Springtime

It's springtime and all over town, trees are blossoming.  I never think in terms of blossoms when I start to sneeze, but I notice that I've been sneezing more than usual lately and someone mentioned that the blossoms were producing a lot of pollen that makes people sneeze.

I come from an allergic family.  My father had hay fever and would get coughing fits so bad that he would crawl down the hall because he couldn't stand up, trying to get air.  When he joined Kaiser in 1953 and had allergy tests taken he started twice a week shots for his allergies and life changed for him significantly.

They also tested Karen  Not sure what her symptoms were that she got tested and I didn't, but I remember going to Kaiser the day they tested her.  Oh my goodness....they injected substances down her back, all the way down her back, in two columns, to see which she reacted to.  I don't remember her crying, but she must have.

She was allergic to so many that she also went to Kaiser twice a week for years to get her allergy shots.  The doctors said that they could tell by looking at me that I, too, had allergies, but not as bad as Karen did, so they never tested me.  I've never found whatever allergies I have to be a problem.

Because of Karen's allergies, we were never able to have a pet because of her allergy to pet fur.  When she moved out, after she graduated from high school, the very first thing she did was to get a dog...a breed that supposedly was not a problem for someone with allergies...and she had no problem with it.

I didn't get a dog until Walt and I moved into a rented house with a back yard.  I wanted a dog so badly that when we went to the pound they only had two dogs, neither of which I felt particularly drawn to, but I had waited so long for a dog, we took the one I disliked the least and Ho Chi Mutt became our family dog.  He and I had problems his entire life (especially in the early days when we had no dryer and I hung diapers on a clothesline and he pulled them down!)

I cough all the time.  My mother and Walt were the only two people who never bothered me about my cough.  I also blow my nose often, as my mother did, and I presume both the cough and the nose blowing are parts of my allergies, but I'm 80 years old and have been doing this for most of my life, so it's just "who I am" and it doesn't bother me.  And actually, I kind of enjoy the sneezing.

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8211 

Turning 83

 So I'm 80 and now Walt is 83.

Ned fixed a delicious eggs Benedict for breakfast and I gave Walt earbuds for his cell phone, which he didn't seem too interested in.  But maybe someday he'll decide he'd like to listen to a podcast...or speak to Jeri.  

He doesn't like cake, so for his birthday dessert, I made a lemon meringue pie.  I was so pleased with how it turned out.

The Zoom Party was at 6 and we had a full house, with all of us in California, including Walt's sister and her husband who were driving home from somewhere and did the Zoom in the car.  Jeri and Phil in Boston and Walt's cousin and his wife in Maryland, were there.  It was a great party,

Everyone had a good time.  Tom and Brianna even danced while Lacie played t he piano.

Walt had requested basilico for dinner, which Ned cooked and we ate during the Zoom.  We even cut the pie during the zoom and when the pie was served, it was about the end of our Zoom time, so we closed the meeting.

It was a full day,but I think Walt had a good time.  

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8210

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Stolen from Compassion, Int'l.

1. Do you ever have funny dreams at night?
Sometimes.  I dreamed about the Mandalorian the other night.  I have absolutely NO idea what/who the Mandalorian is but I woke up with "Mandalorian" running through my head.

2. f you could make a law for your country, what would it be?
It would have something to do with regulation of gun laws or medical health of women.

3. What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
Oh how much fun it would be to hang around Mara Lago and listen to what's discussed.

4. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?
One of the writers on Jon Stewart's The Problem

5. What would you like to change about yourself?
Oh my weight, of course...but not enough to actually do anything about it.

6. What is your daily routine.
OK.  Get up around 5 or 6 and get coffee when Ned makes it;  Settle into the couch under the dog to watch The Today Show. The rest of the morning would be either sitting and watching morning shows or being at my computer writing letters or this journal.  At noon, have lunch, then settled back into the recliner under a dog and a blanket and turn on Criminal Minds which puts me to sleep and I nap for an hour to an hour and a half.  The afternoon is spent at my computer.  Ned makes dinner and we watch Match Game (from 1977) during dinner, then Ned and Marta go upstairs and Walt and I watch Jeopardy.  Watch TV until Stephen Colbert's monologue, which ends at about midnight,  Turn off the TV and post videos to 1SE and work the new Wordle.  Go to the couch in the living room under a fluffy quilt and try to sleep.  If I'm successful, I will wake up at 2 or 3 and move back to the recliner, where I will put on podcasts and hope they put me back to sleep.

7. What would your perfect day be like? What would you be doing?
I have been watching The Reluctant Tourist, where Eugene Levy travels and visits expensive hotels.  The hotel he visited that I would love to spend some time at is in the Maldives, and costs $7,000 a night.  The chef will cook you whatever you want, 24 hours a day and is able to get food from pretty much anywhere in the world within 24 hours.

8. How old were you when you learned to read?

I know I read before I was 10 but the first book I remember reading was "The Black Stallion," which my friend Stephen loaned me.  i became an avid reader from there on.  I know I learned to read very early because I was the only one in my 1st grade class who could read.

9. What is the most interesting thing you know?

Oh lord....lots of things.  Rachel Maddow's "Bag Man" is fascinating and something I never knew before.  I was just interested to discover that Jimmy Carter met his wife Rosalynn when he was 3 years old.  His mother was a midwife and delivered Rosalynn,  I also just learned today that some librarians count more than 500 versions of "Cinderella" found in Europe and more than 700 globally.  

10 What makes you nervous?
Riding in the car on the freeway.

11. What is your favourite flower?
The yellow rose or daisies.

12. Have you ever ridden on a horse or any other animal?

I've ridden on a horse and on a camel

13. What time do you go to bed?

shortly after midnight, after I solve the latest Wordle.

14. What time do you get up?

2-3 a.m. and then 5 a.m., and then if I'm lucky, 7-8 a.m.

15. What is something that is always in your refrigerator? 
Butter, milk, juice, eggs, cheese, lettuce, sour cream and leftovers.

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8209

Saturday 9

 

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here are today's questions!

Saturday 9 -- Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (1968)

Did you choose this symphony because you recently saw Tar?

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Mahler's No. 8 is sometimes referred to as "Symphony of a Thousand" because it was scored for a large orchestra and choral force. Do you often listen to classical music?
Yes.  I don't often listen to music any more, but when we are in the car and the radio is on, we generally turn to a classical statin.  We have a large collection of classical records (yes...records...vinyl)

2) This piece has solos for each of the main vocal ranges: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. Do you know which range your voice is in?
When I was still able to sing, it was Alto.

3) Historians tell us Mahler kept fit by swimming and riding his bike along the Alpine trails. What's your favorite form of exercise? 
Walking down the hall to the bathroom and back again.

4) Mahler could be difficult to work with because when it came to his music, he was a stickler over even the most minor details and wouldn't give an inch. Would you rather work as part of a team or on your own?
Definitely on my own.

5) This week's featured artist, Leonard Bernstein, said his father didn't want him to pursue music. Instead the elder Bernstein wanted his son to either join the family business (a beauty supply company) or become a rabbi. Did your family try to influence your choice of career?
My father had dropped out of college and was determined that I was going to be a teacher.  He told me you only worked until 3 p.m., got the summers off and got a good salary (how little he knew about being a teacher!)  So I started college, knowing that I hated teaching and really wanting only to do something clerical.  I only lasted a year and then quit and got a job working for the Physics Department at UC Berkeley and I was very happy in that job.

6) Bernstein's best-known work is West Side Story. Without looking it up, can you name a song from this beloved Broadway classic?
"Maria"  I pretty much know all the songs from West Side Story

7) Born in Lawrence, MA, Bernstein "went home" when he performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA. Tanglewood has played host to a variety of musical artists. In 2022, Ringo Starr, Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor all performed there (with James Taylor scheduled to return this summer, as well). What's the first concert you ever attended?
I don't know what the first classical concert was -- the nuns took us to the San Francisco symphony once a year in my grammar school.  The first non-classical concert I attended was Judy Garland.

8) In 1968, when Bernstein released this album, a sitcom called Mayberry R.F.D. premiered. It was a spin off of the highly successful Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 1960 to 1968 and is still broadcast and streamed today. Were you an Andy Griffith Show fan?
Still am!  That show was on more than 50 years ago and I believe Ron Howard is the only member of the cast still alive, but the shows are still fun for me, and they are on every day.

We were once at a theater for a play that Andy Griffith was attending (long after the show ended).  I didn't realize he was behind me in the lobby and stepped on his foot ... my claim to fame)

9) Random question: When people ask for your advice, what do they usually ask you about?
It used to be about shows that are playing in Davis and Sacramento, but since I gave up the theater critic job nobody asks me that any more.

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8208

Funny the World

I don't have a clue how many people who were regular readers of Funny the World in its old format will find this Blogger site.

After weeks/months of grieving over losing the ability to create pages again...and forgetting how t o upload them if I did create them, I decided to try a Blogger and I'm finding I am very happy with it.

"Funny the World" was not a valid email address, but funnytheworldcom.blogspot.com was so I could still kinda keep the original name and I'm finding a lot I like about this new site.  It's easier to write--don't have to do a lot of creative stuff, which I liked, but I'm learning to like this too.  Once an entry has been posted, it is SO easy to correct or add to it.  And it's easier to add photos too.

So, all things considered, I'm happy with the change, and hope that long time readers will find me.  If you have been a reader and are now reading here, please leave a comment!

Something else that I just discovered yesterday.  I have been very upset at losing the program, which Peggy gave me, which allows me to cut something from an on line picture.  I've been trying to work around it, very unhappily.  But then I was looking at the commands on my screen and saw the scissors here.  I checked it out and that's exactly what it does -- it's called the snipping tool and you just click on it and you can get a snippet out of another picture, like  this one, which I could not copy, but could snip.  (The  thing to the left of the scissors is the temperature...no need to check a weather site)

This is Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek) from his new program on Apple+, The Reluctant Traveler.  It may be my new favorite show.  Levy confesses he's not a traveler.: has no desire to travel, doesn't enjoy exploring and, all things considered, sounds like me in thinking of travel.  But Apple somehow convinced him he was the perfect person to do this show.  I've seen 3 episodes so far -- Lapland, Costa Rica, and Venice (looking forward to his experience with elephants when he visits some place in Africa).  It's just such a fun show and I recommend it to anybody who has Apple+.

Levy says, in interviews, that his problem is that in all of his career, he has never played himself.  He has always had a character to play and he wasn't sure how this was going to go, but I'm loving it.

Our internet has been off and on since last night, probably because of the storm that blew through here , but I'm hoping it's back for good now.

Because of the storm, our driveway is too damp and they can't pour the concrete they planned to pour tomorrow, so the new pouring day is Wednesday, if the rain holds off..

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8207

Food!

 Ned took pictures of all the food Marie cooked for us for my birthday dinner.

There was enough for for us to have leftovers for two nights!

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8206

Fix the Driveway

This is what is going on in our driveway today.

We have had a huge crack in the cement in the driveway for years and every time I walk down to put something in the garbage, I'm afraid I'm going to trip over it.  Somehow we just never got around to having it fixed, but when I got my share of my mother's estate, I said that the first  thing I wanted to do with the money was fix the driveway.

So these guys showed up and started drilling the concrete and will pour the new driveway on Saturday.

(love the butt crack!)

Ned was so good.  He saw how hard they were working and went out and brought back a bunch of tacos for them.

They finished in the early afternoon and will be back on Saturday to pour the new cement.  We'll have to get Bubba's footprints in there!

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8205

 

Shoes

 I must have been a terrible disappointment to my mother.  Her "thing" was shoes.  Ever since she was a little kid, she had a thing about shoes.  I remember her telling me that a girl n her school had patent leather shoes and how my mother wanted a pair, but they were too expensive.  then she was cast in a play and had to have patent leather shoes and how happy it made her.

When she worked at the thrift shop for Hospice of Marin, people would bring clothes and shoes in after someone had died and my mother always chose shoes she liked in her size, so she was the Imelda Marcos of Marin County.  Not only do I not like shoes, I hate the thought of wearing shoes that someone else has worn.  It was always uncomfortable for me to go bowling and have to wear special shoes.

Shoes have never made me happy.  I was raised in the era where they x-rayed your foot when you went into the store and then found shoes for you to try on.  Shoes never fit.  Ever.  I would get shoes that didn't fit and a week or two later they finally started to feel not painful and eventually comfortable  About the time they felt comfortable, it was time to get new ones.

I remember needing "good shoes" to go to a wedding one year.  I was pregnant and I vowed I was going to go to a mall and not leave the mall until I found shoes.  It took me all day.  I went to every shoe store, some more than once, and finally found some red shoes that I bought and used for my "good shoes" for years.

There was a point where I found shoes I liked and that actually were comfortable.  I can't remember the brand now, but I wore 10-1/2 WW (how my feet had grown.  For years I wore a 7-1/2 regular!).  every year I went to the shoe store and bought my 10-1/2 WW shoes and then one year they no longer had 10-1/2.  They stopped making that size.  I don't know why; they still made 9-1/2, but no 10-1/2.  I tried other shoe stores on line and found that NOBODY was making size 10-1/2 an size 11 was too big.

When I found Birkenstocks, my life was complete.  They fit.  Once I got used to the feel of them, they were comfortable and I wore Birkenstocks for years, winter and summer, rain or shine. Even for dressy events.  I think I've had two pairs of Birkenstocks over decades and was happy.

I wore the Birkenstocks with socks and with the nurse coming to visit me after my surgery, she said t hat the socks I was wearing, the loosest I could find, were  too binding on my legs, so I shouldn't wear socks.  Instead of socks, I wear slippers around the house.  Without socks, the Birkenstocks didn't work for everything, so I went looking for new shoes and tried a few pair, that never fit.  Then I found some Crocs, which Char has been raving about forever.  They were on sale, and I think there were limited colors.  I got some bright blue ones and they actually fit and when I needed to go out, I wore the Crocs, but somehow the bright blue didn't really fit.

Then one day I saw an ad for these shoes on Facebook.  From the description, it sounded like they might actually fit...and they only cost $20.  I decided to get something other than black (which is what I wear all the time), so got these burgundy colored shoes.  They were difficult to get on, but Jeri helped me and once they were on, they fit and were comfortable.

I can get the right shoe on by myself, but my left leg doesn't turn the way it needs to go get on the left shoe, but Ned has been helping me.

I'm so comfortable with these shoes that I decided to order another pair in black, which are now on order, so I will have black shoes to wear if I ever go to any sort of fancy event again.

I actually now have four pairs of shoes -- the Birkenstocks, the  two pairs of shoes I ordered from Facebook, and the Crocs, along with my slippers.  I haven't had this many things for my feet in decades. It's almost like being a normal person.

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8204

The last celebration

Well, the celebrations for my 80th birthday are now over, and the final one was one of the best.  Ned made arrangements with our Mexican daughter, Marie, for us to go and have dinner at her Mexican/Italian restaurant in Elk Grove, a suburb of Sacramento.

Marie came to us when she was getting ready for her senior year in high school.  Her father (who had died) was American, so she had a double citizenship and there were no immigration problems.  Friends of ours went to Mexico every summer to work in one of the low income areas.  He was a doctor and provided medical attention to the community.  They met Marie and could see that she was above average intelligence and felt she could make something of herself, but that she would need to get training in the U.S.

We were finished with hosting foreign students, but decided to take her.  We had no bedroom for her -- all of our guests were male and shared a room with the boys.  So she moved into our living room and lived there for a year while she went to school.  Since she had no friends and very little social life, I suggested she get a part time job and she found a job with a restaurant, which worked out very well.

After she graduated, she moved to Sacramento to attend college (she's Ned's age) and continued to work part time in restaurants.  I think she got her Masters degree.  Anyway, eventually she married and she and her husband opened Todo un Poco, which has, over the years, won many awards for quality.  I love the decorations on the walls.

Marie always makes way too much food, but everything was wonderful, from the hors d'oeuvres to the salads to the main course and desserts.  She likes to support local farmers, so the greenery and tomatoes are from a farm that she supports..

We sat and visited and ate and had a wonderful time.. Ned's friend Sarah came with us.  She had owned a restaurant and  has worked in food services for a long time, so she and Marie got along very well.

\

...and then she packed up all the leftovers and sent us home with them for dinner tonight (along with a wonderful bottle of  wine--she has become a sommelier in the last few years and I was sad that I couldn't drink the wine (because of my meds) because the little tastes I took of Walt's were wonderful.

We came home not only with enough food for dinner for the next night or two, but also pastries for breakfast in the morning.

So my birthday celebration is now over but what a wonderful 80th birthday it has been.  Next week we celebrate Walt's 83rd.

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8203

Presidents Day

 We never had Presidents' day when I was in school.  We celebrated Abraham Lincoln's birthday (February 12) and George Washington's birthday (February 22) so we had two days off in February, which we loved.

They they decided that mid-week holidays were awkward and that holidays should be on weekends, so they combined the two presidents and set Presidents Day on a day that was never the birthday of either.

Actually, George Washington's birthday celebration was announced shortly after his death in 1799 and in 1879 it became a legal holiday.  They started celebrating Lincoln's birthday in 1866, a year after his death. "Presidents Day" was created in 1971, as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

So basically it means nothing to do with presidents, but more to do with sales of cars, televisions and other large appliances.  I wonder what Washington and Lincoln would think of the way we celebrate their births!

Since Lincoln's death, there have been several presidents who might deserve to have their births celebrated.  I am thinking today, particularly of Jimmy Carter, now spending his final days under Hospice care. 

If there was ever a man, much less a president, who deserves to be celebrated, this is the guy.  He may not have made an indelible mark as a president, but my word as an ex-president he has done more for the world than any other president.

This quote from Carter pretty much sums up his life: “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. I’m free to choose that something. ... My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can.”

If I'm going to buy a car or a television set in February, I'd prefer that it be in honor of our 39th president rather than Washington or Lincoln.

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8202

80 at Fenton's

 What a wonderful day yesterday was ... and what a frustrating morning today has been!

We met the group at Fenton's for lunch and what a wonderful time we had.  These are all Pinata People.

Oddly enough, as we were sitting at the  table, our friend Natalie MacKenzie came over.  She was there with a friend.  We hadn't seen her since her husband died and it was so good to visit, however briefly.

The crab salad sandwich was as good as it usually is.  Cam and Evelyn shared a huge sundae.

We had such a good time chatting.  I loved this photo that Ned took.

It shows the great shirt that Walt found for me for my birthday.

I had a late nap and we all had leftovers for dinner.  I saw up watching The Fabelmans until 11:30, then went to bed.  Had my usual up and down, up and down night of sleep, but ultimately slept until 8 a.m., which was great.  A perfect day to celebrate my birthday.

Last night I did a Google search for what I might use as a replacement for PhotoShop and found  that you can download a light version of Photoshop for FREE.  I was eager to do that this morning and do you think I can find it today?  No.  I found a couple of places to download for free...only  then you have to pay a monthly fee after a certain time.  

I know that a free light version of PhotoShop exists somewhere and my task today is to find it.  

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8201

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

After 80, every year without a headstone is a milestone!

To celebrate my birthday (Today), here are some questions related to age:

Also, check out the "gift" that Ned put together for me.  I am overwhelmed

https://padlet.com/exactly12/happy-80th-birthday-to-bev-b28tqqlsjk16wq1

1. What is the best thing about your birthday?
Well....that it's today and that Ned made the wonderful padlet that I linked above.  I swear hundreds of people have commented and wished me a happy birthday.

2. What is your favorite thing to do for your birthday?
Go out to dinner, or be at home with family.

3. What’s one thing you learned in the past year?

I learned a lot about the gallbladder, information I no longer need since I no longer have one.

4. What do you wish for in the next year?

Health.  No more problems that take me to the hospital.

5. What’s the best thing about turning a year older?
When you reach a certain age, people expect less of you

6. What was the most fun thing you did in the last year?

After the death of our dog Polly, we brought Bubba into the house, who keeps us laughing every day

.

7. If you could understand any animal, which would it be?

Definitely the elephant.  Their societies are so complex and they are so intelligent.  But if I can't understand the elephant, I would love to have chats with our dog.

8. What is something that used to be hard, but is now easy?

I'll turn this question around.  What used to be easy but now is hard--that would be sleeping!

9. If you could only keep one thing in your room, what would it be?

I don't have a bedroom but sleep in the family room, so I'll say the TV

10. Which person makes you laugh the most? Why?

Our dog Bubba makes me laugh every day.

11. If you could go back in time, when and where would you go?

I'd go back to the turn of the 20th century and see if I could watch my grandparents perform on the vaudeville stage.

12. If you were to bury a secret treasure, where would you bury it?
In our back yard with the graves of our pets.

13. What is your favorite memory?
So many of them.  It's impossible to pick out just one.  But one that comes to mind is a concert the band Lawsuit gave for the Whole Earth Festival, where there were so many in the outdoor audience people had to climb trees to see the band.

14. How have you helped others lately?
Having received my share of my mother's estate, I have been able to send a monetary gift to a couple of my Compassion kids.

15. If you had to repeat a day over & over, how you'd want it to go.

I'm pretty OK with how days go now and they are the same over and over again...but after a time I'd like the day to end with all of the people I love who have died coming to tell me it's time to go home.

  

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8200

On Turning 80

 What an amazing birthday I had.  It started around 5 with Ned making coffee for me.  Then an hour or so later he made a coffee cake and asked if I had seen what he posted on Facebook.  I had seen something, but didn't really know what it was.

What it was was an amazing "padlet," which I had never heard of before.  It's a collection of messages from people, some with photos, some without, all wishing me a happy birthday, but what a collection.  There are some 200 entries on it, some of which Ned wrote with appropriate photos, but he and Jeri and I don't know who else contacted every person they could think of  that I knew and asked them to pass on the information to others and this is just absolutely amazing.  (the most amazing was from a guy who used to sell tickets for the Lamplighters, whom I have not seen or heard from in 40 years!)

I read it several times, and each time I found something I had missed.  The combination of this and the over 200 birthday messages I got on Facebook made me feel very humble and very loved.  If I ever get depressed, all I have to do is pull up this page and it will pull me out of the depression.  I loved the memories people shared, of things I had forgotten.  Ned changed the setting later in the day so people could add entries so every time I looked at it, it seemed there was something new to read.

I spent most of the day just reading birthday messages.  

Ned cooked roast leg of lamb for dinner, one of my favorite meals and it was delicious and he followed it with strawberry shortcake.

I had a long talk with Jeri and a short talk with Tom (which I had to end because dinner was ready) and after watching Jeopardy, Walt and I watched the old movie The Loved One, which was quite different from what I remembered!  I ended up going to sleep at 10 and sleeping 4 hours, which is a long time for me!  

It was just the absolutely perfect birthday...and today we'll be having lunch with a bunch of people at Fenton's, so the celebration continues.

Thanks to everyone reading this who participated in the padlet.  I love you all!

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8199

Saturday 9

 

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!

Saturday 9: Saturday Night's Alright (1973)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) In this song, Elton John tells us it's 7:00 PM on Saturday evening and he's ready to rock with his friends. What will you be doing at 7:00 this evening?
Watching Jeopardy.

 

2) His sister is ready to party, too. The lyrics tell us she looks cute with "a handful of grease in her hair." What haircare products would we find in your bathroom right now?

None.  Just a couple of brushes.

3) He sings that by Saturday, he's had it with the aggravation and discipline of the past week and now he's ready to cut loose. How did last week treat you?

Just like any other week.  No problems.

4) This Saturday night finds Elton and his friends "packed pretty tight" in their bar of choice. Agoraphobics have a hard time feeling safe in busy, crowded places. How about you? Are you comfortable in a crowd?

It depends on whether I can find a tree to hide behind or not.

5) The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, Elton's frequent collaborator. Bernie ranks this near the top of his favorite Elton John records. What's your favorite?

The music I play the most is by the band Lawsuit, my friend Steve Schalchlin, John Denver, and Judy Garland. Plus music from musicals like The Music Man, Book of Mormon, Les Miserables, etc., etc.,  etc.

6) Elton has turned his bad eyesight into a hobby, claiming that over the years he has purchased well over 200,000 pairs of glasses. Do you wear glasses? If so, how many prescription pairs do you own?

I can't find my glasses without my glasses, so yes, I wear glasses, but I only have one prescription pair.   I am sorely in need of an appointment to get a new pair, though.

 

7) Elton once had to cancel an international tour because of an emergency appendectomy. Do you still have your appendix?
Yes, but no tonsils.

 

8) In 1973, when this song was popular, M*A*S*H was at the top of the ratings. Who is your favorite M*A*S*H character? 

Radar and Hawkeye

9) Random question: Who is the wisest person you know?

It's a guy named Steve Peithman.  He seems to know pretty much everything about anything I'm interested in and he has his own radio show.  I love listening to him discuss show biz with a friend of ours who is a movie critic.

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Boxes and Boxes

 One of the things I've been doiing sitting home alone, and not feeling like writing letters, is buying stickers.  Now I've gotten stickers for years, from stores, and from on line, but until I discovered the web site Temu that I realized how cheap stickers could be.

If you buy stickers from most on-line sites, you get maybe 10 and it might cost you $5.  I use them for decorating envelopes and journals.  At Temu, I found stickers that came in packages of 100 and cost less than $5 so I ordered some.  When they arrived, I was so pleased that I ordered more.  It turns out I ordered more than "some" and while the stickers are great...where do you keep that many stickers so you can find what you want?

Just  the "figures" container is crazy.

I've had everything in one big box but it's driving me crazy.  I love having all the options, but wished it was easier to find things. I finally bought a set of little boxes and spent a god part of the morning separating all the stickers into their own boxes.

It's absolutely perfect and now I can find whatever I'm looking for.  When looking for a link for this entry, I couldn't help looking at stickers on Temu and was tempted by the 100 Easter stickers for 89 cents but I resisted.  I'm out of little boxes.

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I have had some difficulties with Compassion and some of my kids have aged out of the program and so I decided that I wasn't going to take on any new kids and would eventually just leave the program after the last of my sponsored kids ages out.  But Compassion has started showing kids who have only 2-3 more years in the program, who have lost their sponsors and I found two girls that I decided to sponsor.

Magaly is from Ecuador and will be 19 this year.  She has two more years on the program.

Then I started reading messages from people who get long frequent letters from their kids.  That's been my one complaint about Compassion.  Yes,  I hear from the kids but most of them write the same letter over and over again.  Fred was my child for the longest and he pretty much wrote the same letter every time.  But these sponsors were talking abut wonderful letters. When I talked with some of them, I found out their kids were from Bolivia and they agree that most of the kids from Bolivia write wonderful letters.  So I checked out kids from Bolivia and found Lilian.  She's 11 years old and above average in school, her favorite subjects being literature and math.

So I've sponsored her too and now we'll see if she is one of those wonderful letter writers that people have been raving about.

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