Christmas 2024

We traveled to Evanston Tuesday afternoon and arrived there around 3:30 p.m. The traffic was manageable. We did have problems with the GPS lady. At first she was not speaking. Then when that was corrected, she was speaking very quietly. Unusual for her. It helped when we turned off the radio racket.

Supper was home-made tourtière, a french-Canadian meat pie often served on Christmas Eve, and salad. Pumpkin pie was a homey dessert. JF's version of tourtiere has chunks of beef and pork roast plus chopped potatoes and onions. Then it's flavored with a variety of spices, some sweet. I don't know how it makes its sauce -- maybe just the natural meat juices. All inside a pie crust and bakes on very low temperature for 4 to 5 hours.

Tourtière

We explored P and JF's newly remodeled basement. It's so nice. Then after C went to bed we watched a movie, "The Fall Guy," in the new family room. First we watched that day's Jeopardy episode. One clue had P and JF puzzled. JB and I both knew the answer, and we said "What's the matter? Everyone knows that!" Guess not. They'd never heard the expression.

We heard a happy little voice Christmas morning around 7:15. Breakfast was a delicious home-baked chocolate croissant (compliments of Trader Joe's) and hot orange tea. C had yogurt and blueberries. And she got to play with Mama's tea bag and tear it apart. Oh my.

We opened presents, and we were all pleased with our gifts. C was busy tearing paper off boxes and she didn't care what was inside: wooden train set, stickers, blocks, new backpack, book, and more. 

Lunch was leftover tourtiere. Then we sampled the cookies that JB had brought. 

It was time for C's afternoon nap. The rest of us dozed or read books. P asked What's your plan for the day. I told him We're staying another night. What a reaction on his face. We stayed until C woke from her nap and said good-bye and "Merry Christmas" to all. As we drove away, P, JF, and C were headed out for an afternoon walk through the neighborhood.

The GPS lady must have woke from a long winter's nap because she was too loud. JB needs to figure out how to control her volume. We arrived back home before 6 p.m. 

Guns Kill

There was another school shooting last week.

A 14-year-old boy, using an AR-style rifle which his father gave him for Christmas, killed two students and two teachers and wounded 9 others at Apalachee High School in Georgia.

Guns kill. Books liberate. Why are books being banned, while guns are not? The majority of Americans favor sensible gun regulation. 

Sweet Corn

Squirrel

This is me walking into the kitchen.

Or any room in the house.

Fractured Nursery Rhyme

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet

Contemplating a garden hose.

She put in her thumb

And pulled out a plum

Then stuffed everything up her nose.

ILL request

One of my duties at PC Library was to supervise interlibrary loan. A few years after I retired I had a dream. This is from a Facebook post in 2019.

Last night I dreamed that I still worked at the Library. We received 6-7 new interlibrary loan requests for.......

DONUTS!!!

I guess there was a donut shop in the Library (or the College).

The requests were for a variety of donuts: cinnamon, glazed, blueberry, cream-filled, etc. So I prepared boxes containing a half-dozen donuts and mailed them off. (I had to answer "no" to one request because we had run out of the specific variety that they wanted.)

Sometime later I thought "Wait a minute. I just gave away free donuts. What was I thinking?"

So I resolved that the next time the Library received ILL requests for donuts I would respond "No, not on shelf."

Birthday Freebies 2024

Red Robin	free burger: Smashed Avocado ‘n’ Bacon	$15.59
Nothing Bundt Cakes	free “bundtlet”: red velvet	$5.75
Perkins	free Magnificent Seven	$9.99
Papa Murphy’s Pizza	free pizza: medium “cowboy”	$15.99
Jimmy John’s	free sandwich	$7.19
Panera	free bakery treat: Bear Claw	$4.19
Denny’s	free Everyday Value Slam	$6.99
Portillo’s	free chocolate cake slice	$3.89
McAlister’s Deli	free cookie: “brookie”	$2.49
Subway	free cookie: oatmeal-raisin	$0.99
Culver’s	free frozen custard sundae: turtle	$5.09
I did not redeem these offers – Not worth the effort
Olive Garden	free dessert with purchase
Biaggi’s	free appetizer or dessert w purchase
Moe’s Southwest Grill	free cup of queso or guac
Applebee’s	free dessert with purchase
Texas Roadhouse	free appetizer or “sidekick” w purchase
Dunkin	3X points on all purchases

Compared to last year: No free burrito, no free donuts. But picked up free pizza.

St Patrick's Day

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary takes control
Speaking words of wisdom,
Make cinnamon rolls.

I stitched the cloth covers many years ago.

A Scholar

This was in the Mattoon Journal Gazette. I'm sure my grandmother must have submitted the information.

Mattoon Journal Gazette
November 3, 1970

A Chilly Morning

Earlier this week I woke one morning shortly before 5:00.  Too early to get up.  So, I let my mind wander, and I came up with this haiku.

New for the New Year

I signed up for Goodreads. My sister had mentioned it a couple years ago. I think she uses it to keep track of the books that she reads. I just use a Word document. 😊 A cousin posted his reading stats on FB, and it looked like an interesting way to keep track of a variety of information. So, here's my first entry:

I hope I remember to use this new thingy. And that I can figure out how to use it. 😕