, my rep there, that I really wanted the chair in time to go to my niece's graduation next weekend, he told me if there was anything left to be assembled when it got there, he'd make sure it was done so I have it in time. SQUEE!!!

I’m really ready to have the new chair to move around the house and get out of the house. I'm starting to get cabin fever and I do notice that is really starting to tax my personality. I mean that I'm crabby. Things seem to bug me and set me off much quicker than they have in the past. For instance…


I scrap project life a little differently than everybody else. I journal a few lines about the day every day and when I scrap it I add photos if I take them or other random things that add to the character of the days. For the past two years I done my pages in quadrants with each day getting a quarter page. This year I’ve changed up a little bit and I'm doing a 2-page spread for each week, putting the journaling bits on one page and assorted supporting visuals in block form on the other page. Here's an example of what the 2-pager looks like:

I don't post my project 365/52 layouts in the forums or anything so I don't keep track of exactly what elements from what kits I'm using. BTW, I also use images from the Internet, which is completely legal under fair use since I'm not profiting from the use of publicly distributed material. But that explains why I don't have credits listed under my week 11 layout. If you scrap and you see anything about that layout that you just HAVE to know where they came from, drop me an email and I'll see if I can get that info for you.


I showed week at 11 as an example but I am caught up all the way to the present. That is, I’m working on scrapping week 19 today. Part of weak 19 was Mothers Day, My comments for Sunday included that the kids asked me to text daddy at work and ask him to bring me home a fat free latte from Starbucks for Cat-Moms Day. It was a wonderful latte that the kids gave me but I didn't take picture of it. So to include an image representation of that wonderful latte on the page for week 19, I did an image search for Starbucks latte. I found myself irritated by, in my crabby brain," idiots who are irritated for the sake of being irritated." No, I don't miss the irony of that statement. But this is my blog and therefore I'm irritated buy things that are REAL.

Starbucks is very good coffee to those who consider it very good coffee. If you don't consider it very good coffee don't buy it and shut up and let people who consider it good coffee enjoy it as good coffee. It is not necessary to create or forward, because you don't have the mind or talent required to form and promote your own opinion, cute little anonymous memes to place yourself in some place of authority to belittle people who have a different opinion than yours. Free trade agreements and corporate decisions to obtain materials and labor from outside of the US make pretty much everything some percentage of not an American product. Nobody is a bad person for choosing a product that they like because the cup is manufactured with materials from outside the country. You are not a good person because you choose to invest your money in other products with portions made in another country.

Also anyone who is so terrified that there might be something in their coffee or anything else that they get at a restaurant has no business ordering anything already made. In America restaurants are required to supply nutritional information and ingredients for food that they serve. You have a choice of asking for it, not giving your business to establishments that don't produce it without asking or not caring about the content of items that you consume. If you choose to consume products with high sodium or lots of sugar, fat or artificial flavoring that is your choice and you are NOT a bad person for making that choice. The only person that you potentially harm with that choice is yourself and that is only a potential harm because every person is different and every body reacts to different things is differently. In moderation or even in excess, you may very well be harming no one at all. If you personally have made the choice to not consume all product you are NOT a better person for attempting to insist that anyone else should be just like you.

Finally, Starbucks is a product sold for profit. If it was overpriced, it would fail. From the consistent lines I've seen when I've been in a Starbucks, it’s not failing. There are many people who like Starbucks coffee who consider it to be very good coffee and not overpriced. Many can afford to drink Starbucks coffee every day and they do. There are people, like me, who consider Starbucks coffee to be very good coffee and something I choose to have as a treat, even a couple of times a week. There is NOTHING wrong with that. If the coffee you prefer is less expensive there's nothing wrong with your taste either. But to criticize Starbucks and belittle their customers for their choice is wrong. It makes you sound either jealous because you'd like to be drinking Starbucks coffee or just a judgmental idiot.

Again I do realize the irony of judgmentally calling out judgmental idiots.


See what I mean about grumpy? I think maybe next weekend on Saturday I should see if I can get Tori and Rina for an hour, carjack the van from David and the three of us can go to Starbucks. hehehe


I know this has a lot to do with being stuck in the house. As we head into all of the major political crap it brings out the absolute ugliest of people. I try to stay away from Facebook, which is rich and political poison, and I try to avoid TV news. I like reading the paper because then I can ignore the political stuff. We're not a country that's politically polarized. We've become a country of selfish individuals, at least the loudest people are selfish individuals. But that includes everybody that forwards “Information” without verification or context. That's also known as gossip and that's been dangerous since the playground. Personally my opinions and my political opinions are not necessarily the same. Oftentimes they are, but when I think of casting a vote or encouraging someone else to I can't think about just me. I'm voting on issues or candidates to represent an entire constituency that I'm part of. What might be perfect for me may have devastating consequences in general if it becomes a law. The political process might be smoother and less violent if people could step out of their own egos long enough to realize that they aren't alone. None of us are.


I’d better stop now before my cyber coffee shop becomes as empty as the Folgers crowd wishes Starbucks was. Have a great day and be kind to everyone - you never know how long they’ve been cooped up!

What’s The Difference Between A Latte and A Mocha?

I asked David if he’d bring me home a latte when he left the casino. I’ve been to that casino and they served up a great latte to enjoy while I read after donating my roll of quarters. Since he’s not a latte drinker he couldn’t find the coffee place I’d been to and I asked for a McLatte from the drive through on the way home. He obliged and ordered me a fat-free latte at the McDonald’s drive through. What he brought home was NOT a latte.

McDonald’s makes an acceptable latte and I’ve gotten McLattes for my drink on many occasions. A plain fat-free latte is coffee and a serving of fat-free milk. I like the taste and it’s a dairy serving and even a power-food on the Weight Watchers plan. What I don’t like the flavor of at all is equal parts hot chocolate and coffee with nothing else. That’s a mocha and a bad one. It’s also not a dairy serving and carries the calories of the half hot chocolate. But that is the monstrosity they gave David instead of the latte he paid for yesterday. I’ve gotten that horrid drink on more than one occasion instead of a fat-free latte and from more than one McDonalds in more than one state. What’s up with that?

This one is not just me. A plain fat-free latte is my go-to coffee drink. I’ve never gotten a grotesquely warped mocha when I’ve ordered latte at Starbucks or Panera. I’ve ordered it and David and Kelly have both ordered it for me from different McDonalds, seen it on the view screen that is supposed to “guarantee” that a customer’s order isn’t screwed up, and gotten the same screw-up. It must be a corporate-accepted proper way to McFAIL.

I support raising the minimum wage and I have to say that as a consumer this makes me support it even more. If you have to have a second job to pay your bills you likely spread yourself mentally too thin and even if you are trying to get by just on one minimum wage job you’re likely not getting paid enough to buy your “give a damn” about the job. Either way, the customers suffer. Once they’ve left that drive-through window how many people back track to complain? The franchise owner and corporate make the sale without paying for the employees loyalty to the job or providing customer satisfaction.

In the end I poured out the 20-ounces of bad mocha. I’ve poured out more bad mochas than I returned from various McDonalds. When I do return the bad mocha and get the latte I ordered I don’t feel like it’s making much more of a difference than to get the drink I want and occasionally a coupon for the next coffee on them. To me it’s obvious that employees aren’t being trained correctly. How is it that the SAME improper directions are spread corporate-wide? Is McDonalds failing to give proper instructions to franchise owners? Folks, this is really how the trickle-down stuff works; the money stays at the top and poor quality goes corporate-viral.

Happy Monday; Yeah, Whatever.

Word art by TLC Creations

Really I’m well known as one who has always loved Mondays; the fresh new start to a week, the opportunity to make a general plan, and all plans are always “this or something better.” But this particular Monday the 4PM temperature at the airport is 08. Remember that I won’t leave the 8 all by itself like mean ol’ Mother Nature.

Yesterday was an awful day for me; lots of pain and stiffness and in general blahs. I’d remembered the doctor saying I could take an extra pill of my light narcotic during the day if I was in a lot of pain. I double checked with David who was with me that day and he confirmed that I heard the doctor right; she said I could take another one if I needed it, specifically if I was having a lot of pain getting in and out of the bathroom when the water pill was doing its thing. So I took a supplemental “analgesic narcotic.”

You know since it’s a pill I usually take at bedtime I’ve never been awake to actually feel what the pill does. Oh wow! I didn’t feel anything weird, like a recreational drug taking control away or anything, but I felt, well I felt less! My arms and shoulders were really bad because they are responsible for supporting me and dragging my lower body in many places. The pain in my arms was just dull, the pain in my shoulders almost done. My lower back pain was almost nonexistent and my legs were more comfortable than they’d been in recent memory. I called the doctor today. I asked her receptionist to leave a message asking her to change my prescription to two a day instead of one. Because it’s a narcotic, it has to be a paper prescription and can’t be called in to the pharmacy. I need it refilled but I have 6 pills left. I won’t take the extra again without her okay to keep doing it. I don’t want to run out either I have a feeling it does more to let me sleep at night than I realize! But if I am able to safely take a daytime pill it will be fantastic. For taking one yesterday afternoon and then last night. I’m just now (5PM) starting to feel pain again. I want that every day. If we could work out a three times a day weaker dosage to keep the pain at bay, it would be heavenly!

I read a great article last night from the Washington Post about my favorite beverage! The nation’s top nutrition panel says “drink more coffee!" Americans only average 2 cups a day of the beverage they’ve discovered to have many health benefits. The benefits way outweigh anything that could be said bad about the caffeine. Be careful about how much you add, like cream or sugar, to your coffee though!

Multitasking, yes, I still do that, means a blog I started at 4 gets posted at 8. I have some artsy stuff to chat about in the next few days and Marco says he needs to write a blog. For now, g’night!

Happy Spring First!

My first Crocus this year! 3/18/14

There are hints that it’s real, the crocus bud photo taken in my driveway Tuesday, for instance. But then again the National Weather Service is calling for a mix of rain and snow Friday night into Saturday and the high temperature is not expected past freezing on Sunday. Okay, sure, that is what spring is like in the Midwest but yanno two years ago this time it was in the 80s and breaking records. That’s right, folks, I’m a fair weather Global Climate Change fan; break the records I want broken.

It was baseball horror yesterday in Cactus Ball. Aroldis Chapman, fire-throwing closer for the Cincinnati Reds, was hit above left eye by a comebacker line drive. Pitch was 98 mph that hit back at 112. It happened so fast and with such force. There was lots of blood and Chapman was carried off the field on a stretcher; it could’ve been a lot worse. Doctors say the area above the eye where he got hit is the strongest part of the skull. Other places on the face or head could have caused much worse damage or even death. Aroldis will have surgery to repair crushed bones and a titanium plate over that part of the skull. He may be back on the mound as soon as the end of May or beginning of June. I guess we’ll see then how much psychological damage that hit did. In the meantime prayers and good wishes are sent from all over the baseball fan world for a strong recovery without complications. Scary stuff.

This is been a busy week in Naniland! I had a couple of doctor appointments and a transportation presentation/forum that goes with a volunteer committee I’m on. Two of the three days that started the week included relieving me of a few quarters for Mike & Ikes! Any time seeing the doctor includes Mike & Ikes it’s easier to handle anything they tell you. Yes, my inner child comes with me that the doctors’ office. She doesn’t get so cranky when she’s got Mike & Ike’s.

Adult Nani and discovered I really like the free coffee in the clinic one of my doctors is at. That clinic always smells like a coffee house when I go in and I usually have things timed so that there is not enough time to get a hot drink before the bus. Monday my appointment ended an hour early so I decided to get a cup of coffee. The coffee machine that dispenses free coffee when you hit a button has a container on top with beans and when you press a button to fill the empty cup it grinds a cup’s worth of beans and brews it into your cup. You read that right; it grinds the beans and brews a fresh cup of coffee for free. I said it before and I’ll say it now you may think “so that’s where the rising medical costs are going,” but I think if a medical professional is examining me, poking me with a needle or prepping me for surgery I sure would rather they had a cup of that coffee on their way to the office than a cup of Foldger’s! This is on the campus of the same hospital that has a fantastic coffee bar in the main hospital. I think UTMC is onto something in the relation of good care and good coffee. Well, you know maybe that’s it. At any rate I’ll start making sure I add extra time before the bus for coffee now.

Things are going pretty well in my fundraising efforts for Walk MS. Considering how late I joined I can’t complain. The walk is Sunday, March 30 and I’m going to do the mile route with my power chair and David is going to walk with me as my moral support. Please don’t think that only a mile in the powerchair is a small feat; a few years ago it might not have been a big deal for me to walk a mile but in the chair I can get tired after an hour of shopping. I will be sure to bring my camera to get photos of Walk MS.

Finally here’s my "telethon pitch" for my Walk MS fundraising: I’m asking for $5 donations. Every dollar helps with programs for coping with symptoms, new medications and research to ultimately find a cure. If you’d like to send a gift of any amount check out my Walk MS page. If you can’t donate at this time you can help the cause by forwarding the link to my page. Thank you and bless you for your help!

Memories Can Be Selfish

Ah, the wonders of the Internet! I broke a Dunkin Donuts coffee mug last week that was one of my favorites and it had to be replaced. The story about the replacement of the mug is one for another time. In searching to find a replacement for that mug I discovered so many awesome Dunkin’ Donuts mugs including the beige one with the brown logo just like I used to drink coffee in when I was learning how to drive in the early 80s.

There were some older mugs with the pinky-purple circle logos from when I was a kid too . That prompted the search for the memory lane items. It’s a very old memory that David has heard often enough because whenever we talk about donuts, and we talk about donuts quite a bit, it often brings back that fond memory of the first time I ever bought something at the store all by myself. It was a chocolate honey dipped donut from Dunkin’ Donuts on Eureka Road in Southgate, Michigan in the early 1970s; I was six or seven years old.

 

From the web, but if we'd had digital 

cameras then  I bet there would have been 

a picture of the actual donut I bought!

Times have changed, huh? Imagine any responsible parent letting a 1st/2nd grader walk all by herself up a block to the busy street, down another block in the alleyway behind the stores, across a neighborhood street and into a restaurant by herself. It was definitely safer in the early 70s. Well, I would imagine that the neighbors on our street knew I was going to the donut shop and my parents knew the owners of the stores  as customers. Heck, the guy who owned the store with the penny candy and baseball cards knew me personally as a regular customer with the neighborhood kids. So in that I actually knew neighbors and business owners it was probably safer anyway. The idea of safety never crossed my mind as a concern. My only concern was saving that 15 cents of my allowance so I could walk up to the store and buy my own donut, bring it home and have it for breakfast. I got to sit down at home and have my donut with the glass of milk Mom gave  me knowing that that day I was one step closer to being a grown-up.

I think I remember that trip to the donut store and my chocolate honey dipped donut so vividly because it was an extra special first time. I realize that I am truly blessed that I have such vivid memories so long ago. I’m trying to make a point of getting some of those very old memories that live so vividly in my mind written down. Maybe if I can read my own description with some detail about watching man walking on the moon for the first time on TV when I was almost 3 it will help me keep remembering things when I’m 83. At the very least I’ll be able to read it and be amazed at what a neat story it is.

In my search to replace that mug that broke I came across two mugs with Dunkin’ Donuts logos from the time of little Nani buys her own donut. I think it would be neat to have a Dunkin coffee mug from that time but I’m not sure which mug is the right Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant mug from the early 70s.

I was troubled by the fact that I absolutely don’t remember what a coffee cup at Dunkin’ Donuts looked like at that time. But after thinking about it I realized I didn’t drink coffee when I was six or seven years old except the “cappuccino” that Noni made for us after family dinners. I guess I don’t actually have a reason to remember what the coffee cups looked like so I really have no point of memory to tell me which mug I want.

The old Dunkin’ Donuts mugs still appeal to me as a mug collector, fan of old advertising and as a piece of my own history even if I wasn’t the one drinking coffee at the time. So dear readers, does anyone remember reading about or recognize either of these mugs as the mugs that would’ve been in a Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant in 1972 or 73?

I suppose I could just get both.

Wish I Was A Bear

I’m walking around… Scratch that… I’m rolling around in a strange world. It’s not my world; it can’t be. The temperature would never, I mean NEVER, be much below freezing let alone below zero. But this morning, in this strange world where we had 9 inches of snow on the ground by the end of the day yesterday, it was 9° BELOW zero. I’m just not able to process these bits of information as fact, not in MY world.

I called our snow guy to arrange to have our snow plowed and shoveled before David left for work yesterday. I happened to be sitting in the dining room when he was shoveling the ramp. Of course it kept snowing until midafternoon and there was already another inch when David left but it was still a lot easier to drive through. When he came home you could almost not tell it was done all. There’s more snow in the forecast on Sunday so were just dealing with the snow in the drive and I’ll call to have it all cleared again after it stops snowing on Monday.

So I’ve been inside the house today and after looking at the weather I promptly got on the phone and started fixing the next few days. The temperatures next week will not go much above 10° until Thursday. The HIGHS are expected to be: 1 on Monday, -3 on Tuesday and then a “sweltering” 12 on Wednesday. When it’s that cold the MS and Raynaud’s work together to torture me! My legs and back muscles go into nonstop spasm. I canceled plans to meet Tori and Rina for lunch on their way home tomorrow so they be home and off the road that much quicker. I also canceled lunch plans with my friend Lissa on Sunday in consideration of two days of expected snow with further accumulation. I also postponed doctors appointments on Monday and Wednesday. YEESH!

So there’s my gripe for today. Yeah I know I’m griping about the same thing everybody’s griping about. Did you know currently in its 32° in Atlanta?! Incredible! I know they’re calling it Global Climate Change now but I want to go back and get my Global Warming. (Pout)

All this time indoors is giving me the opportunity to do some important things. But I haven’t been doing a lot of important things. (Smile) I am slowly working on cleaning up stuff around my computer, slowly. At least I have been keeping up dishes. (Bigger smile) Today I did a lot of reading. Well you know, two books a month is on my Projects and Goals list. You can look over on the sidebar; I’m currently reading Delusional Traits by David George Clarke. It’s book two in the Rare Traits trilogy. Remember how much I loved Rare Traits? Yeah. Delusional Traits is kinda like that. (Awesome Mr. Clark!)

Tonight I’ll do some scrapbooking since a page a day was in the Products and Goals list as well and so far in 2014 I’ve done exactly… my signature on Ginger Scraps which doesn’t count in my list of completed pages. I really need to work on that.

I did get all of my needed phone calls done today before I buried my nose in the Nook. That cleared up my schedule to pretty much hibernate for a few days. When David gets home from work I’ll ask him to bring a few containers of veggie soup up from the freezer downstairs (because hey, I just set them on the porch and they’ll keep frozen) and let that be my vegetables for a few days. I’ll go to the produce market or maybe just the grocery store on Friday after my doctors appointment when I’ll be out anyway. Expected high then is 26, maybe I should wear my spring jacket.

Well off to do that scrapping now. No matter where you are make yourself a cup of coffee, tea, warm cocoa or heck, it’s Friday night, whatever it takes to keep you warm! (I like to fill up the rest of my cup of hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps.) ;-)

Rina To The Rescue!

It’s 6° out SIX! I’m not normally one to complain about the weather… Oh who am I kidding? I’m totally one to complain about the weather and a 6° morning temperature SUCKS!

But it’s sunny and I have a warm cup Starbucks Christmas blend in my newest coffee mug from my notes-so-secret Santa cousin!

 

side 1

 

side 2

Yesterday I had a knock on the door and saw the UPS truck in front. I went to the front door, with the powerchair thus no stress, and there was a package on the front porch. (UPS gets it right when I ask that packages be left on the front porch.) I use the big grabber and pulled the box in the porch and brought it back to the dining room table. It had my name on it but it was from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I didn’t order anything from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I opened the box and there was a copy of an email telling me that it was a gift from my cousin! As if getting a gift isn’t enough to put a smile on my face, it’s a mug! And it totally cool mug that will fit a big cup of coffee. Thanks, Seamhead Gypsy, or wonderful surprise for my collection and a great holder for my morning coffee.

On the less-than-stellar front I discovered that, while I can still make cookie dough, I can’t quite bake the cookies anymore. My legs have gotten pretty bad for balancing while holding a chair long enough to set the timer on the oven in my arms are just a little too weak to get cookie sheet of high enough to put in the oven. That was a little disheartening. David was home when I discovered this and did the pans in and out for me for that one batch but I usually bake when he’s not home.

Davinities is not lost! Rina to the rescue! I sent a text to ask if she would come visit and help bake after her semester is over. I got a call almost immediately. Rina wanted to come visit and make crostadas. The family party for Laura’s family is before Christmas this year. I usually send a couple of crostadas for their party home with Dave and Laura on Christmas Eve. Rina was going to get my recipe from online and make the crostadas this year. (Nana beaming with pride) She’s made it crostada before but it’s been a few years and her dad suggested she should “make them with the master” before she tries it solo. I guess I hadn’t realized how much my brother really likes the crostadas. (Nani is feeling really buttered up now.) So those who get Davinities in the mail will be getting that sweet box a little closer to or just after Christmas. I guess this means I’m not the Davinities Little Princess anymore; I’m the Queen! I’d love it Rina gets the whole cookies for Christmas vibe and decides to take over. We’ll see, but I’m looking forward to a few days of baking with my Sweetie!

I Found The Good Stuff!

That was my breakfast this morning I finally found my Panettone solo uvetta, senza canditi; only raisins or no candied fruit. That’s not the common and traditional way to make panettone but I don’t like the candied fruit and and never have. Mom didn’t like it either but loved the panettone senza canditi and every year Noni found a panettone senza canditi for her daughter-in-law and her granddaughter for Christmas. Now I make a point of finding only raisin panettone for Christmas in remembrance of my grandmother and my mother and because it just tastes so great.

It usually takes searching before I find my panettone. Shopping online helps! So when I ordered my traditional Italian Torrone candy, I added a couple of the mini panettone like the one I had for breakfast in case I still couldn’t find full size. The candy shop didn’t have panettone solo uvetta in larger packages. But I did find 2.2 pound panettone senza canditi at a different store online and bought two. Now I’ll make sure keep my hands off one of them so I have it for Christmas breakfast.

That was breakfast this is now

Skipped a few hours there because the bus called and I went shopping! Yanno, it is SO cool to use the paratransit bus for something all by myself that’s NOT a doctor’s appointment! I did some Christmas shopping including finishing all of my Secret Santee shopping. Now I’m not going to say what stores I shopped at because my Santee might just read The Chronicles of Nani. Besides I bought a few other things that might also be for someone who reads my blog. You never know.

No one has ever asked me how long it takes me to shop. I never have been a huge shopper. In my teens and early 20s I could spend a day at the mall with my mom or with friends but I don’t think that really counts. I like to shop for Christmas things alone and I really do enjoy that. If I want an opinion I like the unbiased input from clerks and other shoppers. So today I had a mission, one place that I wanted to go and to make my trip reservation with the bus I had to be able to sell them how long I’d be. Hmmm… One store, one list with a few different names and a few different things and some choices I knew I’d have to make for those things. So I guessed two hours. It took me one at the store I planned to visit. Since I had an hour before the bus was scheduled to pick me up and the rain had let up I motored to some of the other stores in the center and did a little more Christmas shopping!

One of the stores was Family Dollar. David doesn’t do dollar stores or discount stores; what Grandma used to call “junk stores.” Don’t get me wrong there, Grandma loved going to “junk stores.” What wonderful places they are for craft notions and the little things we use every day that aren't meant to last. Frankly I’d rather pay two dollars for something that lasts a month than pay five dollars for something that last two months. Sometimes the natural female shopping gene just makes more sense than the male “I hate stores” gene. I don’t get to go to those stores so much anymore because when I get together with girlfriends it’s for catching up over lunch, dinner or coffee. I was very happy when I passed the windows and realized the next door was to Family Dollar. I only had a half hour left so I was careful and well behaved and next time I’m grabbing a bigger basket! But this is where I found a special little something for me:

Isn’t it just SO Nani? I collect coffee mugs and I just adore the word art with a single word or subject in many fonts and it’s the word coffee! My little giftie for me was only a dollar and a large size from my Keurig brewer with a tablespoon of Coffeemate is a perfect fit! I love my new mug! They have a mug that says cappuccino in orange and cocoa in purple too. I may have to plan another trip to Family Dollar after the holidays. The really good news to me was when David came home for lunch I showed him my new mug and I told him it was only a dollar. He smiled. He understands that a good deal on a mug I really like is the same thing as a good sale on model train cars that fit his layout for him. .Ah, marital bliss!

Coffee and Clouds

I find that cloudy days make me crave coffee. Okay, if I tell David that he’ll ask, “and that’s different from any other day how?” But rainy or cloudy days make me truly crave coffee not just want a cup. That makes today a great day to tell you about the Nani-perfect opportunity I received last month as a BzzAgent!

Yes, I’m promoting a product I got to try for free, but it was a free sample of a new flavor of a product I liked anyway! I got free K-Cup samples of Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Three Continent Blend. To be honest I was a little leery at first because one of the coffees blended into Thee Continent is Sumatra and I’m not a Sumatra fan, but as part of a blend it took away the acidic edge I wasn’t fond of and it was good. But what I really learned at the Choose Fair Trade website is why some of my favorite Green Mountain coffees are favorites!

I’ve been drinking Fair Trade Colombian for a while because it was just the best Colombian I’d tried and I love Colombian as my every-day coffee. The Pumpkin Spice from Green Mountain, also my favorite of the Pumpkin Spices, is also a Fair Trade coffee!

Fair Trade means that coffee farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their beans which gives them money they can invest in their crops and communities via hiring and spending. A statistic that bothers me is that only 38% of consumers even know what Fair Trade is! And I admit that prior to the opportunity to try and learn I was part of that 38%. I knew there was something about the Fair Trade Colombian that made it better. After viewing the website and reading about the people singer Kelly Clarkson visited while she learned about Fair Trade I was even proud to discover that the Pumpkin Spice I love and The Vermont Country Blend I’ve tried are both Fair Trade.

Nantucket Blend, a flavor enjoyed by Seamhead Gypsy and shared with me last Christmas is Fair Trade. The Wild Blueberry Rina likes and ended up sharing the box I gave her with her dad? Yep, that’s Fair Trade too. Green Mountain Coffee offers one of the largest selections of Fair Trade coffees.

I encourage you to check out the Choose Fair Trade website and check out all the facts about Fair Trade and the great selections of Fair Trade coffees. If what you contribute to the communities in coffee-growing regions isn’t enough to make you feel even warmer inside than just a hot cup of coffee, how about this? That investing in their crops and quality of life in the area just makes a better-tasting coffee. If you won’t do it for them, then do it for yourself!

Let’s make the world a better place one great cup of coffee at a time!

My Hamburger Bun Runeth Over

Mmmmm….

I feel like I’ve talked about Gevalia before but I looked over my last few blog entries and don’t see it. Maybe I told David or wrote it in my personal journal. Hmmm… My brain has been taxed lately. Anyway, I used to drink Gevalia coffee all the time! I got the beans and used it in my coffee maker that grinds the beans right into the filter. Good coffee and a great way to make it. At that time I was living at home, no car payment, immortal; as the average 20-something, so no medical bills and I was enjoying the benefits of my first job that paid more than minimum wage. I was making $5 an hour full time!

Please remember that a Mr. Goodbar was 15 cents when I was a child too.

Anyway, car payments and a travel bug a little later and I terminated my Gevalia deliveries when I had to start cutting costs. Well, Gevalia started making K-Cups and they offered a fee sample on their Facebook page. I’d forgotten just how wonderful that coffee is and the K-Cups, are comparable in price where at that time so long ago the beans and ground coffee was considerably more expensive than even Coffee Beanery coffee by the pound. So I’m blissfully back on the Gevalia!

Let’s see what Joyce at From This Side of The Pond is asking in today’s Hodge Podge, shall we?

1. This week's Hodgepodge is Volume 123. What's something you've done recently that was as easy as 1-2-3?

Using a scrapbook template. I usually do my pages from scratch or alter the heck out of a template when I use one, but this year the end of the month has meant that I’ve used some templates pretty much as is. Remember that in catching up since 2008, my rule for this year is I can only scrap the current month from any year. At the end of the month I do a few folders with templates. They still look good, but I don’t claim the layout as my original design for the page. I can do three or four pages in a day to close out the month that way, though!


2. The Wednesday Hodgepodge also happens to fall on the first day of May ...what is something you may do this month? 

I may be going for another MRI. Since I blew my out-of-pocket out of the water in January, the MRIs are essentially free (to me) for the rest of the year. Since my bills won’t be paid off until late next year, I want to get all of my testing done this year!


3. The Englishman Horace Walpole is credited as saying, "The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think" How do you see it?

A little of both, but mostly a comedy. It’s the thinker in me that remembers the serenity prayer; I change what I can, accept what I cannot and I don’t beat my head against a wall trying to change things I can’t.


4. May is National Hamburger Month...how often do you eat a burger? What are your must-haves when it comes to burgers? I assume you vegetarians won't be celebrating so tell us what you'd like instead? 

I eat burgers once or twice a week. Burgers are usually the next day dinner after spaghetti, which David and I both enjoy. I also now and then get a hamburger when we eat at McDonald’s while railfanning and I feel like a hot lunch rather than salad.

Must-haves are ketchup, mustard and relish or pickle and I require enough of them that the burger is more of a condiment flavor than actually something I can taste. Seriously, I like hamburger as a condiment, but I really don’t want to taste the meat.

Last time we were railfanning we stopped for lunch and I got a Quarter Pounder, no cheese and extra everything else. THAT was a Nani burger! The condiments we just dripping out of the bun and the pickles were stacked as thick as the burger. YUM! Okay, truth is I could probably have just had pickles, but then it wouldn’t be warm. :D


5. Pansies, petunias, geraniums, impatiens...of the four mentioned, which is your favorite in a patio pot? Will there be pots on your patio this spring? (Or whenever spring comes to your part of the globe?) Who does the gardening at your house?

I like them all, but I think pansies best. The gardening at our house gets done when someone who gardens visits.


6. When did you last (literally or figuratively) shout "Mayday, Mayday!"

I think last night. I woke up to :nature’s call” and I couldn’t prop myself up to sit up on the bed so I could stand. David got up to be my grab bar. That’s just one of my normal challenges, maybe it’s more one of David’s challenges.


7. Say farewell to your April in ten words or less.

I will always love you April, you bring baseball back!


8. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m going to see a movie today! Sheri’s on vacation this week and we’re going to go see 42. I’ve been hearing so much about the movie and seeing the ads during games, I’m kind of excited. Jackie Robison’s story is one of the most important things in the history of the sport I love so much. It was baseball, and given baseball’s place in America at that time, the country’s moment to wake up and grow closer to the rich society we can be if we shed backwards notions that any kind of unsubstantiated hate is okay. It makes me smile to think of all that we’ve gained every time we’ve become more equal and it makes me hungrier for all that we still have to gain.

And lunch at Friendly’s – They have ice cream!

What Season Anyway?

From Because of You by Digitalegacies Designs

It's the third day of spring and it hasn't been a morning above freezing yet. One year ago today, we tied the record high set the day before at 85 degrees. Some people might call that Mother Nature and Murphy having an affair. Just sayin'.

This week’s statements:
1. My ___ is my least favorite feature
2. I was very ____ as a child
3. The first room I clean in my house is___ because___
4. If I had the guts to ____then I could ____

My Answers: 

1. My feet are my least favorite feature. I used to do my toe nails and go barefoot or flip-flops in the summer. The Raynaud’s makes them pretty ugly now. :P

2. I was very much a tomboy and a girly-girl as a child my father’s chagrin. Pop was as unhappy that his princess carried a hockey bag into ballet class as my ballet instructor was!

3. The first room I clean in my house is the bathroom because I can sit and still reach everything that needs cleaned and the water is right there.

4. If I had the guts to face my fears then I could sit in the dining room without pulling my neck doing a celling check for spiders every couple hours.

**  Big time thank to April at Straight From The Heart for two things. First she inspired me to sign up too be a BzzAgent. (Pronounced Buzz Agent) You’ve probably noticed fewer sponsored posts here; my source for coffee funding is drying up! BzzAgents don’t earn sponsor funds, but they get to try products.

The second thank you is related, and one of the oh-so-impressive BzzCampaigns. April got a Café Escapes BzzKit. As part of that kit she had coupons to give away and I was one of the recipients. I’d seen the Café Caramel at Christmas but resisted buying it in favor of more ecumenical choices for entertaining. I used my coupon to try it. OH MY is it good!

I’ll add to April’s testimonial about how good Café Escapes are. In 2011 Café Escapes sent me a sampler with their original four flavors through Twitter. I wasn’t as impressed with the Chai Latte, but I’m not a chai fan. I did like the dark and milk hot chocolates and I was super impressed with the Mocha! I have a box of Mocha that is nearing its end now; I use it with the leftover candy canes to make peppermint Mocha for very few Weight Watchers points and under 100 calories if you use the mini candy canes. The Café Carmel is 60 calories, regular sugar sweetener and the tastes carmelly divine! I want to keep them hidden from my caramel-loving husband, but David is the one who took my coupon to the store to buy it. It’s gonna be hard to keep a secret!


**  An era in my digital scrapbooking history will end this month. At the end of the month Darlene Haughin will retire from scrapbook design. Darlene was the very first designer I for whom I was part of the creative team back in early 2008 and she is the only designer I’ve created for all five years.
Her designs fit my scrapping style so well and she has been a great “boss” to create for. I’m going to miss her work, but I totally understand burn-out and wanting to leave the designing behind and scrap for you again. I didn’t last nearly as long as a designer when I sold my kits.

So through the years many scrapbook layouts done with Darlene’s kits have appeared at The Chronicles of Nani. If you digi-scrap you can still get Darlene’s kits at her My Memories store. Here is a recent layout I did with Darlene’s Carmela kit:

Credit: Carmela by Darlene Haughin

**  I just wanted to mention that the current book I’m reading is Rare Traits by David George Clarke. I’m about half way through and so far the book is phenomenal! It totally captivates my love for mysteries and the Renaissance Italian Masters. I can’t get enough of it. The book is 474 pages, longish I suppose longer than the books I’ve been reading by about 100 pages, but I could probably be happy if it was 1000 pages; I could read it longer! I got the book at Smash Words  for 99 cents and so far I’d say it is definitely my bargain of the year. Even if I’m disappointed by the end the sheer reading pleasure of the past week makes the price a bargain.

And I’ll stop talking about it until I finish reading it now, but boy for a lover of mysteries and an Italian Renaissance art geek it kinda feels like the book was written just for me!

**  Time for a Morgan update. I wish I could say things are going well and everyone is adjusting nicely. Unfortunately, I can’t. Morgan is such a sweet girl to David and me, but the three cats are just mean to each other. Kaline and Carla are usually united, but there is still growling, hissing and screeching every day. It’s been almost 6 weeks now.

We’re going to try Feliway.  David calls it aromatherapy for cats. I refer to them meditating together or forming a kitty prayer circle. At any rate it’s called pheromonatherapy, using a synthetic copy of cat facial pheromones to calm them and help them get better adjusted. I hope it works. Morgan is so sweet to us, but she charges the other two, usually provoked by their growls, but she also launches preemptive strikes. The attacks on Kaline and Carla have to stop.

Honestly Feliway is Morgan’s stay of return sentence. If we see results, if the three cats can begin to be civil to each other and not make us fear for their collective safety, Morgan stays in her new home. If they can’t learn to peacefully coexist and end our worries that one of them could get hurt, Morgan will have to go back to the shelter. That makes me sad, because she is such an attentive cuddle bug with the humans and I take the promise to try to provide a good forever home seriously, but there was that same promise made to Carla and Kaline too. I hope it doesn’t turn out that Morgan is just a one-cat-home cat.

The Monday After...

Cluster made with Espresso Italiano by Violamoni

Good snowy Monday morning! Although it’s a little later now, after breakfast and all, I managed to wake up just one minute before the alarm today. We went to bed a little late, but sleeping all the way to the alarm is a good thing for me! I say snowy, but it’s just a little snow right now; we’re expecting up to 3 inches today last I heard. No, that doesn’t thrill me, but espresso with breakfast helps me deal. ;)

I’m hearing great reviews of the Taco Bell ad yesterday with the octogenarians escaping the retirement home and doing crazy 20-something things including a late night trip to Taco Bell. Humph… Whatever; I didn’t like it. Maybe it’s because I don’t like the song. Maybe because I don’t like the idea that people are obsessed with wanting to be 20-something. I enjoyed being 20-something when I was 20-something but I don’t want to be it again. I enjoy being 40-something just fine. When I’m in my 80s, I might want an occasional Taco Bell, like I occasionally do now, but not because I want to pretend I’m in my 20s; it’ll be just because I’m in the mood for American mexicanish fast food. Maybe I’m overanalyzing but I didn’t find the spot to be good or funny.

The game was more exciting that it should have been. It wasn’t so much good as it was an interesting sway of momentum before and after the early in the second half partial blackout. I’m glad it didn’t happen before the opening kick-off return. I wanted Baltimore to win; I’ve liked Joe Flacco since he was a rookie. I did enjoy the Twilight Zone moments where my favorite ad seemed to have predicted the San Francisco come back and in 30 seconds prevented their win! Regardless of the outcome of the game, it was still a great ad, but with the outcome, it became an ominously powerful ad! Not bad for a one time only shelf-life on the spot!

Okay, no more football, advertising or espresso talks. Let’s join Heather and Wayne at Acting Balanced and Touristic respectively for the Monday Quiz About Me.

1. Are you good about going to the doctor?

I have to be now, but I wasn’t so much in the past. Now (I have doctors that make me schedule ahead and call me when they haven’t seen me in a while. I actually call that a quality of a good doctor now!


2. What do you think about the practice of restaurants adding automatic tips for large groups or specific events?

I think it’s a shame that so many groups tip low enough that it’s considered necessary. I don’t think a server’s tips should be considered part of their wage. Minimum wage is minimum and should be the full base of pay for a minimum wage position. No one is hanging out at the door threatening to call the police if a customer doesn’t leave a tip because it’s not mandatory. If anything a tip is a gift a customer gives for service and it should never be taxed. A server’s wage is what they are paid by their employer and tips are gifts and therefore not taxable.

Oh, and the story that made this a topical issue? The woman is the absolute worst example of a Christian ever. The whole eat fish during lent came from a time when the fishermen were the poor people and the sacrifice was to support the poor by eating fish, not at all a fish dinner in a nice restaurant. (A better Lenten sacrifice is a ham sandwich from a local sandwich shop) So given that, I’d think an 18% tip, when the actual average people leave is closer to 20, would unquestionably be part of that 10% to God because it’s more “doing His work” than having fancy new gilded hymnals with that 10% donated by everyone at church.


3. When was the last time you went out for dinner? 

On our anniversary, December 23, we went to Mancy’s Italian Grille…and we both had fish.


4. What is your best budget saving tip for recovering from an unexpected expense or planning for one?

Unexpected expenses for me are almost always medical. I’ve found that the hospitals are really good about making arrangements for payment plans so you can pay a large, to you, bill on installments. They’re even great about updating the installment plan without raising the payment when you have another bill that comes in. Much as I hate copays, I love the fact that the hospital work with me so I can manage to get the testing done that I need.


And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!

5. What is your favorite coffee or tea, just your number one favorite. (even I am going to pick just one for my answer! LOL) If you don’t drink coffee or tea, How do you feel about tap versus bottled water?

And practicing brevity, but not by saying I’m practicing brevity first; my favorite is Starbucks Verona.

Long Time So Brief

Some of you may be thinking I’ve been away from the blog world for so long, but to me the past week just flew by! Kelly got here last Saturday and she stayed until Friday afternoon. I’ve been trying to take it easy this weekend. One; to be safe because until late tonight, I’m writing on Sunday evening, I’m home alone. David was in West Virginia last I talked to him. He called about UTZ product at Sheetz; he’s bringing me home a small bag of Maryland Crab seasoned chips and a bag of pumpernickel pretzels! The other reason is to recover. I only have to clear and wipe the desk and my office/craft room; the Woman Cave will be a functional room! By the end of the week Kelly and I were both exhausted with aches on top of aches. For me, walking and even typing on my right side is very weak and stiff. I’d quit the med that was supposed to make movement easier for me because I didn’t think it was really working and it was the highest copay of all my meds. I think I’m, going to start it again because I can feel that I’m not taking it.

I called Scotty Wednesday morning to see if he would meet us for lunch on Thursday. He couldn’t he’s in the hospital! I didn’t gripe at him for not calling me this time. You don’t get any time to let people know you’re going to be in the hospital when you get the call he did Monday night; we have a donor! Scotty was in surgery early Tuesday morning and when I called on Wednesday he was bonding with his new kidney and pancreas! He’s been doing well, but Jill, his sister, one of the biological ones, says the doctors have him on antibiotics because they fear he may have an infection, so it set his original release date of Sunday back a few days. If everyone could please utter a prayer or good thought for my big brother, I’d be eternally grateful! I want the rest of his recovery to be textbook.

Kelly and I made all of our plans for our “Friendship Smash Books.” I have my binder and selected the first two papers and some of the items I want to use. The binder I have right now is my book. Kelly will start her book. What we’ll do is smash the title page and the first two actual pages. Then the books have to be in the mail by December 8. Kelly will get my book with the first two pages done and I’ll get hers. Then we do the next two pages in each other’s books with a January 8 deadline for mailing them back. We’re going to mail them back and forth doing 2 pages a month for a year. When the books are done we’ll both have a book that we half did ourselves and half done by our best friend. We’re going to add a little to the covers as we go and those will be done at the end of the year too. This will truly be a special and fun project.

Before I get on to the Monday Quiz About Me, I want to share this trip's mug. You’ll recall that last week I mentioned that Kelly and I have a mug tradition when we get together. This was a shoestring budget trip. Neither of us had the cash for a nice dinner out and even the coffee cup tradition was threatened. Except for the box I brought home from the storage!

I have no memory of when I bought this mug. But it was on s closeout sale, probably about 20 years ago according to the other items in the box. I showed it to Kelly and she loved it! Guess what? On this low funds weekend, the coffee mug from 20 years ago was not alone! There were two boxes with the identical mug! I’d already given Kelly the box with the other mug and saucer but I suggested we’d make that our mug for this trip. Her job now is to find two identical mugs that are older than half of our friendship to be the mugs for next time. This sounds like a fun thrift store challenge!


This afternoon I did this scrapbook layout:

Pumpkin Enabler

Credits: We Are Thankful by Colie’s Corner, word art by Digitalegacies

I love word art like that one. I have a few cups with word art like that, including the several types of coffee and several fonts on that 20-year old mug and saucer set! I decided that it was time I custom created my word art in that style and that’s the source of the Pumpkin Spice word art!

Of course, how could I not share??

 

Click on the preview to go to download.

As usual, I’d love to see any scrapbook or craft project you do with it!


Okay, NOW we move on the The Monday Quiz About Me, hosted by Heather at Acting Balanced and Wayne at Touristic.

1. How often do you shop for groceries? Do you shop in one place or many?

David picks up things that need to be fresh; meat, apples and bananas, salad, carrots, ice cream, in between trips, but we do our big shopping trip about once a month.

We usually shop at the Kroger a little over a block away, but we also shop at Meijer, because he likes their steak better and I like their hummus selection and Giant Eagle for special items.


2. How old were you when you had your first taste of alcohol?

LOL… 2.

Mom, Dad, Grandma and Papa each had a different mixed drink and were talking in the living room at Grandma and Papa’s house. I was quietly “making the rounds” taking a small sip out of the glass…each glass. Two years old and a sip of scotch, a sip of bourbon, a sip of rum and a sip of Seagram’s Seven. Of course I don’t remember this, but each of the adults involved enjoyed telling me the story when I was older. I was walking a little strange and acting a little zoned. Each one in turn said, “She only took a little taste of my drink.” Times four! They watched me closer after that and “little Daynonna wasn’t allowed to taste the grownup drinks anymore.”

Having taught the lesson, this never happened with my brother and he drinks a lot more than I do now. Hmmm…


3. How much TV do you watch?

Well, the picture quality on FOX is so poor I’m not even watching he baseball game tonight, watching the pitch by pitch on mlb.com. So, I last had the TV on Friday night when I decided that the bad picture and all the political ads were more than I wanted to deal with. It’ll probably be on again if David turns it on when he gets home or in the morning. I don’t watch a lot.


4. How do you relieve stress?

I write in my personal journal or meditate myself into a relaxing nap.



And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!


5. What is your favorite food to snack on while you’re reading/writing blogs?

Usually popcorn, air popped and hot with nothing on it or carrots. But…I also keep a candy jar filed if I’m in the mood for something sweet. I’m usually pretty good about the candy, keeping count and behaving, but tonight I’m a little lonely as I reach the end of the days between Kelly leaving and David getting home, so it’s just me and the Pumpkin Spice or Air kisses.

Muh-muh-muh MY VERONA!

This could be a sad blog entry, really! David and I went out this morning because he is working the night shift again tonight. Yay that, because we got some trains time this morning and I’ll be able to try out the Night Owls Scrap Chat at Ginger Scraps tonight. I’ve wanted to try that chat for a while, but if David’s home we eat later, talk and watch the baseball games together. Games because he occasionally tolerates me toggling between the Reds and Tigers. Of course if the Red Sox are on TV, that’s the game we watch since they are not always on. I get spoiled with Fox Sports Ohio AND Detroit. I love living in Toledo!

Why this could be sad blog is the post office’s fault. After David had already left there was a ding from the doorbell. I knew my coffee order was due by tomorrow so I grabbed my walker and scooted to the door as quick as I could. I saw the post office truck leave as I opened the door and no box on the porch. Our regular UPS guy knows I’m slow so he honks the horn so I can get a head start as he's walking up the drive and he waits a little longer for orders that need a signature or when it’s a heavy box so he can hand it in the door for me. He also knows to leave packages on the front porch because I can get the leverage to get them in the house from there. The post office didn’t have the leave it on the front porch direction or knowledge that the disabled lady moves slow.

I looked out the side door figuring that since I didn’t get my summer planting done they’d leave the box in the flower bed. I wouldn’t be happy, but David could bring it in when he gets home. But no, the box was open and sitting on the steps! I can’t reach it from there and I can’t get down the steps if I wanted to go out! I was mad that the box was open and didn’t want it to sit outside until midnight. So I tried to pick it up with my truly inadequate for anything Grabber. No dice. After a rest, because efforts like that tire me out so fast, I tried again with mightier tongs. Still nothing. I texted David to let him know there’d be an open box on the steps when he got home. Then I called the post office. My account now has directions to wait after ringint thwe bell and leave things on the front porch and a complaint about the open box. I felt a little better.

I had to try one last time. I pulled my kitchen chair to the side door and sitting in it I tried to leverage the box up the step with the hook end of my cane. The result was the box falling off the step into the driveway. At that point I could get down the steps and grab the open flaps to get the box to the top step. I got my coffee inside! I am exhausted now, but after waiting since January for Keurig to get the Starbucks Verona K-Cups to use the buy 2 get 2 free coupon they gave me for registering my brewer, I wanted a cup from my four boxes of Verona! Mmm… Yummy Verona! It was SO worth the trouble to get my favorite coffee in my house, but after I post this I need a nap!

This week I’m just going to answer Mama M’s Friday 5 Questions:

1. What do you enjoy doing the most with your spouse?

Can I say that online? ;)

Seriously, I like most talking with David. If you’re with the person you want to grow old with, you’d better enjoy talking to that person! We talk about serious stuff, family; friends and relatives, even religion and politics without divorce! We also get silly, sometimes putting ourselves is gigging fits.


2. How do you eat your taco? From the top or from the side?

When I have the occasional taco, I start at the side; how else do you get the full flavor?


3. Have you ever shut off the basement light and ran like a fool because you knew someone was down there and would get you?

Ah, no. I can’t run anyway.


4. If you could change one thing about you what would it be and why?

Easy; No more MS! It’d have been nice to just go outside and pick up my box of coffee.


5. What age do you think is appropriate to have the "bird and the bees" talk with your children?

Depends on the kid. When they start asking give an honest but age-appropriate answer. I know Dee, Tori and Rina’s mom, never hid the “women products” and the girls were like 3 the first time they asked what the pads were for. “Eggs you don’t use to make babies.” It lead to a talk about how a woman’s body does things, in simple terms of course. That made it easier on me! They started wondering about sex after Dee passed and it was often Nana fielding the questions. Their Mom had laid down good ground work. When it always went back to understanding and respecting their own bodies first, it was all easier to understand.

Gee, It’s Hot

Good morning all! I’m sipping my morning coffee; a Cinnamon Spice Starbucks VIA. I need to place an 11th Street Coffee order today. My wonderful cousin, having read my Tweet about the VIA before we left for vacation and knowing that we don’t have a close Dunkin Donuts, sent me a box of Dunkin K-Cups. That was an awesome surprise when we got back! Since we were leaving for over a week, I wasn’t placing a coffee order or going to the grocery store the week before so my morning coffee was VIA Colombia. While I definitely like the VIA Columbia, The Dunkin Donuts coffee is the absolute taste of comfort for me!


Not a lot going on in Toledo this morning. The big story is the weather, mainly the HOT weather. David mentioned that he’d probably end up writing a weather story today. Headline: “Gee, it’s hot!” I’ve read several sources they predict over 100 for tomorrow! National Weather Service says 101 and Google says 106! The hottest it’s ever been in Toledo is 105, so 106 would definitely be a record breaker. I say bring it!

That’s not me craving heat! Over 100 is even too hot for terminally cold me, but like if you’re buying a new car and want a sun roof, get a car with a sunroof, add it on to the loan. It’s not like you’re paying cash without the sunroof and spread out over the life of the loan you won’t even notice it whereas it might be too expensive after market. Point being; if you’re going to spend the money on a car anyway, get it all. If it’s going to be over 100 anyway, break a record! Hopefully that means that we don’t need to go over 100 again. We’ll see how that works, but if we’re all going to be uncomfortable anyway, let’s be part of an historical event!

1. What do the words 'freedom' and 'liberty' mean to you? Does your mind go more in the direction of not being persecuted or discriminated against or does it head in the direction of doing what you please?

Freedom to me is all about taking the responsibility of respecting and being respected. It’s having my individual rights and my own choices without senseless persecution. If you’ve read any of my rants here, you know that I have little tolerance for those who insist that everyone does it their way when not doing it their way has no effect on them or their own ability to do it their way. I don’t insist that anyone marries who I tell them to, dresses how I say to or drinks coffee every morning because I do. Those things don’t make a difference in my own ability to be married to my husband, wear a sweater in the summer or have my morning coffee. I’m also not going to change any of those things because someone else says I should. My marriage, dress and coffee habits make no difference on their marriage, what they wear or the fact that they prefer tea.

Freedom and liberty are not just doing what I want, but it’s not judging or being judged where no judgment is warranted.



2. Nathan's sponsors a hot dog eating contest every 4th of July. Last year over 40,000 people attended the event and almost 2 million watched it on TV. The winner ate over 60 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. How do you like your hot dogs?

First off I hate gluttony contests. The concept of eating quickly until you throw up when there are people starving anywhere is disgusting to me. But, back to that last question, to each his own. I choose not to watch those displays.

I love hot dogs! I eat “snouts and tails” dogs, never all-beef, at the ball park and Ball Park Turkey Dogs at home. Two is my usual limit on the turkey dogs, one on the snouts and tails and always mustard, just mustard. When I was little that was all they had for hot dogs at Tiger Stadium and I came to know just mustard as the only way to eat a “real” hot dog!


3. If you were going to enter an eating contest what would be on the menu?

Again, never will, but ice cream, definitely ice cream.


4. Do you run your house more as a dictatorship or a democracy?

I’d say a dictatorship, but the cats are benevolent dictators.

I am so opposed to the idea of running a family unit as a dictatorship. My brother has that notion and I don’t know where he got it from. We weren’t raised that way.

Our home was, in political model terms, a communist state when we were very little. We did things to the best of our ability and were provided for equally by “the government,” Mom and Dad. As we got older we moved into a democracy where in our capitalist world we did our chores and got our allowances with opportunities to do extra things for an increase in pay. When there were things happening, rules changing, curfews etc., we had a voice; sometimes it was a vote and sometimes the government listening to our concerns before making a decision. That form of household “government,” that grew as the family grew, fostered mutual respect between parents and kids.

I’m not naive enough to believe I was a totally equal person in my parents’ home. Any of us totally equal to members of our government? But I felt respected as a member of the family and made choices with much less selfish considerations, even as a teenager. So did Dave, but he forgets. (Judgmental big sister grumble)


5. Where was your favorite summer place when you were a kid?

Everywhere around town! Summer started with Vacation Bible School at the Baptist Church and we did stuff with the youth group all summer, we had passes at the high school pool for swimming and there were arts and crafts at a few of the schools. I can’t say I loved any of them more than the others; I always had great summers!


6. Do you have a guest room? Would you want to stay there?

No and no. We have a lot of work to do on our house before I’d invite anyone over! The house is a perennial work in progress.


7. Next Wednesday America celebrates her independence. Do you have any special plans for the 4th of July? If you live outside the USA when and how does your country celebrate its own patriotic holiday?

I don’t really have any plans. I usually wear red, white and blue, red and white on Canada Day (July 1) too, and I try to find someplace to see some fireworks.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

Credits: Thanks A Mellon by Blue Heart Scraps

For my random thought today I’m sharing a scrapbook layout and a “recipe.” Recipe is in quotes because it’s more an idea than a recipe. In 2008, a few days before we left on a Labor Day trip, Pop gave me a whole watermelon. I love watermelon, but don’t buy whole ones because we wouldn’t eat it all before it spoiled. Well, since we were leaving, my idea was that I’d cut up what was left and see how it froze. After forgetting it was in the freezer, I pulled out the frozen watermelon cubes in October! I shaved down the cubes in the blender and it made wonderful watermelon slush! It’s actually a great summer dessert idea and it’s watermelon; a wonderful frozen treat for kids! The “recipe” is chop-freeze-crush and serve!