Just like Santa Claus

Ho ho ho. Ok, tis not the season but I felt like the jolly old fat man while getting ready to leave Florida. I made a list, I checked it twice. Nay, I checked it thrice! I started days in advance with the packing and cleaning and multitude of things it takes to close up a dwelling for 5 months. Did I mention 5 hot months? You have to worry about mold, mildew, bugs, mice, sun damage, and probably a host more things that I can't remember at this early hour. So, in preparation for leaving I covered all the windows with insulated, sun reflecting board. I put out pans of kitty litter and charcoal to absorb odor and moisture. I covered the toilet bowl and toilet tank with saran wrap to keep the water in there so the rubber bits don't dry out and crack. Covered all the chairs and beds with a sheet to keep dust off, but not keep moisture in. Brought all the bikes in and turned them upside down so they're not resting on their tires as resting on their tires as they're made to do rots the rubber in FL. I set out ant and roach traps everywhere and made sure there wasn't a scrap of food left in the place to entice beasties. There are tons more things that were done....but you get the drift. It's a freaking lot of work.

Yesterday at 12:30, we closed the tonneau cover on the truck and tossed the dog in her traveling abode, hugged our friends one last time, and off we went. We were secure in the notion that we'd done everything necessary, as of course there were the said lists! We'd packed a lunch so we didn't have to stop at a restaurant and leave the dog in the hot car. We were thinking.

We got 150 miles down the road and stopped for a lovely lunch. Dog frolicked in the grass and all was good. Got back in the truck and on the road and of course, that's when it hit me. The conversation went like this.
I: Den, did you take out the trash in the kitchen when I asked you to?
Den: I think I did.
I:Den, do you 'think' you did, or do you 'know' you did?
Den: (head hanging now) I forgot.
Sighhhh NOW what do we do?? My good, and all knowing friend Ian, suggested we leave a key somewhere 'just in case'. I meant to, I really did. I was going to hide one. I, like Den, forgot. Do we turn around and go back 150 miles and start over? What do we do? It has to be dealt with. We'd have had rats and wildebeests and all kinds of critters upon our return. AHA! I'll call my good friends Clair and Mary and mail them a key and ask them to take care of it! I rang, they agreed and all was well in the world. I'd wait until Monday and overnight a key to them. Yes, it would cost me, but I'd be avoiding wildebeests after all!

This is where it pays to have nefarious friends. Clair was raised in New York. He be a city boy. We'd gone another 30 miles or so down the road when my cell phone rang. It was Mary. "The trash is out" she said! Imagine my surprise. "Oh? Do tell!" I replied. Seems Clair, with his apparently less than savory upbringing broke into my house and took out my trash. He rang a few minutes later to tell me it wasn't breaking and entering, it was burglary. I'm guessing one carries less jail time than the other and it might scare me a little bit that he knows that! He also informed me that he'd locked the house back up. Wow, I didn't know burglars did that!!!

All is well in our little palace in Buttonwood Bay now. The rats, bugs, alligators, and wildebeests will have to find nourishment elsewhere. I'm reminded of a song that the band used to play back in my barmaid days. "I've got friends in low places" Thank God I do! Clair, if you're reading this, you know I love you! So very many cookies will be coming your way in the fall!!

Anniversaries

We celebrate all kinds of anniversaries. Today is the third anniversary of my Daddy's death. Most people would look at this day with sadness. I find it difficult to do that. My father lived a full, colorful life. He passed away at home engulfed in the love and caring of his only daughter. His pain was ended and his passing peaceful. Not many people can look back on things with no regrets and only happiness. I can do that and it's a wonderful feeling. We had a very special relationship after my Mother died in 1982. I took care of him, and he let me!

Dad's favorite dessert was lemon meringue pie. His birthday is on March 27th, so each year on that date, I eat lemon meringue pie and think happy thoughts about my paternal unit. A girls gotta do what a girl's gotta do you know. I've had lemon pie on April 13th the past two years also, but alas, I've no pie today! I'll tip a beer in his honor tonight instead.

A few pictures of the patriarch of the Ellis family follow. I love this first one. Either I, or Ian took it at my son Brian's wedding. I know Ian edited it for me. He got rid of Daddy's jowls! He didn't erase the sparkle in his eye though. Daddy was so happy and proud that day.

This is a picture of my two brothers and I and Daddy. God we're a good looking group!!

I just had to include this one. Dad and I had just got back from the auto dealership where he'd bought a brand new Cadillac. I love the merriment in his eyes here. He was like a little boy with a new toy. He never could figure out how to use half the features! In fact, one day, he sat beeping at me from the driveway as he couldn't figure out how to unlock his doors and get out of the car!

A smile on my face at all the memories of Daddy on this day. Every day in fact.

Little things make me happy

Yep they do.

I was doing paperwork a while ago with my Piglet pen. Those of you that don't know, I'm a Piglet lover. My daughter in law gave me a Piglet pen, pink of course, with fur around the top and an adorable Piglet on a spring. Now it just doesn't get any better than a Piglet on a spring! I mean you move the pen and he bounces. But wait! My Piglet pen lights up when you write! Oh man oh man I'm in heaven!!! So, there I sat, springing my pig back and forth and laughing. I'd push the pen down to make him light up, then spring him about a bit more. He's probably got motion sickness now! This isn't a very good picture as it's hard to capture a springing Piglet with the camera in one hand while holding him with the other, but you'll get the drift. I'm off to my padded cell now...pink of course!

Welcome to Wal-Mart

My foray into Sebring's one and only Wally World today was to be a quick one. I needed to return some bacon that was unpalatable. I didn't need to buy anything or look at anything. I just wanted my money back for the supremely salty slabs of sow that had set me back $7.98 and now couldn't be eaten. I was met at the door by the greeter, which has always been one of my many pet peeves. I detest being greeted at Wal-Mart. I'm going to the freaking store and not entering a 5 star hotel! We had a greeter back in Houghton Lake that used to hide behind the counter and leap out at you as you entered the store. The one we have in HL now sits in her little powered wheel chair and shouts 'WELCOME TO WAL-MART HAVE A NICE DAY NOW' to you as you both come in, and leave the store! The greeter today in Sebring was of the usual Wal-Mart greeter ilk, which means not able to gain employment anywhere else, doesn't want employment here, feels she is entitled to the money that I'm paying her as I shop at the stupid store because she was somehow born with only partial brain cells. She must put a sticker on my bacon so it can go into the store. I thought this a relatively easy task even for someone of her low developmental stage. That's what I get for thinking. She mumbled something to me, I'm not sure what but she was definitely looking at me and waiting for a response. I did the only thing I could, I said 'Excuse me?' She came out with 'What did you do? Fart?' and then laughed and slapped her tiny little thigh. Did I mention I'm pretty sure this particular greeter is a midget, or a dwarf, or at the very least definitely vertically challenged? No? Well she is and I did not find the humor in her wee little comment. I said I was returning this, and proffered the package of pork for her perusal. The conversation went like this.
She: Don't you want this?
I said: um no
I thought: Helloooo I said I was returning this! If I wanted it, I'd not be returning it!
She said: Is something wrong with it?
I said: yes
She said: You need me to put a sticker on it.
I said: Yes I know
(Insert the motion here of me holding the bacon out to her looking much like the little kid in the orphanage asking 'please sir, may I have another?')
She said: Did you open it?
I said: Yes
I thought: No, this bacon came individually wrapped in saran in slices of 6 and inserted in a Ziploc freezer bag!
She said: What's wrong with it?
I said: Look, I just need the sticker. They'll ask me all this at customer service.
She said: I really can't remember.... but I do remember that it wasn't pertinent, I just wanted my damn sticker, and she'd pissed off my last nerve.
I said: (while walking into the store without the required sticker no less!) WELCOME TO WAL-MART HAVE A NICE DAY NOW!!'

I'm pretty sure my picture will be on the door with the caption 'Watch for this woman' next time I visit Sebring's one and only Wal-Mart.

Taste

It's a matter of taste. There's no accounting for taste. He/she has good taste. A taste of the good life. I've a taste for something sweet.

Peoples personal tastes have always intrigued me. It never ceases to amaze me how I can put something in my mouth and think it's wonderful. I savor the feel of it and allow the flavor to seep into my senses. Good food to me can be an almost sexual experience, but that's another blog! My friend next to me can put the same thing in their mouth and spit it out in total disgust. How can it be that something so pleasing to one can be so abhorrent to another? A tasty tidbit to ponder for sure.