Store Return Woes

Hello,

On Wednesday I returned the sweater because of that tight feeling in the armpits. It was a sad time because I liked it so much. Also Leroy gave it to me. I looked around and found one that is quite different, but I still like it. Yesterday I learned that I have some reward dollars that I must spend before the end of the year. So back to the store today. I saw a sweater that looked a lot like “mine” on the rack. I tried it on and sure enough it was mine still with that gripping sensation in the armpits. How did I get so proprietary about something that I only had in my possession for a few short days?

I finally found a top that I believe is acceptable, but still not as good as the one I almost had.

I have written a letter about the slippers that are too small for Leroy, but have not emailed it yet. Seems to me it is a bit of a rambling tale. More short and to the point might have more sway. Or perhaps I should just have Miriam call as she has offered to do. More than once in the stores I have thought, “Miriam should be with me since she likes to shop. I could send her out like a bird dog that points at what I want.”

Leroy has decided to only keep the better extension cord that I got for him. That means I must take back the other. It seems that I have entered a phase of life that does not give me much joy, rather anxiety and a sigh of relief when it is finally done. Relief is always good. I will try to focus on that.

Leroy has put in a full work week. He has worked most days at the museum, but he is the pastor on call so he has done some work for the church too, including a funeral. He will be glad when other people come back next week and he can just do his usual things.

You can’t feel too sorry for this guy because on Monday night he told me, “I must be a workaholic. I have had off a day and a half and I am bored and wondering what to do. If I could be outside it would be different.”

Paula

Soup and Exercise

Hello,

Pumpkin soup is in the pot. It was to be pumpkin lentil soup, but it changed to split pea when the bag in the cupboard had peas rather than lentils in it. Substitutions are a solid creed in my life. We will learn if it was a good thing or not. The rest of the ingredients are the same as the recipe, except that the ground ginger jar would not yield the required amount. Even though the crystal ginger is here it seemed just a bit too far to the side. There could have been more of the ingredients if the idea had occurred sooner. As it was, I saw the pie pumpkin sitting decoratively in its spot and decided “the time had come” for it to serve another purpose.

Cutting this pumpkin was a job. Either the knives need sharpening again or pumpkin skin is tough. The seeds are saved, but I will leave them for Leroy as he likes them much better than I do.

If you have a New year resolution about exercise, I have read a book called Younger Next Year : the exercise program by Chris Crowley. It could help you reach your goal of moving more and becoming stronger and more flexible. I would recommend it for anyone who feels that urge to do something to change how they feel for the better. It certainly has inspired me. I who never write fan mail almost want to write the author and tell him how much I liked it.

Paula

Christmas Day

Hello,

Blessings to you all as you contemplate where your life should be strong and where you need to focus. Merry Christmas!

Leroy and I exchanged gifts early in the morning with not as much excitement as where there are children present, but smiles and joy covered the scene. Leroy got two extension cords from me. The first was because I found it and the second was because we were in a store with a sale of 16% off any item that would fit in their bag. It did not find the exact same cord, but it was half the price. Leroy wants to keep them both as he has two cords that have some repairs to them and they seem a little unsafe. Skeptically I asked, “Why do you need so many cords?” (He already has four of them.)

Sometimes he wants to go a long distance from the power source. Two of the cords that are still good have only two prongs and he needs those to get powered in the older style garage outlet. The two that I got for him are three prong deals. One of them will withstand temps of -40 or 140 degrees. Can’t imagine why he would be in that low or high a temp, but he will be ready now. That one also has three outlets on it so he can plug in other things. I thought he would pick the cheaper one and send back the other, but the way it is now we will keep both. Can’t you just see Leroy plugging these cords in and doing wonderful powerful things?

Leroy bought a nice cardigan sweater for me that I like the color and the feel of very much. I decided to wear it to church today. It is a small which is my usual size; however when I put it on over the turtle neck I immediately noticed that it was tight in the armpits. I took off that turtle neck replacing it with one that is thinner. It felt better, but still not the best. I wore it to church, but noticed, from time to time, the rubber band feeling in my armpits. Now the question is should I return it or keep it, hoping it will stretch out and feel better later?

Leroy and I went to church at different times this morning. He was working and wanted to get there earlier than I needed to. When I got to church a woman asked, “Are you doing anything special for lunch?”

Leroy and I went to her house for lunch along with two other women from church as well as a large group of former Liberians. It was a very nice experience, so casual that I did not have to be concerned about fitting in.

For supper we had waffles with plain yogurt, topped with unsweetened cherries, and the whole drizzled with black strap molasses. Leroy said, “Waffle cherry delight.”

Guess we have created a new dish.

Paula

Putting Leroy to work

Hello,

Guess I just do not want that guy to sit around reading. I asked before we got out of bed if he would be willing to vacuum. He agreed. He politely waited until I was done doing my yoga session before he started. He did a great job. Later, I was putting some papers away in the file cabinet. I realized that at the end of the year I could eliminate many papers, especially those from two or three years ago. One of the files has a lot of papers in it that concern Leroy. So I asked if he would be willing to go through it. He did, but he huffed and puffed a little just to let me know that he really did not want to do it, but did not want to say no. He gets no joy out of this task. I, however, like the slim files when we are done and feeling of being lighter. I especially do not want to leave it all until just before we move as that is too much pressure work. We had so many papers that we needed to make a trip out to the recycle bin before we could finish. I consider that progress.

Leroy did read for about 1.5-2 hours before we got started on these things. Then he read some more. The phone rang summoning him to the hospital where a person was facing death. After that he needed to go to church to work both for the service on the 31^st as well as the services that are held this afternoon and evening.

He will be off next Monday. I will be working in the afternoon and evening so I cannot make so many requests on his time. Lucky guy, he can just read to his heart’s content. Leroy is the pastor on call at the church next week, but for Monday he is working at the museum so his boss can have some vacation. I guess if he gets called during work hours, he will just lock the library and come back later.

I am looking forward to walking to church tonight, but wondering what to wear on my feet as it is wet now, will it be icy later? If it is just a bit of ice on the sidewalk, we often walk on the streets for the less used thoroughfares. That seems to work quite well.

Paula

Bike Weather?

Hello,

Leroy said, “It’s 30 degrees and that is about the high for the day.”

It seemed like bike riding weather to me, but I did not say anything as I saw Leroy get ready to leave in non bike riding clothes.

I went shopping later and was surprised to see pellets of snow/ice hit the windshield. When I came out of the store it was snowing as in pelting down. I brushed the wet snow off the windows, and used the windshield wiper frequently. By the time I was done shopping the snow was done. Leroy would not have been happy to have been in that and now the streets are very wet. Not riding the bike was a smart move on his part.

Sometimes I hear someone talk about the cashiers in the stores who do not know how to make change, but depend on the electronics. Today I paid in cash and I wanted to give the clerk three pennies. She had already keyed in my bills. When I asked about giving her the pennies she told me how much change I would get without giving her those pennies. Remembering what others have said I assumed that she did not know what to do about those pennies. Deciding not to embarrass her I just accepted the change that the machine showed. I believe that working in a restaurant years ago was a good learning experience for dealing with all sorts of cash. Life has changed indeed. At least the machines are accurate all the time, or at least that is what I believe. I know that I did make a mistake from time to time.

Today, I did not see a single person on a bicycle. Often I do see them even on the coldest days.

Daughter Sarah in DC posted that the town was empty. I certainly could not say the same as I waited in line in more than one store.

Paula

Internet shopping

Hello,

Leroy and I must not be the best candidates for internet shopping. We have gotten some things with little fuss, but then there is the big fuss. It was quite easy to order slippers on line. They seemed so nice that Leroy also ordered a pair. Leroy’s pair came, but they were the wrong size. Leroy mailed them back after consulting the company. He is not sure how it happened, but he paid a lot of money to send them back. The gift pair did not come in time for us to hand it personally to the recipient. So they also had to be mailed on, but at half the cost of mailing the first pair. Leroy’s replacement pair came. They seemed to be the proper size of large, but his toes were bunching up against the front of the shoe. I tried them on too, we have almost the same size foot, and my toe also touched, but not too much, however after about five minutes of wear with no sock my toes started to hurt.

“I am going to give these away,” Leroy said.

“That may be, but I think you should contact the company and get some reimbursement for that extra postage,” I declared.

Leroy declined so I said, “Ok, I will do it then.”

“Thank you,” he said to my dismay. I was hoping that he would step up to the bar since I was volunteering.

Neither of us likes to deal with this type of thing. I do feel that the company made some mistakes and therefore should pay for them. That feeling seems to be stronger than not liking to do it. Now I just need to find some strength and courage to get it done. There are all sorts of questions in my mind about how to word the email that I will send. Or heaven forbid, do I need to call them?

Our children did not inherit this hesitancy about dealing with errors in a product. How did that happen? I see them step right up and face it head on.

If we had gone to a store Leroy could have tried these on and the fit would have been good or he would not have purchased them. Also we would have had them in time to make the gift delivery in person. Seems I know many who just love doing internet shopping, but I am not in the category.

Paula

Procrastination

Hello,

The time has come. Last night we got more than twenty Christmas cards ready for the mail box. This morning we did at least fifteen more. We have made progress with only a few left. Because of the internet we have slashed the number of cards that we send. Some year we might even include some pictures. I thought about a picture that is the background on my computer. It is a picture of Leroy and I after camping and while hiking in the Utah Wasatch Mountains. We had not showered and I am not sure that I had even combed my hair. It seemed like the real us. In some ways we do not even look too bad. Perhaps it is much closer to our normal look than we allow ourselves to know.

Because we are sending out these cards so late, I have a wild urge so write a little note to the postal workers. It would say, “It is my fault that this is so late going out. Procrastination can be seductive. You do not have to work harder than usual to send them along. They can be late. It will be ok.”

At any rate we are just putting them in the corner mail box as is. Leroy and I have a system. He addresses, signs them, and puts them in the envelop. Sometimes he leaves them open so I can write something more on the card and sometimes he seals it up. I have been writing on everyone that I handle, consequently I do not get so many finished. Leroy seems to feel we have said it all and I feel that there is always more to say.

Now we need more stamps. Tomorrow is another day.

Paula