Time Flies - Stop The Clock

Hi Friends,

Sorry I've been missing for over a month - one whole month!   Wish I could say it was because we were on some fabulous trip or we've moved to a warmer climate.  Truth be told - it was none of those things.   I just wasn't in the mood to write anything and had nothing of interest to say!   A dear friend tells me I won't have any readers left or grow any if I don't write more frequently.   She is right---I know that--- but still didn't do anything about it.

Presently I'm thinking about our friends out East and West.   Horrible weather is and has been happening in both places.    I can't even imagine dealing with the amount of snow that the East Coast has had.   Then there is all the rain, flooding, mud slides, etc., on the West Coast.   Our hearts really go out to anyone living in those areas.   Since Mario has an active Twitter account and is friends with lots of dogs and cats all over the world actually, several are located in the parts of the US that are getting extreme weather.   We always worry about them and feel better when we'be had a tweet from someone indicating they are okay.

I did spend some of that time playing around with various programs on the internet that help you create pictures or fancy them up.   That has been fun and I've learned a lot.   The header at the top of the page was originally created by me and then run through one of those programs to give it a little character.    One can spend hours doing that type of thing.

Our winter has been mild this year.   Yes, we've had a few days where the temperatures were below 0, but on a whole they have been in the teens and 20's.   We are lacking in snow this year, which will not be a good thing for the farmers our gardeners.  I have loved having a winter without  much snow, but I know it is needed.   After last year's extreme weather, we are not complaining about what we have this year.

I hope all is well with you and your families.   I am going to try to post something more frequently now.   Yes, I have said that before and then not followed through.   But I'm going to try hard.

Now that I've bent your ear with a page full of nothing, I'll say "until next time."

Mary

Brain Freeze

Hi Friends,

Along with a good portion of the US, Wisconsin is in a deep freeze this  week. The start of the school day on Monday was delayed in our city by 2 hours.   With the wind chill dropping to -45 tonight, it wouldn't surprise me if there would be a delay tomorrow morning too.   It's only January 6th!

Monday morning Mr. D and I decided I would drive him to his water exercise class at the CP Center so he wouldn't have to walk out to a cold car.   Then I would go back and pick him up after the his class.  He, in turn, would drive a friend and myself to a local restaurant for lunch where my friend and I were meeting the remainder of our Group.  Easy peasy - right!

Mr. D and I got in the car, I backed up to let the car idle a couple of minutes outside of the garage.   Asked Mr. D to get my sunglasses out of the glove compartment, which he did.   I quickly put them on.   I was about ready to back up when it suddenly dawned on me that the right lens must have a big smudge on it because it was a little blurry.   I took the glasses off and grabbed a tissue to wipe the lens with - --------WHOOPS -  there was only a lens in one half of the glass.  The other was an empty circle!!!!    The lens had fallen out somewhere and I didn't even see that.   

We laughed so hard.   I was so positive that the lens had a big smudge on it!!!   Joke was on me.

Now I need to make a trip to get my glasses fixed, but it's  too darn cold to run anymore errands than those that are necessary.

Ha ha - I've told a couple of  friends about that incident, and we've had some good laughs over it.   It has to be brain freeze - wouldn't you agree?

Mary

New Year 2015

Happy New Year Friends,

How can it possibly be 2015 already when it  seems like yesterday that we rolled over to 2001.  Yikes, that also means I'm 15 years older.    I remember my dad saying that he would never live to see 2000, but he did.   He did pass away the next summer, but he made it to 2000 in pretty good health too.

The picture above is a house on the street behind us.    It doesn't show up that well in a picture, but it was beautiful seeing it for real.     With all the lights in the trees, it really lit up our back yards.  It was great.   I'm happy I don't have to pay their light bill!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our daughter and son-in-law, and the weather cooperated so they could spend Christmas Eve with us after leaving work at 3:00.    It is always a worry with the weather.   One never knows if we'll have snow, sleet and freezing rain, or blue skies!     We lucked out this year with no moisture in the air.  

Winter has set in with a roar.  We've had snow for the past two days - a total of about 5 inches, with a layer of sleet mixed in.   Now the wind is out of Canada (as it is with a good share of the US) and our wind chill is like -35 for most of this next week.   I am very thankful for a nice warm house and will try to stay in it for much of the week except for a couple of appointments and maybe our water exercise class at the CP Center.

We hope you have a most wonderful, healthy, and happy 2015.

Until next time,

Mary

Merry Christmas

Hi All,

Sorry I've been missing again, but hopefully after the holidays I can settle down and post on a more regular basis.   It's been a busy time of year, as you all well know.   

Weather permitting, our daughter and son-in-law will arrive after work tomorrow in time to have dinner with us.   They stay overnight here and leave for SIL's family after they cook us omelets for breakfast. Yes, that's right - they will cook the omelets.   How's that for service.   They surprised us with that last year, so I asked them if they would like to do it again this year and we'll have the ingredients.   It's a real treat for us.

The above photo was our Christmas card this year, so feel free to take a copy if you wish.

We hope you and your family have a most wonderful Christmas and a very happy, healthy 2015.

Someone's Asleep At The Switch

Hi,

The scene above was actually taken last year about this same time, but it looks exactly the same way this morning after getting 2 inches of snow topped off by a little sleet last night.    Our long range weather forecast is predicting more snow than normal and colder than normal temperatures.  Oh goody!!!!  A repeat of last year.   At least we don't live in Buffalo, NY - I can't even imagine how they begin to clean up from that much snow.   I should not complain about the snow we have received so far.  But last winter went on forever, and I'm not  looking forward to this one being a long one either.

How careful are you when you open US Mail?   Do you check the name on the envelope before opening?   We don't and probably should, but 98% of the time the mail is ours.   Not the case yesterday.

An envelope appeared in our box from a major auto insurance company in Jersey City, NJ.   Mr. D didn't think anything of it because we get a  lot of junk mail.   After he opened it, he realized it was delivered to the wrong address.   That has happened before as now and then we get mail belonging to a neighbor.

The funny part is that the envelope was being sent to someone in Jersey City, NJ - the same city that it was mailed from.  Somehow it ended up in Wisconsin!  WHAT!  Someone was obviously asleep at the switch.  in fact, apparently more than one person was asleep to get this far!

Monday I'll be calling the company that mailed it out so they can do the paper work for their client all over again.   Then I plan on taking it  to the post office.  I know this sounds anal, but the Post Office would never know they made this kind of mistake if they are not told about it.   Even our carrier didn't catch it - the name was totally different, street totally different, and city totally different.

Mistakes do happen, but this was a big one that no one caught it.   What do you think - am I doing the right thing by taking it to the post office?   If I give it back to the carrier, he could very easily just throw it away.  No one would ever know.  When i worked, I always appreciated it if someone called a mistake to my attention so I learned from it and was more careful the next time around.

Until next time,


Mary

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Friends,

I'm way overdue for a post, and unfortunately December probably will be the same.   The older I get, the slower I move!    If I get any slower, a snail will pass me by.  he he   In fact, I think I saw one run by me this morning.

Winter has arrived early here.   We've had about 5 inches of snow so far (most of which melted last week then was topped off by rain, turning into freezing rain, with a thin layer of snow.    This is way way too early.    I have a feeling that this is going to be another rough winter, and I know other parts of the country are experiencing bad weather too.  We'll be getting another inch tonight into tomorrow - just in time for us to drive to our daughter's house about 45 miles away.  Joy!

We have much to be thankful for this season.  We have reasonably good health compared to some, are able to live independently in our own house, have plenty of food, warm clothing, heat, and  many friends (local and online on Twitter, and in the blog world).,  Also a wonderful companion in our cat, Mario, who is  always ready for  a lap or a snuggle.   I'm feeling extra thankful because yesterday we took a few out-grown winter clothes to donate to the homeless shelter.  Nothing like visiting there to put things in perspective.   The smiles on their faces said it all - but of course there was a big Thank you with the smiles.   They were so very appreciative.  

We will be spending Thanksgiving Day at our daughter's.  Her husband loves doing the Thanksgiving Day meal, and his mother and I love it.   Kim helps him - they are both good cooks..   We are so grateful to have them.

We wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Safe travels if you have to travel somewhere.   I'll try to do another couple of posts before Christmas.  It's a goal!!!   I have also missed reading your blogs, so I have much news to catch up on.  

Until next time,

Mary

The Tale Of The Not-So-Smart Clock

Hi,

Saturday night was the annual Fall, turn-your-clock-back night.  Mr. D and I made a big production of going around to the many clocks we have in the house and setting them at the proper time.   

I happen to have a smart alarm clock by my bed.  In the spring it didn't automatically change like it should have - it had to be manually set.   After getting the instruction book out and following the procedure exactly on how  to set Time Zone, I set the clock to Zone 3, which is what the book said for Wisconsin.   It should have gone off - right?   Wrong!

For some reason it didn't adjust, and had to be reset it manually--- again.   Mumbling under my breath "just  give me an old fashioned wind-up clock any day!" ha ha - I think it's time to retire this one even though it isn't more than 5 years old, if that.   Ha ha -  maybe it will accidentally drop on the concrete, brake, and we can blame Mario!  (poor kitty will tell you he gets blamed for everything).  

Does your smart clock work, or  do you still have a "dumb" clock?    Have "dumb-smart clock" - am willing to trade for "dumb clock"!

Until next time,

Mary