Beneath the Wraps

          As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Jenna received an envelope with some activities.   One of the suggestions was to make energy bites – which really didn’t turn out to be as wonderful as had hoped.   But I wasn’t watching to see Jenna measure all things.   I don’t think there was as much peanut butter and honey as the recipe called for as it was really too dry to mold.   We spooned into our mouths like a cereal.   It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either.   It seemed sweet enough.   We both got the impression that I enjoyed the taste more than she.           Last night I suggested that we add flour to the mixture.   I added flour and eggs and should have added some sugar or more honey as well, but did not.   The mix came out more like drop biscuits or definite unsweetened cookies.   Roland and I did not care for them, but I notice...

            On March 22 of this year Corey posted to his blog for the first time in two years.   Apparently it had been due to a request made when I mentioned how much I had missed reading his posts.   But that is his most recent - nothing more.   So last night he called me to relate his "Walmart" experience - although he really was not at Walmart.   It just felt like he was.   I laughed at his misfortunes.   It was nice to go to bed with a smile on my face.   But Corey does have a knack with relating experiences and telling stories and even making announcements with an entertaining flair.   So the following is a second-hand account of the things that he related to me.             First off he had to renew something - he must have mentioned it at least three times, but I failed to understand exactly what it was that he was renewing...

When Jenna turned three, we bought her a play yard set which I have mentioned here and here .   Before that, she used her imagination, making the broken lounge chair her slide and the Norditrack Glider her swing – unless we were at the park.`  Jenna was always so excited to spend time with friends or to go to birthday parties.   She especially enjoyed the company of a cousin she would see only once or twice a year.   She was especially looking forward to seeing her the year Melody turned eight.   Jenna had hoped to spend more time with Melody after her party, but as I mentioned in this post , there seemed to be some behavior problems on Melody’s end. Evidently, she had purchased a kindle or an I-pad or some kind of electronic device.   She had earned all the money herself and was quite proud of her new purchase.   Perhaps that was one of the downfalls of her attitude that day; the party had taken away precious time she could have...

          Marilyn lives at the top of the street.  I am using her actual name as she will personally never read this.  Not only is she computer illiterate, but she tends to give off vibes that work against electronics.           She does volunteer work at the library.  Regular patrons have learned to never request her assistance with the computers.  If they have questions - even if it's not computer or program related - they know they have to ask somebody else - for if Marilyn gets within four feet of the computers, they all start going haywire.           I was laughing as she was sharing her experiences with me.  But it's no laughing matter.  She is serious about setting off bad electronic vibes - and I think I may have caught her virus.           Recently I go...

         Denise and I didn’t always communicate.   She likes to use the map.   I like the GPS.   She had issues about trusting the GPS.   I can no longer navigate from a map without becoming nauseous.   I’ve just never seemed to be able to move forward while looking down. I don’t know why. The exception was when I was on my mission and did the navigation as my companions drove around.   But that was over 30 years ago.          Anyway, Denise and I had moments of oddities, but we never got on each other’s nerves to the point that we became emotionally upset about it.   I suppose she had every reason not to trust Siri.   After several hours on Highway 140, Siri seemed to be getting bored as she directed us to take the “unpaved road” First of all, really?   Second of all, there are no roads – unpaved or other except for Highway 140.   But the Garmin took...

As I have previously mentioned here and here , mom and Corey both have collected tons and tons of books over the years. Before we sold mom’s house, Corey and I took very few books to add to our own collections.   But the majority were boxed up for the uneventful yard sale (at least that’s how it appeared) and donated to charity. Most Americans in the 1730s had limited access to books. Books in early America were rare and expensive.   Only the wealthy and clergy had access to several books.   There were no public libraries.    In July 1731 Benjamin Franklin introduced his idea of borrowing books to a group of members. 50 subscribers invested 40 shillings each to start a library.   They committed to continue investing 10 schillings a year for the purchase of additional books and maintaining the upkeep of the building that would house the books which were donated.   Thus the library was born          ...

What a great feature – this copy and paste.  Being able to sort your thoughts and move entire paragraphs and transfer information without retyping and having the ability to store information into tiny places and just hit a print button.  No more messy carbon paper.  No more perfect line up of the typewriter ribbon.  I think my favorite feature though is the copy and paste.  It is SO AWESOME!  Wish it had existed during my high school years.  That would have been sweet. I also like having spell check.  So often I hit the wrong key - or I really just don't know how to spell the word.  There's dictionary, thesaurus - such wonderful features that make typing up reports and blogging so much easier. Another feature that I really like on the computer itself is the search.  To be able to type in the name of your document or picture and have the search go through and find it for you.  That is very awesome. ...

          I am younger than the rotary phone though older than the cordless and definitely older than the cell phone.   Roland often used to get unwanted possessions from his clients – one being an old rotary phone.   He brought it home one day and called the boys together.   There was an extra jack in Tony’s room and Roland hooked the phone up and brought it out into the hall and told the boys that they could leave it in the hall so that they would all have access to it and wouldn’t have to run into the kitchen every time. I remember the three boys standing around the phone – first with their eyes on the phone and then exchanging puzzled looks with one another until finally one of them asked, “How does it work?”   Until then it hadn’t even dawned on me that what had been very routine for me growing up really was a foreign object to these boys who were not much younger than the cell phone.   How would...

                   Aside from disposable dishes, I am really quite grateful to the inventor of the Crock Pot.   What an awesome invention!   To be able to throw in food and have it done by dinner time!   And the meat is always tender and juicy and oh, so good.   So much better than the oven.           The first crock pot that I have recollection of was a red orange one my mom had purchased shortly after this wonderful item was introduced to the market.   We didn’t have the option of removing the incert as we have today.   There was no insert.   It was just one unit.   The cord went in the sink as we attempted to clean it without getting the cord wet.   (What a chore that was)           Today crock pots come in assorted styles and gadgets.   Roland and I ...

I would like to thank the inventor (or inventors rather) who created disposable dishes.   Paper plates and cups, plastic flatware, aluminum pans – though not yet invented for the stove top – at least that I know of.           I don’t mind doing dishes – but I don’t thrive on it.   It does irk me quite a bit when I know I’ve done the dishes – lots of them – and less than four hours later the sink gives one the appearance that I haven’t done dishes all week.   Where the heck do these extra dishes even come from?   Usually it’s just me and Jenna.   Or me.   In the morning and after work it is Roland, Jenna and me – well not every night.             Biff works graveyards – and although he does cook at odd times during the 24 hour day – he doesn’t use that many dishes.   Two – maybe three.   I think I have dish gremlins that break into my house.  ...