February 15th with a bit it new light snow. Things are white and clean again this morning. I am still trying to figure out what it is about winter that I don't like; maybe as the months pass I will be reminded. Being one that always avoids the boring and normal, maybe this winter is just a different one, none boring and not normal and that is why I like it.
When I look at walkways and driveways that resemble canyons between the fields of snow, it makes me smile. The snow is so....... "unmolested" is the only word I can think of to describe that look. It is too deep for dogs and kids to randomly play in or walk through so most of it is utterly untouched. It is serene, linear, pure, peaceful, orderly, clean, there are more words that work but that is good enough for now.
Sure the cold is a pain sometimes but really it's no worse than the heat in the summer in other places. Here you can put on some warm clothes and go for a walk and stay completely comfortable, in the hot places there is only so much clothing you can take off and not get arrested, those summers can be unbearable, so I say I would prefer a climate that I can dress for rather than one that can't be accommodated no matter what you do other than staying inside.
I like winter...
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
What a summer, WOW
It has been one fantastic summer and it is not over yet. I can't ever remember a summer being this nice. We have had almost no bugs and almost no humidity. Lots and lots of sunny warm pleasant days.
Tonight we walked over to Bucca for dinner and stopped at a new neighborhood grocery, then walked the greenway back home.
It is almost a shame to have to sleep when it's this nice.
Tonight we walked over to Bucca for dinner and stopped at a new neighborhood grocery, then walked the greenway back home.
It is almost a shame to have to sleep when it's this nice.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Moving and facebook
We did it, we moved. On the 26th floor in downtown Minneapolis the views are magnificent. Sure I miss the old house, it was a good place for a few years but it is time for something new, I was getting bored. Thankfully Howard was willing. Now for the task of finding a new home. I have always had this fantasy of living in the sky with a great view so we shall see if I actually like it now that we have it or if a house is the next step. I am really fond of those mid century modern houses, unfortunately they are mostly in the burbs and I don't think the burbs are ready for me. It will be fun to find out what is next....
An old friend of mine from Illinois found me on Face book last week. Most of the time it is great to hear from old friends, I say most of the time because it is not always. This time it was great.
The last year of my high school days a new family moved to my boring little town. This was a rare occasion there because there was really no reason for anyone to come there unless they had family and to move there was unheard of. With me being the curious one that I am, I had to find out what they were like. Did they have horns, speak funny, eat funny stuff, you know I wanted to know what were they like? Paula the daughter was in my class at school and I found out pretty quickly she fun and exciting, she had actually been someplace other than southern Illinois, what a concept, there was another world out there and real people lived in it. We became pretty good friends and had some good times together, and I think we also did some growing up together, not all times were good but we were friends and that was what mattered to me. Then, off she went back to Texas where she came from. After that, life just got in the way I guess. I did learn that I didn't have to stay in that little town and that real people live everywhere so I decided that I had to see it all. I did see Paula and her parents once a few years later, in the 70's but that was the end of it. I often thought about her and wondered what happened, what she was up to, maybe I had a little crush on her, I am not sure but we were only ever just friends. Now I find emailing with her is a great connection with a good part of my past. I am sure glad to have found her or her me. So Paula if you read this, I am happy to have you back in my life.
What a glorious summer this has been so far.
An old friend of mine from Illinois found me on Face book last week. Most of the time it is great to hear from old friends, I say most of the time because it is not always. This time it was great.
The last year of my high school days a new family moved to my boring little town. This was a rare occasion there because there was really no reason for anyone to come there unless they had family and to move there was unheard of. With me being the curious one that I am, I had to find out what they were like. Did they have horns, speak funny, eat funny stuff, you know I wanted to know what were they like? Paula the daughter was in my class at school and I found out pretty quickly she fun and exciting, she had actually been someplace other than southern Illinois, what a concept, there was another world out there and real people lived in it. We became pretty good friends and had some good times together, and I think we also did some growing up together, not all times were good but we were friends and that was what mattered to me. Then, off she went back to Texas where she came from. After that, life just got in the way I guess. I did learn that I didn't have to stay in that little town and that real people live everywhere so I decided that I had to see it all. I did see Paula and her parents once a few years later, in the 70's but that was the end of it. I often thought about her and wondered what happened, what she was up to, maybe I had a little crush on her, I am not sure but we were only ever just friends. Now I find emailing with her is a great connection with a good part of my past. I am sure glad to have found her or her me. So Paula if you read this, I am happy to have you back in my life.
What a glorious summer this has been so far.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
AAAHHHHHHHH Summer at Last
Here I sit in my office looking out the window at Lake Calhoun, white puffy clouds in a brilliant blue sky, temps in the low 70's, life is good.
After a winter of thinking would blow my brains out if it didn't end NOW, it finally did and I am once again a happy Minnesotan. How can anyone really live here without EST or an FL?
It doesn't get any better than this does it? A light breezes are rustling the leaves in the trees, the birds are crapping on everything, the flags are fluttering in the light breezes, the hard bodies are at the lake adding a few more wrinkles so later in life when they finally do take that dirt nap at least the body has some character, the ice cream stands are open, the hot dog cart is in the park by the lake and it's busy, gas prices are back to painfully normal, houses are selling again, theater season is still in full swing, parades are scheduled, breezy afternoons on the patio or deck are coming, reading a book or drinking a glass of wine with the windows open and the gentle breeze, so many festivals to look forward to, a nice light breeze will be here to cool us off on the warmer days, the are birds crapping on our cars so we have a reason to wash them again other than removing the snow buggers, we will be bike riding down all the trails and visiting Minnehaha Falls on a warm breezy evening, we can enjoy all the pretty flowers in the yards and on the patios, and.......well.............just the breeze
Oh yes EST is Electro Shock Therapy
FL=Frontal Lobotomy
After a winter of thinking would blow my brains out if it didn't end NOW, it finally did and I am once again a happy Minnesotan. How can anyone really live here without EST or an FL?
It doesn't get any better than this does it? A light breezes are rustling the leaves in the trees, the birds are crapping on everything, the flags are fluttering in the light breezes, the hard bodies are at the lake adding a few more wrinkles so later in life when they finally do take that dirt nap at least the body has some character, the ice cream stands are open, the hot dog cart is in the park by the lake and it's busy, gas prices are back to painfully normal, houses are selling again, theater season is still in full swing, parades are scheduled, breezy afternoons on the patio or deck are coming, reading a book or drinking a glass of wine with the windows open and the gentle breeze, so many festivals to look forward to, a nice light breeze will be here to cool us off on the warmer days, the are birds crapping on our cars so we have a reason to wash them again other than removing the snow buggers, we will be bike riding down all the trails and visiting Minnehaha Falls on a warm breezy evening, we can enjoy all the pretty flowers in the yards and on the patios, and.......well.............just the breeze
Oh yes EST is Electro Shock Therapy
FL=Frontal Lobotomy
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Am I the only one?
Why does it all have to be so complicated?
Everything is password protected. This one requires 8 characters, that one can only have 6 and this one at least 7 but no more than 9, this one can have numbers and letters and this one can only have letters, then this one has only 4 letters or 4 numbers but not both, this one can have punctuation and this one can't, this one must have spaces and caps and it is cap sensitive. Now you have to change them all every 30 days or you get locked out.
I would love to start a movement that any company that requires specific numbers, letter or even numbers of characters on the passwords, gets "X'd" out of our lives. Let me decide what my password is if you are going to require them. We are slaves to machines. HAL I hear you....
I have five passwords to access my work computer if I want to see everything that is mine in the system. To access the Multiple Listing service I have to have a username which of course is only numbers, a PIN and a password but the best part is that password changes EVERYTIME I use it. I am not kidding, I have to carry around this sillly little fob and if I want to access MLS I have to punch this little thing and enter that password that is displayed on the screen. Of course I get the privledge of paying for that little piece of crap. Better yet, to access a house I want to show I have another device that I have to update by phone EVERYNIGHT, god forbid if I ever forget that thing at home in he cradle and need to show a house. Now after it is updated I need.........yes you guessed it, another password in that little device. Of course I have to have the garage code to get into the office parking garage 7.3.0.9 and the door code 7.3.0.9.9 [at least these two are not that difficult] to get into the building so I can use a key to get in the front door of the office and another key to get into my private office. Folks I have no gold in there, I am not sure what we are protecting. Of course to get my computer to the point that it will accept all the passwords [that have to be changed every thirty days] I have yet another passwords E
Each mortgage company, each credit card, each phone company, each utility and even to take a crap these days I need a password.
Am I the only one??
Let's all change our passwords to a nasty phrase [yes that one]
Everything is password protected. This one requires 8 characters, that one can only have 6 and this one at least 7 but no more than 9, this one can have numbers and letters and this one can only have letters, then this one has only 4 letters or 4 numbers but not both, this one can have punctuation and this one can't, this one must have spaces and caps and it is cap sensitive. Now you have to change them all every 30 days or you get locked out.
I would love to start a movement that any company that requires specific numbers, letter or even numbers of characters on the passwords, gets "X'd" out of our lives. Let me decide what my password is if you are going to require them. We are slaves to machines. HAL I hear you....
I have five passwords to access my work computer if I want to see everything that is mine in the system. To access the Multiple Listing service I have to have a username which of course is only numbers, a PIN and a password but the best part is that password changes EVERYTIME I use it. I am not kidding, I have to carry around this sillly little fob and if I want to access MLS I have to punch this little thing and enter that password that is displayed on the screen. Of course I get the privledge of paying for that little piece of crap. Better yet, to access a house I want to show I have another device that I have to update by phone EVERYNIGHT, god forbid if I ever forget that thing at home in he cradle and need to show a house. Now after it is updated I need.........yes you guessed it, another password in that little device. Of course I have to have the garage code to get into the office parking garage 7.3.0.9 and the door code 7.3.0.9.9 [at least these two are not that difficult] to get into the building so I can use a key to get in the front door of the office and another key to get into my private office. Folks I have no gold in there, I am not sure what we are protecting. Of course to get my computer to the point that it will accept all the passwords [that have to be changed every thirty days] I have yet another passwords E
Each mortgage company, each credit card, each phone company, each utility and even to take a crap these days I need a password.
Am I the only one??
Let's all change our passwords to a nasty phrase [yes that one]
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Winter and Broken Bones
What can I say? Living in Minnesota means winter.
Don't get me wrong here I love snow, don't mind the cold days that much really but I detest that slushy stuff in the garage all the time. Ishy poo!! [end of rant]
We are having a wonderful winter so far. We are getting snow every few days so it stays nice and white and pretty. After each snow we have a dip in temperature but the sun is shinning and after all that is much better than rain and gray right? It is sort of like living at a ski resort....and I am delusional too. Oh how I long for Honolulu, but that is not to be for now...
Joan fell on the ice the day after Christmas and broke her ankle, snapped that sucker in two. Ouch! Her sister Mary came to stay with her for a five days right after the fateful fall and surgery. Joan is more or less confined to her apartment for the time being, I would go nuts if I had to spend that much time at home sitting in a chair. Maybe I would become the best customer of QVC. LOL Her spirits are good most of the time, I guess that helps get thorough it all. I am glad we are at least close enough to relieve some of the boredom.
I don't know what Howard and I would have done with out Mary's help, so Mary if you are reading this THANKS!! Howard is as busy as a one armed paper hanger in a wind storm and I am up to my ass in alligators with work, so that help was WONDERFUL!!!
Today is Joan's birthday, it is one that ends with a zero, so it is a biggie. I have my annual Feng Shui meeting tonight that I have to attend to keep my certification so I can't join her for the birthday celebration this year. Everyone reading this, I hope you will send or have sent her birthday greetings.
Don't get me wrong here I love snow, don't mind the cold days that much really but I detest that slushy stuff in the garage all the time. Ishy poo!! [end of rant]
We are having a wonderful winter so far. We are getting snow every few days so it stays nice and white and pretty. After each snow we have a dip in temperature but the sun is shinning and after all that is much better than rain and gray right? It is sort of like living at a ski resort....and I am delusional too. Oh how I long for Honolulu, but that is not to be for now...
Joan fell on the ice the day after Christmas and broke her ankle, snapped that sucker in two. Ouch! Her sister Mary came to stay with her for a five days right after the fateful fall and surgery. Joan is more or less confined to her apartment for the time being, I would go nuts if I had to spend that much time at home sitting in a chair. Maybe I would become the best customer of QVC. LOL Her spirits are good most of the time, I guess that helps get thorough it all. I am glad we are at least close enough to relieve some of the boredom.
I don't know what Howard and I would have done with out Mary's help, so Mary if you are reading this THANKS!! Howard is as busy as a one armed paper hanger in a wind storm and I am up to my ass in alligators with work, so that help was WONDERFUL!!!
Today is Joan's birthday, it is one that ends with a zero, so it is a biggie. I have my annual Feng Shui meeting tonight that I have to attend to keep my certification so I can't join her for the birthday celebration this year. Everyone reading this, I hope you will send or have sent her birthday greetings.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving on Bank Street
This was Thanksgiving at our house or maybe I should say our neighborhood.
All is well in Minneapolis. I had a great time cooking Thanksgiving dinner again this year. I tried out some new recipe's this year. The ones I liked the most were the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie and I think I finally found the best recipe for it. I could eat the whole pie, I have not felt that way since I was a child. Still searching for that perfect way to make the cranberries, I just can't seem to get that one right, either they will not jell or they are boring. I want to put some zip in them somehow but I can't find the way to do that.
Howard of course made the Turkey, it was moist as usual even the breast, he is a master at that. Joan was our only guest this year for dinner, but she is always a fun and is willing to try my experiments so I was pleased when she like the yams.
My next door neighbor Dee, is 78 and has very very bad knees. She was a flight attendant and cruise director in her working life, so this woman has been all over the world flying first class, and eating at the captains table more times than she can count, she has lived a life of glamour.
My business partner says she looks like an aging movie star or beauty queen with her really long false eye lashes, perfect makeup, lots of jewelry, coiffed blond hair and she always dresses to the nines. As neighbors we had a tough start mainly because we didn't understand each other. We finally buried the hatchet, thanks to Howard and now we are best of friends.
Today at about 4PM she called and said "Jaarrrrry come over here now!!! and get this food and take it back to your house, I want it out of here." So what am I supposed to do? She is a funny cantankerous woman but I like her, most of my best friends are really strange in some way, so it is not unusual that I would like her. She is so real even when she tries so hard not to be.
Anyway, so I go over there and here she is sitting in the dining room, with three other people. All around 75-80, two of them with advanced Alzheimer's (not kidding here they really do) so they have no idea what day it is or where they are and Dee, true to herself has out ever dish in the house. She has all the silver chafing dishes out, the gold flatware, all the fine China, the candles are blazing away, she has out the Crystal and all the fine linens and here they sit with enough food for 25 people and no one is eating, they had too much champagne I think.
She had Turkey, Brussel Sprouts in mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese, Rutabaga, carrots and yams in honey sauce, baked corn casserole, Turkey dressing and stuffing, Cranberry sauce, Homemade rolls, Pumpkin pie (store bought) Green Bean casserole, on and on and on....she even marinated fruit and nuts in brandy and Grand Marnier for two weeks for this little party. She cooked for 2 days and no one will eat.
I laughed at her so hard my stomach hurt. She tried to get out of her chair to swat me but she was too tired so finally she could do nothing but laugh herself. She tries so hard to be a tough old broad (her words not mine) but she is so kind and tried so hard to do nice things for these folks and they just don't get it. It would not have killed them to go overboard a bit in their praise. It was a grand effort on her part to put this together. So what am I going to do? She is sitting there between almost crying and laughing and telling me to get this food out of her house. I tell her my fridge is full so I have no place for anything. I can't just leave her like that and I think to myself, how in the world is she going to even clean this up? With her knees it will take two days and she has already put two days into this endeavor. I can't imagine that she will be able to stand anymore. So I start putting stuff in Tupperware and cleaning up the mess.
She had used pots and pans over every surface of the kitchen. On top of that she has more pill bottles and mail and magazines and just stuff all over the place than my Mom and Dad had at their house. She is a shopper, so she goes to Costco and buys in bulk, can you imagine a 78 year old that lives alone, has almost no company, she has no family here and she buys walnuts in the 5 pound bags, two at a time? She has more Tupperware than anyone I have ever known, she could throw a Tupperware party and fill all the orders on the spot. Anyway on top of all this she has every dish dirty, sitting on top of it all.
With in minutes after I arrive the only other person who does not have Alzheimer's offers to take the two Alzheimer's patients either to their homes or back to their nursing homes. So I told Dee to sit in the chair and keep me company and I would clean up the mess. She plopped down in the chair and said "Jaarrryyy I need a drink, get me a vodka and sprite." She reminds me of Bette Davis now. I have to tell you she made my whole day. She sat there and chatted away as I cleaned up the dishes and put them all away.
She was so appreciative of what I did for her in just an hour it was all worth it.
So that was Thanksgiving here this year, how was yours?
All is well in Minneapolis. I had a great time cooking Thanksgiving dinner again this year. I tried out some new recipe's this year. The ones I liked the most were the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie and I think I finally found the best recipe for it. I could eat the whole pie, I have not felt that way since I was a child. Still searching for that perfect way to make the cranberries, I just can't seem to get that one right, either they will not jell or they are boring. I want to put some zip in them somehow but I can't find the way to do that.
Howard of course made the Turkey, it was moist as usual even the breast, he is a master at that. Joan was our only guest this year for dinner, but she is always a fun and is willing to try my experiments so I was pleased when she like the yams.
My next door neighbor Dee, is 78 and has very very bad knees. She was a flight attendant and cruise director in her working life, so this woman has been all over the world flying first class, and eating at the captains table more times than she can count, she has lived a life of glamour.
My business partner says she looks like an aging movie star or beauty queen with her really long false eye lashes, perfect makeup, lots of jewelry, coiffed blond hair and she always dresses to the nines. As neighbors we had a tough start mainly because we didn't understand each other. We finally buried the hatchet, thanks to Howard and now we are best of friends.
Today at about 4PM she called and said "Jaarrrrry come over here now!!! and get this food and take it back to your house, I want it out of here." So what am I supposed to do? She is a funny cantankerous woman but I like her, most of my best friends are really strange in some way, so it is not unusual that I would like her. She is so real even when she tries so hard not to be.
Anyway, so I go over there and here she is sitting in the dining room, with three other people. All around 75-80, two of them with advanced Alzheimer's (not kidding here they really do) so they have no idea what day it is or where they are and Dee, true to herself has out ever dish in the house. She has all the silver chafing dishes out, the gold flatware, all the fine China, the candles are blazing away, she has out the Crystal and all the fine linens and here they sit with enough food for 25 people and no one is eating, they had too much champagne I think.
She had Turkey, Brussel Sprouts in mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese, Rutabaga, carrots and yams in honey sauce, baked corn casserole, Turkey dressing and stuffing, Cranberry sauce, Homemade rolls, Pumpkin pie (store bought) Green Bean casserole, on and on and on....she even marinated fruit and nuts in brandy and Grand Marnier for two weeks for this little party. She cooked for 2 days and no one will eat.
I laughed at her so hard my stomach hurt. She tried to get out of her chair to swat me but she was too tired so finally she could do nothing but laugh herself. She tries so hard to be a tough old broad (her words not mine) but she is so kind and tried so hard to do nice things for these folks and they just don't get it. It would not have killed them to go overboard a bit in their praise. It was a grand effort on her part to put this together. So what am I going to do? She is sitting there between almost crying and laughing and telling me to get this food out of her house. I tell her my fridge is full so I have no place for anything. I can't just leave her like that and I think to myself, how in the world is she going to even clean this up? With her knees it will take two days and she has already put two days into this endeavor. I can't imagine that she will be able to stand anymore. So I start putting stuff in Tupperware and cleaning up the mess.
She had used pots and pans over every surface of the kitchen. On top of that she has more pill bottles and mail and magazines and just stuff all over the place than my Mom and Dad had at their house. She is a shopper, so she goes to Costco and buys in bulk, can you imagine a 78 year old that lives alone, has almost no company, she has no family here and she buys walnuts in the 5 pound bags, two at a time? She has more Tupperware than anyone I have ever known, she could throw a Tupperware party and fill all the orders on the spot. Anyway on top of all this she has every dish dirty, sitting on top of it all.
With in minutes after I arrive the only other person who does not have Alzheimer's offers to take the two Alzheimer's patients either to their homes or back to their nursing homes. So I told Dee to sit in the chair and keep me company and I would clean up the mess. She plopped down in the chair and said "Jaarrryyy I need a drink, get me a vodka and sprite." She reminds me of Bette Davis now. I have to tell you she made my whole day. She sat there and chatted away as I cleaned up the dishes and put them all away.
She was so appreciative of what I did for her in just an hour it was all worth it.
So that was Thanksgiving here this year, how was yours?
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