This entry was posted on Sunday, January 18th, 2015 at 7:34 am and is filed under Family & Friends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Happy mid-winter Sunday;
“To (travel), you must have a valid passport with a photograph of yourself in which you look like you are being booked on charges of soliciting sheep.” ~ Dave Barry
And that (my Passport) photograph was taken at Walgreens by a clerk who had just purchased a little digital camera on the Goodwill Auction site.
I might just take a break for a coffee refill and then check to track my paperwork as it winds its way to the National Passport Center in Philly.
Exactly; using a passport renewal as a guide; all of this means that another decade has passed.
Pinball – November 29, 1992 I ordered our pinball machine. About a week later our Bally Speak Easy machine arrived. The kids loved it. I loved it. Then, eventually, it hiccupped. It ‘hiccupped’ right about the time that all the grandkids arrived. This is a common pinball machine phenomenon – see graph below.
Now we’re moving and a decision had to be made. Yesterday was the day. Tevita and Jason came over and the three of us moved the Speak Easy to the condo. At a little over 200 pounds these things are a bear to move. Marcia is a nervous wreck. I’ll keep you posted.
Then, in a couple of weeks, a mechanical “Pinball Wizard” technician will swing by to make the unit operational again. Oh joy, oh joy!
An Aleve morning – Today was one such. I mentioned that Jason and Tevita moved the pinball machine. What I did not mention is that I had a flash of brilliance. In our condo’s basement we have a storage lock-up. Never removed was a large bedroom cabinet and mirror owned by the previous occupant.
Get the picture? Two strong brutes to help move one item in becomes the perfect time to move another piece out.
But, I felt bad for them, and so six up-and-down basement trips later, I had all that bedroom stuff sitting at the ready in the condo. Now it’s in the truck waiting for the ten AM opening of St. Vincent de Paul’s and our donation of that load.
This morning, sitting at the edge of the bed for several minutes, I planned for my “how to get to a standing position” moment. Those minutes had me reflect on what had caused my back spasms and concluded it was all due to my effort to get closer to St. Vincent de Paul. When will I learn?
Calendar with a purpose – As a “lead-in” to Marcia’s Christmas/birthday gift she received a ‘Kalender’. This calendar was put together as a fund raiser for a Vermont organic farm community. Aside from the photo-of-the-month it features a recipe-of-the-month.
Each month features a new and different Kale recipe.
My Dutch heritage brings fond memories of a favorite Dutch peasant dish: Boerenkool Stamppot. It consists mainly of Kale, mashed potatoes, and smoked Kielbasa style sausage. That affinity for Kale I have succeeded to pass on to Marcia and the kids.
Marcia has already managed to prepare (slightly reworked) one of the recipes and it was spectacular!
So here you have it. What at first she assumed was a total joke has become one of her favorites. Love that Kale – and it’s good for you!
Fini – Quoting from last week; “this weekend all seems to be on track for the standard array of cheerleading, and soccer (yup, a new winter season for Marin)”. This weekend proves to be the same.
Vai was very proud. She was named the cheerleading team captain for the week. Plus (and a very big plus it was) they performed a new cheer which contained a “lift”. When they performed it at halftime the crowd roared; at least mom Adrianne and Opa (that be me) did some roaring.
Mentioning Vai, she has embarked on a sales career selling cookies for her girl-scout troop. Watching her sell proves that she is a natural and is following in my footsteps. Actually, it’s a great way to learn to interact with people, gain a perspective for finances and for goal setting. Anyone need some cookies?
Stay safe and be well, for us it’ll be a slight dip back into winter after the 50-degree day we enjoyed yesterday.
Cheers.
Dirk
PS. I just realized that this post is # 666 since start-up. What now?
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