Category: My Life

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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Oh, where do I begin? It was a busy weekend, and yet it also provided me with plenty of time to rest, and plan. Let’s see.

On Friday, we did ski. It was not the best of conditions, but I somehow managed to ski without falling, so that is something!

Friday night we were supposed to host a meal for our house/doggy sitters, but everyone was feeling lousy with the community cold, so we decided to postpone that.

On Saturday, I was feeling a little under the weather myself. So I didn’t do too much. I did read my new download on kindle, “The Vow”. What a great story. I could hardly put it down, which is why Jack was forced to eat pretty crappy meals. I just didn’t want to stop to prepare my usual fancy fare! lol!

There was literally nothing on the TV, so I read. Oh..wonderful! Unless you have been unable to read for any length of time, you will not understand my elation at being able to read again!

I heard back from my cousin, and he is coming up in March to fix my laptop computer, and get it all working again on XP! I’m going to make Sauer Braten for him!

Now, I have just put a banana bread in the oven to cook, thus using up all my rotting ripe bananas, and I will serve that to Hubby tonight with some boiled potatoes, green beans and salmon!

We’ve started our packing lists, in an attempt to pack lightly for this trip. I mean, we’re going to the tropics. how many clothes do we need?

After dinner on Sunday, I plan to read some more. I imagine Hubby will drag me from a warm bed Monday morning to go skiing! Ugh! Oh well, soon we will be swimming with Flipper (a dolphin) and my life will be very happy!

Have a great Monday, Everyone!!!

Friday Fill-Ins are sponsored by my cousin Janet. Come on and join the fun!

And…here we go!

1. I’m feeling Very sore from all the skiing.
2. I want nothing more than to rest and relax!
3. I need a hot cup of tea and a good book.
4. I was thinking how happy I am because I heard my grand daughter’s heart beat today!.
5. I wish I could eat as much as I like and not gain weight.
6. I’m reading “The Vow” A true story about a young couples love and devotion after a tragic accident.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to climbing into bed and falling asleep, tomorrow my plans include to start getting my vacation clothes out and Sunday, I want to have a slow day. I sure hope I get it!

This week I am writing about some of the things happening in my life. I seem to use this list to organize myself.

1. I burned my finger last night! Holy Moly! I even got a nasty blister!
2. I found a lovely ocean blue dress today, to wear on our trip. I love it and feel like a million bucks in it!
3. I just closed the sliding glass door on Arnie’s tail! Oh that poor boy. I try to be so careful with the dackels, but occasionally I get one. Yikes! At least Arnie is still wagging it, and snuggling with me!
4. The Weathermen are forecasting snow for Friday. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but I have a beauty shop appointment and hate to drive in the snow!
5. You know what I am looking forward to the most during our vacation? Kicking back and relaxing!
6. Oh yes, and hot sunny days!
7. I’m so glad that our house sitter is coming to live here with the puppers.
8. Friday is spaghetti night, when all the people who will help care for the house and pups are coming!
9. I am not doing too well losing weight right now. Hubby says I just need to exercise more.
10. He wants to ski today, but we are due for a fair amount of rain.
11. I’m watching what I eat and once we return from our vacation, I will get seriously back on track.
12. I’ve been enjoying something new. A low-fat version of a fried egg sandwich. I mean, it is so good!
13. I’ve almost finished reading “The Descendents”. I have enjoyed this book so much. Here is a little secret, it is the first book I have read, cover to cover in ten years! After ten eye surgeries, my eyes have trouble focusing on normal print, and they do get tired, even now. However, the Kindle is wonderful and makes reading fun again!!!

And…here we go!

1. Finally, I have my computer back, and I have found more questions than answers on it!.
2. Windows Vista is a royal pain and sure takes some getting used to!
3. Dad says: hurry up.
4. MB is my favorite nick name for me.
5. It took a long time, but after 12 years I have a brand new love seat for me and the dackels in our family room.
6. I sleep with three dackels and Hubby though I wouldn’t have it any other way.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to shutting the computer down and reading my book, “The Descendents”, tomorrow my plans include laundry and Sunday, I want to drive down and have brunch with Mandy and perhaps feel my grand daughter move! Won’t that be something special!!!!

Yesterday I go the call. The laptop was ready to be picked up. Vista working system and all. I am not exactly thrilled with the new working system, but it goes like this.

I wanted Windows XP when I got this laptop from Toshiba a year and a half ago. I also wanted the rescue discs. All arrived as requested, and I never thought to check out the back up discs.

Flash forward to this past weekend when my laptop was hit by a nasty virus, which systematically went through the machine, hacking all my links. Rendering it almost useless.

I brought it in to be backed up, and then have the hard drive wiped and reloaded. I was so happy, because it would make everything so much easier for me with a clean machine!

Except, I did not count on the fact that my computer’s back up disc’s were Window’s Vista. Yes, I bought a machine with XP, but originally the machine was a Vista machine that someone in China had loaded XP onto.

My computer person assures me that all is well. Nothing really is different (HA! It sure is!) and that even her 80 year old father can master Vista. What I am finding is that Vista is a challenge. I’m not really sure I like it. I am willing to give it a few months to learn it, and after that, if I still hate it, I will buy the upgrade to Windows 7.

The biggest problem right now is that while I work on the computer to get all the systems reset, I can’t read my book “The Descendants”! I am really enjoying that. It’s a great read!!!

1. George Washington-Abraham Lincoln-Thomas Jefferson…who would you most like to meet and why?

Abraham Lincoln. He had such a hard life, and yet, he kept persevering. He accomplished so much during his presidency, as well. I would also tell him to stay home from the play!

2. What’s your favorite chain restaurant?

I tend not to like chain restaurants. I like family owned places. But up here in New England we have a chain called “The Weathervane” and it has so many yummy seafood treats!

3. I spied this question on the Bears at Home blog last week and she gave me permission to steal borrow it-

When you look back on your life, do you imagine you’ll think about the goals you failed to meet with regret? Or will you look at what you accomplished and say: it was good?

Good or not, I am hoping I learned from it. We cannot always meet out goals, but learning from what we experience is so important.

4. Grapefruit-take ’em or leave ’em? Given the choice between an orange and a grapefruit which would you choose? Would you prefer it served as is or squeezed into juice?

I LOVE grapefruit! I eat 1/2 every day. Except right now, I must not eat any for a whole month while I am on some medication!

5. When was the last time you cleaned out a closet? Is there a closet in your home that currently needs cleaning? What are you waiting for?

I want to go through my own closet this week because I need to find out what fits before I go on vacation.

6. You get to have lunch with three famous people…who would you like to see round your table?

This is tricky. Are famous people any more real or interesting than my friends or family? I think perhaps, Prince William and his bride, Kate. And toss in Mark Harmon, just because I think he is gorgeous!

7. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your ability to parallel park?

It used to be terrible, but now I have been making myself do it, and I have gotten very good! So a solid 8!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I feel so blessed to have my family and friends in my life. They support me when I feel down and share my joy when I am celebrating. I wish I could share that little biy of widom with peopl. Ooops, I just did!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

When I was skiing the other day I suddenly had thoughts of my Grandmother. She would have turned 114 on February 4th if she were still alive. Grandma honey, was a great person to have as a grandmother. She was a tough, but tender, and loving woman. She would do anything for her friends and family!

When she still lived in Boston I remember going to her house. In my mind I can still see my grandparents house. It was large with a down stairs apartment and then their part of the house on the second floor and then on the third floor another apartment. In the down stairs apartment lived my grandfather’s sister Hedwig and her husband Albert. What I remember most about them was Hedwig’s fabulous cooking. It seemed she always had cookies and hot cocoa when I would sneak down the back stairway to visit her.
The middle floor was my grandparents part of the house. It was very large with a screened porch in the front, a phone on a table in the hallway, and then a big living room which led into a large dining room with a bay window, I often sat there looking out of the windows. This led into a kitchen with an old fashioned pantry. I loved this little room because I could climb up on the counter and find cookies. (yes, I admit, I am a cookie monster!)
Off the kitchen was a hallway that led to a big bathroom, and then my grandparent’s bedroom next to that. I remember going into their bedroom in the early morning and climbing into bed with them for cuddles. Papa Fred and Grandma Honey really loved their grandchildren.
Upstairs was where my uncle, his wife and their two kids lived. Originally this was where my mother and uncle had their rooms when they were kids. When we stayed there I would sleep in my cousin’s room.

But Papa had a heart attack and the doctors wanted them to sell the house and move to a one level . So they moved down to Cape Cod, near us and bought a little two bedroom ranch house.

I would run through the woods between our house and theirs and sleep over at Grandma and Papa’s. They would watch “Lawrence Welk, and I would watch them. Papa would gently hold Grandma’s feet in his lap. He would rub them, and she sat there, with an afghan over her lap, smiling at him and the music would play.

She would make us the best warm milk around. We had the whole milk (from a glass bottle. Fresh and whole!), honey and then a dot of real butter. Trust me, it was wonderful. Her hot chocolate was fabulous too!

I felt so safe in her arms, in her lap and I always loved having her as my grandma. Sadly, my other grandmother died when I was in third grade, so I never had a chance to know her the way I knew Grandma Honey.

I moved in with her at the age of eleven, and I lived in their house until I was 17, nearly 18 years old. She lived until I was 26 years old, and then passed from this world. But, my memories are good, and the impression she made on me will be with me for the rest of my life