Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

On a recent evening, Dan was unavailable to watch television with me.  Since we have an agreement not to cheat  by watching whatever show we're currently streaming without the other, I was scrolling through the cable channels when a movie title caught my eye. Witness.  Starring the original, one, only and forever Cute Boy, Harrison Ford.  I like virtually everything about that film except the casting of Kelly McGillis as Rachel, the Amish woman Harrison's character John Book falls in love with.  Not a fan.  Plus her choices, as a young widow living in the midde of rural Pennsylvania looking to remarry, were Harrison Ford or Alexander Gudenov.  Really? Anyhow, as I was watching, I found myself reminiscing about when I was involved with the International Childbirth Education Association as a Board Member and a trainer.  Often I taught groups of 50-200 women and needed a way to bring the group back together when I had thrown out a discussion ques...

Perhaps you recall a previous post about the Birdhouse Project .  Below is proof positive of its completion. Truth be told, they sat on top of the refrigerator for a couple weeks while I waited for the Spousal Unit  ™ to mount them on the garage.  Influenced by the film Wonder Woman, I figured I could take matters into my own hands.  I went to the local hardware store, described what I wanted to do, and came home with some hangars.  My pounding on the storage garage wall was enough to bring the Spousal Unit ™  outside to see what I was doing.  Turns out the recommendation at the hardware store didn't work but it did tip Dan-o over the edge so that he came up with a solution and mounted the birdhouses on the garage. Pretty good, huh?   Cooking: Do you remember the book Tuesdays With Morrie ?  We have Tuesdays With Maggie (daughter #2), Pete (her Spousal Unit ™ )  and Georgia (granddaughter #3, grandchild # 6). ...

Perhaps you remember this song from a previous decade... My grandson Jackson often murmurs "Hmmm" while I snuggle in with him to get him to take a nap.  It is in the style of when someone says your name--in this case, Jackson says, "Grandma?" and because I don't want to engage in a conversation with him, I reply, "Hmmm."  He is deliciously precious as he falls asleep and this quiet little, oft repeated "Hmmm" brings peace to me. Not everything that makes you go "Hmmm" is peaceful, however.  I find myself saying "Hmmm" about any number of things.  Like: Why don't the bunnies eat the flowers in other peoples' gardens?  Last year I finally succumbed and dug out all my lilies, which the wascally wabbits had gnawed down to stumps from virtually the moment they emerged from the ground.  I consulted the interweb for suggestions on how to make plants less attractive to rabbits and tried quite a few, to no avail.  ...