Hump Dayyy!

Hope you’re having a fabulous day on this fine Wednesday. It’s been so overcast in Nebraska it almost seems like the dark days of November.

It’s kind of ironic, we’re watching an old episode of COPS on Reelz. This was from the Y2K, before 9/11 occurred, and when people were still somewhat respectful of law enforcement. It seems longer and further away than 23 years.

The Babe had his first cataract surgery done yesterday. It is followed by the second surgery today. It is an amazing procedure. The surgeon is young and top shelf. You want a young doctor and an old lawyer. Makes all the difference in the world.

I hope after the Babe’s surgery today I have time to quilt a little. I have some appointments for Mom on Thursday and next Wednesday, along with a haircut next Tuesday. Another busy week when this one is only half over! I need to be twins; I think. It’s difficult to do any of my creative endeavors with all these life things. There may be a lot of changes made to our business plan for 2023. More on that later.

What is your favorite middle of the week dinner? We had crack crock-pot chicken about a month ago, and now, I’m thinking of making it again later this week. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. You take about four chicken breasts, put two 8 ounce bricks of creamed cheese on top, and sprinkle Ranch dressing mix over it all. Cook for 6 – 8 hours on low. Sprinkle with shredded cheese when finished. It is heavenly.

The book I’m reading, “Broken Angels,” by Gemma Liverio, is an amazing story. I haven’t read if it’s based on a true story, but it could be. The stories of the children, stolen from their families by Nazi soldiers and sent to camps for brainwashing using Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” are many. I’m sure that is true. Those poor children. Just as my heart breaks for the women and children in the Ukraine. War is hardest on them. When the war is over, they all have PTSD, and the soldiers experience it right along with them. So very sad. War, as they say, is hell.

The book is quite long, 458 pages. It’s the longest I’ve read. If I were smarter about it, I’d read 250 page books during the challenge. I had three books picked out to read during March, but I’m still on this long one. It was time well spent.

Well, I need to tend to the Babe today. He deserves it, but don’t tell him I said so. I’ll be able to see those mesmerizing Paul Newman blue eyes just like when we met, 27 years ago. He didn’t wear glasses then, and man, he had a gaze that was arresting. Lucky me.

Hope you’re having a good Hump Day, and you have some time with special people this week. See you tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday!

School is closed, there are weather alerts, and we will see between one and seventy-two inches of snow in the area, depending on who you listen to and where you live. Weather forecasting in the heartland is pretty interesting.

Some kids need to tune in to remote learning tomorrow, and others get to sleep in and forget about it. I don’t know how the administrators figure out who will remote learn and who gets to sleep in. What a job to have. Kids will love you or hate you, just for deciding about school. They’ll survive.

Mom had a doctor visit today. It’s interesting how old people need to go have someone clip their toenails. I hope to never become so stiff I cannot do that anymore. It’s such a simple everyday task. There are so many of them that elude older folks. Simple, everyday things. Mom doesn’t use lotion on her feet anymore. She says her feet are slippery on her wood floors. The Doc asked if she had slippers to wear. Mom said, “Yes, but they’re not in bed with me.” Gosh, Mom, neither are the wood floors! I’m not sure what she means by that.

The Nail Tech was wonderful. She was kind to Mom and trimmed everything up, then massaged her feet with lotion. It made Mom’s day. It was such a treat for her and made her happy. She is already looking forward to her next Podiatrist’s visit.

Such a simple thing. Don’t take things for granted. Things we can do for ourselves at a young age are gifts when we’re older and people need to perform them for us. It’s kind of sad. You start out doing things for your baby; they grow and do for themselves, and then someone needs to be a helper for them at the end of their lives. Life is a circle, isn’t it?

The snow is supposed to begin around 9 a.m. this morning. You will have been able to read this anytime four hours earlier. I hope it’s a beautiful day of snow and watching the dogs play in the snow, not of rain, ice, and all that goes with that. If we’re going to have a once a winter snowstorm, it should be a wonderful event, one to enjoy. I’ll let you know if this really comes true or not.

My sewing machine is at the shop, just investigating if everything is in alignment. I had a mishap that was my fault, so it needs looking at. I didn’t want to let it go and possibly mess something up worse. Back to the Bernina for the blocks on Cody’s quilt. I think I goofed and have 38 blocks to rip up and re-sew. A great thing to do on a snowy day in Nebraska.

Hope you are in a cozy place today. And if you’re around this snowstorm, hunker in and enjoy yourself. Life is too short to drive in ice storms. Have a lovely day, and we’ll see each other tomorrow.

Monday, Monday

When I was about in eighth grade, the Mamas and Papas came out with a song named “Monday, Monday.” They had a lot of splendid music, but there has been some question about the morality of some members, John Phillips specifically. There are horrid accusations from his teenaged daughter, but I’ll just let God judge that. His job, not mine.

The day started extra early. When you don’t sleep well, the time to get up always comes too early. I had an early appointment to look at my Cervical MRI, (Nothing terrible). Lots of arthritis causing pain, nothing they can/should do now. Wait and see. A good strategy during COVID flare-ups.

Then I had a dentist appointment. They have you phone from your car. They come out to give you paperwork, and your tech comes out to get you. Just a cleaning today. Do you remember anything like this?

Similar to my childhood dentist’s office. It was frightening. The drill was so loud!

This is like the dentist we had as kids. We had to walk up the longest flight of stairs in the entire world. We walked to our right, then went through an old-fashioned door with a large frosted glass window. There was a hall with similar frosted glass doors, and they lettered one with the name and credentials of the dentist. You entered the waiting room, and it was fairly full of patients. I always headed towards the Highlights magazines. The dentist nodded to my dad, and he would sit down too. The door to this room of torture was always open. You could see the patient, hear the dentist and his noisy drill, while you waited your turn. The rubbing alcohol smell was terrible, too.

He was an amiable man, and he knew my dad’s family since he was a young man. My dad always insisted on paying him the day of service, even though Dr. Kraft always told him, “If you need to wait, Tommy, that’s all right.” Dad paid for services rendered once Dr. Kraft performed them. One thing I could not bear after a while was the drilling. Without Novocaine. He did not use it until much later in his practice. It was torture. He did not x-ray, I supposed to keep the cost down, and relied on the visual sighting of cavities before he could fix the teeth. It was that way until I got married at eighteen years of age, in 1970.

After having my first child in 1971, I went to a different dentist. He x-rayed your teeth. I had a lot of cavities and embarrassment. He said not to be, because they were tiny. He always fixed them as soon as he discovered them. That was a great way, and he always used Novocaine, too. Modern dentistry. I love it. My kids didn’t grow up afraid of going to the dentist. When I was a little kid, I remember not opening my mouth, then refusing to go for a couple exams. It just hurt so badly.

I went one time, and we made friends. He always squeezed my cheeks and called me Mary. I always wondered if he was fixing my cavities or Mary’s. I never found out.

As I thank the Lord one more time for modern, painless dentistry, I thank you for reading today. I hope you have a beautiful day, it’s sunny and a little chilly, so bundle up. Be careful out there and be safe. See you back again tomorrow.