The January Blues

According to a story I heard on the radio, yesterday is known as Blue Monday.  Tell me about it. Cold, rainy weather, ice, wind, no sun... ugh.  It's not just blue, it is brown too.

I was going to blog for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on Sunday, but everything around here is brown.

Not too exciting.

I have had absolutely no interest in sitting at my computer and blogging.  Not that I do not have anything to say... as if that ever happens.  Just no desire to share, I guess.  I am still putting away Christmas stuff, though my snowmen are still out.  I have also decided to start getting rid of 'stuff'.

First up are fourteen hats - all vintage.  I haven't worn a hat in what seems like forever.  I still have about ten in the closet after cleaning.  I am debating taking them to a vintage clothing store, selling them on eBay, or just giving them away.  All of which requires some effort.  Do any of you wear hats?  Some are from designer Kokin and one is a lovely Diahann Carroll.  One still has the price tags on it and has never been worn.

 Kokin 

Carroll

I have gone to my yoga class and even had a massage.  All that carting of boxes around does a number on one's neck and shoulders.  Since I have degenerative disc disorder in my neck, it doesn't take much to cause irritation.

I've been cooking and have a freezer full of soups, sauces and pasta to reheat.  No chance I will run out of food.  And since I have a whole house generator I can still cook.  Our power went out last night for a short period.  Again.

I can understand why folks leave Michigan for the winter.  If I lived in an apartment, I might do the same.  Of course, before I move anywhere I have to get rid of lots of 'stuff'.  That in itself makes me want to stay put and put up with the gloom.

Only sixty-two days until Spring.  Can hardly wait.

Five Years and Counting... a Blog Anniversary

It's been five years since I started this blog.  What started out as just a way to talk about my day, has turned into a mish-mosh of just about anything and everything.

Along the way I considered not blogging.  Then decided I would continue.

I promised myself I would blog often, and then fell back and missed days at a time.

I ranted and griped.  And then went into the kitchen and baked off my anger.

I've shared my travel adventures and my family get-togethers, my gardening and my cooking.

And whilst I did all those things, I found new blog friends to read and enjoy.

Had I been starting my blog today I would tell you that I put away all of my Christmas decorations.  It took over four hours and my house looks infinitely bigger inside without all the Santas, trees, and garland.

For dinner I made lamb chops Genghis Khan based on the rack of lamb recipe from The Lark restaurant here in West Bloomfield.  I was starving and ate more than I should have done.  But I rationalized that by telling myself I had made a gazillion trips up and down the stairs putting all the decorations back in the basement.  (I really need a dumbwaiter that I can load up which would eliminate carrying everything.)

I found time to watch some TV, do laundry, vacuum, play some Scrabble and now, blog.  All in all a rather busy start to the New Year.

It is very cold here but at least it isn't snowing.  I attribute that to my buying a new snow-blower and also hiring someone to clean the heavy snows from my drive.

Tomorrow I have a yoga class and have absolutely nothing else planned.  I may just totally relax over the next few days before I start baby-sitting again.

Oh, maybe I'll try to find something to blog about.

Going up in Smoke

OK.  I know that some of you out there are just as old as I am.  Remember when every bar and restaurant had bowls of matches at the door when you entered?  (Now they have bowls of mints)

I used to collect the matchbooks even though I never smoked.  They were a nice reminder of where I had been.  I had a rather large collection.  But long ago our basement flooded and the shoebox, which had been on the floor for some reason and not on a shelf, got a little soggy.

I still have a basket of a few that remain on the bar in my family room.  I never use them since if I need a match I use one of those firestarter clicky things.  Besides, there is no chance I will burn my finger waiting for a candle wick to light.

But I did decide to sort through them and take a picture of what is left.  I'm wondering how many of these places have been visited by my readers.

Looking Back

I do not spend a lot of my time looking back at what has happened in my life.  It is over and done with and I prefer to move forward (though that fall that shattered my leg in 2007 still haunts me - mostly the ensuing weight gain it caused). 

I did, however, look back at my first post on this blog three years ago to see what I said and what my intent was.  I find that not much has changed.  I am still cooking (though no longer taking culinary classes or volunteering in a pastry kitchen), watching TV, and reading.  Gardening, travel, friends, all still there to pass my time.  I have added yoga classes which has been a huge plus in my life.

The upshot is that I am still enjoying retirement.  I've learned that just as I lived within a budget when I was employed, I still live within one in retirement, though the budget is much smaller.  OTOH, my children are all on their own, my home and car are paid for, and I have fewer wants than needs.

Here is my original post from January 1, 2010.  Seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I retired on November 21, 2008. I have spent a good deal of the time since then answering the question (now a big pain in the you-know-what): 'So, how do like retirement?' You would think I had either just returned from experiencing an alien abduction or at least had been the first person ever to survive retirement. EVERYBODY wants to hear the answer.

It's retirement. I love it. I can do what I want whenever I want. Or not do it, too.

When I retired, a long-time friend (that's you Debbie) suggested that I start a blog. Yeah, right. Like I had time to do this. Then I would be wondering, just what DID I do last Friday? It was Friday wasn't it?

So, now that my days and adventures all run together, I have decided to write a blog each night about what has occurred during my day. Sounds boring, I know. And I'll probably not even remember half the stuff.

Today was New Year's Day. I made French Onion Soup and Quiche Lorraine. Both recipes straight out of Julia Child's first cookbook. And the first time I ever made any of her recipes. While cooking I also watched 'The Man from Laramie', Criminal Minds, and 'The Last Days'.

Watching TV, movies and cooking from scratch are all things I didn't get to do enough of when I was employed. Ah, living life. C'est bon.

Now I am off to yoga class and then a trip to Costco - a new sale starts today.  Hope you have a good day too!

Sometimes, Conserving Energy is Messy

For much of my younger life, my mother hung her clothes out to dry in the backyard.  That was after she washed them in a wringer washing machine.  My younger readers may not even know what one looks like unless they have been to a museum.  Here is one similar to what I can remember:

I remember how happy I was the day we got a new washer and later a new dryer.  No more hanging the clothes out to dry on the line.  No more worrying about rain if the clothes were out and you left home for any reason.  No more worrying about birds on the line and having to rewash clothes.  Yuck.

I thought about this yesterday after a friend mentioned that she is thinking of going back to hanging out her laundry.  Personally, I can make better use of my time and energy spent hanging out clothes, than actually saving a few pennies on running my gas dryer.

But that is not the least of my objections.  It is the birds.  Everything in my yard is covered with bird doo (sp?).  Light fixtures, downspouts, mailbox, deck, furniture, well, you get the idea.  Here is a photo of a statue in my front yard:

Imagine that on your nice shirt.  Ewww!  I'll stick to the modern convenience.



A Car Follow-up

I posted the blog about my Buick and old people driving them on Sunday.  On Monday I read my newspaper and there was an article about the new age of Buick drivers.  It's gone down by six years.  All the way to 59.  Well, it's a start.

Then on Tuesday night I was watching a 2004 rerun of the BBC's 'Top Gear'.  Richard Hammond (no relation) had gone to Holland to test drive a Cadillac CTS (not available in Britain).  He commented that the average age of Cadillac drivers is 112.  Ha Ha.  Well, at least us Buick drivers are younger than those Cadillac drivers.

And speaking of driving.  Google has been touting the self-driving car at the SAE convention here in Detroit.  Well, how could it be any worse than the drivers I see around town?  Twice in the past two weeks I have had a car cut across the front of my car in the roundabout because they found themselves in the wrong lane.  Do they have a death wish?  And then there was the car coming down the two-lane road I was on in my lane coming right toward me.  What was he thinking?  Or not. 

If we are not going to have good public transportation, then maybe we should all have self-driving cars.  I think I'd feel safer.

Tooling Around Town in my BIG car

I cut articles out of the newspaper to remind me of 'blog' topics.  I throw them on my desk and usually forget about them.  I'm busy with other 'stuff'.  Then I clean my desk and find these hidden gems of interest.

And so it was that I came across a study about what cars are driven by the 'over 65' population.  The top ten list is dominated by Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Buicks.  BIG Cadillacs, Lincolns and Buicks.

I figure there are many reasons for this. 

1. The cars are generally expensive compared to compacts.  We can finally afford them with the mortgage and college bills paid. 

2. We have been driving long enough to have figured out that, despite having a license to drive, there are a lot of people out there who have no clue how to do so, so we need lots of protection around us.

3. They are a whole lot easier to get in and out of than the cars we drove when we were younger and more agile, like my Mustangs and Ford Probe, or vans and SUVs when we were hauling kids and the dog to soccer games and such.

At the top of the list is the Lincoln Town Car.  Ninety percent are bought by seniors.  When I was younger, I said that these cars were 'widow's cars' and I would never drive one.  My husband worked for Ford, but I never owned or had any interest in one of these, though I did drive several of the Mark series of Lincolns.  The Lincoln MKZ is number nine on the list and was also the car my son chose when he got his first full-time job out of college.

Number two on the list is, aha, Buick Lucerne.  This is the car I purchased just before I retired.  Comfy.  Leather seats, heated for winter rides.  I got 31 miles to the gallon on my trip to Chicago.  My only complaint is that the back seat does not fold down, so I can't haul as much from Home Depot.  The Buick LaCrosse, number eight on the list, and the car I drove previously, does have a rear seat that folds down, but it is not as large.

Rounding out the list are three Cadillacs, the Chevy Impala, a Hyundai and a Toyota, none of which I have ever driven. 

I am often asked by people in parking lots if I like my Buick.  I do.  I think it gets attention because it is red with a classy paint detail.  I've been driving Buicks since the mid-90's.  One of my employees said that only 'old folks' drove Buicks.  She may be right.  But she was driving a Cadillac.  What does that make her?  

According to the article (which I could not find online, but was in the Minneapolis Star Tribune), the Town Car, Lucerne and the three Cadillacs all would be out of production if not for seniors buying them.  For that, I think we deserve some credit.

Tchotchkes they are Not

I spent part of my morning dusting.  I hate dusting.  It is a job that always needs repeating.  Like cutting the lawn in summer.

Dusting would be eliminated if I took Maxine's advice and just used my table tops as message boards.  Alas, I have 'stuff' on my tables.  I am sure that in the minds of my sons a lot of this is just worthless junk, knick-knacks to be disposed of in a yard sale.   Well, I guess the seashell collection would warrant that. 

I started collecting seashells and rocks when I was in grade school.  Some of the rocks I have disposed of.  But one has particular sentimental value as a reminder of a trip to Kentucky one Spring.

It has been sitting on top of the bar since 1986 and is not going anywhere anytime soon.

There is the tea cart with some of the teapot collection.  Not that I ever actually use any of the pots.

There is the dragonware Moriage set from Japan and the Chinese YiXing teapots.  One is a beautiful handmade claypot I found in the market at Grandville Island when I visited Vancouver.  And I have a selection of Franz porcelain teapots and cups.  I also have several Chinese clay figures that I bought when I first was married, mostly fisherman.

I also have a few pieces of Moorcroft.  Nothing too expensive, but very lovely older pieces.  And several Gold Imari items including a lamp in the family room.

Along with all of these dust collectors, I have my glass collection.  Much of the depression glassware is packed away along with the Venetian glassware.  I do have my glass paperweights on display along with some blown glass items. 

And then there is the entire China cabinet, full of porcelains, mostly Pickard pieces with an emphasis on Alexander jugs and chocolate pots.

They may be just a lot of junk to some minimalists, but the craftsmanship required to make these pieces seems like a lost art of the past.  I may hate dusting, but cleaning these items makes the task much more enjoyable than dusting just table tops.

Not so Super Sunday

Was I the only person not watching the Super Bowl yesterday?  Not only 'not watching', but not attending a party?  I don't think so, but who knows. 

I bet more people in this country know who played and won yesterday then know who their Congressman is.  I mean, here is a good example of our fellow citizens intelligence, as evidenced in this email attachment I received yesterday:

Jaywalking with Jay Leno

I spent the day doing laundry.  Not just any laundry.  I stripped my bed, washed everything, including the pillows, and rotated the mattress.  If it is going to look like Spring outside, I guess I will start my Spring cleaning.

Then I made a wonderful dinner with angel hair pasta, shrimp, green beans and a light lemon garlic sauce. 

I finished reading 'Catching Fire' and downloaded 'Mockingjay' onto my Kindle.  I read until it was time to watch 'Downton Abbey' on PBS.  This is well worth it just to see the performance by Maggie Smith.

I knew when the game was over because all of the players on Words with Friends were back making words. 

I never understand the compulsion of some folks to watch the Super Bowl and have parties when they have no interest in the game.  I'd much rather just get together to eat and talk.  Our family did this every Sunday when I was growing up.  We were always at someone's house. 

Do folks today need an excuse for socialization?  With our computers and phone and tablets making face-to-face less frequent, maybe we do.

Putting my Brain in Overdrive - Words with Friends

I have been playing a lot of Words with Friends.  I have no idea who most of my opponents have been or still are.  I have played against one anonymous person who is very good and seems to follow the same strategy that I do.  We've each won one game.  Another I suspect is a young person, just based on words used and placement.  All in all this is great fun.

There are some frustrating moments.  Seven tiles that are all vowels or all consonants make the game challenging.  But when you have a seven letter word in your hand that you cannot place on the board, you just want to pull your hair out.  I can remember 'polenta', 'wombats', and 'finaled' as words that had no where to go. 

Part of this is a strategy of placing words that cannot be pluralized with an 's'.  Good idea.  Another is playing against someone who, like myself, builds a crossword puzzle with words.  If only 'sa' was acceptable, I could have played polenta yesterday.  Instead, I had to settle for 'plate' in another area of the board, missing both the triple word score and the bonus for using all my tiles.

Not that I do not feel triumph.  As I stated in an earlier post, my old opponent was my mother-in-law.  When we played at my home, we used the Merriam-Webster dictionary that I won in a grade school spelling bee.  When we played at her home in Chicago, we used her dictionary.  I am pretty sure it was an autographed copy from Noah Webster himself.  If not, she must have received her copy when she was born in 1909.

She was constantly challenging my words and usually we could find them in the dictionary.  But one day I placed the word 'coven' down for a triple score and she challenged me.  I told her what it meant and she opened the dictionary.  Lo and behold, the word was not there.  I could not believe it.  I had to settle for the word 'cove' and missed the triple.

I am not sure why that one instance stands out so much in my mind, but it does.  And then yesterday, I was playing against my friend Shelley and after she opened with 'carte', I played 'coven'.  Later I turned 'carte' into 'cartel' and then 'coven' into 'covenant'.

My high score so far has been 516.  I am usually happy to get anhything over 400.  Here is the board when that high game was finished.

Of course, I got off to a good start by placing 'unified' down as my first word.  Getting a double word score and a 35-point bonus is a plus. 

So, I have 11 games in progress.  My mind is spinning with words waiting for my turn to play.  Isn't the internet wonderful!

Another 512 point game:

More Ways to Spend My Time

I had brunch with a group of friends this morning.  We meet once a month just to keep in touch.  The first question was about what we did for the holidays and what gifts did we receive.  There was a Pandora bracelet and a great-grandchild among the treasures.  Mine was a Kindle Fire.

I would never have purchased it for myself as I do not feel the need to be connected at all times.  I never even turn on my cell phone unless I am going to be away for a length of time - more than several hours.

But once my friends found out I had a Kindle, I was told that I must download 'Words with Friends'.  Everyone was talking about Alec Baldwin playing the game on the plane and refusing to stop.  (Was it being timed?)

So, when I got home and had some free time, I got the app.  Oops.  This could be dangerous.

I love Scrabble.  I used to play with my mother-in-law.  It was a dog-eat-dog contest.  I also played once with a good friend of mine.  He lost the game and never played it with me again.

So, now I have four games going on the Kindle.  I am kicking you-know-what.

For those of you who have time to waste, my ID is deniseh553.  

How Wars Get Started

There is absolutely nothing like misinformation.  Remember how when we were kids we would whisper something to someone and they would pass it down the line through another ten people?  'Your sister is cute' ends up being 'your mother wears army boots'.  So, it should not be a surprise that the new pension tax in Michigan has lots of info floating about that is not quite correct.

First, the Supreme Court decision was not unanimous and still needs some clarification as to whether or not they created a 'graduated income tax'.  And from what I have read, there is talk of an appeal of the entire decision.

But the issue that seems to have caused a lot of discussion and misinformation is one regarding taxing pensions of non-Michigan residents.  Huh?  Taxation without representation.  Isn't this why we had a Boston Tea Party?

The first time I saw anything about this was in reading a piece of legislation that had been introduced to implement the tax.  I was sure I was reading it wrong when it talked about 'non-residents' and sent it off to someone whom I thought would know the answer.  I did not receive a response and figured they either didn't know or were too busy to answer.

Curious about withholding, I contacted the payer for my local community and got even more confused.  The State W-4 form did not address pensions and the payer said not to use their form if the State had one, which at the time they did not.

Yesterday, I was speaking with a fellow public retiree who had bought a home in Florida.  I asked if they were moving there and they said 'no' because they were told they would still have to pay Michigan income tax.  I was not going to get into it at a perfectly nice luncheon.

I came home and after an hour gave up looking for an answer on the internet.  I figured this had to be wrong as I could not imagine that all of those Ford and GM retirees now living in Florida were paying taxes here on their private pensions. I went to bed.

This morning I called the knowledgeable friend who said that while my prior email was intriguing, they had not had a chance to investigate.  He did inform me that the state does have a form MI W-4P for pensions.  After some searching we found it online. 

I got back with my local person to give them the form.  They informed me that they were told by the State that non-resident pensions were subject to tax.  Email back to the other friend who then calls to say that they are NOT and sends me a link to the State's question and answer page:  There are answers to many of your questions on the state website.

So, this is how wars get started.  Susie tells Bill something that may or not be true and by the time it has passed around the 81 counties in Michigan it is totally false and everyone is moving to Texas and buying a gun to protect themselves from the tax collectors in Michigan. 

Bottom line:  Leave the State for one that doesn't tax your money.  No one will come looking for you.  Or at least not today anyway.

Knowing When to Leave

It has been just over three years since I retired.  This afternoon I will be going to a luncheon with many of my former colleagues in the field of Treasury Management.    How many times do you think I will be asked if I am enjoying that decision and do I have any regrets?

Let me answer those questions in order:  Absolutely YES, and definitely NO.

There were several factors that made me decide to take early retirement:  My grandfather died only six months after his retirement in 1960.  My father died suddenly on Christmas Eve in 1980 at the age of 57.  I had both neighbors and colleagues pass away in their late 40's.  And my fall and fracture of my leg and ankle in 2007 showed me what life without the daily stress of the office could be like - even though I was immobile in a chair most of the day. 

I realized that life is short and, surely, we are not meant to die in our office chairs.  Frankly, making money and working 40+ hours a week is not all that it is cracked up to be.  When do you have time to enjoy just being alive?

I read articles all the time, mostly in AARP publications, about seniors who are still working into their 70's and 80's.  These folks claim to be just as sharp and productive, sometimes more so, than their younger counterparts.  But I wonder.  Is it their mind that is deciding that or some true laboratory research?  I will readily admit that I am not as sharp as I was in my 20's. 

I even thought of these folks the other day when I read the online articles about older folks driving.  These 80-year olds who were commenting all claimed to be better drivers than younger people.  As someone who lives in an area where there are lots of older drivers (some who can barely see over the steering wheel), I can tell you this is not true.  But I am sure they all believe it.  Driving 25 in a 45 MPH zone does not make you a good driver.

Years ago I was at a brunch and was talking to the Dean of a University Business School.  After many years in the position, he made the announcement that he was retiring.  I asked him what prompted his decision.  He told me that sometimes you just know 'when to leave'.  Hmmmm.  He was absolutely right.  I just knew that after 20+ years, it was 'time to leave'.  No regrets.  Hey, if I was working you would not be reading this.  I wouldn't have the time.

Have a great day.  I know I will.

Speaking of Fashion

I am no clothes horse.  I am no fashion maven.  I have made my share of fashion faux pas that I dearly regret.  Sometimes even I wonder what I was thinking.

Fortunately, for me, no one is in the habit of following me around with a camera (though back in the early '90's the local paper reported on what all the Board members wore to a meeting.  Slow news day.)

So this morning, I log on to the computer and see this horrendous gray and black outfit that the
First Lady wore yesterday.  It looked like she had mugged my grandmother's old sofa. 

In the past I have received emails regarding the WalMart clothes.  It does not seem to get any better.  Another photo on the web this morning showed her wearing what appeared to be a black jumpsuit with a red and white striped top.  I imagine that someplace there is a mime wandering around wondering where his outfit went.

Are there no mirrors in the White House?

Do You Chico?

Several years ago I was in Europe on a vacation to see the palaces of the Hapsburgs.  Here was a family that ruled for over 600 years until the start of World War I brought down their empire.

Anyway, that is just background for where I was.  Vienna.  Across the street from Schonbrunn Palace.

A woman comes up to me and points at my outfit and says 'Chico's'.  I laughed because everything I packed was Chico's Traveler's outfits and so was what she was wearing.  What is not to like about clothes that DO NOT wrinkle!

I have shopped there for quite some time.  I get coupons and 5% off, plus I always find stuff on sale.

When a birthday coupon came in the mail I told myself I needed nothing.  Which is very true.  But today I went walking in the mall, again.  I strolled into Chico's and there was this very nice looking pea coat.  I have a pea coat that I purchased in Australia way back in 2000.  It does not fit quite as nicely as it used to.

The store had everything 25% off, so I figured I would get the jacket and used my discount and coupon.  A good deal.  Or so I thought.

Actually, it was a good deal that got even better and surprised even the sales clerk.  The coat was on sale for 40% off.  And then another 20% off special.  Add the 5% discount and my $10 coupon and I bought the coat for $32.00.  How could I pass up this great deal?

So, I think I will pack the old coat in with the items I am donating to the Salvation Army.  I'll let someone else enjoy it.  And I am pretty sure I spent more than $32 when I bought it at the market in Melbourne. 

So, do you Chico?

Alarm Clocks in Retirement. Why???

I have an Oregon Scientific clock next to my bed.  I bought it years ago because it automatically has the correct time and date and doesn't die when the power goes out.  It is also handy when I wake up and do not know what day it is.

I never use it as an alarm clock.  Why would I do that?  I am retired.  Unless I have to be someplace very early in the morning, I will wake up and get up when my body feels rested.

Now, is it just me who feels this way?  A friend of mine said she always gets up with the alarm.  She said she is afraid that she will fall back asleep if she doesn't.  And this would be a problem why?

Admittedly, when I was working, using an alarm clock was sometimes necessary.  I mean, if you have to be someplace at 8:00 am, waking up at 7:30 might not work out too well.  But when you are retired, why force yourself to live by man made schedules when you don't have to?

I go to sleep anywhere between nine and midnight.  It depends on how tired I am.  I wake up anywhere between 5:30 and eight, maybe nine.  Who cares? 

The way I figure it, my body should be dictating how much sleep I need, not the clock or what is on the television.  If I continually wake up with an alarm clock and never complete a full sleep cycle, my body will suffer for it.  Or so I believe.

There was only one time in my life when I had trouble sleeping.  It was when I broke my leg in 2007.  I slept in a chair because it was impossible to sleep in the bed with the heavy cast.  Afterwards, I had a terrible time getting back into a good sleep schedule and had to use sleeping pills.  Fortunately, it didn't last long.

My head hits the pillow and I am out like a light.  After that happens, I don't want anything or anyone waking me up until my body is ready for a new day.  And hey, there is nothing wrong with an afternoon nap.  Wonder woman who does not need sleep is not who I am.

What Retirement is All About

I made my usual trek to the mailbox this morning to get my newspaper.  Imagine my surprise when I got there and saw two papers.  And they seemed to be large editions.  What was going on?  Were they delivering the Sunday papers a day early?  Both of them? 

Well, of course not.  It WAS Sunday!

That is what retirement should be.  Never knowing, or caring, what day it actually is!  And no dreaded Mondays (including those god-awful board meetings).

Michigan is Number 2 - but not in a good way

Here are the 10 worst states for retirement, with No. 1 being the lowest-ranked, according to Money-Rates.com:

10. Arkansas
9. Missouri
8. North Carolina
7. Ohio
6. Tennessee
5. Maryland
4. South Carolina
3. Alaska
2. Michigan
1. Nevada

The Fashion Police on Patrol

I received an email this weekend about a certain politico's 'inappropriate' attire at a community event.  Not being at the event myself, I cannot comment directly, but the outfit was described as 'beach wear'.  I suppose the fact that there was a beach nearby might have made it 'appropriate'.  Pictures anyone?

What I can attest to is the inappropriate attire I saw at the hospital the other day when I was there for some tests.  Having gotten up early to put a coat of primer on the south wall of my house, I then came inside, showered, dressed, and headed out the door.  Tests completed and rather tired, I decided to eat my lunch in the cafeteria.

As I was walking down the hall to leave, I saw a woman in front of me and wondered 'who's the hooker?'  Really.  She was wearing a VERY short (think barely covering her butt cheeks) skirt, black sheer patterned hose, and high heels.  Imagine my surprise when I saw her turn to the woman she was walking with and realized that she works at the hospital.  I know because I have seen her there when I volunteer.  Today I asked someone what department she was in.  They too mentioned the outfit on Monday.

I have blogged before about 'casual day'.  It has never been my favorite day of the week.  But I am pretty sure the hospital still has a dress code.  When I was chosen as a volunteer, I was given a blue jacket and told to wear dark pants or skirt, white blouse and black shoes.  Oh, well, she did have two out of three of those, didn't she?

If she had been my subordinate, she would have been sent home.  I was embarrassed.  And she should have been.  Or this is just another indicator of my 'getting old'.

Just a Little Distraction: Blogging

There is another reason why I find it so hard to post to this blog.  I get distracted.  While I was writing the last entry, I decided to find an old picture of the house. Not so easy.  I know where all the photo albums are, I just don't know which one has the right pictures. 

Wouldn't you know it, the last one I looked at was the one I needed.  That was after browsing through albums with pictures of Australia, Paris, Northern Minnesota, Lake Superior, British Columbia, oh, I digress.

Anyway, I find the correct album and while thumbing through it for a photo I find a picture from my oldest son's fifth birthday party that he had asked me to send him.  Like two years ago.  I could never find it because it was in the album with the garden pictures and not the birthday albums.  Am I organized or what???  (Meanwhile, the cabinet with the albums is still open and the albums are on the floor.)

So, I come in here to send him an email saying that I found it and that I will send it (and no rush on that since he is in Malaysia) and find an email from the local newspaper editor.  I respond and after getting out of my account, remember that I forgot to email my son.

Meanwhile, I still have not found a photo of the house to use for the blog.  Finally find it, scan it, with some loss of color after 30 years, and get it posted.  If I got paid by the hour for blogging, I'd be rich.  Of course, I'd probably forget to log my time.

Oh, and here is the photo of Erin and Sophie strolling in the garden in 1982.