Switching Cars

Hello,

Leroy took the Saturn which needed gas. He was going to the west side of town and gas is 20 cents cheaper per gallon across town. Thanks to gas buddy we know just where. I only wanted the car for some shopping. I suspect Leroy had it easier than I did because he is somewhat used to driving either car.

On the automatic, I tried to put in the clutch three times, could not get the key out once, tried to shift as I am used to and did not find low, and did not find my favorite radio station. The radio station will have to wait for me because I figured it was distracted driving when I tried to find it. The gears were there when I looked for them. This car which is really a small car seemed so big. The only time that I wish I had a bigger vehicle is when I am at a stop sign/light on the right of an SUV or a pickup. Generally I cannot see if a right turn can be made safely or not. I learned, after I got home that the clock had not been reset for standard time. Helped me not to dilly dally.

I was pleased with myself because I always remembered where I had parked and did not have to do a guessing game about which car belongs to me.

Generally I do not look at car ads. However I saw two electric cars on the way to church the other day. After looking up information about them, I told Leroy, “I am ready to get another car, it only cost $38,000.”

He just grinned at me. Is that because he always lets me have my way?

I was going to make applesauce again today, but I think Leroy will be home tomorrow so I will wait and have some help with this process. I made another apple crisp instead. It smells very nice. Cinnamon and apples cooking is a great gift to the senses.

Paula

A Regular Day at Work

Hello,

Because yesterday was local Election Day, I considered wearing something that had pockets on it. I like to keep my keys with me when I work alone and my last three hours would be alone. It was such a nice day that I knew I would be comfortable in my jumper, blouse, and tights even though there was not a pocket among them.

Pockets were not the big problematic issue of the day, but the tights which I had worn many times. I always get dressed for work just before I go out the door as I do not want to get my clothes dirty.

After getting to work it was not long before I realized that the tights were a problem. It seemed they were sitting lower than when I left home. At the moment I am dealing with some discarded books so I stoop down to the floor and lean over from time to time. It seemed necessary to go to the bathroom and make some upward adjustments.

I tugged these sliding tights up and felt secure when I went back to my job with resolution to “throw these tights away when I get home”. In about half an hour I was berating myself for even putting them on because earlier I had noticed the waist seemed larger and it seemed to be gaining stretch by the minute.

Through the rest of my day and evening I alternately went to the bathroom for an adjustment, or furtively pulled them up when I thought no one was watching or could see me. I also tried to note where the security camera was in relationship to me. I certainly did not want a record of my activities. When I got home I had no trouble remembering to toss out this offending pair of tights. No regrets, no weeping.

In all of this I did not think about my keys tucked away in my bag. Who needs keys all the time anyway?

Paula

Life comes together

Hello,

It amazes me how things happen. Lots of people can explain it one way or another, but I am not sure what spin to put on some occurrences. We are in a Sunday night study group at church. A woman who is in our group also does lots of work for refugees and people in need of many things. She told us that the table from our neighbor across the street was going to a grandmother, new in town, with four grandchildren living with her. They had nothing and were going to sleep on the floor. Ruth asked Leroy if he could open one of the rooms in the church where she could get some quilts or blankets for them. The next morning I asked if they could use a laundry basket and a laundry bag that I had as extras. I then thought of the griddle that I had not used in the 3 1/2 years that we have lived here. I also have an extra water kettle and added that to the supply along with some of the apples that we had picked on the weekend. Because I like to use rags I added an ice cream bucket and rags. It felt so good to give these things that are extra in my life. Ruth said the woman cried when she got the first load of things. Blessings to givers and receivers!

I had felt a little guilty for having things that I do not use and had been keeping, “just in case”. I must have been storing them for this woman. I have to confess that I thought of the extra dishes sets in my house and I could not quite part with them. Just so you know it is not all generous here.

Yesterday at work I learned that my co-worker bought a new table and chairs. She asked me if I knew someone who needed a table. I did indeed. I passed the message along and that table now has a new home as well. Reuse, recycle, repurpose! It is all good.

Paula

Fall Sunday

Hello,

Church choir sang a new requiem in the service this morning. I am not sure why, but for me it did not all come together until the service. The music was a bit tricky rhythmically, my weakest point in singing. Perhaps that is why I did not really grasp the power of the words before. When they were set in the service it all made sense.

It was cool for our first walk, but much warmer for the second, causing us to sweat and wish for different clothes. We stopped at an estate sale across the street and bought a tea pot. Not that we really need another tea pot, but one might break and this one appealed to me. Leroy has a pot at each work place and I have one at home, now two at home. Leroy tried our tea cozy and it fits quite nicely, course then it covers the beauty of the pot. What is more important? Hot tea or a pretty pot?

After lunch we went to the community garden and pulled the rest of the tomato plants, put some of the tomato cages where they belong, and picked arugula and cilantro both of which were very nice in this cool weather.

The next job was to ride bikes to a store and pick up our free 8X10. Miriam had sent me a picture of her daughters and Sarah’s daughters in front of the white house. I was quite pleased, but sorry that Brian’s kids were not included. Here is the link for all the pictures Miriam sent. https://goo.gl/photos/8yQ1fFazUXmSRQgK7

After we came home Leroy had to cut toenails, how is that for an important job that he kept forgetting?  Now we are just relaxing.

Paula

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