Saturday, September 28, 2024, MN

 What a week this has been!  Since Ben was out of town and Jill had surgery on Tuesday, Lois and I have been helping out with the girls.  I was there after school on Monday and Jill took Camille to swim practice (4:45), Lois took Norah to gymnastics (4:30) and I took Charlotte to swim practice (7:15-8:45).  Tuesday morning, I was out of the house by 5:30 to get them off to school.  They have their routines down and got ready, tidied up their rooms, came down and packed their own lunches, ate breakfast (I made pancakes), and got their backpacks ready and headed out to the bus stop. Same with Charlotte.  My job was easy, just keeping track of time.

Jill’s surgery went well and she is in recovery mode for a couple of weeks.

I helped Joann pack up her  canned goods in the afternoon - six boxes full of cans and packaged foods, probably dating way back in time.  What a shame! I know canned goods last a long time but I sure wouldn’t want to eat any of it.

I started my new cleaning job on Wednesday, for a very nice couple who have a very nice home not too far from me.  All went well and I finished in three hours, got paid promptly, and got some very nice feedback when Cassie got back home.

Thursday was another helping out day. I made enchiladas and Mexican green rice for dinner, got there after school and took Camille and Norah to their swim practice - Lois did the late shift with Charlotte. Dinner was liked and much appreciated.

Friday was Joey’s haircut day and I hung him from the shower curtain to do his legs and face and that all went well.  We took a break after that and I had a 2.5-hour phone chat with Tom.  Several times we were cutting off the conversation, ready to sign off and one of us would come up with another topic - I guess that’s what happens when we don’t talk that often and we have a lot of catching up to do. 

After the phone chat, I got ready to finish cutting Joey’s back and sides, secured the clamp-on brace that restricts his movement to the table and realized that it was broken - the nut kept coming out of place when I tightened the bolt that holds the post and it would not stay in place. I managed to finish the job without it but he still needs a few tweaks where I missed a spot here and there.

Today was a swim meet for the girls and they each competed in three events.  It was Camille and Norah’s first meet and they were pretty anxious but ended up doing really well. They left the meet with first, seconds, thirds, and a fifth.  Now that they have a meet behind them, they will be more confident and keep working toward improving their times. I didn’t get many pictures.  This is Norah and Camille cheering Charlotte on in the 200 yard backstroke - she took first!

Monday, September 23, 2024, MN

 I picked Norah and Camille up around noon on Saturday, as they are having a sleepover with me while Charlotte is having her birthday sleepover with friends. It is giving me the opportunity to celebrate twins’ birthday a bit early.  We went to the Mall of America where they spent some time on the climbing wall and I gave them each $30 to spend. Norah made it to the top of the most difficult wall and the attendant told her that she was now part of the 1% club.  They bought goofy fluffy Nike-like slippers with the money and the last gift was a stop at Grandpa’s Candy Store where they could pack as much candy in a small box for $5 - they loved it.  We watched Despicable Me 4 that evening.  I slept on the couch and they took the bed - settling in after about 30 minutes of goofing off.

Jill arranged for them to have a private swim lesson Sunday morning, as they needed some extra practice on diving in order to be ready for next Saturday’s swim meet - their first.  

I’ll be helping Jill out this week, as Ben is out of town on a fishing trip with her Dad and she is having a hernia surgery on Tuesday.  I will help with getting dinner ready and take Charlotte to swim practice today and be there bright and early tomorrow morning to make sure they get to the bus on time. It’s been a while since Lois and I have had Granny Nanny duty, although we both help out whenever we can.

Friday, September 20, 2024, MN, WI

 I just got back from spending two days with Patty and Susan at the Pineview Campground at the Fort McCoy Army Recreation Facility in Wisconsin.  It’s always so nice to hang out with these long-time friends and we have so much fun just talking, a little sightseeing, eating and just plain being together.  We stayed in one of their destination trailers and it was very nice accommodations.  Susan got the bedroom and Patty and I slept in the loft the first night, but it wasn’t very comfortable, you could barely sit up, and the AC got way too cold during the night.  We opened up the king sized foldout couch the second night and slept much better.

On Thursday, after a leisurely start to the day, we drove to Neillsville and visited the Highgrounds Veterans Memorial.  Pat and I had both been there on a Miata drive years ago and Mike and I attended the dedication ceremony for the Vietnam Veteran Memorial way back in 1985 but Susan had never been.  It is a very impressive place and worth the visit.

We had a bite to eat at a nice little diner in Neillsville and then went to Black River Falls and walked the Main Street and did some browsing in a couple of shops.  Our next stop was at the Wegner Grotto in Sparta - a collection of unique concrete, glass, and porcelain sculptures that were constructed at the home of Paul and Matilda Wegner between 1929 and 1936.  They were tastefully done and I’m glad that we stopped to see this collection of unusual folk sculptures.

 

Sunday, September 15, 2024, MN

 Backtracking the events of the past week, starting last Sunday.  I spent most of the day at home and had a nice, long chat with Tom after breakfast.  He is about one week away from getting back ‘home’ to Apache Junction and the news of the last few days was about wildfires in the Superstition Mountains, not too far from there.  The Lost Dutchman State Park is evacuated and that is less than 5 miles from him.  He checked with Shiprock RV park and they said there were no issues there.  Fingers crossed that all in the area stay safe and the fires get under control.

There have been more than three cases of Covid reported in my community so the staff has canceled all group activities for the week, including Genevieve’s Art Class that was supposed to be held on Tuesday and locked the doors to the community room and library. Dang - I find the locked doors to be ridiculous, as we are adults and hopefully responsible to protect ourselves and others by quarantine, masking, and distancing. What ticked me off the most was having the library locked, preventing access to books and the puzzle that I have been working on and is mostly used on an individual basis.

I have spent several days helping Joann pack up her apartment, as she has recently gotten a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and plans to go live with her son in Lincoln, NE.  She also ended up in the hospital on Monday, so her friend Jayne and I have been packing and taking loads of boxes to the thrift store to donate.  I also took a carful of stuff to the consignment shop for her.  One thing I’ve learned from this - whatever you do, stop being a packrat and take care of your own excess stuff. I must have put 300 pens and pencils in boxes and tossed over the counter pill bottles and prescriptions (taken to pharmacy for disposal) dating back as far as 2014.  It is so hard to be trying to make these decisions regarding stuff that does not belong to me and she is lost - has enough to worry about just getting through the days and preparing for her end of life.  It sucks!

I picked up another house cleaning job that I will do once a month.  It is for a young  professional couple who are getting married in February.  They have just bought their first home and are in the process of having it all painted and new flooring installed, then getting settled.  I will start on the 25th.  It is a beautiful home, nestled in a nice wooded neighborhood of west Bloomington - I feel it will be another easy and rewarding job for good money.  

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris had a presidential debate on Tuesday and I felt that she held her own and got him doing his usual ranting of lies and attacks.  The news reports the next day agreed with me.  It sounds like that will be the only debate they have leading up to the November 5 election. Heaven help us if that PIG gets elected.

I met Mavis, Mary, and three of their friends for a birthday lunch for Mavis on Thursday at Olive Garden in Eagan.  We spent two hours talking and eating - it’s always nice to see them every now and then.  Deb and I went to Champps in Eden Prairie that night, sat out on the patio and had a beer.  It was a very active day socially.

As I was watering the flowers Friday night, I spotted this adorable Hummingbird Moth (yes, there is such a thing) flitting around sucking nectar from them.

Deb and I just got back from a walk at the Cedar Avenue Bridge trail and it was exciting to see lots of avian wildlife.  As we walked across the bridge, we saw Egrets, Herons, Pelicans, Anhingas, Geese and lots of ducks in the marshy area near the Minnesota River. It was a great way to wrap up the week. 

Saturday, September 7, 2024, MN

 My big activities for the week were helping out at the food shelf and my cleaning job at Ben’s house.  In between, I have gone for walks and have done a bit of shopping.  I may be picking up another house cleaning job - will go to meet the couple on Monday and see if it is something that I want to take on.  The extra $$ is nice.

Everyone around here is talking about the weather - this week feels like early fall and we’ve had some rain and the nights are cooling down into the 50s - great for sleeping but not great for considering what is ahead of us.  The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting another mild winter - fingers are crossed.

Sunday, September 2, 2024, MN

 My lovely granddaughter Charlotte turned 13 today. Since it is the day before school starts, we had a brief afternoon get together. Her request for birthday dinner was hot dogs and Italian salad plus chocolate birthday cake with ‘preppy’ icing.  Everything in her world these days is preppy. Her big birthday gift from her parents is a trip to New York City and to see a show on broadway. I’d say she is a very lucky kid.

1st Birthday

Camille, Norah, Scout, Bryn, and the Birthday Girl

I steam cleaned my floors this morning and it does a nice job of refreshing the color, cleaning, and picking up the pile on the carpet. I also ordered a gadget from Amazon that is a magnetic window cleaner and did that yesterday. A strong magnet holds a wet pad on the outside and a similar pad with a handle on the inside and you move it around to clean. I no longer look out at a cloudy streaked window. I love it!

I took Joey to the hockey rink to play and get some running in.