Life and the Olympics Progress - LOL

We're already starting to look into pricing for moving vans (smaller - we're not moving a house). We'll need to move things home, and then leave for the Southwest almost immediately afterward to bring our artwork to the auction house. Shipping costs would be more than the $1000-$1500 the truck will cost us. We'll tow my car behind so that we can drop the truck off in Santa Fe and then, after a few days wandering the Plaza, we'll head back home again. It's not a horrible drive (except in the winter sometimes), but it takes two days if you're going to be relatively comfortable. 

We'll probably rent a truck and tow my car behind. It 
seems that most of the truck rental places have either 
two-wheel or full 4-wheel trailers available for your 
car. I'm 100% in favor of the 4-wheel version so that 
Minnion doesn't get extra wear and tear. I'll check with 
my dealer about their recommendations too, of course. 

I'll check with my dealer, of course, about towing the car that far. We did this with my Subaru when we first moved up here, and there were all sorts of problems because of the car's front wheel drive. I'm not sure about my Mazda, but suspect things have gotten a bit easier since those days. 

Norway won the women's Cross Country Women's Relay race 
over Sweden. It was very hotly contested and beautifully done. 

I decided to blow off the treadmill today and just relax for a bit instead. I was still up at my usual time, but sat and took my time with my morning meditation and phone games before slowly getting up, showering, and turning on the Olympics. Cross country skiing - Women's Long Track. Lovely! It's cloudy over the cross-country track today, which won't help with any topographical changes. 

Malinin fell twice in his final performance last night, and 
ended up in 6th place! Very poor! Mikhail Shaidorov of 
Kazakhstan won the gold medal, so Bravo! Well done! 

I didn't stay up long enough for the Men's Figure Skating. Malinin fell twice, though, so the gold medal was out of reach. In fact, any medal turned out to be out of reach - he fell out of the medals with those two falls. I'm sure he'll be competing in future, but he was off his game when he needed to be point-on. Bad showing! 

Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won the Men's Individual 
Gold Medal. Japan won both the Silver and the Bronze with 
excellent performances by Yuma Kagiyama (Silver) and 
Shun Sato (Bronze) of Japan. Congratulations to all 
three skaters - well done! 

But, I'm going to have a leisurely breakfast and watch the finals of the Women's Cross Country Skiing event. The skiiers are about to enter the final lap. What a grueling sport!  I was able to watch the finals of the Men's Skeleton yesterday - one of my favorite events which I rarely get to see because we usually don't have a good competitor in the field. Great Britain won this year in a stunning run! Well done! 

Matt Weston of Great Britain pulled out the Gold Medal in 
Men's Skeleton yesterday with an absolutely almost 
flawless run. It was a thing of beauty to see. Bravo!!

So, I'm wrapping this up and calling it complete. I'll be back on Monday morning. Have a great weekend, enjoy the Olympics if you're watching, and Slava Ukraini. 

It's Going to be a Busy Monday

At first glance, the Swarovski Blow-Out Sale was a success. We sold a lot of crystal beads, although we still have a heck of a lot in stock. Still, I'm pretty happy with the results, even if I did have to work six days straight. 

If you only do a single thing today, let it be something 
that will put a smile onto someone else's face. 

I finally had a chance to discuss the plans for getting out of business with DH a bit yesterday afternoon while we were relaxing on the patio, enjoying the soft breeze, our umbrella table, and some alcoholic beverages. I'll be attempting to contact Cheryl again today. He was somewhat OK with the dollar amount I mentioned, but, like me, would like more details as to what comprises that amount. We're also realizing that we're on a schedule that will push us into November. Not super pleased about that, but it is what it is. 

I have no idea what is included in her advertising 
budget. Radio and TV? Billboards? Print media? 
Newspapers? No clue. I'm going to have to trust 
that Cheryl knows her job well, and I'm pretty sure 
she does. 

DH also asked about the advertising. She's got a separate figure for that, and we have no idea what will be covered in that - what venues and media will be used. Ads at 11:00 pm at night on a secondary TV station won't be very effective, after all. 

I have a lot of questions for Cheryl, and I'm sure she's getting 
tired of my bugging her, but it's going to be a serious commitment 
on our part - physically and financially. We're only got one 
shot at this and it has to be done right. 

So I have a lot of questions, and we're running out of time to get this signed and going. The business simply doesn't have the money to pay up front, but we have no idea if it is an up-front payment or a back-side one. Lots of questions. 

Rather than take two more trips, DH opted to overfill 
the weight limits of his truck and take the last wire over 
in a single trip. I'm quite sure his shock absorbers aren't 
going to be very happy with the decision, but it's out of 
the basement and will be out of our hair shortly. 

I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend. DH and I spent Sunday morning at the shop loading up the last of the wire he's taking to sell at the recycling plant. They're closing for good within ten days, so the clock was ticking on this option. The truck is overloaded on its' weight limit, which isn't good for it, but it's mostly smooth roads. Of course there's a slight glitch - we both have dental appointments first thing this morning for a check and clean. I think mine is at 7:30 am, and DH's is at 9:10 am. Chickie also has an appointment today, but I think hers is after 10:00 am. So he'll drop the wire off after his appointment, then head over to the shop. He'll be late, but I'm rarely super busy first thing in the a.m. 

It's the start of a new week. Let's make it a good 
one today and every day. 

So, have an excellent Monday. I've got to get moving, I have a store to put back together after our sale - signs to pull down, cases to rearrange. The life of retail - LOL. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Minion, Cooking and Planning - It Was a Very Good Day

Yesterday's annual auto checkup was a very different story from last year's. This year I got a bill for under $150, last year ... well, let's just say it was a VERY different story. Of course, I didn't need new tires this year, but the mechanical things that they had to deal with last year were also not an issue. Minion is ready to drive me around for another year and I'm happy I got off lightly. 

When I first purchased Minion, this building didn't even 
exist. I purchased it from them across the highway, where 
they have their Chevy dealership. At that time, Mazda was 
just a small part of their business. They were then bought out 
by a different group of people, and they immediately started 
building this specifically for the Mazda lineup. It's nice and 
it gets a lot of business. There are a lot of Minions in the 
Twin Cities area. 

For some unknown reason my city is switching their trash and recycling barrels. The trash buckets were changed about six months ago, and the recycling bucket will be switched over on pickup day over the next two weeks. I'm hoping the new bucket won't take any more space in the garage than our current one does. Things are a bit snug there, and they rest in front of my car. I have room to give more space if needed, but it won't make me super happy. 

OK, this isn't my photo, but it is the recipe I made for 
the pork roast which was absolutely delicious! I'm glad 
I decided to take a chance on it - easy to fix and very tasty. 

The time when I wasn't at the auto dealer, I happily spent cooking. I had four pork chops and two smaller pork loins that I wanted to cook. Everything went really smoothly and I had some of the pork loin for dinner last night. It was a new recipe, but I really liked it. I'll be doing this one again - great flavor and very easy ... right up my alley - LOL. 

I adore my BBQ pork chops recipe and make it often. 
It's minimal muss and fuss, only needs BBQ sauce and 
an onion, and it's a never fail for me. I have four of these 
lovely chops packed up and as soon as I clear some freezer 
space, several of them will be moving there for later in the 
week or next week. 

Of course, it's also the end of May. Spring is officially over and Summer is beginning. We'll be getting some summer temps next week, so I hope my many tomato plants appreciate it - LOL. My hummingbirds are happily feeding from my feeder, the birds are swooping around the yard, and our fencing is still not keeping out all of the pests. *sigh* But, it wouldn't be a garden if we weren't dealing with moles, voles and other irritants. DH did go a bit overboard on my tomato plants, however, so I'd better start figuring out how to deal with an overabundance of that fruit. I hate to waste something that tastes that good! 

I have no idea any more about what varieties of tomatoes 
I have in my pots this year. I'm quite sure I'll be cooking 
some down and drying others. No other choice since they all 
seem to come ripe at approximately the same time. 

Have a truly excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Be safe, be happy and Slava Ukraini. 

It's Monday - Will the Fence Get Painted This Week?

Happy Monday to all. So far ... (crossing my fingers) it's looking like this might be the week that DH gets to paint the fence. He'll start on our neighbor's side - he thinks that might be a bit dryer than our side. I'll be texting Laura later today to let her know our (yet again) revised schedule. If the weather and equipment cooperates, we may have this task completed by the end of the week. I might have to work a day of my days off so that he can complete the project ... we'll see. I really HATE giving up one of my days off. 

DH has his respirator now, so he's ready to tackle the fence. 
He knows he needs to get this done before too much longer, 
and it's looking like this week will be a good one. I'm 
crossing my fingers that he can get this done. 

Sunday was glorious, though. The weather was absolutely PERFECT for sitting outside and enjoying the weather on the patio. We were able to shelve all of the different problems we've each got digging on our brains, and totally enjoy a wonderful afternoon. I'll harvest my first cherry tomato tonight, and my plants are growing SO big and tall and bushy. I'll have a mass of tomatoes available eventually, and then it will be time to dehydrate them and pulverize them so that I can add fresh tomato taste to my recipes throughout the winter months. Because, no mistake about it, despite the crazy non-winter we had this past season, Winter is Coming! 

Normally at this time of the year, I'd be hip-deep in 
Le Tour de France. To my surprise, I'm just not that 
into it this year. I suppose because of all of the other 
things I've got to get finished before I can enter 
the Fall and Winter seasons. 

We've got about six weeks or so before Renaissance Festival starts, and I'm already looking forward to my season of Fest and the Fair and my annual visit with Sharon. But there's so much to do before then - like figure out how to use a damned rolling pin. I've never been much good at rolling pins - maybe have used one a total of less than 50 times my entire life! But I want to make some eggrolls, and need to make a gluten-free eggroll wrapper for them. That will require rolling the dough, and I'm really bad at it. If I succeed at the recipe, however, I'll be looking for two kitchen things at the State Fair - a Corian cutting board, and a marble rolling pin (or something equally excellent). Both of these items, of course, will weigh a TON, and we take the bus back and forth, so anything I buy will have to be carried throughout the long, multi-mile walking day. That's the "Ick" factor of the Fair. But the positive is that everything will be available there - no hunting around or mail ordering. 

I want a Corian cutting board for my kitchen. I've 
blasted through two cutting boards already since I 
first started WildFit, and I'm cooking a lot these 
days. My "new" cutting board which is less than 
four years old, is getting really scuzzy. I want 
something durable to hold up to the knife work. 

So here it is, the early-middle of Summer and I'm already looking at the Autumn. Crazy, I know, but that's how I operate. I try to look ahead and plan ahead as much as possible - DH and nature being the more unpredictable aspects of planning ahead. Today is easy, though. Finish my tea, have my breakfast, and get to the shop. It's time to work again. I hope you have a great Monday and that your goals are successfully met. I'll be back on Tuesday. Slava Ukraini. 

Maybe Today? The Saga of the Outdoor Pool - LOL

Best laid plans, etc, etc, sometimes just don't happen. Apparently the outdoor pool was open on Saturday and Sunday, but come Monday, the chemicals were out of whack, and until that got resolved, Beth couldn't open the outdoor pool. Everyone coming to swim outdoors ended up indoors, and that led to a VERY crowded indoor pool. On Tuesday, when I arrived, the outdoor pool was still not able to be open, but the people from other pools had learned. When they heard the outdoor pool was still not open, they turned around, got back into their cars, and headed to other locations. 

Our beaver, who was only seen on the one day, 
probably has found a much better lake or pond where 
he could settle comfortably without all of the crazy 
people who want to swim at 5:00 am disturbing 
him. Still, it was nice to have him as a member 
of the YMCA, if only for a day - LOL. 

That actually led to a very nice and rather empty indoor pool, where I had a delightful, uncrowded swim. I suspect the chemical issues have been resolved by now, however, and that the outdoor pool will once again be open and we will be crowded. Yes - we get crowded at 5:00 am in the morning! That outdoor pool is a magnet for swimmers and will call them to swim throughout the remainder of the summer months. I'll get used to being crowded - I might share with Rosemary often in the first lane. We've shared a lane on and off for more than a decade, I think we can handle it. 

The outdoor pool at my YMCA is Olympic length and 
seven lanes wide. Indoors only has five lanes and is 
MUCH shorter. You can see the dark building in the back 
right. That block is where the indoor pool is. I'm at the 
far eastern end of the outdoor pool for this photo. 

On Monday, we had gotten a deep rain and noticed that our gutters were overflowing. *sigh* Time for DH to get onto a ladder and clean them out. So he did that yesterday, although he was afraid he might frighten or be attacked by Mama Robin and her little ones. Fortunately, there were no attacks and everyone seems to have survived the experience. I'll check on them later today through the window and see how they're doing. The chicks are getting big, and really crowding their little nest - LOL. 

This is what my baby Robins looked like a week ago. 
They're MUCH larger now, and they're crowding 
their little nest quite a bit. I'm not sure when they'll 
start to fly away, but I suspect it won't be much 
longer before they get brave. 

So I've got my first load of laundry in the washer, I have my swimming stuff packed and ready to go, and I'm set for the day. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. I think I'll cook up a batch of vegetable soup for my next week's dinners. Yummers! LOL Slava Ukraini. 

The Little Problems of Life - Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh

My freezer is stuffed. We have a combination refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen. Because of what was available when our last refrigerator died during COVID, and the fact that we couldn't wait six weeks or more for the refrigerator we really wanted, we ended up with a smaller version. It's fine, but it is quite full, and the freezer space is the worst. 

Although our refrigerator is crowded, but 
not overstuffed, the freezer is another 
matter. It's stuffed to the max, and DH 
insists on overcrowding his space because 
he'll over-buy when things are on sale. 

The freezer has two parts - a pull-out drawer that has 5-6 inches of drawer vertically, extending horizontally to the back of the unit, and a two-segment storage unit that is around 9 inches deep and divided into two segments. That's where most people would be keeping their half-gallons of iced cream and other sundries. I have the left-hand bottom section as my own. I let DH have the remainder of the freezer. He spills over into my section every now and again, and I get REALLY crabby when he does. 

I look at pictures like this and have to laugh. 
I don't think anyone (unless they're obsessive/
compulsive) would have a refrigerator this 
organized. Just NOT happening. 

As of last week, he had two sirloin steaks in my section. I didn't need the space right then, so I complained, but tolerated it. However ... he went shopping earlier this week and picked up our beast for our Christmas meal. It's a huge prime rib or standing rib roast. He took the steaks away and found room for them on "his" side, and my side now is dominated by a HUGE white-paper-wrapped chuck of cow. As usual, I'm stressing a bit about cooking it. I do it every year, and it always turns out spectacular, but there's something about cooking a piece of meat that costs that much money that makes me hesitant. Thank goodness for my digital thermometer. It's proven to be very trustworthy (when I use it properly) and I'm sure it will come through again for me. 

We have a refrigerator like this. I have 
the left section, DH has the right. I have 
the left side of the freezer, DH has 
the right, and the pull-out drawer. 
The entire refrigerator is stuffed, but 
it's a smaller appliance than what we 
previously had - we got what was 
available. It was AWFUL to have to 
be without a refrigerator for almost 
a week. 

Of  course, the "Beast" isn't going to be cooked for another week, so today I'm dealing with "what do I make for the next week". I have several stuffed peppers remaining from last Friday's cook, but not a whole week's worth of food. We usually do chicken on Wednesdays, so that's Wednesday and Thursday. I do have a pound of ground beef defrosted ... now to figure out what I want to make with it. In the vast scheme of things, life is good if meals are all I have to worry about, right? I hope your problems are as minimal and that you have an excellent day. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Turkeys, Food, Tension and Sales - It's the Start of the Holiday Season *sigh*

It's a day off for me today, but it's also a day where I have to think very carefully about what I'm doing over the next week. The refrigerator space is minimal, but I think I have enough food to take me through to Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, and the 14 pound turkey that DH picked up yesterday that's taking up one shelf on his side of the refrigerator. 

DH bought a 14-pound turkey yesterday, and it's in the 
refrigerator taking up a good portion of the bottom 
shelf on his side of the "fridge" at this time. It might 
be a bit early to have the bird, but time compresses 
when there is so much that needs to be done. 

I have fresh cranberries that I want to cook today, so I have some for "Turkey Day", and I have to locate the gluten-free stuffing mix I bought a few weeks ago so that I have that on hand. I'll still need to go to the grocery store on Wednesday morning (which won't be fun - too many people getting last-minute stuff for the holiday meal), but I can't buy my salad stuff too far in advance. 

I haven't worked with fresh cranberries before, but my co-op 
had them on sale and they just called to me. So I have a bit 
more than a pound of fresh cranberries to cook down. I think 
I'll use maple syrup for the sweetener. It should be quite tasty. 

I have our e-mail sales flyer for our Black Friday/Small Business Saturday annual sale sitting on the desk in front of me. I need to make minor revisions and have that ready to send out, there are also new names to add to the mailing list. Between everything else, I need to find out how to enable sharing a file with a potential customer (for DH). He has a bunch of product pictures that he wants to share with a particular potential customer, and it would be easiest to do via sharing the file. It's a large, heavily populated group of photos, and was too large for him to just append to his email as a PDF (although I find that hard to believe, I guess it's possible). I think it actually hit the limit on their side, not ours. Still, we need to get this going. It's why we (I) started work on his web site in the first place, but after he looked at what I had developed last night, that didn't really meet his criteria either. *sigh* It's a mess, and we need to get it nailed. Any ideas you might have that will allow us to send a bunch of photographs to this potential buyer would be very helpful. 

It's a good thing I'm already bald, otherwise 
I'd be pulling my hair out from the pressure 
and tension. *sigh*

So, I'm going to try and enjoy this day. It's one of the last days I'll have off until the end of the month, so yeah - time is seriously compressing on me. I'll drop by the shop quite quickly this morning to drop some things off and check a couple of things, then I'm on the road picking up a prescription, getting my groceries, and figuring out the planning necessary to handle Thanksgiving and our two major days of sales at the shop before I can collapse on Sunday the 26th. Oy! LOL. Have a great day, hopefully you're a bit less busy than I am. I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

A Day Off to Catch Up

The first thing I'll need to do today, after the basics of grocery shopping, is getting back to working on DH's website. I've get it ready to upload, but the "Publish" command isn't working, and last Friday, I tried later in the day and customer service wasn't answering the phone or the help line. I'm not sure if the basic customer service will be able to help me with this, but that's certainly one of the things I need to get done. 

We decided to use Network Solutions to help develop 
the website, and it's actually quite good, with decent 
customer support. But, I need some more advanced help 
now to get my website uploaded and active, so I may 
have to actually pay for that service to be successful. 

The other thing I need for his website is the photos. He has a page of product photos that he wants to present to a specific potential buyer. I made the page 3-across, in groups of two rows. It looks nice, but I would like the photos to be able to be blown up when clicked on by the customer. The actual dimensions of the photos is large, and right now I'm constraining them into a much smaller format to meet the criteria of the web design. I know a click-through is possible, I just need some solid help on how to accomplish it. 

Getting this small website developed and 
uploaded is taking a ridiculously long amount 
of time. I need this off my plate and active. 

So, I might have to grit my teeth and pay for the next level of support. There's a web development firm that they work with. I originally got an hour of free service from them, and used that to get the initial set-up for the website, and figure out the navigation and different options/drop downs that were usable for my pages. I knew that after that hour, I would be paying in 15-minute increments. It might be time to shell out some $$ and get some quality tech support. 

Of course, it doesn't help that Google Workspace no longer hosts their websites, having sold that division to Square. So everything is convoluted because of the constant shifts in the world of cyberspace, and I have to roll with the punches. 

He planted a lot of tulips and daffodils, along 
with some irises. I'm still expecting one more 
shipment from Holland Bulb Farms, but that may 
end up arriving too late to be planted this 
year. It's hard to say for sure, on that. But we're 
into the latter part of October, and it's not 
unusual to have snow by Halloween. 

DH spent several hours planting bulbs in the garden. He got the whole large box we received earlier in the week from Holland Bulbs in the ground, scattered throughout the four garden areas, and marking each area with tags. It's getting colder now, and he was very sore and quite cold by the time he was finished and getting into a hot shower yesterday afternoon. He tried to take an afternoon nap, but apparently his muscles were in too much pain, and he ended up getting back up after 15-20 minutes. Poor guy. He tends to put himself into "drive" mode and then go as far and as fast as possible, before collapsing from a lack of gas. Silly boy. 

So, I'll have a day off today, and there's plenty on my agenda. I hope all of you have a perfectly wonderful Friday and I'll be back tomorrow for the final day of the work week. Until then, Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

One More Day - I Will Survive

Tomorrow I'll actually have the first day off in more than a week. I can hardly wait! I have a suspicion that swimming tomorrow will be pushed off a day - we're expecting thunderstorms in the early morning - but I'll deal with that as it comes. All I know is I have only one more day at the shop before I finally have a day off again and I can hardly wait. 

I'm very pleased, although I'll be even more pleased at 
6:00 pm tonight, when I realize I actually have a day 
off tomorrow. LOL

DH has been working hard on the basement area - patching the concrete flooring, sweeping, moving things around, and putting up wall coverings on the crumbling concrete foundation walls. It looks almost civilized! Quite shocking! LOL

DH and I both have an assortment of trowels in 
the basement. We have trowels for cement, but 
also sharpened trowels that we used for archaeological 
excavation when we were still practicing 
archaeologists. The trowel was a standard 
tool at every excavation I worked for many years. 

Apparently yesterday's planned agenda was stymied by the lack of a trowel. He was certain he had one at the shop, but he was mistaken. He had brought it back home after the last concrete job a few weeks ago. He needed it yesterday and was out of luck. I noticed it with his car keys this morning - he'll be able to do whatever was on his agenda today now. 

We've been pretty fortunate this summer. We've had some 
very hot days, but generally, things have been pretty 
comfortable. The early mornings, when I awaken, have 
been almost perfect. 

I'll be getting back into the pool again, and what a delightful way to begin the last month of Summer. Yes, up here in the Frozen Northlands, we're looking at the end of summer staring back at us. Sharon will arrive at the end of the month, the State Fair will start in and the Renaissance Festival begins the weekend of the 19th. The warm months are moving to a close. We've had a few very hot days so far this year, but not many. I know my friends throughout the world are burning up - too much heat. I feel quite fortunate to be living in the Frozen Northlands. I might have my miserable winters, but I don't get a lot of miserable days in my summers. 

On that note, I'm off to enjoy my swim. Have a glorious Tuesday and first day of August and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Memories, Plans and History - Happy Birthday Dad

Happy birthday to my Dad, long dead but not forgotten. A good parent is someone who supports you, even when they don't necessarily understand you. Dad was all of that. He was supportive of my efforts and various career goals, even when he didn't understand what in the world I would do with them. He occasionally wanted results the way he wanted them, and I usually failed in that. But no matter what, his love was sure and steady and a great foundation upon which to build my life. I was lucky. 

My parents were amazing people - strong and steadfast 
in their love for each other and for me. I was very lucky, 
I realize now. 

When the Nazis invaded Austria (of course, they didn't actually invade, they were invited in with strewn roses and marching bands), Mom was immediately shipped off to England for her safety, and Dad packed a backpack and started hiking. He ended up hiking across much of Europe before finally finding a ship that would take him to the USA where he landed in New York and started saving money for Mon's passage over to join him. He never talked of this - only in little bits and pieces. I suspect it wasn't quite as easy as two sentences. But what's important is that he got out of Europe and both of them survived. Several of Dad's siblings also survived by pure luck, but Mom's family was almost completely wiped out. She never talked of her family, but I'll be meeting relatives from Dad's family when I go to my family reunion this upcoming August. 

I'll be heading to New York City in mid-August this year 
for my family reunion. This is my Dad's side of the 
family, and I have met only one or two of them over the 
long years. I'm really looking forward to this, even 
though the timing could certainly have been better. 
I was hoping to expand the trip and visit friends on 
the East Coast, but it just won't work out with our 
schedule for closing the store, so I'll have to put that 
off for a later date. 

Today is going to be a bit crazy/busy. It's my "day off", and between my usual errands and hopefully some time in the kitchen, I also have my orthodontic appointment. I usually try to get that first thing in the morning, but the earliest they had available was 10:15 am, so right in the middle of my morning, on a snowy day. Argh! I really could do without the extra errand, but I'm really looking forward to the next progression on my braces. It's been a totally amazing journey so far. 

I should really take a quick update photo today before I 
go back to the orthodontist, because there's been so 
much change. My bottom teeth, from being all 
pushed around and crooked, are now aligned with each 
other beautifully, as are my top. I know there's a long 
time still to come, but the changes have been 
stunning. 

But, first things first. I'll need to shovel the driveway today (probably twice since it won't stop snowing until close to noon) and put the garbage and recycling bins at the curb for pickup. That means this will be a short post, because there's just no time to breathe - at least not until afternoon. Fortunately I have my weekly convo with Aearwen later today, so I'll be able to sit back with a cup of tea and a good friend for an hour late today. 

A Missing Event Planner Might Spell Disaster for the Family Reunion

As many of you know, I'm supposed to be attending a family reunion of my father's family in New York City in August of next year. At least that's the plan and the goal. Of course, the previous two reunions were held in Europe, and were planned by the family member who has joined all of us together through the genealogical research he has been doing. Since this one was in the USA, he assigned the organization to a volunteer named Lisa. Who seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. 

"Lisa" has dropped off the face of the earth, 
apparently. No-one's heard from her at all 
since mid-September, when it was a single 
sentence. You would think she would be in 
weekly contact with the family head, but no. 
She's totally MIA. 

That's leaving a lot of very frustrated and angry people in Europe and the Western Hemisphere without a firm plan in hand for this reunion. The location is supposed to be New York City. There has never been any inquiry that went out asking for a head count. There has never been a firm date (although most of us seem centered in on an August 18-20 date framework) and the last any of us heard from "Lisa" was a rather cryptic "Narrowing down the date" on our Facebook group in September. Well, here it is, December, and we haven't heard peep from her. 

I know nothing about New York City. I've been there a 
few times, but that's as good as it gets. I don't know hotels, 
schedules, places for a larger group of people to meet for 
a meal ... nothing. I can't event plan this one, so I'm really 
hoping someone else who is more knowledgeable than 
I can take over and make things happen. What we really 
need is an event planner. Hans planned the past two reunions 
in Europe, and he enjoyed doing it. He knew, however, 
that he didn't know anything about NYC, so relied on 
other people which may turn into a huge mistake. 

The group is becoming restless (quite understandable). Our European counterparts would like to get their travel reservations made, I would like to know if the weekend of the 18th is a yes or no because two weeks after that is the State Fair and Sharon's annual visit, so my time is rather compressed. We're all starting to clamor for specifics, and I have a feeling Lisa has gone to ground and we're on our own. 

There is at least one member of the family who has booked 
passage for himself and his wife on the Queen Elizabeth II 
ship which will put into port in New York City in time for 
the August 18th dates. If this falls through, hopefully he'll 
have a lovely time anyway, but that's a ton of money he's 
already put down for a voyage into the unknown. 

I'm NOT an event planner and have no desire to become one. I know NOTHING about New York City, and have no idea how many people are planning to attend, so without basic numbers, how could anyone even think about booking blocks of hotel rooms at various hotels or event halls for one large get-together with food and drink? I'm really hoping someone steps into the breach and gets this moving because we're almost out of time to get this nailed. I know it won't be me, and that it's also possible that the event may need to be postponed a year which would disappoint a lot of people who have already made travel arrangements (or are in the process of making them now). What a MESS! 

What a mess! The reunion that I've been looking 
forward to for more than a year is on shaky ground now, 
because someone dropped the ball on the whole thing. 
I've done large events before, I know what planning is 
necessary. This person has totally disappeared and 
this may doom the event completely. I'd be so VERY 
disappointed. 

On a positive note, at least my niece was able to resend my annual post-Holiday Party e-invitation so that I could triple-check it's appearing on my calendar. I missed this one because it's actually happening on January 1, 2023, not in 2022, and I hadn't looked quite that far ahead. I've got it down now, though. This one is easy - just a few miles down the road. No hotel or air flights necessary - LOL. Here's hoping you all have a good beginning to your week. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Let's Make It A Fabulous Tuesday - Thoughts and More Randomness

 It's a swimming today, so it'e the usual time-choked post today. That's OK. They can't all be "Gone With the Wind", sometimes they're more like "Aesop's Fables". Today will be shorter, for sure. 

"Gone With the Wind" and "Aesop's Fables" both 
teach lessons and life choices. One is a tome, 
the other a pamphlet in comparison, yet both 
have their lessons to impart. Sometimes days 
are like that too. Today will be more of an 
"Aesop's Fables" kind of day. 

It's crazy weather time here in the Upper Midwest. We had temps in the 70's on Sunday, thus my sitting in the backyard on Sunday which resulted in many of yesterday's photos. It was 64 F when I left for work yesterday, fell steadily throughout the day and was 50 F when I left. It's now 39 F. BUT, in a typical turn-around, that will be the low of the day and we'll actually warm up to 50 F by the middle of the afternoon. It looks like it will be quite a tolerable week for the temps, and I'm grateful. We've had snow by now in years past and as far as I'm concerned, the white stuff can take its' time coming this year (even though we're in a drought and need all of the water we can get). 

We're going to get moisture at this time of the year, and 
I would prefer it as rain rather than as snow. That's all 
temperature dependent, of course, but so far our temps 
have been cooperating. I really would like to avoid 
another snowfall until AFTER Halloween. 

I'm thinking about making two other soups plus a chili tomorrow, although that might be some overkill. I do have to make the "Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes" soup because I have the ingredients for it. I also need to make my Avocado soup - again because the 'avos' are sitting in the refrigerator shaking their fruity fingers at me. Maybe I'll do the two veggie soups tomorrow and a chili on Friday. Hmmmmm....

The roasted peppers soup recipe sounds like the 
perfect soup for a cold day. I've got the peppers 
and tomatoes, and they've got to be cooked before 
much longer, so it'll be a day in the kitchen on 
Wednesday, making two more of the soups. I need 
some more storage containers before I can to 
crazy, though. I'm missing lids for one type and 
a body for another type - frustrating! 

So far so good with the new separators for my teeth. They seem to be stable and I'm cleaning my teeth very carefully around them to try and keep my gums in decent condition. Of course, that's limited right now, but I can hardly wait until the 2nd when I can just get rid of the separators and get my braces installed. I'm sure there will be discomfort and it'll be another adjustment, but damn - I want to be able to eat something other than soup, I'm just being very cautious now because I don't want to jinx this procedure at all. 

I hope I have nice customers today. I had 
some great ones yesterday and was kept 
busy all day. That's how I like it. 

So, I'm out of here. Have a wonderful, fantastic and glorious Tuesday. Tuesdays so often get swept under the carpet between the weekend that was and the weekend that is to come. Let's give Tuesday a cheer, and live it to the maximum today. Spread kindness and joy and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.