Trying to stay awake at 7 o'clock

Yesterday was a very long day. Turns out Regis had a bad reaction to the versed so was up disoriented and sick until well past midnight. I watched a movie until 11 when he stumbled out and asked for a summary of the day's events, again. He feels a little better today and has lost that zombie look.

I wonder if anybody else has this hair experience. I have worn my hair pretty short for years now which means it has to be cut often. I try to go four weeks but even that is too long sometimes. I had a haircut on the 27th of March, right before the interview debacle, and made my next appointment for April 30th. A week ago Monday, I started to get the feeling my hair was too long but out of sheer stubbornness, I didn't change the appointment. Then I had a really good hair day on Tuesday so the need vanished and I actually thought hey this looks pretty good. Then from Wednesday on, it's been white knuckles and I have had the urge to offer a drinking friend five bucks to give me a haircut. I'm tempted to buy a curling iron, for God's sake. Why not just get brush rollers and a bouffant hair dryer? The first thing I say to people is: I need a haircut and my appointment is Wednesday. George, the Lebanese guy who used to cut my hair loved it when I said he was an artist. He said, "Well, I don't you to walk down the street and have someone say who's the asshole who cut your hair."

Today

Overheard in the waiting area. Two guys who look like very old Norwegian farmers, talking about whether or not one would accompany the other back to see the doctor.

• You want me to come back there with you?
  
• Yeah, I thought you would.
  
• Well, I didn't know if you wanted me to or not.
  
• Yeah, that would be fine then.
• I know Arlene went back with you a few times. I went back with you before, too, so I just thought you might want me to come back with you.
  
• Yeah, you can come back with me.
• I can come back with you if you want me to.
  
• Well, I thought you would.

And this later:

Arlene's family didn't drink so when we got married, I had two shivarees...one for the family and one for my friends. I got the beer for next a nothing cuz I knew the guy what run the bar.

I wish I had a notebook with me. It was great stuff.

The things I saw on the drive back:

1. Roadkill: two cats, three + raccoons, one possum
2. Redwing blackbirds
3. A flock of pelicans
4. Three hawks
5. A rabbit
6. Mallards
7. Canada geese
8. One guy picking up trash

Regis seems to have survived the ordeal although tomorrow will be a better test than today. He stumbled out of the back room after the procedure like a zombie, pie-eyed and wobbly. He didn't want a wheelchair but I knew we wouldn't make it all the way to the car without one so the nice man got him one. They take good care of you at the Mayo Clinic. ( Yeah, let's wait until I see the bill to pass judgment on that one.) I got the car, pulled up in front of the clinic and pointed at Regis in his chair and one of the...what do you call them?...ran in and brought him out to me. It was a long drive home.

Furniture upset

Reggie came over this afternoon and helped us move our furniture around. I know they were making that circular motion by their ears when I wasn't looking but I don't care. I like to move things around once in a while and it gives me a chance to vacuum behind things that never see the light of day.

I made peanut butter soup for Regis this afternoon. It's one of his favorite foods. Here's the recipe:

Wayside Inn Peanut Butter Soup

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup peanut butter

1/8 teaspoon celery salt

1/8 teaspoon onion salt

1/8 teaspoon sugar

1 and 1/3 cups cream or 1 can evaporated milk

Heat chicken broth to boiling. Add peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Season to taste with celery salt and onion salt. Add sugar. Stir in cream or milk. Heat but do not boil.

This works best with peanut butter like Jiff or Skippy. I tried using Coop peanut butter once and it doesn’t “melt” like the others.

I usually don’t use any sugar as there is enough in the peanut butter.

I’ve used plain milk if I don’t have cream or evaporated milk.

We've had rain off and on all day. A while ago, I was sitting at the table (which is not in front of the living room window) and tiny ice balls were falling from the sky. Snow is predicted again tonight and tomorrow night.

Regis had a minor laundry disaster today. He left an ink pen in the pocket of his shirt which happened to be in a load of my new plaid shirts and colorful socks. Uh oh. I don't complain, though, because I don't want him to get tired of it and quit. I appreciate a man who will do the laundry.

In the midst of my furniture moving today, I have done the following:

1. Took all the table linens out of the drawer and put them on the bed to sort for the thrift store but didn't finish...they're still there.
2. Piled the rest of the winter clothes on the sofa which is not in the dining room.
3. Used the Spot Bot on some areas in the living room.
4. Posted to my blog more than once.
5. Looked at catalogs.

I haven't finished any of these projects and I probably won't. I don't know if this is an ADD problem or just, as Regis says, benign disinterest.

Another thing we've noticed is the dizzying array of products. When we were in the store yesterday, we looked at toothpaste. Not only can we not remember from time to time, which kind we buy of all the kinds Crest makes, but they don't make plain toothpaste. Everything has something to brag about: extra whitening, plaque reducer, especially for sensitive teeth. Same with almost everything you buy...too many choices. I called customer service the other day and waited, pushing numbers on their menu, and by the time someone finally came on the line, I could hardly remember who I called or what I wanted. Hey, maybe it's me.

Later...
I thought it would be a little weird to post four times in one day so I'm just up-dating! I did finish most of my projects today. Not as finished as some people might like, but the bed is cleared off, the bags for the thrift store are by the door, and you can sit on several chairs in each room. Ta da!

Family news

My brother Steve and his wife Michelle's new baby, Chloe. Sister of Ezra, Ian, Duncan, Caleb, and Nicole.












Nicole and Jason are getting married October 4th.

Early Sunday

A forewarning that Thursday is May Day. If you haven't heard of this holiday, here is the scoop:

Handing out May Day baskets is a charming and gentle activity for children and adults. It's a tradition that Louisa May Alcott wrote of in "Jack and Jill" (Chapter 18):

"The job now in hand was May baskets, for it was the custom of the children to hang them on the doors of their friends the night before May-day; and the girls had agreed to supply baskets if the boys would hunt for flowers, much the harder task of the two. Jill had more leisure as well as taste and skill than the other girls, so she amused herself with making a goodly store of pretty baskets of all shapes, sizes, and colors, quite confident that they would be filled, though not a flower had shown its head except a few hardy dandelions, and here and there a small cluster of saxifrage."

Some years I manage a few gum drops in a paper cup with a pipe cleaner handle. Nothing too fancy. My kids liked making May Day baskets when they were little. One year we took one to an older lady in the neighborhood who cried because she remembered getting May Day baskets when she was a little girl in Iowa. Here's a website (of course) with some ideas and directions for May Day baskets.

By late afternoon yesterday, if you had just looked outside, you would have thought it was spring. It was cold and windy, though...much too cold to stand outside while Harvey cooked burgers on the grill. We all huddled in front of the fireplace while he stood out there in his winter coat. We gave Betty patio dishes (plastic ware in bright colors) and a garden flag for her birthday in the great and probably hopeless hope that someday spring will come to Minnesota.

Here's a very sad and sweet story I just read in the Trib. There's a link to a blog written by Matt Logelin from the article. I recommend reading it but you better be ready to take a few of those gulping sobs and then be haunted by it for a long time.

We went to Shopko yesterday and I bought Ella some new toys: Play Dough, a safety scissors, and something called Gazillions of Bubbles. I thought about sidewalk chalk but maybe she's too little for that yet. She asked about the swing last time she was here but I'm not sure she'll fit in that baby swing this year. We may have to go to a bigger size. Maybe Katherine Nova, across the street, can borrow the baby swing. Or the Potts babies. Jill, do you have a tree for a little plastic swing?

I'm anxious to get my new birdbath out. Remember the one I bought at the Rockbend Folk Festival last summer? The birds would have to bring a little hatchet along to chop a hole in the ice if they tried to take a bath in this weather. It's 28 degrees right now.

I have a new niece, Chloe, sister to Ezra. No pictures yet. She was born on Thursday but I don't have many details. The cell phone connection between a hospital in Fargo and my school in St. Peter was not conducive to detail.

If I can get some strong boys over here one day soon, I'm going to mix my furniture up. They've offered to come but I haven't been quite ready. I want to move the sofa and love seat into the dining room and move the dining table into the living room. I'm also going to rent a storage unit for the summer and get some of this stuff out of here and out of my garage. What I should rent is a dumpster. I don't know where this shit comes from, really I don't.

There's a egg-plump robin sitting on the fence outside my window. I can see her fat stomach poking out the sides from behind. Poor thing having to lay eggs in this wind. It will be like the windy day when I put a check in the little sliding drawer at the drive-up window at the bank. A gust of wind came along and took my check and I never saw it again.

What the

My mom lives in Canby, in southwestern Minnesota, and this picture was taken out her front door yesterday, April 25th. That's her little frog band covered with snow. They had about five inches on the ground by afternoon with high winds and poor visibility. Good grief is all you can say to that.

I woke up at 4 o'clock and peered out the window to see we have a covering of snow now, too. The Trib says some places up North will get 15 inches.

Regis and I were sloths last night. We had beef commercials for dinner and sat in front of 30 Rock for a couple hours. Nothing like comfort food and television to ease the pain of a winter that won't quit. We want to go to Mankato this morning just to get out, but I'm not putting a winter coat on again so if I can't go in a light jacket, I'm not going.

Thursday

I went to the Mayo Clinic yesterday with Regis. He’s having some testing done to see why he’s lost so much weight in the last year. It’s an interesting place to be: stories hang in the air over the heads of people in waiting rooms, like wisps of smoke. Once I thought I saw a little play being enacted over the heads of an old couple; scenes from their lives and people from their past. Tiny, shadowy figures with soft voices. Maybe I read that somewhere.

The most stressful part of the trip was riding the Fritsch rocket on the way home. We did 80 mph between Rochester and Faribault, passing everyone in a blur of tail lights and dust. I wish I could draw because I see myself plastered to the seat with my hair straight back and my cheeks puffed out like I’m in some wind machine. I like to drive leisurely and look at the ducks and the farmers and other things. I also like to stop occasionally and get a cup of coffee and a cookie. You can't stop when you're trying to break a land speed record because then all those people you worked so hard to pass get ahead of you.

Next time we go to Rochester, we're going to the visitor's center where they have a museum about the Mayo brothers. That way when people ask us what we did on our vacation, we'll have an answer. A student in Joanne's class was talking about China the other day and I asked him if he knew that the Great Wall was the only man-made thing you can see from the moon with the naked eye. He asked me, in all seriousness, if I had been to the moon. Joanne said, "She doesn't even go to Mankato without packing a bag." Very funny. I have a reputation for sticking close to home.

In case you live in a more temperate climate and want to shed a tear for us, this is from Paul Douglas’ weather forecast in the Tribune today: Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Weather Extremes. Close to 80 degrees Wednesday with air conditioners blaring, the happy tinkle of the Ice Cream Truck. By Friday evening Minnesotans living up north may be knee-deep in slush. Sandwiched in-between: thunderstorms boiling up Thursday, a raw Friday with a cold rain, maybe 1-2” of precipitation, enough for a Flash Flood Watch to be issued for northeastern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.

Lovely. I drove home in a downpour with thunder and big cracks of lightning. One thing I’ve noticed lately is that people who are normally mild-mannered and good-natured are getting downright ugly. They are snappish, selfish, mean-spirited, and overly sensitive. The same goes for me. We all need to sit in the sun and cook on the grill and let our toes have air while we sip margaritas.

Philly family

Regis I and II, or II and II, depending on how you figure your Roman numerals.














Fritsch siblings: Larry, Jocelyn, Kurt, Regis.













The flowers were blooming there and we're all jealous!














Old friend, Jack Hansell.

















Regis likes to take pictures out the plane window.

Some things suck huge like tuesday

1. I peeled up the sticker on the corner of my laptop and thought I could stick it back down but I couldn't. Every time I put my wrist there, kind of essential to using the laptop, it cut me. Great. Now I have a sticky spot where I peeled the HP sticker off.

2. I made Portuguese soup for dinner and it was really spicy. We couldn't figure it out because the only seasoning in it is salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. Oh yes. Then I remember the can of tomatoes with green chiles. That would do it.

3. I have about ten pages left of the book I'm reading. I dread the ending because I'll miss those people. Regis asked if I know the difference between fiction and real life. I do.

4. I have these red velvet (actually velour) drapes in my living room. They look kind of whore house-ish but I've liked them. I realized sitting here in the sun that they're faded on the edges. Like Miss Havisham's house: moth eaten, spider webby, faded, ugly. And I have no interest in finding anything else.

5. There's a window in our living room that looks like it popped its seal. It's foggy and even though I've tried cleaning it, it won't un-fog. For months, I had, on my list of things to do, to call Dean Williams. He's the guy who installed them after the tornado. I was sure they had a ten-year warranty so...instead of calling Dean, I waited and waited and procrastinated until the ten years was up. Now I have this constant reminder of my fatal flaw. See #4.

This is one of those posts that I'm writing in the living room while watching tv. 30 Rock is on and that keeps my attention for the most part. Every once in a while I get an inspiration and type a few lines. It's probably obvious. No flow. Not much inspiration.

A perfect non sequitur

I've told this story to a couple people today and nobody laughed like I did. I was at a meeting the other day where a couple people brought small children. Toward the end, I was droning on about something and a little three-year old boy climbed up on a chair to listen and stare at me like I was the most fascinating thing around. We all realized he appeared to be paying attention, and his mom commented to him that he was a good listener. He grinned broadly and said, "Get more puppies." So, he wasn't listening to me after all. Little kids are a good lesson when you think you're saying important things.

It was 77 degrees when I left work today at 4:00, 67 when I left again for a meeting at 5:00, and 45 degrees and raining when I came home at 6:30. Yikes. Do we have to get the mittens out again? I had to change clothes three times.

Regis says that guy who is running for President for the Republicans has a wife who's rich. Man, why is he doing that? I'd be sitting on the deck of her yacht drinking margaritas and bossing the servants around. He's 71 for cripes sake. He doesn't need that kind of BS in his life. Of course, my husband's theory is that the guy isn't wrapped too tight in the head and this proves it. That's all you're going to hear from me about politics.

Good night to go to bed and read. I recommend The Vision of Emma Blau. It's one of those epic kind of books that covers several generations. It's very good except that a lot (and I mean a lot) of people have died. Not usually under violent circumstances which helps a little since I'm not a fan of violence in any form.

I don't have any more interesting observations today. That usually doesn't stop me, I know. I realized the other day I have about 450 posts on this blog. Some people could turn that into something profitable if they had, say, a plot or some imagination. Ah, well. Lame quips, rants about lawn care, and quirky observations...that's about all you're going to get from me. Hey, that could be a book.

Philly food

This is what the soft pretzels look like in Philadelphia. When Regis got to the car rental place, they gave him a soft pretzel. They tell me you can buy them on the streets from homeless people who are hired to hang off the curbs holding pretzels but we usually find a store that sells them. We have about 49 of them in our freezer now. Regis hauled them back in his suitcase.

Bagel Train Incorporated

175 S Main St, Yardley, PA 19067

This is my favorite Philly treat. The Bagel Train makes the best bagels I have ever eaten. The things we buy in groceries stores around here are not even close. We have two dozen of these in the freezer. Lots of cinnamon raisin and marble rye, which are my favorites, but a few sesame and poppy seed, too.
And some with onions, which I think is an affront to a bagel.




This is the favorite sweet treat: The Peanut Butter Kandy Kake. Regis remembers taking these to school when he was a little kid, two of them wrapped up in a dry cleaning shirt bag. They came in packages of three but his dad charged a tax. Ha. Pretty funny.

Sunday evening

I sat in a lawn chair for a while this afternoon, just enjoying the sun. Then I decided to pick up a bagful of leaves and sticks from the edge of the garden so I got my garden hopper out and scooted along the sidewalk. This is the best invention ever. Even better than the thermos. There's a little spot for a cold drink, you can store your gloves and nippers in the cubby underneath, and it scoots along just fine. It doesn't make corners very well so you have to levitate and turn it by hand...but I guess that isn't so bad.

Regis is on his way home from Pennsylvania. He called from Shakopee to say he'll be home about 6:30 and the boys can stop over to pick up their share of the booty: Tasty Cakes, soft pretzels, and bagels, and hard rolls. He mailed most of his clothes back to St. Peter yesterday so he'd have more room in his suit case for food. His family must think we live in the back woods and the general store is too far away to walk to very often. Hee haw.

I watched the movie Away from Her last night. I really liked it but it's a good thing I watched it when Regis was gone. It was a typical movie for me: long dreamy camera shots, soft music, no action, and a tear-jerker. No war scenes, no car chases, no bad guys. Perfect. Today I watched a few episodes of 30 Rock. Great television. I think I've moved into a love story-comedy phase of entertainment; I've lost interest in the Sopranos.

It looks like some rain and thunder this week. That will be ok. I don't like the pressure to start lawn mowing too early.

It's amazing what you find

Digging around in the front closet that's about big enough to hold two spring jackets, I found four jars of buttons. Remember how I spent of month of January hunting up buttons? Here they are...right under my nose. I also found two bags of grass seed that Regis and I both remember buying...maybe last spring...but couldn't find. One sunny and one shady. We were ready to believe that mice had carried it off seed by seed and that we would have to buy two more bags.

I bought groceries to make nachos, stopped at MGM for supplies, cleaned the clothes off the sofa, and sorted through a week's worth of mail. Tiffany called. She got two tickets for expired tabs within two hours. Apparently the cops in Uptown are winning the war on crime.

Saturday: Paying bills and cleaning. Two things I'm bad at.

It's been a busy end of the week. Regis left for PA early Thursday morning so I got up int he middle of the night to make coffee and see him off. He made it there safely and had only been on the ground three hours and he'd had a soft pretzel and a cheese steak, and bought a six-pack of Yueng Ling. Today he's going to put most of his suitcase contents in a box and mail it home so he can bring back bagels, hard rolls, soft pretzels, and a couple cheese steaks for the boys. Wonder how that will go through airport security.

I don't mind being home alone but I haven't gotten much done. Today I better clean up a little around here. I filled the sofa with clothes last week, intending to sort through them, but there they still are. Not exactly a Martha Stewart look.

Betty and Tom are coming down later for chicken nachos. Ella might come, too, because the boys are geocaching today. Here's the picture of the chicken nachos. Thanks to Emerill. And here's the recipe if you're interested:

Chicken Nachos

Tom made delicious garlic bread last night and some awful concoction that he called fish soup. Betty and I turned up our noses but he said it was good. We said, "We're not eating that!" Maybe a different name, like lobster bisque would help. Fish soup, ugh.

The boys (Bob and Regis are not boys, but you know what I mean) have this strange hobby called geocaching. Here's what it says on The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site:
Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

Like my mom says, better than sittin' on a bar stool or chasin' strange women.

Regis says it's 80 and sunny in PA. It's 39 and cloudy here. And wet. I'm afraid he won't come home after all of this: great weather, pretzels, hard rolls, New York pizza, bagels, and Yueng Ling. Hey, coming home to hamburger buns and Old Milwaukee!

I better get something done around here.

Goat fame

If you read my blog often, you know one of my favorite blogs is This Goat's Life. About a year ago, I named an orange goat Xanthoria Elegans because they needed a name that started with X that had something to do with orange. Well, if you read today's post, check out the post for today called Update. You'll see that I have been mentioned:

As reported previously, Big Orange popped out a set of twins, a little orange doe who is currently being called Tangerine (but remember, she will need a Y name sooner or later - we are hoping that Teresa Saum will think of one), and a little black buckling, who is currently being called "the little black one."

Regis thinks it's funny the way I link up with these blog folks but he posts on some gas price blog every day. Now that's weird.

I have to go find a name for the Y baby.

Wind

The wind is howling here. Howling, I tell you. Miles, don't go out without putting stones in your little pockets. You could surely blow away.

I left the high school and it was like a wind tunnel. I was afraid I was going to slam my leg in the car door. Dirt is blowing like a big brown cloud. Paper is blowing high in the sky.

I went to a meeting after school and every time I turned my head I heard a crackling noise like cellophane. I finally checked it out and I had about five leaves in my shirt. Old dead and dried up leaves from last year. Anita laughed so hard she almost had to leave the meeting.

Regis is getting ready for his trip to Pennsylvania on Thursday. I can't think about it because it's too many things to be afraid of...driving fast and flying and toll bridges and probably a lot of other things. I'm such a chicken. It's why I stay home but I try to tell people it's because I don't like to travel. The truth is it causes me so much anxiety that it almost ruins the pleasure.

I'm trying to adjust to a change in my sleeping medication. I am out of Ambien and so I'm back to trazadone. It works fine but only for about 8 hours so I can't take it at 8:00 and then read for two hours because I wake up at 4:00. This morning I made scalloped potatoes with ham and an apple dumpling recipe before 6 a.m. I guess I have to lean over and take it right before I drift off. I think I prefer the Ambien CR.

I finished Steve Martin's book last night and moved on to something called The Vision of Emma Blau. It's an epic the reviews say and I like it so far but I checked Amazon and it only had 3 and a half stars so I won't read the rest of the reviews. I hate it when people say things about a book like, "He didn't spend enough time with his kids". What the hell. They want different characters, I guess.

I ordered a couple things to watch while Regis is gone. One is a movie called Away from Her with Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent. The other is the first season of 30 Rock. Other than reading, watching television, and visiting, I don't plan to do much. I had the horrible realization the other day that I would have to do my own laundry this weekend. Regis won't get home until about 7 Sunday night and he leaves for Rochester early the next morning. I guess it wouldn't be fair to ask him to do my laundry. (I'm kidding...)

Wood chipper

We have another power implement in the neighborhood, a wood chipper that seems to have been running non-stop for several days. We're talking about a city lot here, not the back forty. How much wood could there be to chip up for God's sake? It's a scary sight watching someone chip wood, something too horrible to watch but you can't look away. Hey, I've seen Fargo. I really don't understand this compulsive yard work that some people do. But just in case it's your bag, here are directions for striping your lawn. I googled it just to see if there are patterns and there are. One of my other yard freak neighbors was fertilizing his grass today, pay no attention to the fact that we had ten inches of snow a week ago. Nothing like forcing the poor plants into early emergence. He'll start watering every night next week and then, let the mowing begin. We have to neglect our yard just to make up for the carbon footprint of these other cats. Ok, it's 8 o'clock and half dark and that damn thing is still running. I just want to voice my objections.

Happy 21st Birthday, Peter!

Peter celebrates his 21st birthday today in a very mature way: working and doing homework. When he comes home in May, we'll cook big steaks on the grill and maybe have a margarita to celebrate this milestone. Here's a happy birthday message from the Beatles...just for him.

Miss Ella

Ella spent the afternoon with her Nana and Popop. She was enchanting, as usual.


















I think those are stars in her eyes.







I think she's watching me read in this picture but I cropped my ugly weather-beaten self out of the picture. I can't get this dang thing to format right tonight and I'm tired of it. In the last picture (scroll down), we had finished dinner and she wanted to help me "wash up". She's telling us all about it as she wipes the table. She wanted a couple spoons later (well, actually she wanted a knife but I convinced her a spoon would be better) and she washed those up, too.

During dinner, Regis and I heard this watery noise and we looked over to see her squeezing the juice box so the juice spurted out of the straw all over her pants and the floor. We had to laugh. Sorry, Bob and Emily.

Sunday morning

Regis and I have been up since 6, buying groceries and getting organized for the day. We're looking at our new Spot Bot and getting excited about trying it out. Pathetic.

We went to the Bothy last night and heard one of our favorite bands, Becky Thompson and Old School. They were wonderful. She has a voice like a country singing angel and the two guys with her were great, too. Dan Lund is another Minnesota Music Hall of Fame winner and he has a voice like sex and chocolate. His guitar music got a round of applause on almost every song. When they sang Sweet Dreams, I swear people wept. At the end you could hear a gasp from the crowd and one old guy jumped to his feet and applauded. They played until 11 which is late for this crowd, and we didn't even get restless. They play every Monday night at Lee's Liquor Lounge in Minneapolis. If we were the kind of folks who stayed up late or drove to Minneapolis, we'd go see them more often.

Off to do the Sunday thing: laundry, coffee with Betty, Tom, and Michelle, and a few hours with Ella. I have a roast in the crock pot so we can have beef commercials for dinner. It's cold here but the sun is shining which is a good thing. We were getting a little cranky from the extended winter weather.