Pandemic Pontifications

Hmm. Pontifications. To express ones opinions in a way considered annoyingly  pompous and dogmatic.  Okay. We'll see if I live up to my alliteration. I've been in quarantine since March 14. One would think that being retired like we are that there wouldn't have been much change to our schedules. Truth is I was actually pretty busy. Allow me a moment to grieve my pre-quarantine life. I originally wrote this post in April. It is now the end of October and we are still in quarantine.

I was chauffeur to Audrey. I miss seeing her regularly although she comes over often to get her bike which is kept in our garage. We have visited through my upper window but it is not the same. It just feels wrong to spray lysol on her bike and the door knobs. But that is what we have come to. I miss Madeleine, too, but since she recently got a car I wasn't seeing her as regularly so I had already grieved her loss. I'm still grieving not seeing Madeleine and Audrey. With the cooler weather Audrey doesn't come to get her bike now. They are both back in school. Katie is back at school, too.

We used to see Ira multiple times a week. He would come over for breakfast some times. Mark would bake apples and I would make French toast. Sometimes he came for lunch. Sometimes both meals on the same day! We always had so much fun with him. We have face timed with him and I am thankful for that but it isn't the same. So, Esli was born in September. We have become part of Natalie's and Scott's bubble. We took care of Ira when she was in the hospital. We are the designated care givers for both boys now. Scott works from home so their exposure to the community in minimal like ours is. 

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I volunteered for City Impact at Elliott Elementary School. This year I was assigned an ELL class. I love those kids! I miss them. 10 kids from 6 different countries, Jordan, Liberia, China, Viet Nam, Central America(not sure which country), and Myanmar. So diverse but so much the same. All of them learning to speak and read English together. Now they are quarantined, too. They and their parents are trying to navigate this pandemic in their new country with limited English skills. The little girl from Viet Nam and her family went back to Viet Nam in February to visit family and have not been able to get back home. I think of her often and pray her family has found a way to make a living until they can come back to Lincoln.  I don't know when volunteers will be allowed back into the schools. I have kept in touch  with my teacher via text messages. She is working on lesson plans that would include me reading to her students on Fridays via Zoom. I'm looking forward to that.

I miss shopping. Shopping has always been a sort of therapy for me. Being an introvert it is something I do alone but receive great pleasure from it. I don't always buy anything; I just love wandering around Home Goods and looking.  I enjoy going to our neighborhood store, Cedar Hill, formerly Aunt Patty's Attic. (same store, new name) I can spend way too much time wandering around in there. I usually do buy something there but nothing too big. I'm shopping local so that is my "justification".  I love shopping for gifts and cards. I still have not ventured out for shopping therapy. You might think that I would have taken up online shopping as a replacement. While I do shop online some it is not the same for me as in person shopping. I look forward to the day when I can casually wander my favorite haunts without fear of getting sick.

I used to do most of the menu planning and shopping. Mark has taken over the grocery shopping. I'm grateful for that. Speaking of grocery shopping it is so strange to know there is shortage of so many things.  We have gotten into the routine of Hy Vee Aisles on Line with curbside pick up.  I order groceries about every two weeks. It has been an interesting foray. I let them choose a substitute if they are out of stock. That has been fun. On the positive side I think I am saving a lot of money by not shopping in person. A side note - I think I have only put gas in my car once or twice since we got back from New Mexico in early March. We mostly drive the little Insight. I know we are saving money on gas. 

I think I will go ahead and post this, if for no other reason, to document this time.  I'm gonna try and catch up on posting and try to be more regular about it.

It's raining cats and dogs

I don't know why we have so many pets. Oh wait a minute, yes I do! I think we are running halfway house for rejected cat(s) and dogs. (We are full up so don't get any ideas) My diabolical cat and I have grown to have a love/hate relationship over the years. Admittedly more hate than love. You'd think by now he'd have outgrown the need to ambush me. Not so. Every single evening when I settle onto the couch to watch TV or read he decides he must spend time with me. If I'm reading, of course he must try to sit between the book and my eyes. If I push him away he attacks me. If I'm watching TV he must sit on my lap however, I may not move an inch or I'm toast again. I can't win! I used to love cats but when Henry takes his final resting place in our backyard cemetery I think I'll be happy to live out the rest of my life without another cat. As my luck goes he will outlive me and I will have no peace.

Trust me. Looks can be deceiving.

Our two dogs are neurotic. They were both rescued from the local humane society. They both have separation anxiety. For some reason I am their person. When I am home they are at my feet ALL DAY LONG! I can't even go to the bathroom without them. If the door doesn't latch Gilbert follows me in and sits next to the toilet. If the door latches then they are both waiting for me when I open it. If I sew they are right beside my sewing table, when I cook they join me in the kitchen. Wherever I am they are there. Don't get me wrong. They are sweet pups but they are so needy. They need to protect me from everything, the mailman, the FEDex man, the UPS guy, the doorbell, the neighbor in his backyard, the wind, the squirrels, every person who has ever dared to walk down our street . . . oh you know. Everything! They are very barky. They think that barking makes us all feel better. You want to know a secret? It really doesn't. It makes me cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs! I do love them, quirks and all, I  just wish they weren't quite so barky and needy.

Family history

These are photos from my childhood. A photo of my sister and me and one of our parents. These were taken in the early 1960s - fairly happy times. They were taken before the infamous tour of duty in Turkey. I have always seen that as a turning point in our lives. I'll save that story for when I've had more time to collect my thoughts.

I'm just a little crafty

Last fall I ordered some nice quality felt from an Etsy shop. I love it. It is so much nicer than the felt you find at chain stores. I originally thought I would use it to make ornaments but then I got an idea to make a banner of sorts. I used Pinterest to find ideas, mostly shape ideas. I can't draw to save my life. Even tracing is challenging for me. I can embroider and use scissors. This is what I came up with:

I love my ELL students and wanted to do something something special for them. I remembered making these for my girls when they were in elementary school. I made them Valentine themed.( I did not use the fancy felt for these.):

Sewing 101

I love to sew and craft! However, I lack confidence. Recently I gave myself permission to sew and craft whatever I want. By that I mean that I don't have to pigeon hole myself into a category or feel like my projects aren't worthy because they are easy. Except for homemaking classes in 8th and 9th grades were I learned basics I am pretty much self taught. I'm definitely a self taught quilter. I learned to sew on my mother's machine which she bought in Germany. I still have that machine and would still be sewing on it except they stopped making parts for it. It now sits on display in my secret room as an inspiration to me. I now sew on a Baby Lock Grace model which is nearly the bottom of the line but still has way more features than I will probably ever use.

I am not ashamed to admit that sometimes I use precut fabrics. Apparently a lot of other quilters do, too, because you can find a huge selection of them. You can use them as is, which is what I have done, or you can use templates to make other more complicated designs, which I hope to try in the future. I like the precuts because the color guess work is gone. I am not very good at choosing colors. I tend to overthink and get very frustrated. I have started small, literally. I've been making baby quilts which seem to be appreciated by the receivers. I've been tinkering around with size and how to make one from one charm pack. I think I may have settled on a design although I may change my mind in the future. Here are my recent projects made from charm packs:

This is one charm pack with the back and binding made from the same fabric.
It makes a rather small quilt.

This is also one charm pack but I added coordinated sashing. The back and binding are a different coordinated fabric. The sashing makes it a little larger than the one above.

This one is two charm packs with a solid back and binding. It is the largest of the 3.

It's true. Time flies.

When I decided to start blogging again I thought to myself I would keep up with it this time. That really is easier said than done. For a retired person I keep pretty busy. Between my volunteer work, chauffeuring granddaughters, watching Ira a few times a week, shopping (one of my favorite activities), sewing, and I would say housekeeping but that would be a falsehood, my days are fairly full. I think I have been finding a rhythm lately and remembering what I love. I've also become more open to new things and traditions. 

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the meal prep, planning and the family fellowship. I think it would be wonderful to have extended family join us one year. We have quite a few traditions surrounding the holiday but recently I decided to change it up a bit. We have some vegetarians in our family and they are happy to eat only sides. I have tinkered with my recipes to make most of them vegetarian friendly. The exceptions are the turkey and the gravy. 

I've gotten away from roasting a big turkey. I have started roasting 2 whole turkey breasts. You can find the recipe I use here: https://www.prouditaliancook.com/2017/11/foolproof-grilled-turkey-breast-butter-herbs.html I don't have a grill so I do it in the oven. Maybe I will venture out this summer and get a gas grill. This recipe is so good. The turkey is very moist and tasty. I make two so we will have leftovers.

This past year we all participated in the annual Turkey Trot. It is sponsored by the Lincoln YMCA and it takes place at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Park which is right across the street from the Y. Everyone else in our group did the 5K. Ira and I did the 1 mile because it allowed strollers and Grammy would have come in dead last in the 5K. We did not come in last in the 1 mile. We were respectably right in the middle.

Children are Children

For several years now I have been tutoring reading through a faith based organization in Lincoln called City Impact https://cityimpact.org. Up until this year I have always tutored first grade. I loved it. I didn't think I could love it more. I was wrong. This year I was assigned to tutor English Language Learners. I had no idea what to expect and if I'm honest I was anxious, at first. I had no idea how I was supposed to communicate with students who didn't speak my language.

I tutor inside the classroom which is different from the way it was with first grade. I was used sitting at a small table in the hallway with my student.Now I rotate through students approximately every 10 minutes for about 2 hours twice a week. I realize that that doesn't sound like a lot of time but we have a great curriculum and we accomplish a lot.

I work with students from Liberia, Jordan, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Guatemala and perhaps other countries that I don't know about yet. All of these kids are learning to speak and read English along with learning all of their other school subjects. These are amazing children! They are willing, quick learners.

Their teacher is compassionate and dedicated.  All of the ELL teachers host a Thanksgiving feast every year so the students can experience American culture.  I was invited to help them make pumpkin pie. What fun we had! None of them has ever had pumpkin pie before. The spices were mostly new to them also. Though some did recognize the scent of cinnamon. I supervised while they took turns mixing up the pumpkin custard. Their teacher took it home bake. They got to taste the pie at the feast.

Even though these children speak so many different languages they still manage to communicate with each other. It is so fun to watch them interact. What I have learned that children are children. They love to play, to learn, to help, receive high fives, and give hugs. They understand smiles and kindness. They are amazing. Many of them came from dangerous situations in their home countries but in the classroom they are children, no different from my own grandchildren.

Easy Rolls

     Growing up I remember my mom being a good cook. I still make some of her dishes. She was not a baker, however. She was big fan of the mix.  And so that is how I initially learned how to bake. As a young wife I remember eating Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family. My mother-in-law, Mama Ann, was a baker. She seemed to make everything from scratch. Gradually I collected many of her recipes. One of the first recipes of hers that I mastered was Easy Rolls. As I am wont to do my first effort in making these easy rolls was a failure. I did't thoroughly read the instructions first and I killed my yeast by putting it into the hot milk. Now a days I can whip these up very easily but for some unknown reason I usually only make them at Thanksgiving. They are a family favorite.

              My copy of the recipe is about as old as the number of years I've been married.

Autumn

Growing up in south Texas I never really experienced fall. It always seemed to me that there were just two seasons; hot and less hot. I realize that is an exaggeration but it was how I perceived it. When we moved to the midwest over 25 years ago one of the things I looked forward was autumn.  It has not disappointed me. Twenty years ago we planted a maple tree in our front yard. I look forward to its color very year. 

Sleepovers With Ira

Mark and I love when Ira sleeps over. He is so much fun. It does take a lot of energy, however. He has tendency to wake up super early when he sleeps over. We always make a special breakfast which must include Papa's baked apples. Sometimes it is homemade pancakes or waffles or even special oatmeal.

Natalie and Scott spent their anniversary weekend in Omaha to celebrate 7 years of wedded bliss. After they dropped off Ira we asked him if he wanted to go to the museum or the zoo. Initially he said museum. As we were getting ready to leave he said he wanted to feed giraffes. I explained the giraffes were at the zoo so we changed our destination. Up until this day Ira had been afraid to ride the train and the pony and was a little leery of feeding animals, too. So when he announced he wanted to ride the train I bought the train tickets right away along with lettuce for the giraffes. First we saw the red panda and then we headed to feed the giraffes. He was so excited. Since he was so excited about the train we went to do that next. He was such a big boy. He sat on Papa's lap and took it all in. I was holding his hat and accidentally dropped it while we were riding. Afterwards Papa stayed back to wait for the zoo employee to walk the track and retrieve it. While Papa was doing that Ira and I headed into the main part of the zoo. Right away he said he wanted to feed the goats. While we were feeding the goats he announced that he wanted to ride a pony. So after Papa caught up with us we got a pony ride ticket. He rode Samson the smallest pony. Papa held his hand the whole way. He conquered his fears that day and we had so much fun in the process.

                     We made homemade pizza for supper and Ira helped!

Channeling My Inner Lucille

Back in February of 1974 I started working at the National Bank of Commerce in San Antonio, Texas. I worked there for 5 years until Katie was born. One of my co-workers was Lucille. She had been widowed at a young age and never remarried. She was in her late 50s when I first met her. I learn so much from her. She not only taught me how to bake and cook by sharing her recipes with me but she also taught me about hospitality by inviting me into her home. You could go to her home for lunch on Thursday and sit down to a feast fit for royalty. Once, for my birthday, she made me a coconut cake from scratch with fresh coconut. I can still taste it it was was so delicious. She was an early riser and would often bake a cake in the wee hours of the morning, bring it to the bank via the bus (she never owned a car) and serve it to us still warm from the oven. Her cake of choice was usually coffee cake. I remember one time when she made it she had chopped up maraschino cherries and scattered them across the top. It made her giggle when she showed me that the cake was extra special that morning. This week I made her special coffee cake although I didn't have any cherries to make it extra special. Tasting that cake brought back happy memories. Food does that to me. Lucille died 3 years ago. She was 97.

Fall Party

This year I decided to have an autumn girls' day. I gathered all my supplies and set out to make some memories. Pinterest is my friend. I go there to gather ideas. I found a cute tutorial on how to make pumpkins using toilet paper and flannel plaid. We made thankfulness jars and drank pumpkin spice lattes. I found a recipe on Pinterest to make them in the crockpot. I made egg salad sandwiches and a few other things. It was nice afternoon that I hope will fondly be remembered. I should have taken photos at the time but I'm just getting used to the idea of blogging and it didn't occur to me.

https://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/how-to-make-cute-plaid-pumpkins-using-toilet-paper-rolls.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/55169164172837732/?nic=1a

On a personal note, I realize that there is nothing earth shattering in these blog posts. My purpose is to record memories for my family. My hope is that as I go I will become a better writer and hopefully my entries will be more interesting. I don't want my lack of imagination or writing talent to keep me from documenting our lives for posterity.

Gardening

Since Mark retired we have been discovering what our new normal is. One of the things we do is garden. Mark does most of the hard outside work. He built it, he plants and weeds it, and he harvests it. I cook the bounty. This year we harvested mint, oregano, thyme, chives, lemon balm, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeños, kale, rainbow chard, green beans and okra. 

Ira loves helping Papa in the garden. He will go outside and harvest veggies all by himself when we aren't looking. I didn't get photo of the garden in its prime. That space was totally filled. Out tomatoes have done well. We canned spaghetti  sauce and salsa. We bought a small freezer this summer. I have made and frozen minestrone soup, kale soup, lasagna roll up with chard, chicken gumbo, okra gumbo, shrimp gumbo, and chili. All of these have at least one element from our garden. Our freezer is full. I am looking forward to enjoying these meals in the dead of winter.