No Grades In My Classes

No one gets a grade in Mah Jongg. Friends come to learn and their avid attention helps them become better players. Despite the lack of an actual reward from me, as their teacher, my last group of Kinston students treated me so specially you would think they were vying for a better grade.

Before I even got there Kristi got all the classes organized. Jane hosted me, calling me to inquire what I wanted for breakfast day ahead of time. She and her husband Warren had a dinner party for me one night where Molly brought a lemon pie for dessert and Mary Ann a bottle of wine. We went to Chef and the Farmer dinner the second night and Ann and Becky joined us. The comfy bed in their beautiful farm house would have been more than enough, but Jane also gave me a book before we left for our last class today.

The first day of class Lee Van arrived with stunning yellow Peony from her garden, in a vase, announcing she was vying to be teacher’s pet. Kara bought my lunch the first day. Jo bought my lunch today. Debbie made muffins on the second day and took a group picture on the last, (sadly, Kristi and Kara missed the photo.) Then while I was teaching the beginner class Debbie snuck back in and left me a gift. It was the class photo in a fabulous frame.

Suzanne announced she wanted to take any class I would teach two or three times and her sister Nancy agreed. Even previous students, Ann and Boo came by to see me, despite not being able to come to class.

All these kindnesses to me and not one of them got a better grade because of it. What I get out of teaching Mah Jongg is so much more than the people get who are learning. I appreciate their attention, thoughtful questions, kindness to each other, their curiosity, diligence, stick-to-it-ness, laughter, patience and generosity, especially to me.

Fun Filled Day

There are some days that are so full there is hardly anytime left to write. Today was one of those days. It started out with a lovely bite to eat with Warren and Jane Brothers before Jane and I left for Mah Jongg. The Kinston Country Club has been a wonderful host to these two classes.

The morning strategy class was overrun with treats from the should-be-prize-winning baker Debbie, who brought homemade muffins, while the club made their crave worthy cheese biscuits. Thank goodness I had just taken my medicine that means I couldn’t eat for an hour when all these baked goods came around. It is hard to eat, talk and teach at the same time.

We did some mind expanding exercises in the strategy class and my friends worked hard to incorporate the new knowledge into their play.

I was able to grab a quick bite of lunch and had to meet with a new student to catch her up on the class she missed. Then it was off to the beginner class. When I gave them group work they really put their heads down to figure out the answers.

After class I stopped at the fish market to order seafood to be packed for travel tomorrow. Russ will be getting some yummy fish this weekend.

I met Jane, Ann and Becky for dinner at the Chef and The Farmer. It was great to go there with locals who knew everyone. We got the Royal treatment. I have to say the butter bean hummus was the most yummy thing I have eaten in a while.

Jane and I headed home to see Warren, thinking we were going to have an earlier night than last night. I’m not sure what we were thinking as we stayed up and yucked it up at the kitchen table much too late. Now I am against a hard dead line to post something. I must try and get some sleep so I can finish strong at Mah Jongg Classes tomorrow. It will be bitter sweet to leave since I really adore this group of friends.

I Love Being Tricked

In January I had the great pleasure of teaching Mah Jongg to the most glorious group of women In Kinston. At that class I met the darling Jane Brothers who asked me where I was staying. When I told her the Mother Earth Lodge she said, “Well, you need to stay at my house. I have a bed and breakfast.” Since I enjoyed her so much I agreed to do that if I came back.

Fast forward a couple months and I got a call from the Kinston crowd that they wanted more lessons. I told the dear Kristi, who was organizing the class, that I needed to be in contact with Jane because I was going to stay with her. A day later Jane called me and announced that she was ready for me to come and stay with her and her husband Warren.

Today I arrived to two very full classes of wonderful students. Jane was in the first class and I met her back at her house after my second class. While we were lying around on the sofa recovering from our day talking I said, “Jane, I need to talk to you about your bed and Breakfast.” She was yet to get a credit card or anything from me.

That was when Jane confessed she hadn’t had the bed and breakfast in years, she just wanted me to stay with her. That was the best tall tale anyone has told me in a long time!

It has been a delight to be here with Jane, Warren and their very cute dog lucky. Warren took me on a tour of his organic farm. I felt I already knew him as I had watched him for years on the TV show a Chef’s Life with Vivian Howard. They have a wonderful farm house and invited friends from the Mah Jongg class to have dinner with us. Warren cooked salmon on his new fangled repurposed Weber grill that lost it’s legs and we ate lettuce, radishes, and beets from the farm.

My new favorite person is Jane Brothers. I knew it the first time I met her, but now she had solidified her standing after tricking me to stay with her. So much better than a motel.

Sharing the Celebration

One of the best things about getting older is you enjoy sharing your birthday with your friend. Today a group of my friends who all like to needlepoint got together to celebrate Michelle Beischer’s and my birthday. Michelle’s birthday was three days ago and mine is next week so sharing the celebration was a joyous way to spend time together.

Our friend Christy baked the most delicious and beautiful almond, white chocolate and raspberry cake. It is a good thing we had a doubled up our birthdays because we certainly did not need two cakes one week apart.

As a child there was a girl who was in my second and third grade classes who had the same birthday as me. I hated having to share my day with her. Perhaps it was because I did t like her much, but mostly because I was selfish and want the day to be all about me. How perfectly childish.

Now I love all my friends who share the same birthday with me. It is a nice club. I no longer care to have a day all to myself. I have learned that sharing it with friends makes it exponentially sweeter.

First Post Pandemic Flight

For all of my life I have been a traveler. It helped that my father worked in London when I was young and my first job out of college was that of a traveling salesman. Being a consultant with international clients eventually got me all over the world. Then in retirement I traveled with Russ as much as his job let me. So a two year plus break from going to the airport is the longest I have ever gone since childhood for flying on a trip.

I can’t say that I have missed flying, but I have missed spending the weekend in a fun far off city. When Russ had this trip to Chicago he asked if I wanted to go. It is our thirtieth anniversary next week and he had a lot to make up for In our twenty-fifth anniversary trip.

I am happy to say that I officially missed traveling. We didn’t have any major plans in coming here. We have spent lots of time in Chicago before. We just hung in the city, going to the art Institute, eating at interesting restaurants and walking our feet off. Well, mine were walked off and Russ just got his normal daily amount of steps.

Our best meal was at The Girl and The Goat. The staff was fantastic, belying the idea that there are no good service workers left. Although the best meal was there, the best thing we ate was at a little Oyster bar in Lincoln Park. It was thinly sliced lemons that were fried as part of calamari. There we had the most opinionated waitress who said after we were served that , “I would never recommend that dish.” She was wrong, it was the best thing we ate. Of course everything she recommended was twice as expensive as anything else. We didn’t get Oysters in the middle of the country.

Our best breakfast was at Eleven, a great Jewish Deli. It was so good we ate there twice. On those days we didn’t eat again until dinner. I am always happy at a Jewish Deli. The best thing on the menu there was “Guilt. $0, there is always plenty to go around.”

Our best activity, that I can talk about, was a visit to something called Mindworks, which is a kind of lab that the Booth school at U Chicago runs to do mind experiments on willing percipients. It is in a storefront on Michigan Ave. I was in an experiment that was supposed to be about memory. Another man and I were told to read a paragraph, then we were moved to a waiting room where we were told we had to stay in our seats for ten minutes. The lab assistant told us we could look at our phones. I leaned over to the man and told him he was not allowed to hit me and I wouldn’t hit him. As a nice older gentleman he readily agreed with me. The lab assistant shut the door and I asked the man where he was from. That is our family ice breaking question. He said Mexico City and a long conversation ensued.

At the ten minute mark the lab assistant took us back to our first room to answer questions on computers. They had nothing to do with the paragraph we read, but instead asked if we talked to each other and who talked first. After the experiment the lab assistant told me I was the fastest first talker she had ever had. Surprise, surprise. Russ was in a virtual reality experiment. The best thing about that is he learned he can use virtual reality with only one working eye.

Flying home was not so hard, but still the least good part of a great weekend. Russ goes back to the airport tomorrow for another business trip. I can see that we are quickly moving out of the pandemic life. Now I am wondering when I am going to have time for all my pandemic hobbies if I am going to travel again.

Really Old Married Couple

Russ and I are about to celebrate our 30th anniversary. In true fashion that we have been together so long, we bought practically matching shoes today. In Russ’ defense I forced him into the store. I am at the place in life that there is nothing better than a clean pair of sneakers. Thankfully the world has gotten so casual that everyone wears them everywhere.

As if it even matters what a sixty year old woman is wearing any way. No one is looking at me, or cares. So after my Christmas Red wool Allbirds purchase I decided I needed a summer pair. I just wanted white mesh sneakers that are so comfortable I can walk as long as I want.

Russ and I walked to the store. He thought he could wait outside like he does at all stores. I told him he had to come in since he had the wallet. I quickly found the pair of shoes I wanted. Tried them on and left them on, placing the shoes I was wearing in the box. I asked my sales girl what the biggest size the men’s came in. FOURTEEN! I asked her which ones were the narrowest. She showed them to me.

I asked Russ if he would try them on. He humored me. See, he wears a 14 AAA. That is an impossible shoe to find. These fit. He really didn’t want them, but the casual shoes he had with him had holes where his big toe popped out. He needed, not wanted, but needed new casual shoes. He did not say he liked them, but he wore them out of the store and out to dinner tonight.

We are now that old married couple wearing matching shoes. At least we don’t have matching outfits. He would look so much better in his than me so I will continue to wear different clothes.

Photo Blog

All photos, text to follow…

Florida is Not the Happiest Place on Earth

With all my apologies to my various family members who live in Florida, you officially live in the dumbest state ever. DeSantis is picking a fight with Disney he can’t win. He should have learned from North Carolina’s one term Republican governor who picked a fight over bathrooms, which was a law in search of a non-existent problem. When North Carolina tried to legislate which bathroom people could use we lost billions of dollars in revenue for the state. Now Florida stands to do worse.

The don’t say Gay law is a law in search of a problem that didn’t exist before. Disney should have spoken up for LGBTQ+ people while the bill was being debated. It waited and only after DeSantis signed the ridiculous law did they say something. Disney is the happiest place on earth. It’s a gay ‘ole time. It’s right to speak up on behalf of it’s cast members and the guests who visit.

Now DeSantis wants to punish Disney. Disney is the reason Florida has revenues to begin with. I was a kid when Disney world was conceived and was being built. I watched the Wonderful world of Disney every Sunday night at seven hanging on Walt’s every word about the new theme park. We begged my father to take us. He said not on his life would he take us to that swamp.

Because Central Florida was a swamp of nothingness before Mickey and Minnie made it home. Yes, Florida has beaches, but so do many states. People wouldn’t flock to Florida just for their beaches if Disney wasn’t there too. Now, Florida Law makers, without any time spent studying the consequences, passed a bill to take away a special tax status that Walt and Roy secured from Florida before they agreed to build there.

If Florida does revoke the Special status they will also inherit the $1.7 BILLION bonds that Disney owes for improvements, as well as have to set up all the “government” type services, like fire departments, police, etc. that Disney currently owns and runs. This assumes that it all happens without a raft of law suits from much smarter lawyers that Disney employees than the civil servants in Florida government.

All this fight with Disney does is brings attention to how unfriendly Florida is, not the nicest place on earth that Disney has created. There are lots of other places people from all over the world can visit and spend their money. Look how much North Carolina lost on one bathroom bill and we hardly have the same worldwide draw as Disney. In fact, when I worked in London and I would tell people I lived in North Carolina they would cock their head with a dazed look. I would follow up with, it’s between New York and Disney world and that gave them a point of reference they knew.

The right, in their efforts not to bother legislating something actually useful, but still wanting to gin up their base creates these non-problem issues and then doubles down when they are challenged.

My answer is to not give any revenue to Florida if I can help it. The state that has buildings full of sleeping residents collapse due to poor oversight is bad enough, but starting a war with Disney after creating a hostile community for LGBTQ+ people is unacceptable.

The only way that things like this can be stopped is if people of good conscious speak up and withhold revenue. It worked against the NC bathroom bill. When it hits Florida residents in the pocket book they will cry uncle, and not uncle Wiggly.

The Graduation Celebrator We Miss

The summer between my junior and senior year in college I worked in Pittsburgh selling cable television. It was a job that required a car since I sold in every neighborhood all over the city, depending on where the new cable was being built. One night we had a big team event and on my way home I got t-boned in an intersection and my car was totaled. My father happened to be in Pittsburgh that day, which was very comforting. He also went out the day after my accident and found me a “new” used car. It was a maroon Volvo sedan, the safest car he could think of.

I loved that car, but the day I graduated from college my mother put the dollar amount my father had paid for that car on a piece of paper on the refrigerator. Happy graduation, no present, you owe us this money. Since my parents had paid for my education it seemed only fair. Thankfully I got a job that provided me with a company car, so I sold that Volvo for $7,700, seven hundred more than my father had paid for it and returned the $7,000 to my parents. (Good thing I was good at sales.)

Last summer it dawned on me that I paid my parents back exactly what my father had paid, but he had gotten insurance on the car I totaled. I asked him about this when I thought of it. He said, “You are right, but I never told your mother that I got that insurance money.” I told him that was rough on me. He said, “Don’t worry, I will make it up to Carter when she graduates this year.”

Sadly he did not make it long enough to see her graduate. Even though she got her diploma in December, she is going to walk in graduation next month. We are going to celebrate and see her do it, especially since it will be at Fenway. I do wish my Dad had lived long enough to celebrate it with her. He would be very proud of how well she did and the job she got.

She also is not getting the present that would make up for his pocketing the insurance money, instead having me pay for the whole car. I’m not sure she is getting any presents at all for graduation. Not that she needs anything other than money to help her decorate her new apartment now that she will have a separate bedroom. Her grandfather would have been the big celebrator. We do miss that about him.

The Joy of Winners

Everyone wants to be a winner. That’s probably how we got to be a nation of participation trophies, just so people can think they are winners. I am not a believer in participation trophies. I like the feeling you get when you really win. My sweetest grandmother, Mima, was a big gamer. She would teach me every grown up game and play with me as hard as she could. I well remember playing gin rummy with her when I was five. She would inevitably beat me. My lip would quiver and she would quickly raise her pointer finger in the air and say, “No crying.” She never “let” me win. So when I did beat her it was a real triumph I would relish.

As grown ups we don’t do enough things we can win at, unless you sell something at work and can beat your competitors. So playing games is the best way to get that high feeling you get from winning.

Today was our last Mah Jongg Class at Chapel Hill Country Club. It also happened to be the club’s 100th birthday so they were having a big celebration. Champagne and cake were brought into our class. So when people won their game they not only had that fabulous feeling of doing something better than everyone else they also got a champagne toast.

I suggest you find something to compete at just for the sheer joy of winning. It might take you a while to win, but then when you do it will that much sweeter. So don’t settle on go fish with your grandchildren. Make it a challenge. I want to congratulate the winners today. This is just the beginning of your journey as a winner.

Dr. Day

Everybody dealt with doctors today. Russ had doctors. I took my Mom to Duke to have her sit around at the eye hospital for five hours to “see” doctors. I had my annual exam today.

I had to help my Mom check in online after she said she had already checked in. Five different codes later we final got into her MY Chart. We went through what felt like hundreds of illnesses she never had. I had done online check in for my appointment too. It took me fifteen minutes to input all my medications and supplements. And another fifteen to go through all the illnesses I never had. Then when I got to the doctor’s office they had me fill out three more pages. What the hell? My favorite question is “what was the date of your last period.” I just put down “a million years ago.” They have that information in their system better than I have it in my memory. You tell me.

I like my doctor. The funniest thing she told me today is that I have a small tight uterus and small ovaries. Isn’t that just perfect. On the outside I have big things, but on the inside, they are small. Why the hell can’t it be the other way around?

I also have small finger nails. That is the one big thing I wouldn’t mind having. I have small lips too. Yes, I wish they were bigger. I guess at my age just having working parts is a good thing.

As I watched how much time my parents spent going to doctors I am not looking forward to parts breaking down. I feel like we go to Dentists more than the average now and that is sure to go up. Oh, I also have small teeth.

Easter was Happening All Over

Our little family was all split up today. My mother came down to spend two nights with us for Easter. We went to church, where I was the lector so I didn’t even sit with my family. Thankfully the friends who sat near Russ also knew my mother. It was a beautiful day at church to have a full congregation, the Westminster Brass playing and the sun shinning as we came out. Russ commented that this was the first time we have had so many people in the courtyard with the reflection from the glass windows in the fellowship hall making it look like double the people.

We came home to our little Easter dinner that I made. Mom, even changed out of her church clothes before lunch so she was ready to help me plant my garden after lunch.

My sister Margaret had my sister Janet and Sophie over for Easter brunch and it looked like the bunny came with goodies for everyone. I think Margaret is just glad I was not there to steal all the good stuff like I did when we were kids.

Carter was looking forward to going to a Big Italian Easter with her friend Olivia at her parents house outside Boston. Then one of Olivia’s roommates came down with Covid so they could not go to Olivia’s family in order to protect her ninety something year old grandmother. So instead of them going there for Easter Olivia’s mother drove Easter into them in Boston. She even brought Carter an Easter basket along with a giant feast that Carter and Olivia were having at Carter’s apartment. There is nothing better than a mother you don’t know loving on your child.

So we may have all been apart, but everybody had someone with them and everybody celebrated. For he is risen, he is risen indeed.

The Dog’s The Highlight

It’s opening week at the Durham Bulls and things aren’t going well. Tonight we went for our first game of the season and they were playing the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. How scared should a bull be of a shrimp, jumbo or otherwise? Well it turns out plenty scared.

So with the Bulls not playing their best, especially the pitcher in the seventh inning who gave up five runs, we turned to the other fun activities that make up minor league baseball. Of course we have the always entertaining Wool E. Bull. I asked my friend Javoti, the on field announcer if There was a new guy in that Bull Head and he said yes. He seems like he will be a successful Bull so we are rooting for him.

The biggest “hit” of the night was Ripken, the bat dog. Ripken is a black lab who goes out and picks up the bats after the player has run off to first plate. Ripken was the most popular member of the team tonight. He only picks up the Bull’s bats. Those shrimp needed their own dog, but alas they had none.

Since our seats are right behind the Bull’s dugout we got to talk to Ripken’s trainer. They only come for Saturday night home games and Ripken has his own official Topps Baseball card.

All our friends at the game tonight agreed that the Dog was the highlight. There was some good playing and hits and runs were made, but when the Bulls gave up five in the seventh that was enough for me. Ripken had already departed, maybe he was the good luck charm that shouldn’t have left until the game was done.

It’s a Ramadan, Passover, Easter-Palloza

It only happens about every thirty-three years that The three most practiced religions in the US have major celebrations at the same time. Tonight Passover begins for Jewish friends and runs all week. Ramadan started April 2 and the daytime fasting and prayers last until May 1 for Muslim friends. And today is Good Friday and Holy Week wraps up with Jesus’ big day Easter Sunday for us Christians. Since Ramadan moves one month every year, it will be celebrated in every season over the course of a dozen years. So having all three major religions observing big things on the same weekend is a rarity.

First to my Jewish Friends I would like to wish you a sweet Passover. To my Muslim friends I wish you a blessed Ramadan. And to my Christian friends Happy Easter.

I am hopeful that all these celebrations at the same time remind us that we may pray differently, but we share in common tenants to be good people, love each other and do good in the world.

Not all religious followers are good at remembering these things, just as you don’t have to follow any religion to do these things. For me I am wishing the world peace and love during this Holy Week. We need a lot more compassion and working for the common good. No matter what you believe, if anything, good blessings on you.

Someone Is Always Awake

It’s 2:45 AM and someone is awake in our house. Two nights ago it was me. Last night it was Russ. I don’t know what is going on, but for some reason no one seems able to sleep past 2:45 everyday. There must be something going on in the universe.

I went to the dentist two days ago to get an old filing replaced. He asked how I was. I said, “Just exhausted because I have been since 2:45.”

He looked at me a little cross eyed. “You are the tenth patient day to tell me that.” I asked how many people he had seen in total and he said maybe 14. That is a high percentage to be awakened in the middle of the night.

There was no weather event that might have woken us. And it’s not just waking up and then going back to sleep. It’s waking up and not being able to go back to sleep.

As I child I was a professional sleeper. Even as a young adult I never had any trouble sleeping. I’m not in the throes of menopause. Russ is definitely not going through menopause. We just can’t sleep, at least not both on the same night.

If you need something in the middle of the night, go ahead and text me. I might answer.

When To Wash The Car?

If you live in North Carolinian you know it’s Yellow Season. That’s when irritating pollen rains down on everything, everywhere, all the time. This morning I got in my car, my very dirty car, and drove a quarter of a mile with the windows up and sneezed 15 really hard sneezes. Thank goodness there were very few cars on the road and no dog walkers because my eyes were forced shut at each sneeze. I don’t have allergies so I can only imagine what this year is like for those of you who suffer.

As I was driving I had to run my windshield washers to brush away enough pollen so I could see. I desperately need to wash my car along with the old land cruiser that lives next to it. We don’t have a four car garage so two cars live outside.

I am at a loss about when I should wash my car during the Yellow Season. I know you should not bother to wash if it it is going to rain the next day, but with the amount of pollen around I feel like washing it now just makes it a pollen magnet. Sure the dirt under the pollen is probably not helping repel the tiny spores. Yes, the inside needs to vacuumed because I can see a film of pollen inside. I just hate washing it and having it look like it wasn’t washed the next day.

I guess I just can’t win. I’m going to have to break down and wash it. Now I am wondering if there is some kind of filter I can put in my air vents that prevents pollen from getting inside the car. I only have the air recirculating inside already, not allowing new air in, but that doesn’t seem to stop this yellow. I am worried that if I keep having these big sneezes while I am driving I am sure to hit someone or something. Thank goodness I didn’t have an incontinent issue. Then I would definitely need detailing.

Like Getting Into College

Apologizes to anyone who is still waiting to hear if their child will be accepted into college as I liken Shay getting accepted by a groomer to the turmoil your family is going through. Since Carter got herself into college early we did not suffer. So it only seems fitting that we have had the trauma of having Shay turned down by multiple groomers.

Shay had been happy with a groomer up near Costco for years. Then they had to close due to the lack of available staff. That was at least four years ago and since then it has been one nightmare after another.

We had an excellent young woman, whose parents I knew. She came to the house and Shay got the full spa treatment at home and was very happy with that. Of course dog grooming was not her long term career so she left us after a while.

We found another mobile groomer, a sweet man who did an excellent job. He left the one company he was working for and did not show up for a scheduled appointment. The owner eventually called and said they were not servicing our neighborhood anymore. I could not imagine why they didn’t want to soak our neighborhood.

That guy eventually went to a new company and called to see if we wanted him. We did! Again he did not show up. Eventually his boss called and said they too were not servicing our neighborhood anymore. What is it about the dogs of Hope Valley?

The pandemic set in about then and Carter came home and she groomed Shay. It was better than a sharp stick in the eye, but her nails were never clipped as none of us could bear to do it. The hair between the D’s of her feet grew long and she started sliding down the wood stairs. Not good.

I asked everyone if they liked their groomers and got many names. I called at least half a dozen and none of them were taking new clients. I eventually had one who asked me to email Shay’s medical records like she was going to give us an appointment. I sent a photo of Shay. I offered to bring her by so she could meet Shay and see how easy going she is. As I was awaiting the call back with an elusive appointment time I realized it had been days. I called back and asked if Shay could get in. NO. No explanation why, just. NO.

Like when a kid gets a “not accepted” letter for college, there was no explanation. I studied the medical report, was there some hidden code that says, “difficult dog?” If she was difficult I might understand.

Finally a friend gave me the number for her mobile groomer. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I called multiple times being so much nicer than I actually am in real life. I was told Shay had to be on the six week grooming schedule, if she needed grooming or not. I just said yes.

I was nervous this morning when I had not gotten a confirmation call or text, so I called. Thankfully she was actually coming. Shay was not happy about it, but she got a great hairdo and had all the important bits taken care of. I pray this woman stays in business. It’s not like Shay will eventually go off to college and make her own beauty appointments.

Thankful for Easy Flowers

I have spent the last year helping my parents move, losing my father and teaching people to play Mah Jongg like their lives depended on it. It you asked me a year ago what the next 12 months would be like I would not have predicted what has transpired. It just goes to show you need to be open to the possibilities and deal with the responsibilities when they happen.

All this time I have been fairly neglectful of my house plants. Don’t thing I have lost my green thumb. Last summer was also the first summer of my newly-built fenced-in vegetable garden and I harvested well over 700 lbs of food from it and that is not counting all my friends took when I was away on vacations.

Most of my house plants are orchids or succulents. My succulents suck right now, but my orchids are a tropical paradise. I don’t do a thing for them. I have never transplanted a one and some are fifteen years old. I have never once fertilized them. They are lucky if they get watered two tablespoons every two weeks. I am just lucky that my sun room seems to get cold enough at night and hot enough in the day to grow orchids.

So while I am out spreading Mah jongg love, my flowers are happily blooming alone back home. Since I hardly ever have a minute to sit and enjoy them I decided to take a few photos of just about a tenth of all the flowers I have right now. I thought I should share them, if even just virtually.

God Mother Visits Day

It may be National siblings day, so to my two sisters, “Happy day!” But to my only child she will never celebrate National siblings day. Thankfully there are no gifts or cake involved in this day. I tried my best to get her a sibling and she knows it, but after a while when you have one good kid you say, “Why mess this up?”

Today Carter had something better than siblings day, she had “God mother comes to visit day.” Carter’s god mother Suzanne drove to Boston to take Carter to lunch and for them to have a good walk around Carter’s city.

I only heard they were doing this just before it happened. There was no need to involve me because they have their own relationship, which I love. Suzanne asked Carter where her favorite place for lunch was and she of course chose Select Oysters. Carter said she had oysters and a beet salad, something 10 year old Carter would have died before having.

There is nothing better than knowing that your adult child and your adult friend love each other. For the record I adore all three of Suzanne’s kids to whom I am “Aunt Dana.”

So happy “God Mother visits day” to you Carter. I’m so glad you had a good day.

Love My Electronic Calendar

I am ever grateful for my apple calendar. I have always liked calendars. I had a weekly planner in fourth grade before they were a grade school staple. In college I used nature conservancy spiral bound calendars which were only about five by eight inches so they were small enough to carry around in my purse or book bag, but had enough space in each day to makes notes about every possible responsibility I had.

When I started work I adopted a filo fax. It had places for addresses, birthdays and notes and I often had directions on how to reach different customer’s locations in places for which I had no maps. I could relive my whole life by looking back at an old calendar. Work commitments, dates, dinner parties, vacations, everything was notated.

When my work went international I adopted a small electronic calendar that was a little bigger than a checkbook. It was great because it kept track of where I was supposed to be in the correct time zone.

As soon as I got a smart phone I immediately moved to the calendar on my phone that also sync’d to my computer and iPad. My favorite feature is the alarm setting. Now the alarm rings on my watch. Without all these reminders I never would remember exactly where I should be and when.

I know exactly when it became important for me to keep track of my own appointments. I was five years old. It was a Saturday and I was playing in our front yard in New Canaan with my Dad and my baby sister. A car pulled up and a friend of mine and her mother got out carrying a goody bag and paper plate with a piece of cake. Apparently I had been invited to her birthday party and was a no show. They assumed I was sick.

I was so mad, embarrassed and sad that I had missed a birthday party. My mother said she just forgot. I’m sure she did. If I had known I was invited I would not have forgotten. Birthday Parties were a big deal when you are five. They still are. If it weren’t for my electronic calendar I might forget a party or two. I am happy that my current version reminded me that today is my dearest friend David Mac Kay’s birthday. Happy Birthday David. Glad I never missed a party for you that I was invited to.

Technology Smechtology

Of all the weeks to lose my Internet this was not the best. I had seven classes to teach this week, meaning I was be home very little. You might think, why does she need her internet when she is not home? Well, Russ also needs the internet, much more than I do since he has a real business to run.

I just needed to be able to play Mah Jongg online to learn the card well enough to teach it to the five new-card classes I was teaching. I had basically learned it before our internet crapped out, but I still was perfecting my understanding.

Russ on the other hand could not work at home and went back to the office. That left Shay home alone without the internet. Thankfully she is not into doggie gaming.

As spectrum was coming today I hung at home as long as possible waiting for them. Russ came home from the office fifteen minutes before I had to leave for Chapel hill and I passed the tech coming down our street. Getting work done at our house is usually my responsibility. I just could not cancel my class and I thought that we needed the internet back as soon as possible. This meant Russ had to juggle work calls and technical duty.

I had a fabulous class with friends in Chapel Hill who were good learners. I stayed a little late with them as they were very enthusiastic. As I was getting in the car Russ called wanting to know where some piece of equipment was in our house. Apparently the tech was still at our house reworking our system. When I got home, more than four hours after I had left, the repair was still going on. With me home, Russ ran to Office Depot and bought a new modem for good measure.

At the six hour mark the tech left and we had both TV and internet. It lasted 20 minutes. Thankfully he had given me his phone number so we called him back and he talked us through a fix. It worked, but I am left with a husband in a bad mood from having half his day hijacked. I am going to have to think of a number of ways to make this up to him.

Still Disconnected From the World

Oh how spoiled in the first world I am. Our internet service went down yesterday. If Russ can’t fix it it is really broken outside the house. I had to call our service provider who said we needed a tech. First available appoint was 30 hours from the time I called. I should have called when I got home last night and Russ told me it was down.

So life without wifi has been like 1984. Last night I wanted to talk to Carter. My cell signal is so poor in my house I had to call her from our landline. Thank goodness I have continued to have it just for these kind of situations. She tried to text me a photo and it took 20 minutes to download.

I went in our bedroom and couldn’t turn any of the lights on because they are all attached to Alexa. It was a little hot and I couldn’t change the temperature because the Nest thermostat needed wifi, so I had to do the old fashioned thing and go down and touch the thermostat on the wall.

There was no way for me to play any of my nightly games of Catan on my iPad without the internet. Instead I worked on a paper sudoku.

This morning I took my dress down to the sweat shop to iron, and thought I could continue using watching my show while I ironed, but I forgot that the TV there is supplied through the internet.

There was a buzz ad my front door, but I couldn’t see who was there through my Ring camera. Shay stands and looks at her Furbo treat dispensing dog camera and wonders why it is not popping out a treat for her.

I am not interested in going back to a time before wifi. I have a book I need to download on audible and I can’t do it. I may have to go dust the house or do something else equally dull as I have no internet to entertain me.

My Internet is Out

I got home from teaching Mah Jongg late tonight and Russ informed me that out internet had been out for three hours.

So I whiled away my time talking to Carter on our old fashioned land line. The internet has not come back so I can’t post a real blog.

This small note will have to suffice for tonight. Please come back and read something more interesting and entertaining tomorrow. As long as the internet is back.

Trying for the Lost Kitchen

There is an elusive restaurant in Freedom, Maine called the Lost Kitchen. It’s owned by a woman named Erin a French, a self taught chef who is regaled by the cooking community. The tiny 40 seat restaurant is probably the hardest reservation in get in America.

The restaurant is only open a few months in the summer. They only take reservations via post card. Yes, post card. Apparently anywhere from 25,000 to 75,000 post cards. It is a lottery system. You send your post card in and hope it gets pulled from the hat. This year the restaurant is asking you to donate to a Maine a farmer Charity to get a code for your post card. I personally find that a brilliant idea. With all the people with plenty of money trying to do anything they can to get a seat at this place, why not ask for a donation. Most people are not going to get picked, but sending $20 to help a Maine farmer will be good for the farmer community and not a hardship to any of those people willing to travel to Freedom for dinner.

Since we will be in Maine a month this year I decided it was time to send a postcard and see if we get picked. The website tells potential patrons you can send homemade or store bought postcards. I went the homemade way. I made a quilted post card because I am hoping that some curious hand that is drawing the winners will feel the fabric with pinked edges and want to pull it from the hat to see what they were feeling.

I appliquéd the word eat on a piece of fabric. Then I sewed two pieces of paper to the other side. As I was sewing the paper on I felt like my post card was not quite stiff enough to withstand the postal system. So before I closed up the fourth side I wanted to insert something a little stiffer. I looked in the drawers of my sewing desk and found a deck of cards.

A card would make the perfect inset. One card was too small, and two fit perfectly. Since I want the cards to fill the whole cavity I sewed them together and slid them between the fabric and the paper. Zigzagging the last seam I had created a little post card with exactly the right weight and feel of a regular post card.

I’m off to bring it to the post office. I want to make sure it is accepted and has the right postage. The Lost Kitchen closes post card acceptance on April 18. They say if you send two cards you are disqualified. I am not sure how they figure that out, but I am not taking any chances and will just send one.

If I’d Known…

Sometime around Christmas I was scheduling New Card Analysis classes for my Mah Jongg students for this week. It made sense to me to offer people advice on who to read and play the new card as soon as it was available. Students signed up in droves and I have five classes of 25 people filled.

There was a little sweating waiting to get my new card. I needed to analyze it and write a lesson plan. To do it well I needed to play the new card as much as possible myself. Thank goodness my cards came last Wednesday and I had four full days to tell my husband that I needed to play Mah Jongg for work.

Today I had my first two classes, back to back three hour lecture classes. I stood up most of the time talking to my Mah Jongg friends. By the sixth hour I was feeling that constant standing and talking so I asked to sit down. Then I just lectured from a chair. I was exhausted by the time it was all over.

I drove home and now trying to rest up to be able to stay awake for the final in the NCAA Final game with UNC and Kansas. If I had realized four months ago that UNC would be playing tonight I might have not planned such a hard day. All I want to do is go to sleep, but I’m not going to do that.

Thankfully tomorrow I only teach one night class. I can make I can easily stand up for three hours talking. It is no where as hard as playing basketball.

Pew Disorder

In olden days there sometimes were churches that had pews that were in boxes with doors on the aisle ends. The box pews, as they were called, served a couple of purposes. First, they were warmer than bench pews where the cold could sweep through the whole church. Families sat together in their box and could bring hot stones in a box to act as a little furnace in their family box.

Some churches had families pay to have their box and thus would know their seat would be available to them, no matter what time they arrived at church. I am unsure where poorer people sat in churches with paid boxes, but it certainly could not be as desirable as the pew box.

I am a church creature of habit. We don’t have pew boxes in our sanctuary, but for 23 years Russ and I, and sometimes Carter have been sitting in the same place every Sunday, the second row on the right hand side, closest to the window. I like this place for many reasons.

First, I am distracted by people in church who are not paying attention. (This is rich since I needlepoint in my pew) If I had rows of people in front of me I might be watching them and not listening to the sermon.

Second, I am a terrible singer, but like to sing out nonetheless. In the second row we usually don’t have anyone directly in front of us, so I am not singing badly into someone’s ear. I am close enough to the choir to use their good singing as cover for my bad.

Third, I am a laugh out loud sermon listener. So when I laugh it gives the not used to laughing at church people behind me a chance to laugh and it ripples back through the congregation.

Forth, I have excellent hearing and I don’t like to be distracted by people near me making noise. In the sound row there are rarely any noisy people that close to God.

For years the second row was our place. Some years we shared it with a family of six and it was a little tight, but we liked them. Sadly their family broke apart and so we were alone in our row.

A few years ago our church had our pews refinished. When they removed them they decided to make handicapped seating in our row and the one in front. That meant they shortened our pew leaving a space for a wheel chair on the outside. Ours was not the only place this happened and most of the wheel chair congregants choose the back row, rather than the front. So we retained our place.

The shortening of our pew meant that the pew behind us was longer and thus the seat on the end had an infinite about of leg room, as long as someone in a wheelchair wasn’t parked in front.

During Covid the Covid committee decided that people should sit in every other or every third pew and little braided ropes were placed across the end of pews that were forbidden. Russ and I moved back to the third pew where Russ enjoyed the leg room. He called it the “Exit row seating” like on a plane.

Now that Covid is calm people are allowed to sit where they want. Russ is happy in the third row so that is where we are for now. I, with my supersonic hearing can hear people behind us talking all through church and I find it annoying. I can’t imagine that the preachers don’t notice. It’s not like school where the teacher would stop the lesson and ask the offending talkers if they had something to share with the class.

I like the idea of having a paid pew box, we are almost guaranteed to have our seats when we come in. You have to get to church fairly early if you want the back row, but the front is almost always available. I am not sure if Russ will ever want to go back to the second row, unless he is in a wheel chair, but that better not happen. So for now I will endure the noise made by others whom I am now sitting closer to. I wonder if It would look strange if I sat in the front row and Russ sat in the third row?

Center of the College Basketball Universe

According to my governor I live in the center of the center of the college basketball universe – practically equal distance from Duke and UNC. The waiting for tonight’s HUMUNGOUS game is like waiting for Santa when you are five years old. There is nothing else that seems to matter around here. This is clearly the most important basketball game ever played.

Of course everyone I know will be watching it. Most are doing so in the privacy of their own homes so they can wear all their superstitious items, swear and scream as much as they want and replay things during commercials so they can be the judge of calls made by refs.

The number of houses divided is huge here. People who went to UNC and work at Duke or visa versa. Or parents went to one school and children went to the other. Spouses who went to the two different schools. Or worse, people who went to both schools.

What I am worried about is the fact that half of all my local friends and neighbors are going to be devastated tomorrow while the other half will be elated/nervous about the final game.

For now I am praying for good sportsmanship, fair calls, great coaching, no injuries, and fans who treat each other like they would like to be treated.

Good luck to all. This is a game for the history books and I feel like our governor was correct. This is the center of the college basketball universe.

Canine Game Show

After dinner Shay herded us into the sunroom so we could witness her squeaker removal Olympics. As she lay splayed on the floor, atop her dead blue dog, with one mummy toy under her chin, she wrapped her paws around her small lobster and systematically unstitched a seam. After creating a small opening in less than ten seconds she nosed her way around the stuffing inside and with just her incisors she delicately withdrew the squeaker, not disturbing one flounce of fluff.

With surgical precision she pulled the small stopper tube from the bulbous round of the plastic noise maker and paid them side-by-side before attacking the stuffing, pulling it all out of the red lobster until it was noting but a flat shell, picked clean of it’s meat.

While witnessing this activity over and over again, Russ and I got the idea for a dog game show of toy destruction. It could have different contests: Most precise seam ripping, fastest squeaker removal, cleanest fluff removal, best limb removal and best total destruction of stuffed animals.

Dogs could enter in weight categories like wrestling or in breed competitions. Grooming would not come into play and mutts would be encouraged to enter in all fields.

Shay could not be host of this show as she shows no interest in other dogs. She has no talent in dog small talk. This does make her an excellent potential champion because she is never distracted by other dogs. Friendly dogs would be at a disadvantage because they might want to play with the other contestants rather than concentrating on stuffed animal annihilation.

For more social dogs perhaps there could be team toy destruction or tug-of-war contests. Animal dentists may have to be on hand for type A dogs who refuse to lose at any cost.

For the productive dogs there could also be a contest of best layout of corpse animals. Shay does have a way of displaying her kills. Does it sound like it is too dark a show? I think it could command a following.

Need Some Warming

Tomorrow is April 1. I should be shopping for plants for my vegetable garden, or at least perusing the choices. Alas, it has just been too cold to even think about it. I know that around here we can still get frost until April 15. That is the date when you typically should be safe to put in seedlings. A random frost is not what I am worried about. We need some consistently warm and sunny days to warm up the soil.

Soil temperature is really what you need for summer vegetable plants to thrive. If you plant when the ground is too cold your plants will not get established in a positive way and your yield will be low. If your soil is warm and you get a freak frost you can cover your seedlings to save them and usually one cold night does not bring down the temperature of a perviously warmed earth.

Who knew I would be looking for some globe warming temperatures just so my raised beds could get to be hospitable. For now I am praying for a seven straight days of warm. Not sure it’s going to happen.

Thanks to the Mah Jongg Class Organizers

One of the joys of being a Mah Jongg teacher is making so many new friends. Last summer people I met at my summer classes asked me if I would teach classes in their home towns. Of course the answer was yes. One in particular, Marty, said, “I have a few friends at home who would like to learn?” A few friends was the understatement of the year. She has facilitated my teaching well over 250 people since September. She has worked tirelessly to share the love of Mah Jongg with so many and none of this would have happened without her. I am eternally grateful for all her hard work and kindness. She is truly the pied piper of Mah Jongg.

The place where I have been teaching has adjusted some rules and I need to find other locations in Raleigh to teach as the desire to learn does not seem to be waning. One of my beginner classes that ended last week wanted to jump right into advanced beginner. A generous member of the class Raquel volunteered a space at her home for us to have class and organized the participants. Tonight was the first night teaching in her beautiful space. It was one of the few places where I got to teach in a room with windows. It was a nice bonus.

Mah Jongg is a life long game of fun, but one of the best things about it is sharing it with new people and making new friends. I appreciate all the people who ask me to come to their towns and spread the gospel of the tiles. Lesley in Greensboro gathered so many people we had to add an extra day. Ann and Kristi in Kinston are having me back for round two. Kate and Nancy got a group going. Jan organized class for her whole neighborhood of new residents. Val and Deon are finally learning with their friends in Chapel Hill.

Just when I think everyone I have ever met has learned to play Mah Jongg more appear and want their friends to learn. Thanks for my big year of teaching more people than ever. This opportunity all started when I taught at Academy night at DA 23 years ago and really took off when Reba invited me to teach at the beach. To all my class organizers I want you to know how much I love you. I wish you many jokers.

Mah Jongg Christmas

The National Mah Jongg League did not let me down. My 30 cards I ordered in the beginning of January arrived today via priority mail! I was sweating their arrival as I have eight classes scheduled starting Monday to teach NEW CARD Orientation.

This afternoon I was sent a photo of the new card so I have already done the analysis and played the new card on Real Mah Jongg. I will wait until class to reveal my feelings about the card, but it is always an exciting day to get the new card.

For those of you local to Durham who are interested in learning how to play this game I am setting up a beginner class. I have had a number of single people wanting to learn who have patiently been awaiting a opening in a class. This class will probably be in May as I am fully booked in April.

If you are waiting for you new card keep an eye out. I know they send them out in batches according to when you placed your order. If you haven’t ordered yet you might have to wait a few weeks.

Eventually I will be selling these cards, but I need them right now for classes this week.

Happy 2022 and may the Jokers be with you.

Entertaining Communication of the Week

I am a member of a club that has statewide membership in a bigger organization. The club is a special interest club that is social and civic. It is open to all, although I would suggest it could benefit greatly from more diversity. As an officer is my club I receive regular, I might say, much too regular, communications from the state organization. It is a mostly volunteer group and so I should not complain about their lack in skills in the many areas I find lacking.

This past week I opened one of the too many, badly formatted, emails to find it to be an attached PDF from the nominating committee of said group with no introductory information.

The letter started out with a line that read, “First, let me tell you, that God gave us all talents, and all we have to do is identify them And put them to use in the ****** club.”

I am always taken a little aback when anyone says “Let me tell you…” followed up with something about God, with a capital G. Then to be TOLD that we should put them to use in the club, was not quite as inviting as I needed, but I read on.

In a meandering way these people are asking for people to volunteer to be leaders. That is a hard ask. Not everyone has the time or the desire to spend their time that way. So they need to cast a wide net to try and uncover all potential candidates.

I kept reading and got to this sentence, copied here, exactly as written:

“The nominations committee, would like for the Presidents and the Club Members to look at the members in your clubs, look for those God given talents of your members, we know we all have them, because Jesus told us in the scriptures, that we everyone were given one.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa…When did Jesus come into the equation? This is not a religious organization, let alone a Christian one. Now as an ordained Presbyterian Elder myself I recognize where there needs to be separation of church and state as well as just good English. If you want a broad range of people who are willing to volunteer let’s not immediately offend any non-Jesus types, who may make excellent leaders.

The letter goes on…

“Members that love Life and that are happy with themselves and find good in life make great leaders, we are looking for young Women, but us older women have great minds and lots of experience.”

Yes, but these old women might also have a love of the shift key for they capitalize words in weird places. Why young Women are capitalized and old are not is a mystery to me. And when did being happy with yourself have anything to do with it?

The letter goes on and on but ends on one last God note.

Blah, blah, blah “so let’s work as a team, inspired by God to find the Talents He has given to us.”

Signed by five women.

All I can say is thank god it was a PDF so no one could edit it. As desperately as I wanted to respond to this all volunteer group, who generously give their time, there was no information on how to reach any of the signees, let alone where to send nominations.

I was mostly interested in suggesting they add a communications director to the slate, but to do so I might have explain why it seems necessary.

The Heart Break of the Rainbow Bridge

Tonight my dearest friend Suzanne texted the news I was not wanting to hear from her. They lost their dog Chance. Chance had some health issues last week, but the doctors thought they were not life threatening. Sadly dogs don’t always tell doctors evertything, hoping to spare their humans.

I have an extra special place in my heart for Chance since we shared a birthday. He was a happy lab and constant companion to all the humans in their family. It may have been his time to cross the rainbow bridge, but his family was left devastated on this side.

It seems like many of my friends canine family members have crossed that bridge in the last few months, Brady and Norman to name two of my favorites. We are rarely ready to let them go.

But unlike humans we have the choice to end their suffering when there is no hope. It still breaks you, but watching your loved one suffer is so much worse. Knowing that the pain over for your dog is the gift of love you have given then them.

So to all my heart broken friends tonight, especially Suzanne, Steve, Grace, Jack and Oliver, know that Chance had the greatest life because of you. Chance was one lucky dog to have you as his humans. He will always live on in your hearts and stories.

Oscars, Smhoscars

Today I recognize a seismic shift in myself. All my life I have been a movie girl. I have loved movies since I was very little, having memorized all the Shirley Temple movies by the time I was eight. If there is ever a movie category on Jeopardy I run the column. Given the choice to see a live sporting event or a Movie at the movie theatre I would chose the movies, even if it was the super bowl that was in the running.

Today I was glued to the TV watching the incredibly unbalanced UNC/St. Peter’s elite eight match up. There was no reason to pay such close attention. The outcome seemed sealed before the first half, but It still had my rapt attention. The one thing I know is that either the school three miles away from me or the one six miles away is going to be in the final. So I am hoping for a Local winner of the final four.

After the game ended and 60 minutes came on Russ and I commented that all the segments on 60 minutes were not just reruns, but threepeats. We wondered what was going on. Then it dawned on me…the Oscars.

This is the first year in the last fifty that I have not been at all interested in what was going to happen at the Academy awards. I usually have filled out an Oscar prediction ballot. I almost always have seen most of the movies up for best picture. I certainly used to be pulling for a few actors and was despondent if they didn’t win.

Not this year. I may have seen three or four movies from the ten nominated best pictures, all on TV. I haven’t been in a movie house in two years. Although I enjoy watching movies on my own TV, it makes them not seem as special.

As for the awards show tonight I certainly don’t care what anyone is wearing. Although I am interested in seeing how the three women do as hosts. I still hold the Billy Crystal opening the year The Crying Game was nominated as the pinnacle. He did an opening song and I will never forget the line, “Those eyes, those thighs, Surprise! It’s the Crying Game.” (If you don’t remember what the movie was about, that reference is lost on you right now.). But that is how much I loved the Oscars, I could quote past shows.

Perhaps it is my age, or the shift in my viewing to binging series as a much more satisfying watching experience. Certainly my very literary book club that started during Covid has eaten into my movie time. Whatever I will not be staying up.

If Someone Else Makes It

Sometimes things just taste better because you didn’t have to do any of the work. I spent the better part of my day making soup for a sick friend. It was a little more than soup, because I also had to make Turkey meatballs that went in it, and pesto, some cubed French bread and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. I delivered it and reminded my friend to not forget to add all the accompanying parts by telling her they were like the jewelry of the outfit.

When I left she said, “I hope you kept some for yourself for dinner.” I told her I had plenty for myself and we would have it tomorrow.

Tonight we were invited over to ur friends Sara and Dave’s for dinner. Sara said it made her anxious to cook for me. I reminded her that I have hardly ever eaten something I didn’t like and her dinner was delicious. One thing that made it especially good is I didn’t do any of the work for it.

Having someone else cook for you is the most generous thing that can happen to you that day. I was happy to cook for someone else and equally happy to have someone cook for me.

So many times I have had a friend say that a salad prepared by someone else tastes so much better than one they made themselves. I don’t know why a salad in particular, but I get the sentiment.

I hope my friend who got the soup enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed Sara’s dinner. Dinner with friends…you can’t beat lt.

Beautiful Southern Ladies

When we first moved to Durham as Russ was entering business school we were invited to a party. The hosts were friends of a good college friend and they invited us even though they didn’t know us. At that party Russ and I met Roz and Earl Howell. We liked them immediately and invited them to our little house. Roz could not have been nicer to me, inviting me to learn Mah Jongg with her and start an investment club together. Roz was my first friend to see Carter the night she was born, breaking into the maternity ward by saying she was Carter’s Granny Roz.

Sadly, Roz and Earl, who had grown to be great friends of ours, moved to Atlanta, but we stayed in touch. A few years ago her son Elliott moved back to Durham with his wife and two girls so now Roz and Earl need to come to Durham to see their grand daughters. It is a win for me because I get to see Roz too. This is one of those weeks that Granny Roz is in Durham.

Today I was lucky enough to be included in a small bridge gathering at Margaret Rouse’s house given by Margaret and Robin Marin. If Robin is hosting lunch is going to be great. I have not been playing as much bridge these days and I was a little worried to be joining this expert group. Thankfully no scores were kept and everyone was as generous as they could be.

It was such a nice way to spend the day with women who I really like, but have not seen much, especially due to the pandemic. it was like old fashioned bridge where we got to talk to each other while we played and discuss what might have been a better bid after the hand because we weren’t playing duplicate.

After playing we sat at Margaret’s beautiful dining room table and enjoyed lunch and talked. It made me miss having Roz around all the time. It also made me miss having people over to sit around my table, for both games and lunch. I also miss spending time with people of all ages. I think I need to work on that. Seems like it’s time to have a few luncheons and get back to being southern. Thanks Margaret and Robin for reminding me how.

Trader Joe’s Mash Up

In an effort to use up things in the freezer I threw together some various items all purchased at Trader Joe’s and came up with a winning dinner. Since I will never remember exactly what I made I am going to memorialize it here. I was able to u tilize kale from my garden, Brussels I had in the fridge and everything else from TJ’s.

Brussels Sprout, Gnocchi dinner

20 Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and sliced into thirds

Big bunch of kale, cleaned and chopped

Splash of olive oil

1 bag of mushroom medley from TJ’s

1 bag of Cauliflower gnocchi from TJ’s

Handful of Quattro formaggicheese from TJ’s

Sprinkle of garlic powder

Sprinkle of Unami Mushroom spice from TJ’

In big skillet splash in some olive oil and put the Brussels sprouts in and sauté until starting to get soft. Add the chopped kale and continue cooking for three minutes. Add the bag of frozen mushrooms and cook three minutes until hot. Remove food from skillet and set aside in bowl. Put the gnocchi in the pan and add 1/4 cup of water, cover and cook six minutes stirring once or twice. At six minutes the water should be absorbed. Splash a little more olive oil on the gnocchi and cook another two minutes. Add the vegetables back in the pan, sprinkle some garlic and Mushroom spice, salt and pepper. You can serve it just like that if you want it to be vegan. If you like cheese add a handful for the Quattro formaggi. Enjoy you veggies!

Overly Optimistic?

I had a rare moment when I was getting to play Mah Jongg rather than just teaching it this morning. It was a lopsided day of playing where one friend was winning and one was not. The one who was winning said, “Well, something bad is going to happen today since I won so much.”

I responded with exactly the opposite reaction, “Seems like it will be a great day.” The ensuing conversation was about the idea that if something goes well it will be immediately followed by something bad or if things are going well they will continue.

I am a glass is really full, despite what you actually see, kind of person. I believe we make our own luck and bad things can be avoided. I guess I look at the sunny side and totally ignore the dark side.

My friend who was now expecting bad news is not a gloomy person. Maybe she is more realistic. I just don’t look for or acknowledge all the bad stuff.

If I am having a losing day at Mah Jongg I don’t think it is a precursor for other things that might go wrong. But if I am having a winning day I do think the rest of the day is going to go well.

In so many ways I think attitude has a lot to do with outcomes. Of course I have the charmed position to have been given a great education and a lot of opportunities in my life so it is easier to be optimistic if you are dealt good cards off the top. I’m just not looking for trouble.

You Want me to Write the Recipe Down?

Yesterday after at the end of our monthly Zoom my friend Suzanne told me she was off to make tofu. Although she has always been in perfect shape it was not due to a life of tofu. This is new. So as I was eating my vegan stew I had made a few days before and was still eating it I sent her a photo.

“Send me the recipe.”

You all know I don’t cook with recipes so thankfully she asked for this soon enough after I had created it to remember what I put in it. After I sent it to her I remembered the tomato paste, so Suzanne, use this version and not the one I sent you yesterday. I would have loved to add broccoli, but since Russ hates that veg I didn’t put it in. You can use any vegetables you have hanging around. You can also top it with some additional protein, like sautéed shrimp or salmon or the eternal chicken. Mix it up, it’s your food.

Curried red lentil and vegetable stew

2 large yellow onions chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

2 T. Grated ginger

1 T. Olive oil

1 cup red lentils

6 cups broth, (veggie or chicken)

4 T. Red curry paste (Thai)

2 T. Turmeric

2 T. Cumin

1 T. Smoked paprika

2 T. Tomato paste

Half a head of cauliflower broken into florets

1 red pepper chopped

2 cups butternut squash, chopped

1 can coconut milk

2 cups of sugar snap peas

2 cups mushrooms, sautéed

Juice of 2 limes

2 T. Peanut butter

Put first four ingredients in big stock pot on medium high and cook until onions wilt. Add the spices and tomato paste and cook for two minutes. Add the cauliflower, red pepper and butternut squash and broth Cook five minutes. Add red lentils, cook another five minutes. Add sugar snap peas, coconut milk and mushrooms. Cook five more minutes. Add juice and peanut butter. Cook another five minutes.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve with rice, mango chutney and if you want to add more protein some sautéed shrimp or salmon.

A Well Trained Dog

I will never say that we trained Shay well. She won’t shake. She never rolled over once. She does not always come when you call her. But she can read a room. She knows who needs a snuggle or a hug. She will sit beside the person who thinks they don’t like dogs and change their minds.

Today I finished my quilt and put it on our bed. Despite allowing Shay to sleep on our bed I still make quilts with lots of white. I had not finished tucking it in and it had one corner turned up, Shay jumped up and lay down on the dark backside, somehow knowing that she should stay off the white.

Shay knows how to make me happy and keep herself out of trouble. Don’t get Mom’s new white quilt dirty for at least a day.

A Perfect Day to Hand Sew

When I started work on my latest and most intricate Quilt in June I thought the busy part of my year was behind me.  I had spent months helping my parents pack and move from multiple houses, which required me to also run an estate sale.  I really wanted to work on a project that brought me peace, creativity and happiness.  The tiny stars were the most time consuming thing I have ever done, but I just plugged away.  They took me well into September to make the majority of, but I thought I was well on my way.

Then life and death got in the way.  Quilting projects are so low on the priority list.  I still kept at it as it is a good form of therapy between planning memorial services and teaching Mah Jongg.  Sometime in November I finally finished the quilt top.  I took it to my wonderful long arm quilter Tina.  My very intricate quilt with custom designed quilting was in a long line of projects she had to do.

While I waited I knocked out a Christmas present quilt for my sister and called Tina and asked if that quilt could take the place in-line of my stars quilt as it was a present.  So that pushed this quilt back even further.  Finally this week I picked it up.

I am so happy with the quilting job she did.  So today I started finishing the binding, which involves hours of hand sewing.  No better weekend than March Madness to sit and sew.

I was planning on watching basketball the whole time, but yesterday I started watching Yellowstone, which Carter had been telling me I would love. As usual, she was right, so I have been binging Yellowstone, sewing and following the basketball on my phone all at the same time. I almost lost it when Baylor tied it up with UNC and went into overtime. I didn’t dare turn the Chanel to the game in fear of jinxing UNC. Thankfully they won and I have completed about 65% of the binding. Tomorrow I should finish in three or four Yellowstones. The quilt will have taken ten months, but it is my favorite one, so I think it was worth it.

Back to Packing Lunch

Now that Russ’ new office is finished he has tried reentry. (In case you missed it eight months ago, Russ’ landlord asked him to switch spaces so that a major tenant could take all four floors of his building. Russ moved across the street, but not until the landlord did a major unfit on the space. Turns out to be a good move.)

Russ likes the new office, but misses his five second commute from our bedroom to his home office. He came home today complaining about the cost of lunch out in the real world. A Caesar salad with chicken from Press is $19, a sandwich from another place is $10, but add chips and a tip and it’s $15, even a salad from Moe’s is $14.

“I think being home with you for two years has your cheapness rub off on me. That and I like your cooking better,” Russ told me.

I think costs have gone up while he was home and he is noticing the big jump. He and I still talk about his favorite lunch place in New Jersey near the company where we met. He could get two slices of pizza and a fountain drink for two bucks. Those days are long gone.

While Russ may be spending time back in the office I am going to have to make him some lunches to take in. I thought my days of packing lunches was long gone, but if he wants them I will make them, especially if it means he is not spending $100 a week just on lunch.

Tomorrow we have to go dog bed shopping for Shay who wants to go back to the office with Russ. A new employee has a tiny dog named Anchovy and Shay needs to go in and meet her new employee as Shay is managing director of canines. I guess I will have to pack Shay’s lunch too because Russ is loath to spend $19 on himself, but happy to do it for Shay.

No Complaining

11:30 last night, as I lay tossing and turning desperate to go to sleep, Russ out for his two hour deep sleep, I heard a loud grumbling. It was a mechanical sound, like a tractor trailer idling outside my window. Worried that there was something wrong with our HVAC system so I got up to go explore. Out in the hall I flicked on the overhead light and it glowed an eerie gray green color. I heard the sound of the robot vacuum running in Russ’ nursery turned office.

Why was the vacuum running? I bent to push the off button, leaving the vacuum in place. With it off I thought the grumbling sound might subside, but it didn’t. I walked to the top of the stairs and looked down to the thermostat. The front hall lights go out automatically at different times every night. The thermostat normally lights up when you come down the stairs activated by your motion. Instead of showing me the orange glow of “heat on” mode with a temperature setting I saw a black and white picture of a wrench and hammer crossed over each other indicating something was broken.

How could the relatively new HVAC, be broken? I went down another set of stairs to the mechanical room, no sound. I flicked on that light switch, same gray green haunted-house semi-glow. That bad mechanical sound that had awoken me was not coming from inside my house. Thankfully, the scary movie feeling was starting to subside.

I opened the door to the garage and no noise was coming from there, but strangely the light on the dryer was on and I could not get it to go off. Something was off, but I couldn’t figure it out and I was just so tired and wanted to go to sleep, but the noise, that damn growling truck sound, what was it.

I walked back to my bedroom and by the time I got there the hall light was out. Who turned it off? Russ was still sound asleep. Then it dawned on me. The power was out. That sound I heard was big ass automatic generations from at least three of my neighbors.

I picked up my phone, it had not been on the charger very long and I had just a few percent change. I pulled up the Duke energy app to report a power outage. I was not the first. The app said it would be fixed by 3:45 AM. I wrapped two pillows around my head to drown out the growl and eventually fell asleep.

Shay woke me at 7:00. Still no power. Russ had gone out to pick up breakfast, not wanting to open the refrigerator. He told me Duke said it would be noon before power. He left for his new office. I went to the dentist. Both of us looked like we didn’t have power.

I got another text from Duke. 7:00PM we would get power. I stopped believing them. They were wrong again, it came back on around 5:15.

When I asked Russ about the revolt of the machines and the gray green lights he explained that one leg of the transformer had blown first so we were only getting partial power before the whole transformer went. Oh it’s so nice to have an electrical engineer as a husband, otherwise I might have thought we would have to sell the house.Thankfully now the growling is gone.

I am feeling a little guilty complaining about not having power for 18 hours when in Ukraine people are enduring unimaginable terror as well as no power, water or food. The growling of generators is nothing compared to the sounds of bombs. I am going to try and keep this little inconvenient in perspective.

Death or Taxes

I don’t know about you, but I don’t do our own taxes. We rely on a professional for that. The way taxes go these days Russ must pay state taxes in every state he works in. Some years he pays in 12 states. The same person who does our personal taxes also does Russ’ work taxes so she knows all the information about Russ she needs.

So getting together all the personal information for her to do our family taxes is my job. It is a job I hate for some reason, but have little reason for that. I have a little plastic bin in my office and anytime a bit of paper arrives in our house that might be tax related I put it in the bin. Then my only job is to organize it all and get it delivered to the accountants by March 15 along with the workbook where I answer a million questions. The answers to the questions are almost always “no.”

Did we instal an alternative fuel device this year?

Did we have a foreign debt forgiven?

Did either of us earn more than $20 in tips in any month?

Some of the questions are so complicated I don’t even understand the subject. I just answer, “no.”

For the whole month of February and half of March I have this dreaded feeling that I need to be working on the taxes. The feeling is worse than just going ahead and doing it. I am not a person who waits until a deadline to do something. I usually do everything early, except the taxes.

It is not that we often owe money, just the opposite. You would think I would do them quickly so we could get the money back, but no. Yesterday was March 15 so I sat down at my desk and did the taxes and dropped them off, right on time. Not early or late, although I know the accountants would always like them earlier.

I don’t know how I am ever going to change how I feel about doing this exercise I guess that only death will end it, so I am just going to have to live with it. Taxes are still better than death.

Mah Jongg Mouse

Tonight I was teaching at an unnamed club. For the record it is a very nice club. While the women were trying to concentrate on their tiles one screamed out. There was a mouse in the room. It was a tiny brown thing with huge big ears. The screaming scared the little thing. It ran under a door and into a kitchen.

Half the class got up to try and catch the mouse. It ran out into the main room, hugging the baseboard as it circled the room. One student grabbed a dust pan on a broom stick and a broom. We cornered the mouse. She caught it up in the dust pan, which was about 12 inches deep. Before she could get out of the room the mouse jumped out and continued its tour of the base boards.

We tried one more time, but failed. Three or four waitresses came in to try and catch the mouse, then a manager, and a second manager and an office worker. Eventually there were six club employees all in the tiny kitchen next to the ladies lounge.

Everyone gave up and we continued the lessons. A short while later we saw a mouse on the other side of the room. It had to be a second mouse. You know where there is one there are fifty.

Thankfully I am going to a totally different club tomorrow to teach. I hope no mice came with me.

Daylight Savings Mess

When is congress going to actually legislate and end daylight savings time, or standard time or whichever one is wrong and we don’t change our clocks? Springing forward is the dumbest idea ever. The mess that changing our clocks does can not be worth whatever reason we used to do it for.

Today I woke up at 4:15 AM, which was 3:15 my body’s time. I could not go back to sleep and since I had to leave for Raliegh at 7:45 I just stayed awake. Logic should have made me want to sleep later, but instead of springing forward I seemed to have spiraled into this big mess.

I taught two classes today so by the time I got home I was nothing but exhausted. Now I can hardly stay awake long enough to try and right my bloody clock. This could be a big bipartisan win if the parties would just go on and do it. The cost of unproductiveness and car accidents due to people’s sleep being impacted make it a no brainer. Changing the clocks does not change the amount of sunlight we get. You can’t make more sun, so don’t worry about what the hour says and just live with it.

Cake for $190…$200…$210…

With the exception of the tall red haired women who left the auction half way through, asking Russ on her way out, “Is that the way she is at home?” Most people who came to the Westminster cake auction appeared to have a good time. It helped that the youth did an excellent job running the worship services. Additionally there were more people back at live worship than there have been since the beginning of the pandemic. It also helped that everyone was comfortably seated in the new warm fellowship hall on this cold day.

There were more “cakes” than usual. Andy Dunk’s perennial favorite Carmelitas were perfectly portioned into three containers giving me a chance to auction them off separately, getting an ever greater amount with each successive one. I predicted to the audience that would happen. “Bid early or pay more later.” People don’t always believe me, but that was the case all day in all but one instance.

The competition was tough. When multiple families were bidding on the same item there could only be one winner. That left the unsuccessful bidders to then go all in on the next item. Thankfully it seems like most people who were bidding won something with just one or two exceptions.

The bidding really got crazy when the pastor’s kids were bidding against each other for their Grandmother’s cake. I had to keep telling them that I could not let one Tuttle child bid up another Tuttle child. In the end someone else won that cake and then gave it to them. Thank goodness because I was not about to let a PK pay $200 for a cake.

I was very happy the Simonson clan took home my cake as one of the daughters is an excellent baker herself. They paid dearly, but they are dears.

As I told the gathered faithful before we started, this was a fundraiser for a good cause and not a chance to get a pie for the price of one at Harris Teeter. The bidders bid accordingly and raised a great sum of money for the youth group summer trips. It is just a drop in the bucket as one of the trips is to Scotland, but it is good for the youth to understand that they need to raise money in many different ways.

22 Eggs…

Thank goodness no one took me up on the offer to make an additional one of these cakes for $500. This one took two days, 22 eggs, 2 pounds of butter and an untold amount of Chocolate. If I hadn’t promised to bring this cake for the Westminster youth group cake auction I would have cake is four layers of flourless chocolate cake, passion fruit glaze and chocolate ganache between each layer and three recipes of coffee buttercream and chocolate covered espresso beans for garnish.

I spent five hours in the kitchen yesterday, and got the cake mostly done. The weather was not perfect to make French Butter cream, an incredibly fussy frosting. So I made a second batch and left it in the fridge overnight. This morning I went to frost the cake and found that the second batch was a failure. So I had to make a third batch. Thankfully the first two batches were fine for a crumb coat and the third was decorative. Still this is a monster of a cake, at 18 inches long, 7 inches wide and five inches high and weighs at least six pounds.

Russ had to build a special box for us to carry it in since it would crack in half under its own weight if it was not fully supported underneath. It is safely in the fridge now, ready for transport to Church tomorrow. I can smell the deliciousness. This hint can serve at least 24 people, but the good news is it freezes perfectly because it is not a normal cake that could get dry.

I forgot how finicky butter cream is. I had many wedding cake nightmare during my catering years. I am happy not to revisit those days of being held hostage by the rain or humidity. The cold today actually helped me out and for that I am thankful. I could not possible make a forth batch of that butter cream.

Poor Yard Guys

It seems like I am reading daily about landscapers having their equipment stolen off their trucks while they are working in people’s yards. The item which most often gets reported as stolen are gas powered back pack leaf blowers. I am wondering if there is some hot black market ring for leaf blowers?

I for one hate those machines with a passion. They are so loud that you can hear one blowing half a mile away. There is a rule in our neighborhood that no one can use noise making yard machines before 8:00 AM on weekends, but plenty of people either don’t know it’s a rule or don’t care. We have an rechargeable battery powered leaf blower and the sound it makes is about a tenth of those gas ones. It also does not blow with the same power, so it takes longer.

Given the price of gas these days I am not sure why someone would want to steal one of those gas guzzlers, unless they are taking it for the gas. I am sorry for the yard guys who keep losing their equipment. I think some bike locks might be helpful or cameras on their trucks. It is incredibly bold of thieves to pull up behind a truck where the people are in the yard working and take things off the truck. With as many doorbell cameras as their are you would think they would get caught on tape.

The Corporate Slapping

Knowing exactly what the Russian people are hearing about the war is an interesting guessing game. Yes, Putin has prohibited anyone from saying or writing the world “war” and there are very few independent journalists reporting anything about Russia’s unprovoked invasion of a free country, the Russian people must know something big is going on. They may not be getting the news from official outlets, but perhaps they are figuring it out when the 850 Mac Donald’s are all closed suddenly.

What about all the employees of Starbucks, or PepsiCo which have stopped business in Russia. Don’t those people who have suddenly lost their jobs wonder why all the international companies doing business there are all stopping at the same time? Putin may be able to not have it reported in the news, but eventually citizens will put two and two together.

Uniqlo, the Japanese clothing store was remaining open saying that Russians still deserved to have clothes, but the world wide pressure got to them and now they too are closing. My thought when they said Russians still deserved clothes was, Ukrainians deserve to live their lives not being bombed! What a ridiculous statement from Uniqlo. It is indefensible. I’m never going back in one of their stores.

The world is a much smaller place than during the Cold War. Russia opened itself up to the world and the better and more desirable goods made anywhere, other than Russia and the people got addicted to them. I doubt that anyone under 50 in Russia is going to put up with not having Adidas as it closes 500 stores in the country, or any other luxury brand that Russians have come to love. Gucci and Louis Vuitton, what are you doing?

Visa and Mastercard have cut off credit cards to Russians outside Russia . These are the kinds of sanctions that can put the most pressure on Putin. Ordinary citizens having their life disrupted over a war they started is what needs to happen. I want our news media to continue to report who is still doing business with Russia and who is not. I am not going to support any business that stays in Russia. This is one way to support Ukraine and end this illegal war faster.