Museum Day

Hello,

Rainy mist was in the air when we left to do some museum touring. First stop was the Czech-Slovak museum to check out the new exhibit on the protests in the Czech Republic during the communist era. It was interesting, but not quite finished yet as there was not signage and I really only read English. I might have to return at a later date. There is also a display on the history of beer. Even though I do not drink beer I did find that quite interesting and informative. It is certainly an historic drink. Andy Warhol is the next exhibit coming in the spring. That should be good. We did go to a Warhol exhibit when we lived in Slovakia. I certainly learned a lot about him. All I had before that was name recognition.

The next stop was the African-American museum where we saw their new exhibit of African-American inventors. There were certainly a lot of them and many of these inventions and innovations affect and improve our lives today. Unfortunately their names are not in most history books. I did know three of the names that were featured, plus I knew about two of the inventions were by African-Americans, but not the names of the people. It was interesting to me that several of them had an Iowa connection; often that was because of attending school in the state.

In the afternoon Leroy and I made another batch of applesauce. I am now out of jars even though there are still two buckets in the garage. I will make more apple crisp from time to time and we eat them each day on our oatmeal and in our lunches. That should use quite a few, plus I will have to give some away.

Paula

Car Sold!

Hello,

After I had talked about buying extended car insurance, Leroy came home and said that someone wanted to look at the car Friday morning. It was easy to convince Leroy that we should get extended insurance even though the original would last through Friday. The agent has assured me that if we sold it on the weekend the new policy would be cancelled.

I guess the price was finally right because we had two more inquiries. A young couple came and got it this morning. It went fast as they knew they wanted it. The woman said that her car had just died and fixing was much too expensive. I asked if she could drive a shift and the answer was affirmative. I feel good about it. Leroy says, “The next time we get a new car we are trading it in to a dealer.”

I disagree as I think we learned some things, but Leroy did not like the process. It seems to hang around his mind and cause discomfort.

Last night we crossed another thing off our list. We are both happy to have finished with taking the picture for the church directory. We did buy a few prints. We did not buy the touch up or whatever they call it. It will be the real us. Hair, eyes, and wrinkles and all growth evidence included. Leroy asked, “Will you give me hair?”

The response was laughing and handing him a black magic marker. For some irony you should know that my hair looks perfect as it can look this morning, last night was a bit of a different story. Some curls had other ideas than I had.

Leroy walked six miles on Sunday. Plus he walked to church at least once during the week. I have walked there twice with him. He is getting that exercise in and church is providing it.

The way our calendar looks now life should be easy and without stress for a while!

Paula

My Phone Number

Hello,

My cell phone rang this morning. It was a person calling about my doctor appointment. She thought I had not gotten the message that the nurse practitioner had had a baby and could not see me. True, I had not gotten the message, but how did she know? About an hour later the phone rang again. This time the person said, “You called, this is Ruth?”

I had not called anyone because I was deep in the process of making applesauce. Apparently she had gotten a call from my number just fifteen minutes earlier and was calling back. How to explain that when I do not know her?

It is hard to know what to do about this and the wrong number calls that I frequently receive. It is also a process when I want to add time to my phone. I always dread that. Leroy can just do it on line, but I have to talk to a live person who must spend many minutes sorting it all out. Sometimes they even have to have a person with more skills attend to this task.

The old car has not sold even though Leroy has dropped the price several times. Today the insurance company called. The insurance runs out tomorrow. I, not sure why, but I want to extend the time. We have talked about giving the car to an organization, but for some reason I am not quite there yet. It is quite a small bill to get minimal insurance coverage for two months, can’t get just one month. Is this one of those times when there is a still small voice as I keep praying that the right person will come for this car? It is hard to know. Leroy and I will discuss it tonight.

I canned another seven quarts of applesauce today, tiring, but satisfying work.

Paula

Style

Hello,

Leroy wore his new pants to church yesterday. This pair was one he had not even tried on, but assumed that it would fit just like the first. I personally do not trust that as I have had some clothing items be mismarked or some such. The pants looked good on him, not so in style that anyone would notice, but at least not large enough to fit two of his legs in one side. He wishes they had had a pair in grey and he would have bought that too. I am just happy not to be ashamed to be seen with him.

He took one of his old pairs, which is getting frayed on the hem edge, to work with him to leave at the museum for when he wears shorts riding the bike and needs to change. I personally did not think it was very noticeable, maybe because I seldom look at the hem of man’s pants. I have no idea how much clothing he has at the museum, but I think it is a bit. He is prepared for any variation.

The other pair is more frayed, but the rest of it looks quite good. I am, unsuccessfully, thinking of ways to make them look better. I suppose I should just get rid of them as Leroy is set to do. I pinned them up, but then as was expected, they were too short. I just put them on the give-away pile! Pays to tell you about it!

I am reading, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Even though I have not read much, I sense that the real deal for us is that we need to move to keep the stuff under control. It has been long enough now to start accumulating. I am not sure I can get rid of when I do not have to lug it around. Hiding it away keeps it from my mind. I do know that there is a wonderful feeling of lightness when I eliminate things that I do not use or particularly like.

If I were paying for a class with this woman, I would surely do it because I paid for it. I never want to waste money!

Paula

Sunday, work day

Hello,

We went to church for reformation celebration and confirmation. That was not work, but worship as neither of us had any duties. It was cool in the morning so I wore a new coat. I am almost embarrassed to say that I have purchased three coats since we have lived here. But then I have eliminated three so perhaps it comes out okay. The others were more than ten years old, probably closer to 15 years old.

Leroy helped me make an apple crisp from one small bucket of apples that we picked yesterday. Leroy did not get to taste it yet, but I can tell you that it is delicious. Those apples are just the best. I swept the deck because I do not like to track leaves into the porch where I have to clean them out. I believe in the ounce of prevention stuff.  Next on the docket was fixing and eating lunch. As soon as he stopped chewing, Leroy immediately headed off to do a nursing home service. He toted the camera so he could talk pictures for the church directory. “Did you let them know that you would be taking their picture?” I wanted to know.

“I will ask them if they want to have their picture taken,” he replied and at my skeptical look, added, “I will offer to come back at another time.” Guess that will be ok!

When Leroy gets home we will head off to help with “trunk or treat” in our neighborhood. In the evening we will lead a group training session for some Lenten small group experiences. Rather Leroy will lead this training as I am a bit in the dark as to what is going to happen, but I will be there for moral support since my name is on the leader list.

After that the rest of the time is for relaxing and getting ready for Monday.

Paula

Leroy's Day Off

Hello,

Leroy does not usually work more than 40-45 hours per week, but he has few full days off. Today was one of those days. We went shopping in the misty morning because I had seen some black pants on sale in his size. However you never know if they will fit or not. They fit and he even bought two pair, with the additional one a dark blue. They had the adjustable waist that he likes, cost under $10 for the total and were a brand that he likes. On the way out to the car he did comment, “They were a bit big in the legs, but I am sure I will like them anyway.”

I groaned a little in my mind. Leroy has little legs. I have been so happy for the slim styles that do not look so baggy on him. But surely if he is happy, I should be happy too.

In the afternoon when the rain cleared we went to the country to pick apples. We picked three five gallon buckets full plus three smaller buckets. Leroy had not really wanted to go when I talked about it, but as we were going home he said, “It was so nice to be out in the country and to get all of these apples is just a bonus.”

He suggested we make pizza which we did after I finished a batch of granola. I had been hoping to make some applesauce, but ran out of steam for that idea.

He is watching a movie that I believe I am not interested in. I usually bring home movies from the library. Some of them he likes and many he does not.

I finished a book for book club, The Rosie Project. It was one of the lightest books we have read and great for a laugh here and there.

Paula

Nice Fall Day

Hello,

I did my usual shopping trip rain free until my last stop. That was a treat. Later I did go out and wrestle with the spent tomato vines. The frost may have zapped them, but they were still strongly attached to the cages in several places. I should have gotten clippers, but thought I could do it or perhaps I just enjoyed the struggle that I knew I would eventually win.

A friend requested a recipe for sauerkraut soup. I scanned it then spent some time figuring out how to find it on my computer and how to get it to her. All of the programs have been updated since I scanned and sent something. My old knowledge was not helping me as much as I would have liked. Then you must know that the recipe has no amounts. I did email another friend who, I recall has a recipe with amounts attached to the ingredients. At the school, they were making this soup for at least 30 people, probably more. So the amounts would not have been good if they had been there.

Leroy came home early because he worked until 8:30 at the museum last night. He was quite perky both last night and this morning. He so enjoyed having many people from the genealogical society do so many searches in the library collection. It made for a great library work experience.

Someone donated a number of books to my library. There were some coloring books in there. My boss recommended I recycle them as they do not sell at the book sale. Instead I brought them home, made a free sign, and placed them on the front sidewalk steps. They were claimed in about an hour. I am pleased. I suspected that someone would be able to give them a bit more life. Plants and coloring books, do you suppose people will start to look for more free things? Maybe I should clean out some more things.

We had popcorn for snack time, delicious!

Paula