Terrific Thursday!

Caleb, Charlotte, and I went to Saint Michael Cinema 15 to watch Despicable Me 4. We did the 10:40am show. After the movie we ate McDonalds for lunch. Their Happy Meals had Despicable Me 4 toys. I picked the kids up at 8:30am this morning. Caleb gave me a rundown on Despicable Me 2 so I would have a better understanding of how Gru goes from a bad guy to working for the good guys.

Eleanor sent me a photo of the ice cream stand across from her son’s home in Sterling, Kansas. She also wrote, “I said view was from porch swing but didn't say the TNT was also visible from the living room, the dining room, and the window to the side of me in the kitchen. Talk about temptation!” The name of the place is TNT Dairyland.

View from the front porch...

I was happy that Eleanor also sent me a photo of her taken during her Kansas visit. She is all decked out for the July 4^th celebration. Sterling hosts a parade that happens to go down the street her son’s family lives on. They also have the best fireworks show she has ever seen. The show takes place over water, so the reflections are amazing.

While the grandkids and I were at the movies and lunch, Joe and the neighborhood teen were putting together raised garden beds. They still have five more to go. Joe said the teen did a particularly good job. I know I went out to the garage to let Joe know we were leaving for the movies and the young man was chatting away with Joe like they were long time friends. This teen wants to study biotechnology engineering in college as he wants to develop medical devices. I think I have that correct!

Joe had his six-month blood test done to make sure he did not have cancer. It has been three years since his cancer surgery. He saw a new doctor and the doctor was impressed with Joe’s excellent health. I thought the clinic artwork was cool!

Feeling the Love

I spent the morning setting up medical accounts for Joe and me with a local clinic. The set-up was fairly easy when I got a delightful woman from Allina Health on the phone. The more complex part was setting up the online “My Record” accounts and linking/sharing from our old clinic “My Record” accounts.

The day got better though when I did a virtual chat with my cousin, Eleanor. I got to hear all about her trip to Kansas to visit her youngest son and his wife. She enjoys her trips. I was amazed at her restraint though as her son lives directly across the street from an ice cream stand. She said she managed to only go twice in twelve days. I would have gone twelve times every two days…

Megan, Jeremy, and the kids went to visit Jeremy’s family today, so Joe and I ran up to Rockford this afternoon to let Sylvie and Pan out to go to the bathroom. Sylvie has to stay in her crate when the family is away as she still likes to chew on stuff. We stayed for about 45 minutes to give her and Pan a bit of  playtime. The dogs love Joe! He had been working in the yard all day and so it was a treat for him to lay down on the floor and tumble around with the dogs.

Joe said it was comfortable on the floor.

One of our neighbor teens, he will be a junior in high school in the fall, offered to help Joe with the yard. He is going to come tomorrow, and Joe will have him help put together a cabinet and the raised garden beds. He can also help carry the raised beds to their final destination.

Another lovely day with a high of 72 degrees. The humidity was only fifty-five percent, which meant the air did not feel heavy.

Tomorrow morning, I am taking the grandkids to see Despicable Me 4 and out to lunch (they will most likely want McDonalds, but I will give them other choices). Megan does volunteer work on Thursdays which means I get time with my sweethearts. Here are the texts I got from Charlotte today: 

She sent the love you first. I sent the OMG.

She sent the AW... I sent the MUA!

A Rock Kind of Day

Today was a beautiful weather day. Mid-seventies and humidity fifty-five percent humidity. Light breeze of seven miles per hour with an occasional gust of thirteen miles per hour. It is the middle of July!

We get two free HVAC inspections per year as part of a package deal, we signed up for when we had the additional electrical installed for Joe’s dream machine shop. We did this because it gave us a 25% discount on the electrical work and because we wanted someone to show us how to best use the heat and air conditioning since the systems are 4-level. Of course, no system is perfect so we were hoping the HVAC technician could explain the most efficient way to set the thermostats for which floor.

The sellers had told us they just set everything at 68 degrees year-round and left it  alone. We do not use the entire house every day so that sounds expensive to us. Especially since we are used to warmer temperatures in the summer. The high today was 79 degrees, and it was perfect inside the house with the system turned off.

The technician they sent has been extremely helpful, answering all of our questions. He started with the furnace while Joe cleaned the air conditioning unit. Joe said the mud on the panels was caked on and about an inch thick. He looked like he had rolled in the mud when he came in to tell me that he thought it had not been cleaned in a long time – like maybe ten years. He then told me that the technician was impressed that he could take the unit apart to get to everything to clean it. That’s when Joe told him he was a machinist – come to find out the technician’s dad is also a machinist.

 Earlier today, Joe had five cubic yards of stone delivered. He will be using the rock around trees, planter areas, and walkways. We were able to get a before and after of one of the areas he completed today.

Joe and his rock!

Front tree this morning before rock was placed.

Tree this evening after rock was placed.

 

Bits and Pieces from an Overwhelmed Mind

My brain is overflowing with so much political and assassination news that I wanted to take a break from writing this blog today. My second thought was maybe that is exactly why I need to write. If you are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by all that is happening in U.S. politics, you are welcome to hide here for the few minutes it takes to read my blog most days.

We woke up to rain this morning. Fortunately, it did not last long. Joe was chomping at the bit to go buy a longer extension for his pole saw and to get busy cutting cracked limbs off of the tree that had already dropped one limb on our garage roof during the severe storm we had two days ago. I sat with him while he cut limbs and branches while on a ladder. Now he is busy cutting the limbs up further so he can use them in his raised garden beds. I caught photos of Joe working away.

I think my camera lens fogged over from the humidity.

My birthday gift was a new four-quart Pampered Chef crockpot. Our house is currently filled with the aroma of crockpot barbecued boneless pork ribs. I will be making a green salad and mediterranean chickpea rice to serve with the ribs. The rice dish calls for 3-4 tablespoons of fresh parsley. Joe planted the parsley two months ago – I am excited to use it!

We used to belong to a Martha Stewart meal plan. We would get three or four meals sent to our home weekly. At the time, Joe was cooking and would prepare the meals. During the process he would have conversations with Martha. Usually along the lines of, “No, Martha, I am not going to juice ½ of the lemon now and ½ of the lemon in twenty minutes. I am going to juice the entire lemon right now.” This is a mild version of the suggestions he had for Martha and her cooking tips. Mind you, Martha was not present in our kitchen – I was!

Two of our friends had suggested Joe do a YouTube Cooking show while cooking the Martha meals. Joe does not like the limelight so refused. Eventually, I cancelled the meal plan with Martha as it was too stressful for Joe and for me listening to his rants. Joe is usually very mild mannered but over the year of following Martha’s step-by-step recipes he had grown more frustrated. I think in part because Martha had not changed – she was still insisting he juice a lemon or dice an onion in multiple steps. He felt this was a waste of his time when he could do it all at once. Also keep in mind, Joe liked to clean up as he went so Martha’s directions were foiling his clean as you go method.

Now that I do the cooking, I wonder if we would still be using Martha Stewart if I had done the cooking back then. I also clean up as I go. I would have juiced the lemon and diced the onion at the beginning. The only real difference between Joe and me is that I would not have felt the need to argue with Martha. I would just do it my way. I always do it my way in cooking. I may feel the need to follow recipes to the nth degree. But the process itself may get messed with along the way and I don’t feel compelled to discuss it. Joe is a process kind of guy so guess he felt there needed to be a conversation even if it was one sided. Again, Martha was not present in our kitchen.

Still, I found the year “we cooked with Martha” full of laughter. Okay, I was the only one laughing.

 

Major Storm Passed Through Saint Michael

About 2:oo am this morning we experienced the scariest storm to-date. The lightning and thunder were continuous, less than one second between each bout. The sky outside our bedroom windows was constantly lit. The rain was heavy and later there were reports of hail in Saint Michael of up to three and a half inches. The storm raged on for an hour. As the lightning lit up the sky, I could see the tops of Ash and Elm trees bending over and swaying. At 2:15am with the lightning it looked almost as if the trees were dancing. Freaky!

We woke up this morning to see a large branch blocking our neighbor’s driveway. Joe offered to help but she was able to get Perry Eggert (we call him our tree guy) out to clean it up this afternoon.

Megan came to pick me up for a shopping excursion to Kohl’s and Target. She pointed out an outdoor table umbrella on the corner of our street at the top of the hill. One of my neighbors took a photo and posted it to our Butternut Lane SE neighborhood page.

The wind dropped this umbrella at the top of the lane.

The tree limb in our neighbor's driveway. So glad there was no damage to the house.

While I was out shopping, Joe discovered that an eighteen-inch diameter branch from one of our trees had fallen onto our garage roof. He was able to tug the branch down as it was hanging over the edge of the roof within his reach. Tomorrow he will get on a ladder and see if there are any other limbs and if the branch has done any damage to the roof. He spent time cutting the branch up to use in the bottom of our raised garden beds.

I enjoyed shopping with Megan. We treated ourselves to lunch which gave us an opportunity to catch up. Like most stay-at-home moms, she is busy so it is rare these days that we can just sit and talk without the kids or dogs needing her attention. Forty-five minutes for just the two of us is a treat for me!

Today is our warmest summer day. At 89 degrees with 55% humidity, it feels like 91 degrees.

We were invited to a birthday party for a neighbor child turning one years old today. The neighbors were invited, and I had planned to attend. Joe is going by himself instead. Most nights I go to bed and fall asleep within five or ten minutes. Last night I did not go to sleep until 3:00am and then got up at 8:30 am. I took an hour long nap this afternoon thinking I would perk up, instead I am feeling more tired. I gave up coffee about six weeks ago and have been drinking a mushroom coffee that has half of the caffeine of regular coffee. On days when I have had little sleep, regular old caffeine could be the answer to getting me through the day. Except I fear if I drink coffee at midday, I will not be able to sleep at bedtime.

Anyway, all of this to say I did not have the energy or enthusiasm to be social. This is extremely rare for me. Instead, I am sitting in the sunroom writing and watching an eleven-year-old neighbor girl practice her fast pitches into a net. She has been at it for about an hour. At this very moment she is peering into the empty  wastebasket she uses to store balls in, tipping it upside down, slamming the wastebasket into the ground, and shaking it. I suspect an insect has made a home in her ball basket. One thing I know for certain for a wiry eleven-year-old she is doing an excellent job of pitching!

Heat

We were invited to an evening bonfire party; however, it was cancelled as there is a heat advisory alert. The alert is for the timeframe of 2:00pm today through Sunday at 8:00pm. The alert? Expected heat index of 98.

My California friends are experiencing temperatures of 113 and I am sure are staying indoors as much as possible! We do the same thing here. Stay indoors. Joe and I ventured out around 4:00pm for an early dinner at River Inn. It was even busier than usual and I was surprised how many people opted for outdoor seating.

Not us! The humidity makes my skin sticky.

I love how the humidity helps my skin and hair feel softer. When humidity gets to a certain level though, I begin to feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, our house stays cool with the windows open and ceiling fans running. 

Another thunder storm is expected at around 8 this evening. The roof and overhangs on the house are such that during storms we can leave our bedroom windows and the sunroom windows open and rain does not come in. I love the sound of storms. To be fair we are not talking monsoons! I am talking thunder and rain.

A young friend (under 35) texted me that the shooting at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania reminded her of Season 4 episode 2 of a show called The Boys. She said it was about a staged assassination by the right to boost support for their candidate. She said it would be hard for people who saw the show to not think it was a set-up. I abhor violence and am sorry for the bystander who was killed. It saddens me this happened at all. I am sure we will hear more about the shooter as the story unfolds. For now I am praying for anyone wounded.

Dinosaur Day

Joe and I spent time with Charlote and Caleb today. A local deep dish cookie company ran a promotion in the Buffalo Cub parking lot. Advertised as: Mighty animatronic dinosaurs will join the Top Food Truck in America with Deep Dish Cookies!! Come see our numerous animatronic dinosaurs including T-Rex, Spinosaurus, and Triceratops. We will be featuring our Raptor Enclosure, dinosaur photo opportunities and much more!

My favorite 'chicks'

After Grandpa Joe walked the kids through the display, we ate cookies and then headed to Lake Rebecca Park to let them run off the sugar from the cookies.

Time with Caleb and Charlotte was an enjoyable way to spend a Friday afternoon. Caleb mentioned it was too hot to be outdoors for long with temperatures around 84 degrees. After running around at the park, Charlotte removed her headband telling us it was too hot for headbands. I am sorry to hear our California friends are enduring temperatures of thirty degrees hotter!

Joe spent the cooler morning hours working in the yard. He is making progress; however, there is still quite a bit to do. At dinner he asked me to begin research on the best apple and pear trees for the Minnesota climate, information on pollination requirements, and the best time to plant. 

 I spent my morning on financial records and ordering five cubic yards of 1-½” buff limestone decorative rock for areas of the yard that are finished and will not have grass or mulch. When we get back from Ohio in August, we will be ordering about nine hundred square feet of sod to install in places the retaining wall installer’s equipment tore up the yard. Joe has the soil prepared; however, the sod needs attention every day for three weeks and it cuts it to close to our trip.

Another fine Minnesota day! 

Thoughts on Criticism

One of the topics that I find fascinating is the idea that criticism helps us to grow better at what we are doing. The idea that all criticism is “justified” or “good for you”  on the basis of growth, I think is hogwash.

I think it is equally important to understand the motivation of the person giving criticism and then be able to discern if it is relevant to the case at hand.

Criticism can be used to weaponize, belittle, or gain submission from people. I saw it happen countless times in my career. As someone who likes “teaching moments,” those times when you can talk about lessons learned, I have done my share of criticism. I never thought about whether my intentions were clear until after I retired.

During the last  eight years of my career, I was more mindful of my delivery of criticism  than in the previous forty years of work. I was equally more aware that I had to take the other person’s criticism(s) and dismiss it as vitriol. People say hateful words when they are not in their right mind.

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

vit·ri·ol

/ˈvitrēəl/

 

noun

1. 1.

cruel and bitter criticism.

"her mother's sudden gush of fury and vitriol"

2. 2.

ARCHAIC•LITERARY

sulfuric acid.

"it was as if his words were spraying vitriol on her face"

 

I tried hard as a parent to give my children honest and helpful ‘information.’ I am sure I failed more than I was successful. Mostly, because I was not mindful about the manner I used during the “teaching moments.” Alas, I cannot change the past, I can do better now that I know better. My grandchildren can reap the benefits of the change.

Before delivering criticism, I have learned to ask myself why a certain action on someone else’s part troubles me. Then I ask myself if I have anything helpful to contribute. If not, I shut my mouth. I shut my mouth frequently. Unasked for feedback is generally not welcome. Unsolicited advice falls into this category as it the ultimate criticism… I have learned it means, “I do not trust you to figure out what to do.” I currently work mindfully at asking questions to show interest and only hand out my opinion or criticism if asked for it.

The next key for me is how criticism is delivered. As a writer, I automatically expose myself to criticism. I am surprised how little feedback I get of a negative nature. Ninety-nine percent of the feedback I have received has been positive and in support of the content. The three or four instances of constructive criticism have reminded me of a grammatical error or a misspelling. All of this feedback helps me to polish my writing a bit more.

Back when I was still working, I worked on a monthly company newsletter. Each month I sent a draft to two or three company leaders to be proofread, edited, and for general feedback. My top three editors each had a different strength. Oddly,  it was rare when they listed all of the same edit notes. Which made our finished newsletter all the stronger and a better read for everyone after publication.

I am grateful to my friends that write as they just let me be me and do not send me critiques of what I wrote. I know this is because they live the life of writing and know what can be helpful and what is not helpful. For everyone else, I do edit my own daily writing. I also use a grammar check because I think faster than I keyboard, and it is easy to not make sense at times. The grammar program is imperfect, like me, so when I get the grammar comments, I am grateful to know I have a third layer to help me “fix” the problem.

Here is  another thought I have had about editing my own writing. It has to do for now. I do this for the love of writing and not because I have reader(s) to edit my work before it hits the public. Bear with me (it is not ‘bare with me’ as there is nothing to uncover or expose. However, I do ‘bare my soul’ to you). 

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Write every single day.

Lay in the sunroom during a thunderstorm, watch the lightning and rain while listening to the thunder.

Go to birthday parties when you are invited and celebrate!

Support friends' creative endeavors.

Support friends' endeavors that make them happiest.

Go for drives in the countryside with someone you love.

Provide hugs and snacks for my grandchildren.

Snuggle with Joe Coehlo.

Pet my grandpuppies.

Let Alto nap and/or sleep on top of me while I read/nap/listen to storms.

 

Let the Birthday Celebration Continue

Megan and Jeremy treated Joe and me to dinner out in celebration of my birthday. We enjoyed their company and the bratwurst shareable platter. 

I also received a gift in the mail from my friend Ginger (aka Ethel). She reused an Amazon box to mail it, so I thought it was an order I had placed with Amazon and let it sit for three hours on the bench in our entryway. Finally, after walking by it twice, I thought, “I need to open that up and put my order away.” When I opened the box and saw happy birthday wrapping paper, I knew it was not from Amazon... 

I am a dork. This joins my other Ginger mugs that I can never part with and will be my morning coffee mug going forward. 

Thank you also to Kim and Ginger for donating to my Facebook birthday fundraiser for SOAR Regional Arts. One of our neighborhood families founded the non-profit organization. Joe and I are looking forward to attending their upcoming productions.

In closing today, I spotted Alto in one of her four favorite places in the house. She enjoys checking out the neighborhood. 

 

Front room window - a favorite Alto place.

Sweetness

After dinner last night,  an eight-year-old neighborhood child came to visit bearing a sweet card she wrote and a bag of Popcornopolis Zebra Popcorn (caramel corn with chocolate flavored stripes).

I added the stars to cover the family name.

The heart on top of the "t" is a sweet detail.

Charlotte (8 years old) and Caleb (10 years old) sent me text messages from their smartwatches. Charlotte’s message included three emojis she knows I love.

Sweetness pervades my life. I am so incredibly grateful for the children who bring light to my world. Especially during an election year when so much of the news sets my mind spinning and it is easy to fall into the abyss.

Taking five minutes each day to appreciate the joy that our grandchildren, great nieces and nephews, and our neighborhood children bring to my days has become a form of meditation.

This morning, one of my favorite people in the world sent a family photo and I couldn’t stop smiling at how much the three children have grown since I last saw them, nineteen months ago, at a company holiday party. In addition to the photo, I got an update on how they are each doing which makes me smile.

All around me children are graduating. Kindergarten, middle-school, high-school, and college graduations remind me of how quickly time passes.

My daughter is thirty-two and I still think of her as my sweetest baby. Ginger used to tell me I was going to kiss the skin right off of Megan’s face. Thankfully, Megan had tough skin when it came to mama’s kisses.

Sweetness.

My Perfect Birthday

Turning sixty-eight years old is no big deal. I woke up this morning feeling better than I felt before I retired at sixty-six years old. Retirement has been better for my physical and mental health.

Today I watched Season 3 of The Bear while Joe worked in the yard. I meditated and listened to a train soundscape with my eyes closed (there may have been a bit of snoring on my part). Answered Facebook alerts, texts, and emails from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. It is sweet to be remembered on this day. I also prepped dinner and put it in the oven. We are trying a new recipe – Baked Pork Chops and Apples. It smells divine!

This will be served with a green salad of butter lettuce, romaine, red onion, garbanzo beans, feta cheese, and raisins. We also have macaroni salad. Since  we moved into the house I have been cooking dinner. I try new recipes weekly and have begun to experiment with ingredients. Joe is doing all of the yard work, so it does not seem fair to expect him to cook as well. He says he would gladly cook, and I know that to be true. In the past it gave him pleasure cooking for our friends and family.

The other day he said, “If I had known how well you can cook, I probably would have asked you to do it more over the years.” I laughed. It is not that I do not know how to follow a recipe or how to experiment, he always enjoyed cooking so much and, other than group dinners which we both cooked,  I was fine with him cooking and me cleaning up from meals.

So now I bake cakes or cookies weekly and find something ‘fun’ or ‘new to us’ to do with the nightly protein. I am learning things along the way, like not to make meatloaf in a loaf pan as it ends up steaming the meat. Now our meatloaf is formed into a loaf shape and baked on a cookie sheet. The recipes I have used come out firmer and moister than my past meatloaf recipes.

A day or so ago, I downloaded a phone app called “Be My Eyes.” My dear friend, Ann in Pennsylvania, had posted the information on Facebook and I was intrigued. The app is free. The purpose is to connect “blind and low-vision users who want sighted assistance with volunteers and companies anywhere in the world, through live video and artificial intelligence.” During the sign-up process, the app tells you it may be weeks before you get a request for assistance. I was so happy to get a request today!

What I like about the app is that I can serve someone else without a specific time commitment, I can do it when it is convenient for my schedule, and there are no emotional ties. The call I received was a couple asking me to tell them the color of a shirt. They also wanted to know if it had writing on it. What they were “feeling” was not a word but the outline of an orange alien. The shirt was grey. My take-away from the call was that I take my vision for granted.

The house smells  like baking apples. An orange butterfly is flittering around our backyard bushes. A cool breeze is flowing through the sunroom. The temperature outside is 78 degrees, making for a perfect day – not too hot or too cool. Even with the windows open, the neighborhood is quiet.

Happy birthday to me. 

What is a Rule You've Made for Yourself?

What is a rule you’ve made for yourself?

A rule I have made for myself is to always do the right thing when faced with a moral dilemma. It is not always easy and sometimes I grumble about my own decision.

The upside is I sleep at night without worrying if I did the right thing. As a result, I have very few regrets in life. I buy into the idea that integrity is the most important quality we can possess as human beings.

When we act with integrity it means we automatically consider what is compassionate and best for everyone. Empathy is a necessity for compassion to exist. Compassion and empathy are two other qualities that I incorporate into other rules I have made for myself.

The questions I ask when making ethical decisions are:

1.      Who does this decision benefit? If it is only me benefitting and is at someone else’s expense – it is a hard no on moving forward.

2.      If everyone does it who would be hurt by the decision?

3.      Do the benefits outweigh the burden? Monetary gain cannot be the only benefit at the expense of our environment, other people’s pockets, and a culture of compassion.

4.      Would I feel comfortable explaining my actions to friends and family? I am not talking about approval from them. In my view this is about consistency. If I say I support the LBGTQ+IA2S+ community and then bash a person because of their pronoun preference my friends would question the consistency of my actions vs, my words saying I support the community.* Inconsistency is one of my biggest pet peeves.

5.      Could I defend my actions if they appeared in media headlines? I know with the current mainstream media outlets this might be a difficult one as I am not sure all actions are reported as they actually occurred. I studied journalism when articles were clearly defined as a news piece and as an editorial piece. The lines have become blurred over the years and make researching and culling facts from opinion more difficult – even for critical thinkers.

Once I commit to a decision, I stick with it until the situation resolves itself or until other factors impact the decision. We have to be flexible if a situation changes to not be so dogmatic that we end up victimizing ourselves or other loved ones.

After writing this, I wonder if I made this rule for myself, or if it was so ingrained into me by my family and early mentors that it is a rule I made to survive in the world of a large family and in the business world.

Thoughts on Moving and Friendships

I spent half of my day in the kitchen prepping food for the week. Batches of potato salad and macaroni salad are complete after I had  fun chopping olives, onions, celery,  pickles, and hard-boiled eggs. We have enough salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week. I wanted to use up four large baking potatoes before they grew eyes and rotted.

When I make potato salad, I might as well chop enough ingredients to make macaroni salad. Macaroni salad is one of Joe’s favorite dishes. The potato salad is a close second as a favorite. I also cleaned butter lettuce and romaine for meals this week. I made a meatloaf with Italian sausage and ground beef which will last us for four meals.

I made time this morning to catch up on the Happy Hour with Ruth & Roxy blog and podcast. I am half-way through the most recent podcast. As usual it makes me happy listening to them chat about social anxiety, moving away from friends, and trying new things outside of our comfort zone that can lead to ideas and dreams we may never have envisioned at the start. They pack multiple topics into an hour. I especially appreciate their vulnerability and their sense that connections are important for their listeners/followers/readers.

Listening to Ruth and Roxy, or reading their written work, is a dose of happiness for me. It feels like I am not alone in my dorkiness.

After listening to them, I will spend days thinking about one of the topics they covered. Today’s thought was about how willing I have been over the years to pick up and move. In 1974 I married my first husband and started cross-country with him the same day as our wedding to live in California. In 2002 my ‘current’ husband, Joe, and I packed up Megan (my daughter, she was ten at the time) and moved to Cairo, Egypt for one year before returning to our home in California. In 2023 we moved to Minnesota.

While it was emotional leaving my two closest friends, Ginger and Kim, I knew they would still remain my friends. I have friends and family all over the country and with technology we can stay in touch easier than the other times I moved. It is safe to say that friendship is not about geography for me.

Making new friends is not easy for me. I struggle with wondering if I go overboard so part of me stays emotionally detached in the early days of a new friendship. I recognize that I can act like a new puppy. While  jumping on people  and trying to lick their faces is not usually a part of my greeting new friends, it sometimes feels like I am scaring people away. I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that other people have their own form of social anxiety.

Now that I write every day, I also feel the need to disclose to new acquaintances that I write a blog so that they will not accidentally come across it and think I am withholding information. I tell them upfront, I may write about them at some point; however, if I use their name (with their permission), I only write positive stuff about people. Well, at least what I think is positive.

I am also aware that I classify ‘friend’ in ways that other people may not. I was a Soroptimist for a few years in Woodland and met the most incredible women. Our club met weekly, for an hour, and other times to plan events. I still think of them as friends. Same with other organizations I was a part of. My Facebook friends are made up of former co-workers (still friends), Yolo County Grand Jury members from the year I served, one friend is from a criminal case jury I sat on one year, about eight came from an online forum from fifteen or sixteen years ago.

I feel blessed to have the friends I have already in my life. I look forward to making more friends in the future. IF they can get past my enthusiasm. Seems other people have not been put off over the years and I am grateful for their tolerance and inclusiveness.

Thursday Mornings With Caleb & Charlotte (#2)

 Our morning started with Caleb and Charlotte spending time with us while Megan did her volunteer stint. Since it was raining (yes, again!) it also meant Joe was indoors for the day.

I helped the grandkids with their morning math and spelling, they played a little basketball between rain showers, Grandpa Joe played Chinese checkers with them, they sat at the kitchen island and ate lunch while I made potato salad, they played a game called Night at the Museum, and then they spent quiet time drawing at the dining room table until it was time to go home. Right as it was time to go, they decided that the entry way and living room floor were lava beds and they had to get to the garage without falling in the lava.

I got them home to Megan without burns from the lava…

I spent the day reading and napping. No plans to go out for fireworks this evening. With the weather any celebrations may have been cancelled. Our neighborhood was quiet. After two days of chainsaws, chippers, and stump grinders it seems exceptionally quiet.

Last night and this evening I watched a series on Hulu, “The Bear.” I am enjoying it. Eventually I will return to watching Grey’s Anatomy. Taking a break from the medical world and relishing the restaurant business is a gift I am giving myself.

Before and After (More Tree) and United Kingdom Snacks

Perry Eggert, we affectionately call him 'our tree guy,' took
this photo before they started the removal yesterday.
Our house is to the left of the tree.
The dirt area of the yard was courtesy of the people who put the new retaining wall in during May. We are waiting to re-seed or put sod down now that the tree is gone.

This view of the tree with an Eggert team member gives you an idea 

of the size of the tree!

Another view with branches cut from the tree in the foreground

The stump of the tree. This tree sat right on the property line. 

After the stump was ground out. Dan Parsons Stump Grinding 

removed the stumpdown a foot below the surface. Joe saved Dan 

work by digging up and exposing the large roots.

Megan, Jeremy, Caleb, and Charlotte came over at 5:00pm and we 

did our monthly YUM snack tasting. The United Kingdom snacks were among the 

 tastiest of the snacks we have tried so far this year.

Charlotte kept track of our reactions this month.

 

Goodbye to Our Ash Tree

The ash tree we share with a neighbor was cut down today. We like trees. This tree was sick and needed to come down. I was resting up from our whirlwind weekend so sat at the dining room window and watched the process. 

The Ash tree lookng out our Dining Room

Up top of the tree

Fascinating to watch the branches coming down, safely, one by one

Getting closer to saying goodbye to the tree

Last stage is preparing for tree to be felled in our side yard. 

Downed tree!

Home Again, Home Again

We left Defiance Ohio at 8:20am. We had planned to leave at 6:00am; however, we decided to sleep in and take our time getting on the road. It worked out fine, we arrived back in Saint Michael at 6:05pm . With the time change it meant we were on the road, with breaks to change drivers and get fuel, for 11.25 hours. 

We hit Chicago at the perfect time and had reasonably light traffic. The traffic around St. Paul and Minneapolis was also manageable.

Dinner was at Home Grown about half a mile from our house. I had a Saint Michael Sangria with a steak sandwich and salad for dinner. The Sangria was refreshing and  thoroughly relaxed me enough to not feel the road trip fatigue.

Alto was happy to see me, she 'allowed' me to pet her head and talk to her for at least fifteen minutes. Her usual time limit is five minutes.

We enjoyed our trip and now we are about to enjoy settling back into our home and having an early bedtime.

Tomorrow morning the ash tree removal begins. The best part is they don't expect to start running the chipper until 9:30 am. I am planning to sleep in!