Kind Words

Hello, I had just gotten one antibiotic when it was determined that I need another for a slightly different infection. The pharmacist got my pills for me without asking my name, he did ask for the birthdate verification. I do come in for two maintained meds. I commented rather disgustedly, “I thought you would know who I am by now. It is hard to realize that five years ago I was not taking any meds.” “Well,” he said, “that is something that happens with maturing bodies.” Nice to know I have a maturing body. That seems to sound quite positive to me. Perhaps better than, “at your age” which seems to bother quite a few people at my age. I also think about how I have now lived five years longer than my sister did. I am grateful for the added time. Yesterday at the grocery store I spoke to a young woman I did not know. She smiled and then replied. After a bit, she came up and talked some more. Somehow my comment seemed to meet a need of hers. One never knows what someone else requires. So sometimes we get lucky. It seems both speaker and listener have to be open to possibilities. Now to remember such a good thought. Paula

Leroy and Stamps

Hello, Leroy does spend time working on stamps at the museum every Monday. He and two or three other stamp aficionados work for three hours at a time. I think it has been about a year or more since they have been doing this. There are a lot of donated stamps for them to deal with. Today Leroy announced, “I am going to work on stamps today. I have not done that in a long time.” He got out a lot of stuff, spent a goodly amount of time arranging, and proceeded to change the mounts on many of his stamps. He acquired some good mounts, I do not know a good mount from a bad mount, from some one at the stamp club. In the old days he just got the cheapest that he could find. Now apparently those mounts are seriously showing their age. Leroy has a four-shelf book case full of stamps and the things that are necessary to deal with them. There are also at least two albums on the floor. Luckily here, he has a spare bedroom that he has claimed as his space. When we have lived in larger spaces, he has had a room that was just for his stamps. Then he could leave a table up strewn with stamps for days or weeks. I do not know if that will ever happen again. It seems we are in the downsizing part of life and not expanding.

Could Leroy ever give up his stamps? Paula

Am I losing It?

Hello, We spent a chunk of time this morning trying to make sure we have all the tax papers we need to send on to our tax person. It involved a call to the company that has my IRA from which I take out an RMD. How is that for a bunch of initials? It took some time on the phone with three different people to get some of this straightened out in my mind. I still need a paper from one organization to which I gifted some money so I can get some tax credit for not spending the money on myself. It feels like I am wading though mud uphill sometimes. Or am I just getting too old to take care of my own stuff. I thought I had a letter from the gifted organization, but cannot find it. Ugh! The local person who can deal with this is out of town for a few weeks. We like to have our tax papers delivered to the accountant by now so they can get things in by the dead line. It seemed important for me to get out of the house and get some steps in the process of clearing my mind and emotions. This afternoon, we parked at the church and walked to the library. It is still quite cold and we did not want to walk all the way to the library and back. On our way back at the church we noticed the car of the person who does the meals for the homeless. We like to visit with her. In the process of greeting her, Leroy asked if she needed help. The answer was yes, so Leroy, especially, spent some time unloading her van and putting some of the bounty away. It feels so good to have something we can do and feel that it is of such value. Certainly a lot less hassle then doing taxes. Paula

No Work for Leroy

Hello, Leroy went to the early morning bible study, but came home after as the museum closed because of the approaching ice storm. I was just getting ready to make a quick trip to two grocery stores that are close together. I asked Leroy to come with me in case I needed help with ice, etc. It was just started to mist when we went to the car. Leroy suggested we only go to one store. That was a good idea. By the time we came out of that one store there was ice on the car, but not much. The streets were clear yet. It was not until we stepped on the deck that we noticed slippery places. After lunch I took out the compost, but warned Leroy, “I am not taking my phone. If I am gone too long come looking for me.” I did slip on the porch and a little on the sidewalk, but remained upright. I am so grateful not to be going to work. Miriam told me that at their house in UT they have 1.5 feet of snow on the ground with more coming. I like snow, but maybe not that much. I really prefer snow to ice. Our downstairs friends are going to come up for a visit this afternoon. It is so nice that we can go between our places without going outside. We each have a door in the enclosed back porch. Super! Paula

Baltimore touring

Hello, Sarah and Stephen were home one day with us before we left for home. They drove to Baltimore so we could all do some sightseeing. We stopped at Edgar Allan Poe’s grave site. It was quite an old cemetery. Next was the Peabody Library which is part of the John Hopkins U. it contains many special or ratre books from the 18th and 19th centuries. It was quite a beautiful building.

The next stop was the other Washington monument, as well as a stop at the Basilica of the Assumption which is the first Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. We also looked at the outside of a shot tower. After lunch, we headed to Fort McHenry which is famous as the place the Star Bangled banner was written. Rather Francis Scot Keys was in a ship looking at the enormous US flag in the morning. It could be a myth that he actually saw the flag, but he was on the boat and did write the words. The fort is in a star shape. There was a visitor center with some museum items as well as a short film. All around inside the fort there were rooms to tour. It made for some interesting facts. Because it was the middle of the week and not tourist season we were able to move at our pace.

I learned many things, but it would be kinder not to quiz me about them. Paula

Planet Word

Hello, While in DC, we went to the newish museum, Planet Word. We found it to be interesting. It gives a bit of the history of language and how it continues to evolve. There were a number of school groups there so it meant waiting to look at things. Certainly, the students go at these exhibits much faster than we do. Many of the displays were interactive which has a strong appeal for the younger set. We also felt a bit of time pressure as we wanted to be back before our younger granddaughter came home from school. It is so nice to be able to use the Metro. We have our senior passes so we get to move around at a discounted rate. We each added $20 to our card and did not come close to using that amount. I did see a young guy jump over the gate where we scan our cards. I am happy to pay instead of trying to leap. We could have driven the car while we were in town, but we chose not to. We hired LYFT the few times we needed to use a car. It was more expensive, but much less anxiety producing. Neither Leroy nor I like to drive in city traffic. This is especially true in a city we have not driven in, except about 30 years ago. I suppose if we lived here, we would learn to handle it, but not now. On Sunday we went to our oldest granddaughter’s guitar recital. She certainly handles herself well in front of an audience in multiple circumstances. It was raining, again the hire of a ride was a good option. Their friend gave us a ride home. That was a gift. Paula

Department of the Interior

Hello, One of our days in DC we toured the department of interior murals. It was quite interesting. We rode the metro to be followed by a short walk. Perhaps we were not clear to the phone that we were walking, because we took the long way to get there. We were still in plenty of time to check out the small museum before the tour started. The video was quite interesting. Not sure how the tour leader knew we had watched it, but she mentioned it. There were seven of us on the tour which allowed us to hear and ask questions easily. The building has three miles of corridors, but we only walked about a mile on the tour. The building was built in 1936 giving lots of jobs to construction workers. Often the murals were in pairs across the hall from each other. Many of them reminded me of ones that I have seen in post offices or other public buildings. Some had been done by Native Americans, depicting their lives as they saw it rather than the European view. They also had a large number of flags from tribes. Almost 600 tribes have an official connection to the United States Government. I was happy to learn that they are acknowledging the pre-European settlers here and that history. There was one really early inhabitant represented. Leroy and I are standing by the head.

Our walk back to the metro was much faster. We got some help from one of the people who was with the tour. Good people everywhere. Paula

Babysitting? February 17, 2023 Hello, Sarah gave instructions and list for the days to come while they would be gone. Because the girls are now 15 and 11 they are quite independent and able to get up, get dressed, get breakfast, pack their lunch, and get to school on time. We were there basically for moral support. On our time, we went to the library three times. On a trip, I checked out two books, but only read one of them each time. So nice to have a library so I can return the unwanted. Leroy read more books than I did, but he also returned one that he had read before so did not take the time to reread. Each day we got quite a number of steps to make our 10,000. I am not sure, but I think the library is close to a mile from their house. Once we took the long way around to get there. Lexi was in a play at school, we enjoyed seeing that. I think she did a good job. Her expressions told a lot and her voice parts were clear and understandable. Nice to be there for that. The play was Cinderella Enchanted. She played one of the wicked stepsisters with flair. She is the one with the purple hair.

Paula

Good Visit

Hello, Yesterday, Leroy and I returned from our visit to Washington, DC. We were there while Sarah and Stephen went off to celebrate his 50th birthday. The grands are 15 and 11 years old so it was a fairly easy job. They even helped us with this and that, especially in terms of getting around the city. I find my stomach is still living in eastern time zone as I have been hungry an hour early. We also went to bed an hour early last night with an early wake up which was fine because Leroy goes to an early morning bible study. When we left a week ago, we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. The airport is small so we do not have to worry generally about getting through crowds, etc. I like small airports, but it does not have direct flights to many places. I spent some time walking around and some time sitting watching our bags while Leroy got some steps. Once, I stopped at a window that looks out over the runways to see a small plane (perhaps four seats) come in for a landing with one wing seriously tipping low. It leveled off and managed to land, but remained on the ground for a short time before taking off again. It was not long before it landed again, but with more finesse this time. It did that again. Could this be a learner? We could have ridden the bus, but we would have been two hours ahead of flight time or just one hour ahead. The first was too long and the second was too short so we got a ride with our downstairs friends. Also, the connection between our buses looked to be just three minutes and that caused anxiety just thinking about it. Now we had some walking time. Paula

Dodged Scam?

Hello, Yesterday, I was trying to book a room at a motel in St. Cloud. It did not make sense on the website when it had a $200+ taxes and fees line. This was more than the cost of a room for one night. I searched around trying to find another site for this place, but kept coming back to this. There was a phone number to call so I followed up on that. The man who answered assured me that that was a regular addition and all motels do something like that. I responded it was too much. Then he told me about the dates that I wanted to book. He had been tracking me is what I think now. He also suggested a motel that was close, and did not have such a high fee. He quoted me that and it was still more than I thought it should be. I suggested another place and it was even more. He kept pushing me to book it before it was gone. I said, “I want to check with my husband.” He said, “It could be gone. Tell me you email address to send the confirmation.” I gave him that, but did not feel comfortable. “My friend was quoted a much lower price.” “Prices change all of the time, when did she book?” he glibly stated. “I want to talk to my friends,” I affirmed but he kept putting on the pressure to give him my credit card information until I just hung up. I gave this person too much of my time, energy and peace of mind. Friends gave me another number to call and I was comfortable with the result. It scares me to realize how easy it would be to give out too much information. Paula

Do we have a pet?

Hello, Today I received a flyer assuring me that I would get a good deal on pet food if I ordered a certain amount. Do I have a pet? Not unless you count my plants. Checking the address I saw that it was our address, but addressed to Daisy Bradway. Who is she? Leroy just finished cleaning the top of the refrigerator. It looks so much better. At least he will not have to do it tomorrow on his birthday. He is going to pick up his hearing aids and looking forward to that. He is aware that he is missing parts of conversations. Paula

Reading and Eating

Hello, I am reading more and I am eating more. Will that change when it is nicer outside and I get out and about more? Less reading, less eating? Today I did go to the store for a short trip. I should have walked around more, but I am not much a shopper. Generally, I just get what I came for a leave. Not much joy is to found in looking at things I have no intention of purchasing. In many ways that is Leroy’s style. My mother was also the go get what you want and leave type of shopper. My father tended to look at things that he did not buy and probably never intended to buy. I believe that Leroy’s family was more into the idea of shopping for the “joy” of shopping. We had not cleaned the top of the refrigerator for some time. I tackled it today. I stood on a chair but was not able to reach the back half so Leroy tells me he can do that tomorrow night. It definitely took some scrubbing to get the dust and grease off. Now you know I am not a perfect cleaner around here. The top of the refrigerator is out of my line of vision that keeps it collecting more debris from the air. I did take a walk this afternoon in the sun and relative warm. It was quite nice to see the sun on the snow in the park where almost no one has disturbed it. We bought a number of cards for the family February birthdays. Some how we come home missing one envelope. We do have a bigger envelope that size that we will use. Paula