Bits and Pieces

There are a few things I want to follow up on.

I'll start with generic products. Recently I wrote a post about a medicine cabinet makeover that Walgreens did for me. In addition to removing some outdated products, Walgreens added some products to enhance the usefulness of my medicine cabinet. I didn't mind that all the products were Walgreens brand but I wasn't real excited about it either. I'm just not a huge proponent of 'store' brands. Or at least I wasn't.

I've really had only one occasion to use one of their products so far. For that instance I'll refer to this post where I pitted, sliced, and then glass-chipped all my strawberries. I didn't mention in that post that while I was slicing, I cut my finger a little. It wasn't terrible but it bled some and even though the blood matched the colors of the berries, I felt compelled to cover the cut. The thing was, I was working in water and it's hard to find a good band-aid that will stay on in difficult circumstances. I reached up and the first box of band-aids I grabbed was the Walgreens brand so I tried one. It was excellent. It not only stayed securely in place while I finished glass-glazing my berries, it stayed on as long as I wanted it to afterwards -actually more than 24 hours.

Definitely I'll have to re-think my aversion to store brands.

Then on Monday I wrote a post about our fireworks/date night and how there seemed to be something dragging under the car right after we backed up in that weedy parking lot. Turns out it was part of the car and it will cost $205 to repair it properly. Right now the old damaged part is tacked up but in a couple of weeks we'll have to have the new one put in and shell out the two clams +.

And now the best bit or piece is that one of our Army sons, Dan from Colorado Springs, is coming to town Friday with his family. This is the most awesome news EVER! I can hardly wait and I've got tons to do to get ready for them. That's why I'm ending this post now.

But I'll definitely do You Capture tomorrow and on Friday I'll talk about that doctor's appointment I was so vague about last Friday.

Date Night aka Fireworks

The Michigan City fireworks were last night. Most cities have their fireworks on the 4th of July but not us. Our fireworks signal the culmination of the Summer Festival and really it's a fitting end.

The last time we went we felt we were just a little bit too far from the show. Michigan City sets theirs off from the pier and spectators line the expansive beach for literally miles. We think we were maybe a half mile out that time.

This year Mr. Right was determined to get closer. Last week he started asking me if I'd talked to the Beths about going and when I told him they weren't, he was disappointed. I said "We could just take Anna and Noah". He said, "no". "How about Kayla and Emerson" (the two children that live across the street but visit pretty frequently to see the fish). He said, "No, lets just go by ourselves".

Now that was a novel approach. It just didn't seem right. All that todo - getting ready and getting down there just for us? Hmmmm Anyway, that's what we determined to do. But it turned out that getting down there was even more of a todo than we expected. We arrived at 7:04 and the main entrance to the park was blocked by the police. We went in the back way and every parking lot was blocked. That would seem normal if they were full - or even near full but most were not two thirds full. There were parking places everywhere but no one was allowed to enter. I approached an officer of the law and asked if they were going to open the parking lots because there were at least 500 parking places in there. He said no because there were 10,000 people that wanted to park. There's some logic. I wanted to tweet Michigan City Fireworks parking - Big Failboat. But I didn't know how to so I didn't.

We parked in a weedy lot and paid $5. We didn't mind that but it was a half hour walk to the beach where we wanted to be. Then we were approached by Jake, who's starting college this Fall. He offered to take us there for $3. Mr. Right didn't think twice before he said "SOLD!".

So we got to the beach and there was a wonderful boardwalk so we didn't even have to walk through sand. We set up 'camp' close to the boardwalk and waited for the fireworks. At about 9:08 they started.

To begin with they were really good fireworks and we were definitely groovin' on them. Then came the grand finale and grand it was. Here are some examples, but they just don't do it justice. I took eighty pictures in the last one minute and every one had the potential to be spectacular. Unfortunately I was so excited that some of them were too blurry to keep but lots were good enough.

The whole show was fantastic really and we had no regrets about going - yet. The half hour walk back to the car wasn't bad at all especially since we were accompanied by hoards of other people walking miles to their cars because of the Police Dept Failboat.

There is one tiny little detail that could still put a damper on this memorable evening.

As we were backing into our parking place in this weedy parking lot, a terrible noise starting coming from under the car. We thought we'd picked up a milk carton or something ; and it wasn't bad going home - in fact most of the time we couldn't even hear it.

But when we backed into the driveway, it reared it's noisy head again. Upon inspection, Mr. Right saw that it's part of the car. A shroud of some kind must have been torn down by those very stout, tough weeds.

So now I'll call Honda and later today we'll probably know in what way our evening really was memorable.

Heroes In Every Way

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment very close to the state line so it was about a 40 minute drive. It was one of those appointments where you wait a long time for it and dread having it because you are pretty sure the diagnosis isn't going to be good.

So all the way there I was nervous and uneasy - completely focused on getting there in time and remembering all the things I needed to talk about with him.

And the way home was pretty much the same - only now I was distracted by the information I'd gotten and a little unnerved by the whole situation.

As I passed the exit where Mr. Right gets on I-94 to come home from work, I noted that it was about the time he should be getting on and I contemplated calling him but I thought he'd be so surprised if I were suddenly right ahead of him or right behind him. Then I saw an Officer of the Law in the left shoulder and it caused me to call him - just in case. It wasn't that I thought he'd be speeding or anything because he usually doesn't but I thought 'better safe than sorry'. As it turned out, he hadn't come to him so he was forewarned - just in case. Anyway, the important thing is that we figured out I was about two miles ahead of him.

Then about 2 1/2 miles from home, my engine died. Oh my gosh, I thought, I can't believe we've got car trouble - then I saw the low gas warning light and realized I had run out of gas. I won't even go into how astonished I was that I had never even noticed the low gas light or even looked at the gas gauge. I realized I was even more distracted than I thought. I called Harry who answered just as he passed by me on his way home from work by saying "Was that you?"

He didn't call me an idiot or dumb or anything out loud and I appreciated that. He went home to get the gas can and then had to drive back about ten miles to the last exit and turn around to rescue me. I didn't mind. I had a book that I'd planned on reading while I waited for my appointment and, as it turned out, I never got past the first page.

Now here's the point of this post. While I waited a car suddenly pulled over about 2 1/2 or 3 blocks ahead of me. A young man got out and sprinted all the way back to my car. I opened the window and he said, "Ma'am, what's wrong?" I told him I had run out of gas and my husband was on the way. He said, "Oh, good. You're okay then?" When I assured him I was, he sprinted all the way back to his car, got in and drove away.

And here's the kicker. He was wearing the same uniform that my sons wear every day that they work. In my opinion he was one of this country's finest. When the boys got scholarships for military school, the Army was looking for young men with good characters. Here was just another example.

I was so proud!

Happy Birthday, Amy

I wrote a post about Amy last year a few days after her birthday. In it I described what a sweet, fun, loving girl she's always been. This year's Amy post is going to be an interview AND it's going to be on time - in other words totally different from last year's post. And, as always, each question will be accompanied by pictures that may or may not have anything at all to do with the question.

According to a lot of people (although I know better), this is the big one. How do you feel about turning 40? I feel a little sad to be leaving my thirties and I'm not really freaking out about turning 40, but I do suddenly feel like I'm almost 50.

Do you have any special plans for your birthday? I know that Amber is coming over with the kids to spend the day here so that will be fun. Other than that I don't have any plans.

Do you have birthday wishes? Maybe a special wish list or something special to do to celebrate? I really don't have any birthday wishes or anything specific I'd like to do. I get to be home all day, there aren't any baseball or softball games and I think that's pretty cool. I get to relax!
Does turning 40 inspire you to set new goals or make a bucket list of some kind? Well, I've never really been the kind of person to make a list of goals or have any kind of bucket list, and I guess turning 40 hasn't changed that because I still don't want to! LOL Sometimes I think I should make a list of goals, and then I try to think of some, and can't think of anything so I don't make one.

I know you were laid off from your teacher's aide job due to Michigan's huge education budget cuts. Do you think you'll go back to that field when there's work available again? I think I probably will. I'm going to go to a couple of different districts and get on a sub list to start out, and hopefully I'll stay pretty busy doing that. Sometimes I think it would be cool to find something different, but there aren't many jobs that let you only work when your kids are at school.

Are there other fields that interest you? Not really, I'm pretty boring. I like doing clerical work so I think when I sign up for the sub list again, I'm going to sub for secretaries, too.

What have you done this summer that you're especially happy about? So far I'm happy that we have been on our first camping trip. I really love that my family came to spend Jeremy's birthday with us and I really hope that everyone is coming up for the day on our next camping trip. I can't even describe how much I loved that!

What are your plans for the rest of the summer? We have two more camping trips planned; and the kids are going on vacation with their dad, so it seems that I'll be camping, coming home, cleaning up from one trip, getting ready for the next, and then camping again. It really keeps me busy. Also, I'm looking forward to everyone maybe coming out again when Dan and Teresa and the kids visit.

I know you've recently lost a significant amount of weight and started exercising regularly. There's no doubt that you feel better physically but do you think it also affects your mental state? Absolutely! There's no doubt. I think it affects everything I do. I feel happier, I have a lot more motivation and I actually don't HATE pictures of myself. I think it's going to help when I get back to work too.

How do you like being a grandmother to almost three at your tender age? I LOVE being a grandma right now. It is awesome and I wouldn't have it any other way!

When you were twenty, could you have foreseen yourself where you are now? Hmmmm, I don't think I thought much about where I'd be when I was 40, but I think if I had, this is right were I would have wanted to be - married to a wonderful man, living the kind of life that I'm happy living, having Jeremy and Jenna so happy and active, and being close to Amber & Chris and my grandkids. What more could I want??

And how do you envision yourself at sixty? I think we'll be in a house by a lake and we'll be surrounded by tons of grandkids and everyone will come out to visit all the time and I'll cook and bake and be a very content woman.

What else might others find interesting about you? Nothing, because there really isn't anything very interesting about me. You've covered it all.

I really enjoyed Amy's answers to my interview questions - except for the last one. There's so much interesting about her - she's a lot of fun - party with her sometime and you'll see. She's great at Rock Band and fishing and kids. I can't think of a niece or nephew that she's not special to. She's the first one to pitch in when you need a helping hand. And she's a loving, generous daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, wife, and friend.

So here's wishing you the happiest of birthdays, Amy; and hoping that all your wishes come true!

You Capture - Patriotism

Beth's You Capture subject this week is Patriotism. Of course this is a perfect week for patriotism and I just know that everybody went out there and got sensational fireworks pictures. That's what I meant to do. I got this one but I can't actually take credit for it. It was taken with my camera though and I was there so I hope it counts just a little.
I had to resort to these because even if I couldn't get out and get my tripod set up, there was patriotism in the places were I did go and that's what I captured. I am loving the colors.

For more patriotism captures, visit Beth at Ishouldbefoldinglaundry and maybe even include your own fireworks shots. I'm looking forward to seeing them.

I Couldn't Cry Over Spilled Strawberries

Yesterday was kind of rough. Monday, I emailed Dave in Afghanistan. I love that I can do that and he's pretty conscientious about writing back because he knows what a spazz I can turn into. And, I understand that he's working more hours everyday than I'm usually up and I really appreciate when he takes that extra time to reassure his spazzing mother. Anyway, I didn't hear from him Monday evening although I did have my hopes up. After all it was a holiday and even though he's eight and a half hours (that's right - eight AND a half) ahead of us, he might drop me a line before he finally gets to sleep.

But he didn't. And when I got up yesterday, the first thing I did was check and there wasn't an email. Then I did what all foolish parents do with sons in battle zones. I started checking the internet. Four deaths in Afghanistan but no details until the next of kin is notified. The vague locations they gave were very ominous to me. This is when I start to work myself into a tizzy. I try and try to prove that he couldn't be among the casualties and in so doing usually find facts that make me worry more. I couldn't think about anything else. I prayed and prayed and I knew there were parents and wives and siblings and friends all over the United States praying too.

Then at 3:15, I got an email. And I was so happy and so relieved! Oh my gosh, I can't describe the elation.

Mr. Right got home but had to leave right away for a doctor's appointment. I decided to prepare the two quarts of strawberries that had been waiting for my attention all day. While I pitted them, I thought of my grandparent's strawberries. They raised their own and there were none sweeter or more delicious. These were nice though and it was the delectable smell that reminded me of those I'd enjoyed as a child. Next I sliced them and started crushing them. But my bowl was too small so with one hand I reached for another and knocked a cup off the shelf which hit the side of the strawberry bowl and shattered all over my berries.

So I had to toss them.

And see that cord under the berries? That's the aquarium heater that I blew up when I did my fish tank water exchange about an hour earlier. I had unplugged it for most of the re-fill but I guess I plugged it back in too soon. You should have heard the explosion!

(Don't look at those Entemann's boxes - we had house guests over the weekend.)

Then Mr. Right and I went out to the storage unit to find a pump to use temporarily because our pond pump burned up. Also we wanted to check the box that our very expensive UV light came in, because it quit working and we needed some clues as to why. When it was time to lock up, the padlock absolutely would not close. Now we had to go home, oil it or buy another one, and trek back out there to secure the unit.

Boy, the frustrations! But.... (except for one, small moment when I covered my strawberries with glass instead of sugar) none of it mattered.

Because our son wrote from Afghanistan and four other families wouldn't be hearing from theirs. And that's what they mean when they say, "Don't sweat the small stuff".

Catching Up - The Spawning & The Giveaway

In my post, You Capture - Water, last week I mentioned that the koi had spawned and I talked about how I had harvested the eggs because if you don't the koi will quickly eat them.

This year I was in a bit of a tight spot because at 6:30 AM, I had to take Mr. Right to work because his car was in the expensive car hospital so I pulled the egg laden plants before I left, even though I knew there was a chance that fertilization hadn't taken place. This first batch I put in the large aquarium in the house and not a single koi fry has emerged - not one.

The rest, as I mentioned in last week's post, were put in the small access pond and a few of them weren't put there until I got back. Then over this busy holiday weekend, as I peered into the water searching for a sign of life, I spotted quite a few tiny little threads moving around. Wow! How awesome would it be if they would just thrive outside without too much interference from me.

Unfortunately, I'm not very optimistic. There are so many things that threaten them mostly because they are so tiny and fragile.

Most worrisome right now are the strange little black bugs in there that might or might not be eating them. I tried to catch one of those potential predators but couldn't and instead I scooped up a fragile little koi baby which promptly died.

Then there's the challenge of feeding them. Should I? I just don't know. Most sites suggest egg yolk or the dust from the bottom of the fish food box but last time we had a spawning I think I killed a lot of them by overfeeding them. Even though I tried hard not to, I think I gave them more than they could eat (which believe me isn't much) and it fouled the water.

Speaking of fouling the water, I can't really run the pumps that provide filtering and aeration because these tiny little bodies would easily be sucked into it and ground to ... you know...nothing.

So I'll give them maybe two pieces of fish food, crumbled into dust, every day; and hope that they can live mostly on the algae that's forming in there. I'll turn off the pumps, or maybe put some fine mesh nylon over it so no innocent babes can be sucked in. Then I'll try to leave them alone. Maybe I'll cross my fingers, too. That should work as well as anything else I've done in the past.

Now for the Walgreens Gift Basket Giveway. I realized early on that Friday night of a busy holiday weekend was probably the worst time to end the comment entries, but I said it so I stuck to it.

There were a total of nine comments and last night I wrote the numbers one through nine on equal sized pieces of paper. I folded them as exactly alike as I could and put them in a bowl. Mr. Right drew out number 7. In checking I see that the 7th comment was made by Sarah so, Sarah, if you'll send me your address, I'll forward it to Walgreens and your gift basket should be on the way. Congratulations!