Sunday, February 16, 2020

Happy 43rd Birthday to my son, Ben. We celebrated with his family, Jill’s parents, and me at Red Cow with beer and burgers followed by cake at their house. Their burgers are so good and I’ve been hungry for one for a while.

I got my photos to airplay on my new TV, so I spent a couple of hours looking at those that I had on my iPad. And then I got to thinking that I could connect a USB backup storage to the TV, so I started looking at photos dating back to 2003. Lots of memories!

I worked a couple of shifts last week and had a Drop Off class on Saturday. 

I booked flights to and from Gainesville, FL to visit Rudy and Sonja in early April. It will be so nice to see them once again - it has been 5 years since we have been together. It will be nice to be in a tropical climate for a few days. Tom will look for flights and join me there if the details work out for him.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

I worked a couple of shifts last week while Tom was still here. We went out to dinner Thursday evening to a place that I’ve been wanting to try - The Yankee Tavern, a place that I have spotted when going shopping in that area and it looks as if it’s been there for years.  They had a prime rib special that night and other than not getting the right kind of knife, we were both very satisfied. It’s been a long time since I have had prime rib and it was delicious! Tom made dinner for me on Friday night - spaghetti with meat sauce and a nice salad. What a treat to come home to a nice meal cooked by my guy!

We got a nice walk in Saturday morning and then it was time for Tom to get ready to travel back to Arizona, not that either of us were looking forward to it. For now, we continue on as we have the last few months until something changes. We are both content with our living arrangements with the exception of not living together - some day we will figure it all out.  I took him to the airport around 3:00 and heard that he made it home ok by about 10 pm.

I finished the jigsaw puzzle that I was working on. When talking with my friend Carol a couple of weeks ago, I told that I was working on a puzzle of two old ladies and she said, “like us”. I had to agree. Today, I sent the photo to her and got a happy, heart-eyed emoji back from her.

I worked on Sunday, did nothing to speak of yesterday, and worked a 4-8pm shift today. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

And now to reconstruct once again. Our days have been busy, but at a comfortable pace. We have managed to get decent 2+ mile walks in each day and the weather has cooperated. We have had very little snow, a light dusting last Friday but none since then. Over the weekend, the temps got up to a bit above 40 degrees on Sunday.

On Saturday, we took a drive to Monticello to Swan Park where the Trumpeter Swans spend the winter on the Mississippi River in an area where the river doesn’t ice over because of a nearby power plant. The city made a little park and parking area where you can observe the many swans, Canada Geese, and some local ducks. Frisco made a friend and they wrestled and played while Tom and I had a nice conversation with his owner who is a novice photographer, there to get some good pictures of the swans. I was impressed, having seen these magestic birds only once before as a pair was migrating through the Stoughton area.

When we left there, we headed to Montissippi Regional Park where we had walked several times last summer and really enjoyed the circular trail through the woods. The temperature was comfortable and it was a very enjoyable walk.

Other than a nice walk along the Mississippi River Road trail on Sunday, we stuck around and then watched the SuperBowl in the evening with a $1 bet that that I won when the Kansas City Chiefs won the game. I’m not a big fan but was certainly cheering them on behalf of my Missouri family who are all big fans.

This afternoon, we walked a trail along the Minnesota River and got a good 3.2 mile walk in. Frisco was a trooper and made it the entire walk without tiring. He even got all frisky when we walked into the apartment and he ran to grab onto a toy, happy to be back home,

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Temps this week have been the average for here, 20-25 degrees and cloudy, so we have been able to get some decent walks in. It’s a good thing that Tom brought most of the warm clothes that he owns so he could layer up and stay warm. On Monday, we went to Minnehaha Falls and walked the paths around there. A light snow was falling, making for one of those quiet, calm wintry days.

We went to see the movie, “Doolittle” on Tuesday afternoon and found it to be fun and entertaining. After the movie, we had dinner at Applebee’s before heading back home. Again, a light snow was fallling but not sticking to the roads.

On Wednesday evening, we decided to walk to the nearby Agelgil Ethiopian Restaurant across the street from my apartment complex. Neither of us have ever eaten Ethiopian food, so we had an Ethiopian beer and Tom ordered a lamb dish and I ordered a vegetarian sampler.  The seasoning was delicious and the sampler included some grains, roasted carrot and cabbage, roasted plantains and beets, a spicy thick sauce, and collard greens - all were served on a spongy bread that you tore and used to scoop the food and eat it with your fingers. Everything we had was tasty and delicious. I can now say that I have tasted Ethiopian food and I wouldn’t hesitate to have it some time again.

After a nice walk yesterday, we went to Costco and Tom bought me a new 50” TV, he thought my little 32” was way too small. He had fun getting it setup and then we binge watched the last 4 episodes of the latest and last season of “The Ranch”. The TV fits well in the room and I like it a lot!

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Friday night, I sat here in anticipation, waiting for Tom’s call that he was ready to be picked up at the airport. I watched the progress of his flight, watched a couple of Frankie and Grace episodes, read, took a shower, and tried to nap until his call came in about 11:15. The drive to the airport is about 10 minutes and it sure was exciting for us both.  Naturally, we were up until about 2am talking and unwinding.

A text from Ben on Saturday morning inquiring as to our plans for the weekend ended up in deciding that Tom and I would go out for dinner that evening and the family would come over and join us for lasagna on Sunday.  We went to Lucky’s 13 in Mendota, just across the River from my apartment complex. The parking lots and streets were full of vehicles, so we were not quite sure if we would have a long wait, but it turned out to be a wedding party in a different part of the building and we were seated immediately. I chose the Minnesota Bowl that was wild rice, jasmine rice, corn, carrots, mushrooms and onion topped with a nice sized piece of blackened walleye topped with hollandaise sauce - very tasty! Tom was a little disappointed in the fish and chips, he said they didn’t have much flavor and the fries were soggy. 

We planned to meet up with Ben and Jill and the girls at the St Paul winter festival this afternoon. Tom and I got there, found a parking spot and walked a couple of blocks to Rice Park where the ice sculpture competition was held. We were both a bit disappointed, expecting much bigger sculptures but those that we saw were pretty detailed.  Other than the sculptures, there were food and drink vendors, a huge warming house, and some live music, but we got cold and decided to leave, sending a text to Ben to tell him to meet us at the apartment instead of Rice Park. 

Ben and the family stayed long enough for the girls to pose for a photo and then they headed to my apartment to join us for dinner.

We had a nice dinner and a good visit with the family and then it was time for them to get home and prepare for school and work in the morning.

Friday, January 24, 2020

I’m sitting here watching Grace and Frankie waiting for Tom’s arrival. His flight lands in about 2 hours. I’m not usually awake at this time of night but a nap this afternoon should help.

I hope I’m not getting another sinus infection as I have had a pressure headache since yesterday morning when I bent over to pick something up off the floor. I had a conversation with Dawn, who has practiced homeopathic medicine her whole life, and she recommended the usual saline rinses and also suggested hot and cold pack treatments. I woke up feeling pretty good this morning but have kind of gotten worse as the day. We shall see.

I worked about 16.5 hours this week learning new things and continuing my module training in prep for a drop off class in a couple of weeks. I have no hours on the schedule next week and only a few the next week - so no talk of work for a while.

Our weather turned and we are predicted to be in the 20s and 30s for the next two weeks. We have had an inch or so of snow each day and it was so pretty as it stuck to all of the branches and glittered in the sunlight.  It was nice enough that I got a couple of nice walks in too.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

A big storm came through here yesterday with about 6 inches of snow, high winds, and a big drop in temps. It was -7 when I walked Frisco yesterday morning. The ground is covered with clean white snow once again. It was starting to look bad, with all of the dog pee and dirty snow. The ice, cold, or salt is starting to be problematic for his feet, so I have been washing his feet good every time we come in from outdoors. I need to pick up dog food on Monday, so will also get something to protect his feet.

I ended up working for 3 hours yesterday as one of the other techs got rear-ended in the storm and couldn’t make it in. So I met and worked with Raphael, the new Pharmacy Manager and that all went well. Sometimes they go through the training so quickly that I miss a lot or don’t get the complete picture. But I’m learning and feeling like it will be a fun job. I also worked my first 6-hour shift today.

Ben invited me to join them for chili this evening and that turned out to be very nice. I had an opportunity to have a nice talk with him and Jill while the twins played together nicely. Jill and I polished their fingernails and then we watched “The Little Prince” movie. But only until I was getting the glare from Frisco - his time to go out for his final potty break - and so I left before the movie was finished,