how about drinking?

Ok y'all, I'm passing on this chocolate coke. I'm not a huge fan of sweets, which you know, and not a big pop drinker either. It may be good, but sounds gross to me. AZ has lifted the mask mandate also, altho no one ever enforced it. I will continue to wear one, perhaps for years!

Sandy, I think I remember you talking about those egg creams before. Another one that sounds gross to me!

Jazzy, I'm sure you enjoyed that facial. I must say, you treat yourself very well!

Chevy, I love cooking in my cast iron, especially steaks and burgers, but hate cleaning and seasoning. Fresh eggs if not washed are fine on the counter, my neighbor does it all the time. But when I get eggs from her they go straight to the fridge, but only because it just doesn't seem right to leave on the counter, even that I know it's ok. Do you eat chicken today?

BabyGirl, I'm with you. I will still wear a mask, avoid crowds and trust no one!

JCS, I did windows too yesterday, but only on the outside. Now to get to the inside. I have lots of windows and they're huge!

NM, thanks for the 'splanation on the the chillblains. I kind of thought that was what it was and of course I could have looked it up as well. Spring will be here soon and then summer. Enjoy your day at mom's. I bet you guys are missing your bean suppahs.

Cami, good to see you back. Eventually you will get used to the new computer. I hate change too. Jodie is cautious cuz she loves you. Oh my, Joey in college! Driving is bad enough. I know that will kill you if he leaves to go to college. I know how much you love that kid. And I'm glad Jodie is trying to make you eat. And FF is being nice????? Wow! So with the closing being delayed, will you be there longer now?

Tomorrow is my treatment, need to be outta here by 6 am. Tuesday is dentist and Wednesday is back to Phoenix for appt. for DH. This one in the neurologist. Supposed to be in the mid 70's today, gonna love it. Was like that yesterday too.

Hi friends- happy Funday Sunday. Hope everyone is feeling some spring in the air. The weather is beautiful this weekend, warmer and no wind. It is going up to 70 today and I have started working to clean up my yard and gardens some. Got my back porch cleaned out, some windows washed, throwing out some broken pottery too. It's for sure a process, and we will get more cold before winter is gone. I am ready for spring! Our fruit trees are not out yet but close. Meeting a friend for an overdue walk in a few hours.

The facial yesterday was bittersweet, wonderful treatment and glad to see my esthetician one last time. I found out they are moving to NC with their retirement, and leave tomorrow so I was really glad they fit me in this weekend. I have not seen her since before the pandemic, at least a year and a bit more I think. I remember going for a facial in Jan or Feb last year right. Felt a bit sad to say goodbye, but I live in a place where a lot of people come and go. I remember in 2015 my massage therapist I used to see every other week for about eight years decided to change careers and my personal trainer moved to CA. Part of my "wellness team" and felt really sad to loose them both and sort of in that place again. But life and the pandemic brings plenty of changes, don't they?

Cami- good to see you back and it sounds like you are at your other DDs house right now? I went through challenges with one of my computers when I upgraded to Win 10 too. Sounds like you are almost into the new house, just a bit longer to go. I hope everything goes smoothly.

Gotta get back to my sunday chores. Everyone have a good week!

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Monday Monkey day! Still chilly out there this ayem, the warm up from the weekend wasn't as warm as I was hoping, but enough to get some laundry hung out to dry. Mom and I had a nice visit yesterday, and ate ourselves silly. I've got left over chicken alfredo for lunch at work, will probably have the soup for dinner tonight. Dick's birthday is coming up, his daughter is taking him out of the Assisted Living facility for a family party and wanted Mom to come as her present to him! Well, the family doesn't mask or distance, and actually had Dick come and visit when one of the boyfriends was sick with COVID at Christmas time. So Mon said, no, she wouldn't go to the party. Instead, his daughter will pick Dick up, drive to the next door parking lot, transfer Dick to Mom's car, Mom and Dick will visit while she drives him to the party, and then deliver Dick to his daughter's house but not go in. Mom's half vaccinated, Dick is fully vaccinated, there aren't any cases at the Assisted Living facility right now, so it should be safe enough for Mom.

Sadie says Woof to everyone!

Chevy--good advice for Cammy Cat! It must have been hard when your daughter moved away with your grandsons. The driving around the block for another kiss is so cute!

Goldie--Mom and I had a good visit. Oddly, I do kind of miss the bean suppahs. Things are starting to open up here now, so maybe there will be some this summer, but I'm going to wait and see, the percentage occupancy thing may be hard to pull off in a church basement. Glad you are getting such nice weather to enjoy!

Librarian--I've got to find someone new to do my yard work, too. The guy who was doing it moved away last summer. Never said a word, mowed one week, gone the next. Such is life, I suppose.

Jazzy--I am jealous of you ladies who are able to get out and do yard work already! I've still got ice and snow to deal with. Upgrading to Windows 10 was a challenge, I still much prefer the older versions, but adapted eventually.

Karen--Yikes about the flight being cancelled. Glad you could get it rebooked, even if it did cost more. So important for the both of you to get her home for a visit!

The Spring Forward

Ingredients

1. For the rosemary-infused vodka:
   • 1 (750ml) bottle vodka
   • 2 large rosemary sprigs
2. For the cocktail:
   • 1 1/2 ounces rosemary-infused vodka
   • 1/2 ounce simple syrup
   • 1/2 ounce fresh ruby red grapefruit juice
   • 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
   • Rosemary sprig, for serving

Preparation

1. For the rosemary-infused vodka:
   1. Place rosemary sprigs in a 1-qt. resealable glass jar and pour in vodka (reserving bottle). Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Taste, and if desired rosemary flavor is present, remove the rosemary sprigs and pour back into vodka bottle, or infuse for an additional 24 hours if more flavor is desired.
2. For the cocktail:
   1. In a cocktail shaker, combine rosemary-infused vodka, simple syrup, grapefruit juice, and lemon juice. Add ice and shake. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and garnish with rosemary sprig.

Cooks' Note

The rosemary-infused vodka keeps indefinitely, stored in a glass bottle or jar. If you can't find ruby red grapefruit, feel free to use the white or pink variety.

From <https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/the-spring-forward-51265010>

Jazzy, I feel your sadness over losing your esthetician. I had a wonderful hair stylist/colorist who first had to sell her neighborhood salon (& yoga studio) and switch to one of the city's poshest & priciest salons...where parking was impossible and the only way in the door was up a steep outdoor flight of stairs. Then her parents (in their 90s) needed her, so she retired to FL. Ever since, it seems that every time I find a simpatico stylist, (s)he moves on or the salon goes belly-up.

Cami, they do grow up way too fast, don't they? Gordy is 36...and though he's an "older millennial," one medical journal article I read today defined "middle age" as starting at 35!

Lori, do you like ice cream sodas? A chocolate egg cream is pretty much an ice cream soda without the ice cream. (Making it witth chocolate milk misses the point, Kim--which is to have that dense and stable white froth topping the fizzy chocolatey goodness).

So how did it get the name "egg cream?" Well, decades ago I read an article in New York Magazine called "The Birth & Death of the True Egg Cream." When the drink was invented at an upscale ice cream parlor in 1890s NYC, it actually had cream and egg whites! (The cream was mixed with the seltzer & syrup, and beaten egg whites were spooned over the top). Needless to say, this took quite a bit of finesse and cost an arm and a leg--beyond the reach of most soda fountain operators. But a decade later, an entrprising teenage soda jerk found a way to "reverse" the flow of CO2 through the fountain's seltzer spigot and concentrate it so the "jet stream" was strong enough to froth whole milk. The result was a little less rich (but probably no longer a heart attack in a glass) yet delicious, resembled the real McCoy, and cost a whole lot less to make & buy because cream & eggs were expensive. (Not to mention soda fountain owners had less cream to whip to top their creatitons, and got stuck with a whole bunch of egg yolks...but the newly freed-up cream & yolks enabled them to make their own ice creams and thus have a "side hustle" revenue stream). The recipe has remained the same for nearly a century-and-a-quarter. But sadly, the soda jerks who knew how to make it properly have mostly gone to the Great Luncheonette in the Sky; and the hipsters in trendy Brooklyn 'hoods are clueless--they pump in the syrup first, mix it with the milk before pouring the selttzer, and even offer "artisanal" flavors. (Heresy, IMHO).

Have had a busy couple of days but enjoyed reading the thread to catch up.

Cami welcome back. You did good on the new computer. It's always hard to get in the groove with a new one and also new phones.

Goldie i hope your treatment went well. I don't think I'm a youngun (ha!) But young enough at 61 to not qualify for a vaccine yet. I have an autoimmune disease that has been very quiet for about 13 years. I hope the vaccine does not rock that boat. I'm kind of hoping for the J&J "one shot" scenario and only have to go through whatever I'll go through once. So many unknowns. But glad more choices are available.

DOTD white wine mango sangria DH got at a local place. I made baked cod, seasoned potatoes and bean salad for dinner. Odd mixture but all good. 🍹

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Twofer Tuesday! Boy was yesterday busy at work. Maine has 2 pathways to getting COVID vaccines, each with different eligibility requirements, and now some places are working with school nurses to set up clinics just for educators and school staff. School nurses are up to our necks in tracking whose gotten vaccinated, who is eligible for what pathway, who has an appointment for vaccination on top of who has been tested and who is being followed as a potential close contact or who may have symptoms and needs to be quarantined and tested. Every day I thank God that I am working in a small school with manageable numbers of students and staff! Still, it's good to be able to set people up with appointments and start seeing the anxiety level start to decrease. I was telling Sadie about all the goings on last night and all the scrambling we did to get all the information together and sent out to the proper places. Her advice was to give myself a treat from the candy stash and eat it while rubbing her belly. So I did!

Karen--It will be good for Mom and Dick to spend some time together. I think they both need it, no matter how much Mom says they aren't a couple anymore! 10 days and counting to DD#2's visit, YEAH! Not that you will be counting or anything, right?

Chi--There is a whole culture around egg creams! Fascinating information. Someday I hope I will have the chance to try a real one.

Reader--Mango sangria sounds really good!

Gin Fizz

Ingredients

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 3/4 ounce simple syrup
• 1 egg white (about 1/2 ounce)
• Club soda, to top (about 1 ounce)

Steps

1. Add the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white to a shaker and vigorously dry-shake (without ice) for about 15 seconds.
2. Add 3 or 4 ice cubes and shake vigorously until well-chilled.
3. Double-strain into a chilled Collins glass and top with club soda.

From <https://www.liquor.com/recipes/gin-fizz/>

Cami - it was so nice to see your post. It is hard being in a transition between one place and another. Hopefully, you will be completely settled in soon. It is hard when the kids grow up and as much as you are proud of the man Joey is becoming, you will miss having him around. That is the good part about technology - you can have face time conversations with him no matter where he ends up going.

Jazzy - so glad you got a facial, life is feels so much nicer when you get to do something nice for yourself. My daughter is an esthetician and she is so busy and booked months in advance, I never get a facial. I told her I would have to go to someone else. She will call me when she has a cancellation, but I am at work and can't just leave. After I retire maybe I can get in like that. A couple of times on her day off she will give me a facial, and that is really great because my 7-year-old granddaughter rubs my feet with lotion.

NM – I think we all have to face such new strange things with the COVID and being a nurse, you probably will have a lot of new things thrown at you to take care of. Sadie always has the best advice.

Reader – I agree, the mango sangria sounds good.

Goldie- You are going to have a busy week with all of the appointments you have. Dr. appts and just running errands in general really can tire you out. Of course, taking care of your husband can really tire you out.

Gotta go for now, will pop back in later.

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Hump Day! It took some doing yesterday but I managed to help get all but 2 of my teachers/staff who want COVID vaccines set up with an appointment, and even helped get a couple spouses covered, as well. Now to get those last 2 set up and a lot of tension and anxiety about COVID will calm down, I think. It's been total chaos at times, with info going from "we don't prioritize education staff" to "we're doing a focused clinic, we need the name, date of birth, phone number and email address of education staff 60 and over who want the vaccine sent to us on this form in the next 4 hours."Anyway, the nursing team got a lot done yesterday!Even Sadie was impressed, sort of. Her look said "That's what you nurse types do. Now rub my belly." Gotta love the doggo that keeps me humble!

Chevy--Good for you for keeping your morning routine going! I bet that was both boring and then embarrassing for 18 year old you!

Misty--Wow, the facial plus foot rub must feel fantastic! You are right, there is always something new coming my way and I always seem to manage to adapt. COVID just seems to be moving even faster than the usual rate of change. But, there ishope for the future with the vaccine situation improving and things opening up again.

Karen--I wish you could have DD's arrival day off so you could meet her at the airport, but being at home is better than being at work!

Wednesday

Homemade spiced vodka 1.5oz

Honey syrup 0.5oz

Pomegranate juice 0.35oz

Orange juice 1.75oz

Orange 1oz

Passion fruit 1.5oz

Mint 0.03oz

Cloves 0.03oz

Star anise 0.06oz

Ground cinnamon 0.03oz

Ground ginger 0.03oz

Ginger root 0.35oz

Crushed ice 7oz

Ice cubes 7oz

• Fill a highball glass to the top with crushed ice
• Place the pulp of a passionfruit half and squeeze 0.15 oz of ginger root juice into a shaker
• Pour in 1.75 oz of orange juice, 0.5 oz of honey syrup and 1.5 oz of homemade spiced vodka
• Add 1 clove, 1 star anise, a pinch of ground cinnamon and ground ginger into a shaker
• Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake
• Finely strain into the highball glass
• Add 0.35 oz of pomegranate juice
• Top up with crushed ice
• Garnish with an orange wheel, a star anise and a mint sprig

From <https://us.inshaker.com/cocktails/469-wednesday>

JCS- I am sorry about the loss of your friend to cancer. Sending much love

JCS-my condolences on the loss of your friend.

Lori - 2 1/2 weeks. She celebrated her birthday early today with 2 of her best friends - she sent me a picture of her and the birthday cookie which she baked!!! She reminded me early this morning by asking me to make her a b'day cookie - she wants peanut butter chocolate chip - I would have forgotten. So Sunday will be a baking day and putting everything in the freezer. Then I need to clean my ovens to get ready for Passover.

Up to 2 feet of snow is predicted for this week-end. Wet heavy snow. The last snow storm like this was March 2003. The interim superintendent sent out an email with the new snow day policy for the rest of the year. If its just one day we get a snow day - if it looks like multiple days, the first day is snow day then move to remote learning. He will notify schools the day before to have students take their chrome books home. So I'm guessing Friday such an email will go out.

Chevy - stay safe with the snow - hope your neighbors or kids can help you out with shoveling etc.

Loooong day at work today - busy beyond busy - and I'm spent.

Lori - I have a small upright freezer that I defrost once a year - I turn it off and let the ice melt off of it and then wipe it out. I can do that as it is in the furnace room on cement floor.

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Thirsty Thursday! Yesterday was a 2 adult beverage day at work. Two positive COVID tests, one in the sister school to mine. So I went over there along with one of the other nurses to do the whole reporting, contact tracing, contact notification, parental notifications, and getting the sister school closed and the kids out and home. It's quite the process. Glad to have been through it as a helper, today I am going to gather some information to put in my COVID response folder to have ready. Who've thought the state CDC would want to know the dimensions of the cafeteria? But they do! Even Sadie was impressed with my tale of the work day last night!

Librarian--I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. I'm sure you will miss her every day. Glad you had a nice dinner with the boys. It does seem like life is beginning to change, again, doesn't it? What kind of crazy biases does DH have?

Morning, Jazzy

Goldie--I get the chicken and gnocchi soup. I love that soup!

Karen--Yikes, 2 feet of the heavy wet snow stuff is nasty. I hope the prediction is wrong, but glad the school has a plan.

Jazzy--YUM!!!!!

Chevy - waiting to hear the weather report this morning. We have candle and flash lights. Hoping we don't loose power. I have a full freezer of meat and poultry due to Passover is just over 2 weeks. We lost power in the spring a year or so ago due to a wind storm and downed wires that broke tree limbs.

9News still saying 10-20 inches but if we get rain Sunday instead of snow, will be less. Snow through Tuesday but not as heavy as the week-end.

Kim, the last snow most other school districts called a snow day, but my district went to remote learning. A 5th grade student made a u-tube video that went viral and he went on the local news so thankfully the district listened.

One year ago today, my husband was given a new leash on life - quintuple by pass surgery - we are calling it his second birthday - happy 1st birthday to my DH. As hard as it was to call the kids to tell them about the surgery it was so much better than the alternative. Some of you may remember that all 7 arteries were clogged 90-95% and he had a major clot on the "widow maker". He had only been feeling badly since Thursday and had stress test/cardiac catheter on Monday and immediately admitted to the hospital and started on Heparin. So thankful.

Busy day of meetings in the morning and interviews in the afternoons. A full 8 hour day on the computer zoom or google meets!!

Have a great day.

JCS, so sorry for the loss of your friend. May her memory be for a blessing.

On the DOTD front, Wed's drinks were Pierre Delize Brut Rosé (served not in a flute but an old-school "coupe" glass) and then an Argentine Malbec--the "house red" of the steakhouse--Artango--where we had a socially-distanced dinner.

Last night was the online Clif Family Winery tasting the kids bought me for my birthday (which was back in January but we wanted to pick a date when we were all available & at least Bob & I were fully-vaxxed). Leslie begged off because she had a very long workday on Zoom and was Zoomed-out, plus an early morning today. She's still teaching from home. So it was the three of us (Bob, Gordy & me) with the wine educator in the Napa Valley (actually, St. Helena).

So the DsOTD were all Clif wines: 2019 Rte. Blanc, a Sauv. Blanc made in a NZ style (85% stainless-steel-fermented, 15% "neutral" French oak) that had a citrus-y rather than eucalyptus (aka "pipi du chat") bouquet characteristic of Napa and Bordeaux. Next was a 2018 "Gary's Improv" Zinfandel, from a neighboring vineyard high on Howell Mt. Finally, 2018 Petite Sirah--good viscocity & acidity softening its tannins. Suggested pairings (provided with the wines) were maple-curry peanuts & cashews with the white; Spanish smoked pimenton almonds with the Zin (echoing a slight smokiness in the wine--a characteristic of the grape, not from the wildfires); and a "solar" cacao honey with the Petite Sirah. We spread it on whole wheat "biscuits," reminiscent of shortbread. I also brought out some truffle honey, which also worked nicely.

The "Clif" name is the same as the protein bars--named after the founder's dad.

Chevy - thanks for sharing - it is beautiful. Stay safe with the impending snow storm

Listening to the forecast for the storm - heavy snow Saturday and Sunday 10-20" in the metro area and more for the foothills - forecast has been pretty consistent all week - last night heard 12-24 and now 10-20. Only profession can be so inconsistent. Time will tell what we actually get.

Not looking forward to the time change. Time to pick either DST or ST and stay with it all year. The time change, both fall ad spring messes with my body for 1-2 weeks and it gets harder the older I get.

Stay safe and stay warm. Happy Friday.