Life is too short to ...

Drink bad wine.  For me, who is not an expert on wine, this is a big deal.  Somewhere last summer I bought a bottle of rhubarb and strawberry wine.  ( I know some of you are gagging).  I opened it last night.  After tasting it, the rest was poured down the drain.  I think when I first started drinking wine the sweet fruity kind was fine.  But no more. This was awful.

Eat bad pizza.  Once recently, when G and I were traveling the the toll road we stopped at a rest stop.  These have very limited food selections.  We ordered pizza.  We looked at each other and said it was like eating cardboard. But, being frugal or German (I don't know which) since we had paid for it we ate it.  But this experience now has become a key phrase for us.  When we are eating or doing something that is not so good, but continue to do it, we remind ourselves by saying, "We don't have to eat cardboard pizza".

Spamalot

We attended a play that K was in.  It was a shortened version of Spamalot.  What fun.  She was in a "chorus line".  I have never seen the Monty Python's Spamalot but will now.  We saw it twice which was good as I understood a lot more the second time.  As an aside, when we visited the SPAM museum in Austin, MN they had  this play running on a TV.  Ha.

B is up before any of us in the morning.  It us fun listening to him talk with the other players in the game.  It sounds like he is coach.  "Go, go, get the purple one, Good job"  

When I visit here, I am aware of how much I miss with us being so far away from each other.

I am so happy that I can be here now.

Beautiful snake

We went with grandson to his scout meeting.  The program was on reptiles.  They learned about four types, where they lived, looked like, AND were able to touch them.

I did not get a picture of B touching one.  

We are basking in the sun here.  The temp is in the 70s.  G and I are here with the other grandparents.  It is a perfect week with family. 

Shopping for clothes or not.

I desperately need new clothes and shoes.  I would be embarrassed to acknowledge how many years I have worn the ones I currently have.  So today I went to the mall.  I walked the aisles of many stores.  The current styles are not for me!  Finally I said I would not even look at the price, if I just found something I liked I would buy it.  But still no purchases.   The only thing I found was a beautiful pair of earrings that cost $800.  Even though it was on sale, I did not want to give Gerry a heart attack.  To be truthful I have never had a piece of jewelry that cost that much so am not going to start now.  A $20 pair would be just fine.

I will admit that I had a great dinner at a fine restaurant, including wine and a decadent dessert.

Gelato  with caramel, ganache , and something else crunchy.  

 My next post will tell the story of why Gerry was not with me.  I need a picture for that post.

A Difficult posting

Yesterday my brother, Harry, died.  He had an aneurysm couple days ago.  He was airlifted to a great hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  They did surgery and he was put on life support.  Yesterday his siblings met and we made the decision to remove him from the ventilator. It was horribly difficult but the damage to his body was too much.  Three of us were at his side, holding his hands so he was not alone. 

Today I am planning the memorial service.  I am the coordinator, but all siblings are very involved.
There are legal, practical and emotional issues everywhere.  But it will come together.  I wanted to post a photo but am finding it difficult just using my Chromebook. 

Weather update

Yesterday we had wind gusts up to 65 mph.  We could hear noise on the south side of the house at night.  This was the cause of the banging noise.  It could have been much worse.  Now the challenge is to keep Gerry off the ladder until the wind dies down.

But I will not complain at all.  Southern Minnesota where many of our brothers and sisters live people were not even allowed on the roads due to the terrible conditions. The Governor declared a state of emergency.  There were reports of snow banks six feet tall.  But their  worst problem was the high winds. And people who were out on the roads against all advice not to. 

Our day

Today was a busy day for Gerry and me.   After exercise class I picked him up from the dentist where he had a root canal.  All is going well with that.  Then we attended the autobiography class, follow by a quick lunch, and then a movie.

We don't go very many movies, but today saw "The Green Book"  Sure was a reminder what life was like in the South in the 1960s for African-Americans.  Back then it was called the " The Negro Motorist Green-Book" .  We had never heard of the Green Book. It was a book which listed accommodations, restaurants  and businesses that were safe to go to for African-American when traveling in the US.  It does have it critics who say it missed an opportunity to tell it as it really was but we enjoyed it.