fortune

Regis and I went out the other night to the local Chinese restaurant for dinner. it was Chinese New Year so we thought there could be a happening there. Nope. One other lone diner. We asked and the server said the owner is not really Chinese. Hmmm. We had a very nice dinner and this is what came in my cookie at the end. Regis thought the spending part was hilarious since I had just dropped a butt load of money on my trip. I looked at the lucky numbers and went right to the place that sells Powerball numbers.

Here is my ticket and it's not a winner. Bummer. I think they should get a refund on those fortunes.

Without getting too philosophical, I will say that I have been fortunate this week in many ways not related to money. I had a safe trip home from a vacation, I had lunch with Tiffany at Pub 500 (So nice when one of your adult kids buys you lunch!), and I did some thrift store shopping yesterday with a friend. Last night I watched a couple of movies while Regis drove the Gus bus. It was case night, a local tradition that you only partake of if you are young and care-free. Or stupid. Not sure which.

On the thrift store mission, I had a short list of items to check. I found some books for my little library. I can't bring myself to put just any old thing in there. Monica Lewinsksy's autobiography, for example. I wouldn't even let Regis drive around with that in the car. I usually buy books I have already read and know are good, or I buy books I want to read. I guess I assuming that everyone who comes to my library has the same taste in books as I do. Ah, well. My library. My rules. (Book freak admission: I will have a hard time letting go of these books because I love them.)

I also found a couple of Eddie Bauer shirts for Regis. He was tickled, threw them right in the wash, and wore one last night. Ta da. About ten bucks for both of them.

Yesterday between 2 pm and 3 pm, the temperature dropped like a rock. We were admiring the warm sunshine as we came out of one store and shivering and cursing by the time we went into the next. The air hurt to breathe.

This is where Woody likes to sit in the morning...right in front of my computer. It makes it difficult to do anything. I know he's looking for treats. I showed him the empty jar and off he went, in a huff.

I often have epiphanies in my sleep. It's my brain working as I rest. Last night I had one about this thought. I was repeating some mantra, each time louder and more confidently. Do you think I can remember it this morning? Ah, well. It did its magic even as I slept.

summing it up

I'm back on the frozen tundra. Not quite ready to jump back into my Minnesota life, although I should be. It was baptism by fire...very cold, very windy, very dark.

I'm going to post a few more photos from my trip. Looking back, the things that amazed me most in a good way, aside from the people...landscape, plants, birds, and citrus fruit growing on trees. Lemons growing on trees. Imagine.

I met up with cousins from both sides of my family. Joanne, my dad's brother's only daughter, and her mom, Liz, who I haven't seen in a long, long time. We thought probably 50 years or more. I found myself staring at her because even though we are both obviously older, there was something so "same" about her. Joanne and I, even though we see each other infrequently, always pick up right where we left off, It was a sweet evening.

These are the cousins (a few of them!) on my mom's side. Mike, Greg, Clark, and Deb. I'm not sure Clark and I have ever met before. We had an 11 am lunch and didn't say good-bye until after 4. It was great fun.

Deb and Larry were wonderful and generous hosts. I enjoyed their lovely home, their little dog, Neddie, their spirited companionship, and their willingness to put up with me!

My shuttle arrived at the coop last night about 10:30 to ten below temp and some badass windchill. Regis had ribs and a baked potato ready for me. The pets were tickled to see me for at least a few minutes and it was good to crawl into my own bed at the end of the evening. Today, I am back to at the AARP tax center. It can't all be silver saddles and Sunday parades.

catnip, man

Woody provides almost endless entertainment at our house.

airport report

My trip was wonderful...filled with warm sun and blue skies, laughter, and stories.

The trip home has been difficult. I mistook a 1:15 am flight for a 1:15 pm flight and didn't discover it until almost midnight. Larry helped by rescheduling and upgrading me to first class.

The flight was delayed and the airport was packed. I bought some lunch and sat on the hallway floor. My humbling before my first class flight.

First class! Wahoo! I am not traveling with those peons again! The flight attendants brought me a hot towel, a linen cloth for my tray table, food, drink, and I had a friendly seatmate. 

But I missed my f###ing shuttle so I am stuck sitting in the lower level where there are no restaurants and no bathrooms.

As I sat in the hall, a 40 something guy in a suit came and plopped next to me. He had a 45- minute phone conversation with someone about establishing a colony on Mars. No shit.

More tomorrow. I am tired and more than a tad goofy.

feet up, watching the sky

This picture says it all.

arizona and blue sky

Enjoyed a day in the sun yesterday. Hard to take in the vivid colors and blue, blue sky.

email blogging

Well, here we go. I was on the shuttle at 4:53 (7 minutes late) with an old gal and a guy wearing a lot of cologne for that hour of the morning.

I realized on the way, just how long it has been since we have been to the cities. We go as far as Suzette's anymore and I think it's been more than ten years since we flew. (At least I didn't say "rode on an airplane.)

I got here three hours early. Found a place to sit quietly and took my peanut butter sandwich out of it's brown paper sack. Then I took pictures of the planes.

It is obvious many people have a level of comfort with this process I do not possess. I made it through security without issue by watching other people. When I got to the other side, I found a place to sit and put on my shoes. A snappily dressed guy came to the next chair, set down his bags, and took off his pants. WTF. It isn't tropical in the airport, pal. I wish I had taken his picture.

Dangerous new development. I learn to blog via email.

Test post via email.

traveling light

I'm leaving for Arizona, on a jet plane, tomorrow morning. Don't wig out. I hate it when people say, "You?" like I am a recluse of something. What the hell. I can travel, I just choose not to very often. Nothing wrong with that. I like being home.

I am flying an a cheapo airline. So cheap that when I checked in from home this morning, I had to pay ten dollars for a seat. WTF. A seat? Wouldn't you expect that would come with the ticket price? And then they have strict restrictions on the size of the carry on bag...16X14X12. The bag my sweet, travelin' friend Richie, loaned me was 4 inches too high. Crap. So, now I face a dilemma. I either pony up $35 for a bigger bag or I try to squeeze my stuff into a smaller bag. Turns out, once I printed my boarding pass, it was too late to take a bigger bag. The airline has no phone number. This makes me a little nervous.

I'm boarding the shuttle tomorrow at 4:45 and will be at the airport about 6. That's a lot of time to kill before the plane leave so look for photos and lots of dumb observations. Too much information, of which I am the queen!

Regis doesn't know this but Woody likes to get up at 4 am and have treats by my computer. He is fairly insistent that this happen on schedule. Ah, well. Always good to be surprised!

See you tomorrow at the airport!

For Karen TC xoxoxo...my friend in NJ

A picture we took of Woody last night in my yarn box. He looks like an alien cat. But turns out...he's a Super Hero Cat!

horizontal surfaces

I have worked hard the last two years to clear some clutter from our home. You've seen the posts with pictures of boxes lined up at the curb. I continue to work at that project. It seems never-ending. While I work at one thing, maybe photograph albums, all the horizontal surfaces in the house fill up with the shit of daily life. I could weep.

Regis is a flat surfaces engineer. He likes all his papers and stuff out where he can see it but he's not the only one. I have gotten better but I'm far from perfect. He just doesn't have the need, as I do, to see the top of the table now and then, to be able to eat a meal without doing a major excavation first.

Last night I went to the bedroom and realized that every single dresser top was covered with clothes. HOLY CRAP. Where does all this stuff come from???

It's so discouraging.

This morning I work at the treaty site so I have a time limit, but I am getting up from my desk and I am going to tidy the surfaces. If it kills me.

why i like to avoid the dark

Friday night, Regis had a hankering for pretzels so he sent me out into the night to fetch some. Since we are on the north end of town, I headed to the closest convenience store. Three weird things.

• A very tall man. Maybe the tallest man I have ever seen, was talking loudly and rapidly on a cell phone while pouring himself a soda large enough to bathe a two-year old. I swear.
• Two gentlemen bought a bag full of Red Bulls and a sack of styrofoam cups. Party!
• A man in an SUV sat in the parking lot wearing sunglasses (it's night) and never left his vehicle. CIA?

We went to a buffet to eat earlier in the evening. That was another strange experience. I won't name it because you know I worry about google search engines but if you're from here, you know the one I mean. I get that this is a place young children like to eat because of the amazing variety of food. But, it's not cheap so I don't get why adults go there. Without kids.

The place is packed. You have to be very careful walking because children dart out of nowhere in search of mashed potatoes or soft-serve ice cream. One went right in front of me, under two loaded coffee cups, like a heat seeking missile. (I had quite a time spelling missile. Must be a word I don't write very often.)

The food, although it had been dug into by an unknown number of folks, was better than I anticipated. Overall, a pleasant experience since the two small ones were happy. Would I go there again? Probably not.

We have an immersion blender that we got from Tom many years ago. We use it all the time and yesterday, one of it's little legs came off. It was quite a mystery for a while.

Today, I plan to practice my belly dancing moves. I have always thought of myself as incapable of dancing and this class is doing its best to prove me right. I have two feet, neither of which is connected to my brain. At the end of class last week, the teacher asked if I wanted to video her doing two of the foot sequences so I could practice at home. I was not offended.

So this afternoon, I will be in the living room in my coin skirt, holding my phone, and trying to do the fusion shuffle or whatever it's called. I hope nobody peers into the window to watch.

sunday in pictures

It's been a quiet day here at the Fritsch ranch. I woke up early to make scones with dried cranberries and apricots. I am out of walnuts so nuts to that.

Regis took Gus for a walk and he played in the snow so much he came home with a snow beard.

I took a nap then got up to make oatmeal raisin cookies from my new favorite recipe. All these years, I thought I liked crisp oatmeal cookies. Turns out I don't. These are delicious. So far today, my diet has consisted of carbs, carbs, and carbs. Lovely.

We had what could be called a nuisance snow. Enough that you had to get the snow blower out to clean it up but not enough to cause any big problems. I wish it had been more. The bunny looks kind of pitiful this winter.

Picture of the cookies below. They have a tablespoon of vanilla and a tablespoon of molasses. The dough is refrigerated so they don't flatten out too much. And that's Woody. Regis was eating pretzels at his computer and Woody is begging for one. He loves boxes, too.

I made a beautiful chicken pot pie for dinner and I took a picture of it. I might be too lazy to go get the camera. 

Couldn't resist.