Category: Life

Today is laundry day, and I’m planning the next six months of work to do around the house. I’ve been tossing the plans around in my head over the weekend, but I am not sure what is next.

I am so happy that the fuel oil was delivered last week. We’ve had frigid morning temperatures in the single digits, and they aren’t predicting any warmups any time soon.

Just before Christmas, I bought a Zima machine, which cleans mouth guards. I’ve been wearing mouth guards for several years because I clench my teeth and need protection. My biggest complaint was that I hated the taste of the mouth guard, even after cleaning it with my hand. The Zima machine, an ultrasonic machine, does a fabulous job.

I have always been someone who didn’t believe the hype about a product, but I decided to give it a try. Well, it is truly amazing and the best thing I have done for my mouth in years.

My lake is frozen over, and we even had ice fishermen out there over the weekend. One group was a family with kids, and it made me smile to watch them.

I hope your week is a happy one and also a bit warmer than it is here!

In the last few months, I have been living at my Physical therapist’s office. My body, in general, has stopped doing what it should. Shoulders that don’t work, a back that seems to go out more than I do, and a mind that finds naps insanely wonderful!

So as my Therapist was working on my right shoulder, I began to think. You know what I need now that I am getting old(er)? A stunt double to handle all my miscellaneous body movements!

Imagine waking up each morning and giving your body double it’s chores for the day, while you sit in the sun at the beach…ah, Heaven.

I started the weekend looking forward to making my pot roast. Oh, how I was looking forward to that. I sat at the table, cutting vegetables and tossing them all in my crockpot.

I added all the other ingredients and then became distracted. That’s my only defense, and not even a good one.

An hour later, I went to check the pot. I had not plugged in the machine and turned it on.

I turned it all on and reset the timer. I came into the family room just furious with myself.

Six hours later, the meat was done and tender, but the flavor was all wrong.

Since my episodes of Covid, I have lost my taste buds, and they have never returned. Also, things that made my tastebuds sing no longer appeal.

I need to get out my old recipe files and make the simple and appealing ones.

Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to music to ease my soul. Previously, I had put together a playlist with the Beatles and each member separately. Oh yes. I doubt we will ever have another group of men change the landscape of the music world!

Me in Liverpool!

I cannot recall when I had to deal with the heavy winds like we had. As I sit here writing this post, waiting for the delivery of some patio furniture, I am listening to the wind howl! When Heidi goes out, her floppy dackel ears blow back like a flag during a storm.

At least the rain has stopped, and the sun is out. I am very grateful for that!

Tomorrow is a big day. I am going to make a chuck roast. I cooked roasts like this back in the day, but Jack was a snob and refused to eat them, but I found them rich and flavourful. I shall report my results with pictures, including my recipe.

My screened-in porch table arrived, and it goes so well with the chairs I got.

Now, I can sit with my tea or coffee and look out over the lake. That is, when it is warm enough.

My late husband, Jack, was a pilot. He served in the Army and eventually went over to the airlines. He enjoyed flying, and he enjoyed talking.  This brings me to the next part of this story.

Back in the early 1970s, Jack was flying for Pan Am and was based in Berlin, Germany. The Wall was still up, so if you wanted to get in or out of West Berlin easily, you flew out, and Pan Am had the best routes and permissions from the East German government.

As a flight engineer, Jack did all the weight and balances for the fuel and walked around looking for damage to the aircraft. They monitored aircraft systems, including engines and other critical flight systems. He joked he knew more about the A300, 727, and 737 systems than he did about either of his wives.

After all, he needed to memorize everything at the drop of a hat. I can’t even memorize a recipe!

I bring this up for two reasons. First, Jack had a mind that retained everything. And second, Jack loved to talk.

So, after taking off and reaching altitude, Jack turned his seat to talk to the pilot who was sitting in the jump seat. It was then he saw a plane heading for them.

“Captain, nine o’clock!”

The Captain took the yolk and pushed it forward. Then he leveled the plane, and the Captain got on the radio once the plane was secure.

He asked the air traffic controller what altitude the Pan Am Clipper had been cleared to. Then he asked about the other plane.

A long silence followed, and the German air traffic controller returned with, “I am so sorry, Clipper.”

“My dear boy, you certainly will be.”

In the end, the air traffic controller was very sorry. However, there was a plane full of people who made it to Frankfurt, Germany, in one piece, aside from thinking their ride was a bit bumpy.

Captain Jack

In recent months, while dealing with my health problems, I started to watch a lot of TV. What I found were a few often hard-to-digest truths.

• Many genuinely gifted entertainers from back in the day are either gone from us or have aged so much that we no longer see them.
• I went to Liverpool and took the Beatles tour. I thought of those four Lads from Liverpool and how they revolutionized popular music through the songs they wrote and the ones they performed. John and George died, and Ringo and Paul are in their 80s.
• I now understand what my grandmother once told me. One day, you are sitting at a full table with all you love, and the next, half of your loved ones and friends are gone.
• I will be 66 years old in November. If I am lucky, I will have 20 more years to live and enjoy my crazy life.
• I sit eating my Cheerios in the morning, and I can’t believe how quickly  I have lived 66 years.
• We all share these feelings. If we are lucky and stick together through thick and thin, we can go when this life ends with a smile.

People have been joking with me recently about dining out at my favorite place, George’s Diner.

I admit to eating there a lot. The food is excellent, and the staff is like family!

I’m 65 years old. I’ve only eaten alone a few times. I usually ate with my parents and siblings, my first husband, our kids, and Jack.

Now, meals are eaten standing up. Usually, it’s toast or Cheerios. For a while, I ate chicken pot pies. Now I can’t stand them!

After all these years, I can finally relate to Gary Portnoy’s theme for Cheers.

 

Have a great week!

I must tell you that I had a good time on the cruise: sunny skies and temperatures near 80. I felt good, and although I had three excursions canceled, there was always something to do. When in Port, I spent most days walking on the shore.

My health was good, and I felt strong. Then, the 14th arrived, and I was told I should be ready to ‘disembark’ by 8 AM.

I grabbed an English muffin, and I headed to grab a taxi. Miami has changed. I recalled all the time I spent there. Jack and all our Pan Am pilot group.

Eventually, our plane was ready to load. The announcement offered a preboard for those who are disabled and might need extra time.

I got up and went to the gate, and the Agent looked me over and said: I said for people who are disabled. I need that extra time. And she said the magic words that anger everyone, “I can’t see anything wrong with you.”

I stopped myself before reaching out and bitting the hand, trying to push me away. I turned and showed her the scar. I hoped that would be enough as I didn’t want to play the “How Disabled Are You?” game.

I settled in my seat and got settled.

Our plane to Boston was packed, and right after take off, I swear, everyone began to cough. Not quiet coughs, but loud, full hacking coughs. I prayed I would be okay.

Since I found that my life is one Bermuda triangle after another, I felt very wiped out three days after I returned. Sleeping, coughing, and then chills.  But by Wednesday, I felt so ill I sat down with my Covid tests and took them. Both tests were very positive.

So, here I sit under several blankets, sipping ginger ale. My fever is down. My cough is almost under control.

But now, it is time for me to take another nap. Here in my personal Bermuda Triangle!