how about drinking?

Karen, mazel tov on having your daughter be able to celebrate her 23rd birthday with you! Has she formally "made aliya" or is she simply living in Israel for awhile?

Lori, sorry for the poor quality of the photo (it's my built-in webcam). I'm drinking Irish coffee--that "head" is not Guinness froth, it's whipped cream (hand-whipped, with an eggbeater which my kitty Happy was all too delighted to lick afterward). And "schlep" is Yiddish for--literally--"carry," but figuratively "haul," "tow," or "drag along." (Yiddish expressions are often exaggerations, if you haven't figured that out by now).

No wine for me tonight, either. Late last night, let's just say that I experienced the stereotypical side effect of an antibiotic I'd not taken in over 20 years. Both Bob & the allergy NP said "that's not a bug, it's a feature" of amoxicillin, but my pre-dental dose Tuesday shouldn't have the same effect, provided I remember to eat enough first. The NP also said that I still had quite a bit of the Omnipaque oral CT contrast in my system, a side effect of which can be nausea (especially when you have to drink 20 oz. of it on a time schedule).

Oh, and here's the classic chocolate egg cream I made the other night. Just 3 ingredients: milk, seltzer & chocolate syrup. It's all in the technique:

Speaking of CTs, Kim, mine were all "stable." The lung nodule is definitely a scar from Dec. 2019's month-long "cough-a-thon."

Good morning! Quiet around here without the dog, but he will be back next week. I did get the windows done! We got none of the bad weather. It was around us, but not a drop here. March Madness has started. Baylor won yesterday and will play again on Sunday. Lots of hoopla around the women’s teams and how there is much inequality. Pretty sure it is not Covid related. More likely a money deal.

I watched the movie, The Trial of the Chicago 7, last night. I had forgotten how bad the judge actually was. I also had no idea how bad the treatment of Bobby Seales was. He was not allowed a lawyer and was force ably detained to mainly shut him up. I highly recommend the movie.

Not sure what I will do today. I need to do a mani/pedi, but also need to think about cleaning up the courtyard. Probably will sit for a large portion of the day! I get my second shot next week. Fingers crossed for no bad side effects.

Take care!

Mornin ladies,

I'm trying I read all the time here just have a hard time since I don't have A regular computer desk, packed and still no closing so I',m still here and altho I'm treated very well I miss being home, Joey usually comes on Sat. that helps.

Karen I'm so happy for you. Holding ur now 23n yr old DD has to be wonderful just nseeing her is great. She's so far from u it's got to be rough.

Lori do u think maybe ur DH thinks maybe this will be the best he's ever going to be. I know rehab is hard and after kepping it up is worse but it does help a lot. If he's depressed that would answer a lot, but that iu have to go thru this is no answer for him I feel so bad for u cuiz some of this is not necessary <I think> if he just did what he's supposed to. But I am super happy about ur son, still praying.

Illi u got those SE's that bad and fast oh wow I'm so sorry ur going thru that chit.

JHL itis colder up north usually isn't it.

Misty u have to feel mixed emotions.I think after all these hyrs. of working it's great to stop. R u celebrating in some ways./ I know I still see and talk to my close working friends but I miss seeing them everyday and us having lunch. Other than that it's great, i"m sure iu will find the greatness in it. Even is u still get up the same time u don't have to do anything iunless u feel like it. Enjoy.

JC a card game in over a year. I'd be so excited that sounds like so much fun anmd I know how u love to be around ur friends u always have such a good time. U enjoy so much in life it wonderful.

Sandy ur drinks sound fab. food pretty good too. But they look so professional haven't had an egg cream in ages. I forgot what they taste like.

Kim that virtual play sounds great can,t even imagine. Sounds so good about ur job but now ur getting a taste of everything. Give sadie belly rubs for me.

Chevy if u lived by me u'd have everything done in not time for much cheaper. I get the family and I'll screw up ur calls discount. After a while homes cost a lot to keep up. But I'm sure u have a bundle saved for all the men who paid u NOT to dance on ur crazy pole.

LUBS U ALL

Welcome back, Cami! Bummer about the closing. The worst one I've ever experienced just took a single day...all day...well into the evening, (Other atty. was preparing the papers by hand as he went along, title co. was having trouble getting the money and issuing the checks. And it was merely a re-fi!). Yes, we saw the kitty--who is typically averse to being "costumed" to any degree. Dogs will put up with a lot more indignity. Here by the lake it'll stay in the 40s--so no patio dining for us.

In Chicago, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb...a rabid lamb...on steroids. Egg creams taste just like chocolate ice cream sodas, minus the ice cream. Old-fashioned soda jerks would be very generous with the seltzer, letting the froth overflow into the fountain's drain tray and then leveling it off with the edge of a spoon and adding just one more squirt to bring the "head" to just above the brim. I like mine to look like meringue.

Lori (or whoever asked, I forget), they were called soda "jerks" not as a pejorative, but as a descriptor of what they did--they would have to pull, aka "jerk," on the soda spigot handle to make most fountain drinks. Pushing it away made the flow stronger and helped make that froth for the egg cream (and when making an ice cream soda, they'd add a little vanilla ice cream to the milk at the bottom, push the spigot to make the mixture froth, then pump the syrup and pull the handle to add the soda while stirring--for an egg cream, they wouldn't stir till the glass was full). Back then, there were separate pumps for different syrups: chocolate, vanilla, cherry (always red, not black), & Coke (the only brand they used). These days, they just push a button & out comes the drink. (Smaller buttons for plain seltzer & water).

Kim, I get so infuriated about unvaxed people who refuse to mask--and even more about the idiots who are "COVID-hoaxers." Good grief--their cult idol admitted he got COVID, was later vaccinated, then went on Bartiromo's show to praise the vaccine and tell people they should get it...but then, to avoid losing the support of idiots, backtracked and said they should be able to make up their own minds.

Here, there's a scandal about a tiny W. Side hospital (Loretto, in the desperately poor and almost exclusively black Austin neighborhood) whose COO & CEO blithely held "private events" where they vaccinated people living outside the area--even in you-know-who's tower in the posh downtown and the CEO's far-south-suburban church, at a time when eligible people, especially surrounding the hospital, were desperately seeking shots. Tower staffers, judges & their spouses, suburban church members: they claimed the church members said they were >65, had hi-risk conditions, or were essential workers, but they didn't even bother to verify that and didn't even ask the other recipients. The city is withholding the rest of the hospital's first-dose allocation while it and the Bd. of Directors investigate--which in effect punishes Austin residents who have nowhere else to get vaccinated because they can't get to the United Center vax site and don't have the tech equipment or skills to find appointments. Those illegitimately vaxed by Loretto will get their second shots (the suburban church already held its second-shot event). The church alone used up 200 pairs of shots.

40% of Chicago's shots went to suburbanites (some living in wealthy collar-county 'burbs like Oakbrook, Winnetka, Glencoe & Burr Ridge), while 21% of Chicago recipients (raising my & Bob's hands) had to go to suburbs (Norridge for me, Evergreen Park for Bob at one of his hospitals; my HK--who lives in Austin near Loretto--to far SW suburban Tinley Park) to find appointments. FUBAR to the max.

Cami - so glad to hear from you & know you are OK. Even though there are conflicting issues.

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Sunday Funday! Going over to Mom's in a bit, she's got some things she needs help with, then we are going to the somewhere to check on something, she hasn't said a complete sentence yet about whatever it is we will be doing so I can figure it out. Honestly, that woman can change subjects 4 times in a single sentence and expects everyone around her to be able to keep up! Yesterday wasa total couch potato day after messing around on the computer getting stuff ready for the class that starts in a couple of weeks. Binged watched American Ripper. But I feel much livelier this ayem and may actually get something done around the house before I leave. Maybe.

Sadie says Woof to everyone!

Librarian--the whole boys/girls, men/women team equality thing is getting more and more complicated all the time with more and more transgender people coming out.Sometimes I wonder if it's time to eliminate gender based sports entirely and just have one team per sport per school.

Cammy Cat--I'm sorry you haven't been able to move and get settled yet. It must be so hard to be in limbo like that, even when you are treated very well. There's nothing quite like being home.Sadie says "Thanks" for the belly rubs. Oh my goodness, how could the pharmacy mess up your prescription like that? So glad you and Leslie could get it sorted out quickly. I noticed the kitty, cute kitty with an hilarious expression!

Chi--I have found myself to be less bothered by the anti-vaxxers and people who won't wear masks since I got vaccinated myself, and I do realize that is a false sense of security. Still, it bothers me to run across those people. And I wonder what they go through if a family member gets severe COVID or, God-forbid, dies. I've heard of situations where vaccine doses were given to people they were not intended for, but none so egregious as what you describe. FUBAR indeed.

Teka--Yes, I need to go find some!

Morning, Minus!

Goldie--Yes, the Fancy Dress day was at the High School. That's where the interesting staffers were, too. Sadie was keeping me quite warm yesterday ayem, but then we both needed to pee, so getting out of bed was inevitable. I keep the bedroom quite cool, I sleep better that way, so I didn't realize the heat had gone off until we got up and came out into the hallway. While I don't keep the house super warm, there is usually a noticeable difference between the bedroom and hallway, and yesterday there wasn't!

Just stumbled across this cocktail:

New Englatini

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons apple juice
• ¼ cup gin
• 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon St. Germain
• 3 dashes bitters

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake thoroughly and strain into a martini-style glass. Serve.

From <https://threemanycooks.com/recipes/new-englatini/>

Sandy - DD may Aliyah in 2017 so she's been an Israeli citizen for 4 years in May. She did a gap year program and made Aliyah before the end of the program.

Lori - total trip is 2 1/2 weeks. She leaves on 04/05. Originally is was to be 3 weeks, but when her original flight was canceled this was the best she could get. No one is complaining as she is here. At one point we didn't think it would work out. So far, we still can't travel to Israel.

We drove up to the mountains Thursday after work. Great hiking Friday and Saturday. Beautiful blue sky and sunny. Trails were packed down but off the trail the snow was at least 3 feet deep (we stepped off a couple times to let people go by. It snowed a few inches last night and will start snowing again mid afternoon. Originally we were going to stay till after dinner to miss the crazy Sunday rush hour down the mountain. But now thinking about leaving by noon so may hike a little bit this morning. Have to pack up and clean the place before we leave. DD said Friday she got exactly what she wanted for her birthday . Hiking and being in the mountains. Also cooked some of her favorite foods including veggies she doesn't get at home or are too expensive.

Will post photos from my phone.

Have a great Sunday

Happy Funday Sunday and happy Spring all!

Hope everyone is doing well on this first weekend of the new season. We had the most spectacular day yesterday with the first day of spring, went to 78 degrees for a high! I ran a couple errands around noon including into a couple stores and could not help but chuckle at all the women in their sandals with fresh pedicures. I made more progress on my back yard getting more yard clean up in the dumpster, plus I pruned my pampas grass which is a big chore. My dumpster is full, and today I am going to focus on other things (like the garage and inside). Love having the change of light, new season, and see green things popping out of the ground. Spring is slowly unfolding.

I went to the supplier this week to take a look at granite slabs to try to figure out what I want to do for my countertop upgrade project. Boy is that a fun place and picked out about five types of granite and took home some small samples to see how they look with my interior. My favorite is still my favorite but made a second choice and will use the top of two ranges to get the estimate finalized. I still need to talk to my plumber about some things and by early April, I should be ready to figure out how I will finance this with the help of my credit union. Then I will schedule this for sometime late summer early fall, when I know my schedule will allow me to be home for a few days without having to run out to clinics, etc. Really excited about getting this done, been thinking about it since I paid off the house in 2019 and this will be a good year to get er done.

This week marks a milestone with coming off of probation with my new job. Sounds like nothing to worry about, and know they also need this long lead time to finish doing the very detailed background search. That will allow me to take my first vacation day off on Friday and have things lining up for my trip to go down south to the hot springs. Made a reservation for a spa treatment at the Ted Turner resort too. Work has been a bit challenging lately due to politics and management demands, but just pushing through; some of it is them and some of it is me getting used to working in a FT job vs. for myself. I do remind myself after self employment for 14 years, this is all a journey and to be patient with myself.

Cami- I am sorry your family is still trying to get through this closing. It makes it so hard on everybody, and a lot of rescheduling of things. I am glad Joey comes to see you on Saturdays but not seeing him every day must be hard for you too. And your meds, whew, glad Les got those to you and no doubt you were coming into withdrawl. Hope you are feeling better. I do understand the bipolar world with my family history and know this kind of stress is not good for one with that condition. Sending you all much love. And yes, seeing your kitty pics!

Goldie- my allergies are in full bloom here right now. I have a lot of problems with juniper, worse right now. April is my worst allergies month here. And with the wind, ah choo!

Will be back later to write a bit more. My outdoor yoga class is back this weekend and heading out to that. More later!

Ill- I love nothing better than a good bloody mary with snacks stacked in. That looks fabulous. Glad you enjoyed your outing!

Good morning! Beautiful day here. Sun is shining and in the low 50’s. I slept through the dog arriving this morning. He has been full of energy with some puppy nips and lots of barking. We will do a quick walk a bit later. I did work in the side yard on Saturday and it looks a lot better. All three of my basketball teams won on Sunday and we watched most of the NASCAR race. Lots of sitting! Today will have more activity. Laundry, bill pay and some general house cleaning.

Good to hear from you, Cami. I have been missing the cat memes and your interesting life. Careful with those pants!

I am always amazed, Jazzy, with how quickly people break out the shorts and flip flops. They must have strong internal heaters!

My goodness, Illimae, those are drinks???? Do you take the food out so you can drink it?

Karen, those pictures of your family in the mountains are beautiful. And the scenery is nice, too!

Take care everyone.

NM, that is pretty funny about your mom " that woman can change subjects 4 times in a single sentence". Regardless, I hope you had a nice time with her. I know you like the house cool, but in the 40's is a little too cool! I think we can all relate to the inevitable, getting up to pee!

Karen, 4/5 will be here before ya know it, but let's not think about that! Love the pictures, everyone looks so happy. And that looks more like a moose to me, not an elk?

Cami, did you laugh out loud (literally) when you said "ballcock"? Taking that excess skin off, hell ya that's got to hurt. I'm always amazed at how different they look in the face tho. Sorry about Joey's headaches, but that young man is wise beyond his years, just so damned sweet. I can totally see you with your pants falling down and you just acting as if it's a normal occurance.

Jazzy, new kitchen counters, how exciting. I'm sure your background check will come out just fine! As for the allergies, snowing here this morning, so that should help. And that darned wind sure doesn't help!

BabyGirl, the drinks look AHHHHH Mazing! I'll take the top off the bloody mary and have it with yours please!

JCS, was it the puppy that woke you up?

NM, why weren't you notified of school being closed? I'm so sorry about your knee and hope it doesn't give you too much trouble. You have some plants in your office, I assume? You don't like shrimp? But eat lobstah? What did you and mom do?

Had neighbors over yesterday, got the new micro wave put up and the yard hydrant fixed. Glad to have those done. Good people, and wouldn't take any money. He likes his beer, they got here at 8 am, him toting a beer! I said "that's coffee in there, right?"

OMG see how long it takes me I miss 3 posts and all I did was jabber on and on saying nearly nothing. So I'm more caught up and Kim I hope ur leg feels good quickly that's a pain in the ok well leg.

Good Morning, Loungetttes!Happy Twofer Tuesday! Back to school today, the boiler has been fixed. The emailcame out yesterday afternoon. It got beautifully warm here yesterday, hit 70 degrees outside and inside the house even with the furnace turned off! Lots of melt off, lots of mud, looks like mud season is waking up. Sadie enjoyed basking in the sun. So did I. I got nothing much else done, though. Oh well, the housework won't run away, so I'm not worried about it.

Goldie--Mom has a lot of stuff stored in a garage that belongs to one of my cousins. We went there so she could sort through what she wants to keep and what she wants to get rid of. That mostly involves Mom opening up bags and boxes and taking everything out, looking at it and talking about it, and then putting things in different piles, and then putting them all back in the box or bag again and then moving them around so she can't remember which she's looked at and which she hasn't. She actually throws away next to nothing, not even water damaged papers that are unreadable. She did take back to her apartment a trash bag full of stuff. Some of it she will actually use, most of it was "I might want that someday" stuff. Gotta love the woman, but there are definite hoarding tendencies going on here! I wasn't notified about school being closed because my phone number hasn't been added to the RoboCall list. E-mails were sent out, and I have got my work e-mail showing on my home desktop now so I can check that before I leave the house. I do have a couple of small plants in the office, a miniature rose and a shamrock. Some of the students have some fun looking for the 4 Leaf Clover in there. No one's found one yet, so I don't think there is one, but hey, it's fun to look! Glad the neighbors are so helpful, and funny about him toting a beer at 8 ayem!

Cammy Cat--I learned a long time ago that the little, petite bosses were the ones with the biggest effect on staff! I bet your GD does just fine at work. Albert Einstein Drive? Sounds very brainy. Joey sounds like an old soul. He's growing into quite the special young man. The knee/leg is much better this ayem than yesterday, which was much better than Sunday. So whatever it is, it's healing/repairing/going away.

Chevy--I have been using a heating pad. I had a rice pad that I loved but has disappeared. I have some rubs I use at times too. I do have arthritis in both knees, worse in the bothersome right one, which started out as traumatic arthritis after I slipped on the stairs running to a Code Blue at work one evening. I do not know what happened to set it off this weekend, though. On Sunday I actually considered a cane, and if I had come across one I probably would have used it! I'll wear the brace again today, but should be able to leave that off later this week judging by how it feels this ayem.

Knee Deep Cocktail Recipe

• 2oz dark rum
• 3/4oz amaretto
• 3/4oz cream of coconut
• 4oz pineapple juice
• 1 1/2oz oj

Mixing Instructions: Shake or blend all with ice, float dark or ovenproof rum. Raise glass and toast.

From <https://www.caribbeancastaways.com/2012/07/25/knee-deep-cocktail-recipe-boat-drinks/>

Good morning! Was able to complete most of my chores yesterday. Today I want to attempt making sheet pan shrimp boil for dinner. I have boiled it before and it takes forever. Will probably end up with two sheet pans as the kids are coming for dinner.

Tomorrow I get my second vaccine. We will head to the drive through site and hope it happens as quickly as the first one. Fingers crossed there are no side effects. Thursday I have an appointment with a yard service. We have never used one, but think it may be time. Much will depend on the charges and what they will do. The yard is too big for us to handle regularly.

Better get going! Gotta walk the dog, get a shower and find something to do today.

Take care