Lazy Weekend

Hello, Yesterday Leroy and I had nothing planned so we washed some clothes, hung them out and enjoyed the fresh air. It was rather cool, but our walk was long and kept us warm. We both spent quite a lot of time reading. I just finished Horse by Geraldine Brooks. Guess I must like race horses because this was about a horse named Lexington. Seabiscuit also took my attention when I read about him. Lexington was born before the civil war so he is much older. Someone at church said, “I have seen him!” when I talked about this book at book club. She saw the skeleton in Kentucky. Maybe some day I will see that too. This book also dealt with racism past and present. It was a thoughtful book but was easy to stick with it. It is a novel based on historical fact. Leroy went to a stamp event that is sponsored by the stamp club that he has joined. He was pleased to get rid of some books that he did not need. He also bought some stamps that his collection was missing. This evening, he went and helped with cleanup so it was a good thing for him. Paula

Ideas revisited

Hello, I am reading a book about women who have made a difference in the world. The reference to Hidden Figures made me realize that I wanted to see that movie again. I think that I also read the book in the past. Last night we watched the movie and both of us enjoyed it. There is another movie that I also checked out, but we have not yet seen it. It certainly brought to mind the time I grew up and the ideas that were passed on to me about racism and the role of women. It was quite good to be reminded of that and how some things have moved on, but some have not. Wondering what my role is in all of that. Paula

Clean up Job at Church

Hello, Leroy and I signed up for clean up after a meal at church last evening. It was not a big event so it was basically just the two of us. Leroy did the scraping and dishwasher running while I was on clean duty. That was a new job for me and I had a hard time with waiting for some clean dishes to put away. It was especially hard when I would see things that needed to be scraped and Leroy did not seem to move as fast as I would want him to do. At first another guy was helping with the chore, but then he went to eat and it was just Leroy on that duty. I tried to look busy, but it was not easy, so sometimes I went over and bossed Leroy around. That helped me a little, but maybe not him. The problem with the clean job is that clean and dirty do not mix. Once hands are prepped for clean work, they can not do dirty work unless they re-prep. Logically that makes a lot of sense as we want to have the dishes, etc. as clean as they can be. It is probably some type of law from public health. It certainly was hard on me as I kept wanting to help Leroy and just had to stand and watch him inch along. Paula

Left and Right Challenged

Hello, This is not an April’s fool’s joke. I went on a long walk today. Over half way around, I decided to check my steps on my phone. After I fussed with my phone a bit, I noticed that I did not have a ring on my finger. “Oh no,” I moaned, “I lost my wedding ring. Well at least it is insured.” Should I go back and look for it where I took off my glove? But just where was that? Should I seek out a metal detector? What is involved in replacing this ring? It was never attached to the diamond ring, but they fit together. Should I just forget about replacing it? But the insurance policy covers replacement, not just loss. I have lost a ring before in the cold weather, but I knew it right away. Frequently I do not wear rings because of this tendency. In the summer sometimes my hands swell and it is uncomfortable to remove them. I often do not wear them that season either. However, I wear my wedding ring all of the time. I looked again in my glove and realized that I was looking at my right glove so my ring should still be on my left hand. It was there! Problem solved. Now if I could just know left and right without having to figure which is which life might be simpler for me. Paula

Volunteering

Hello, There is no school today so the number of volunteers drops by about six people. It felt so busy without them. There seemed to be a lot of donations that needed to be dated and put on shelves. Then when the chicken came it was a big job to get it bagged up. I donated only about fifteen extra minutes, but it still was not done when I left. It is an internal mental struggle about quitting when I do not have a good excuse, but I am ready to leave psychologically and physically. Usually, things are very close to being done. I told one woman there about how our church reached a new high in the number of meals served on Saturday night. It is the last Saturday in the month which always makes it higher as people’s resources for food are running low. But 230 meals served is a lot when it is often around 150. On the last Saturday they also hand out some extras. This time it was boxes of cereal and a half gallon of milk. The woman at the Monday volunteer place commented that they usually serve about 120 meals on the weekdays and much of last week it was 140 meals. A woman also commented that her daughter has four kids, works two jobs and gets just a bit under $100 per month in SNAP benefits. That is not enough to keep them fed so she often buys food for them. And some think that the minimum wage is adequate. Paula

Day Trip

Friday, we went on a short, day trip mostly, so I could get some things out of the house. We took a brochure to a Monument company that is in Dubuque Iowa. They deal with tombstones. Why my mother had this I do not know. It was a little gift type brochure that had needles in it. We had quite an interesting chat with the woman who was working at the front desk. They were pleased to get this since they did not have any like it.

Following that stop, we went to a church that has over 100 Tiffany windows. It was quite amazing. There was one window that was not by Tiffany and it was possible to see the difference. Even the bathrooms had Tiffany windows.

There is a park in Dubuque where my family had reunions. I thought we would eat our packed lunch there. Unfortunately, it was not yet open for the season. After that we drove on to Elizabeth, IL to visit my brother and to give him my mother’s diaries that I had kept since her death. I told him, “I stored them for 20 years. Now it is your turn.” My sister-in-law said, “It has been 27 years.” I then added to his son, “In time it will be your responsibility.” The diaries are not so interesting. Mostly, mom recorded the weather and what crop might have been planted, or hogs sold on that day. No personal things. Paula

Plastic, Plastic, Plastic

Hello, Trying to keep the plastic out of our lives is not easy. Everywhere I look in the house, there is plastic. In the kitchen it is in the microwave, stove, dish detergent bottle and that is just stuff. It is not even about all the foods that came in plastic. Most of the nuts in the house are in plastic, frozen foods, and bread if we buy it. Pill bottles are also plastic. In the living room the clock has a plastic face, the TV must have much plastic in it, the remote is also a plastic case. Then there’s the bedroom. The clock has lots of plastic, the flower pots are plastic, some clothes have plastic in the construction, and zippers. In the office the laptop, printer, lamp, pencil holder, file cabinet tabs, and the list goes on. Limiting this stuff in the house takes a concerted effort that I find difficult to maintain. I buy soap that is not wrapped, but still keep a plastic bottle of soap for visitors. Body wash is in a plastic bottle, but I did buy a bar of shampoo although I have not tried it yet. I will use up the bottle of shampoo first. Sometimes price drives my decision to get more plastic incased product. However, I tend to feel a little guilty about that until I forget the purpose of my buying decision. Paula