Gourmet chocolate fountains are now a popular and elegant piece for weddings and parties. Chocolate cascades off each layer as guests dip fruit, pretzels or cream puffs in the chocolate flow.
Thursday
April 30

Since I won't be in town next week to have a one week checkup with my eye doctor, I went to see him today for followup from my cataract surgery yesterday. With my right eye (which was operated on yesterday) I could read the entire bottom row of the eye chart! I've never been able to do that before. Dr. Washburn was impressed. I have to go back to see him after we get back from Milwaukee. I'm happy with my surgeries. My left eyelid is sort of droopy now. The surgeon said that at the three month mark would be as good as it gets. It doesn't really bother me.
At work almost everything that needs done before I leave next week has been done.
I wish I could say the same for home. Time is getting short so I must get in gear. Actually I just keep mentally crossing things off my list

During the 1950's it was estimated a Whitman's chocolate sampler was sold every 4.5 seconds.
Wednesday
April 29

Today I had cataract surgery on my right eye. Boy, it's a bright world out there. When I had my left eye done, I wasn't feeling very good by mid afternoon. This time I feel great. I really can't feel that anything went on with my eye. Last time it felt like I had grains of sand around my eye.
Jess went with me to Garden City so I'd have someone to drive home. Should of made her leave her phone in the car. She kept taking pictures as I was being prepped. Not fair. Also got another plant. That's so nice of them.
My opinion from last time still holds. It's the best medical facility I've ever been in.
I now feel like my eyes are working together again. The three weeks between the surgeries was a little odd. I definitely need reading glasses now, but my vision in general seems much better.
Now I use my eye drops and wait for the healing to be complete.
A week from now the kids will be out of surgery. My, time is passing fast now. I'm still putting off things that I need to get done before we go.

Captain Robert Scott, a British explorer, brought a 3,500-pound load of cocoa and chocolate on his Antarctic expedition of 1901-1904.
Tuesday
April 28

Jess & I go to Garden City tomorrow so I can have cataract surgery on my right eye.

Before the invention of air conditioning, most chocolate factories shut down for the summer.
Monday
April 27

In just a week we should be settled in our motel room. Doctors appointments the next day and then surgery on Wednesday. I guess the time is drawing close whether we're ready or not.
I had a follow up with the eye surgeon today and I had pre op for my right eye. My left eye is healing very nicely. It will be nice when both eyes know how to work together again. It is really hard to go back to work when your eyes are dilated as big as saucers! Nothing looks quite right. I'm not sure why they dilate them but I know they did it pre op last time.
I have a whole list of things that need done before we leave for Milwaukee. But I'm thinking more than I'm doing.

In 2006, a German man tried to sue the Easter Bunny for causing him bodily harm. He accused it of causing chocolate addiction, which leads to heart disease, strokes and obesity.
Sat/Sun
April 25/26

Well, I joined Facebook tonight. Jess helped me add a lot of members from the board. Most of my family is on there also. So I figured I should give it a try.
Took Dad to lunch today. Just two of my nieces went with us. Gianna stayed home. It sounds like they close on the house in Florida on Wednesday.
Pretty chilly today. Doesn't feel like the end of April.
I'm still making my way through all the quilt blogs that joined the Quilt Festival. There are some great quilters out there.

Ice cream scoops are a fast and easy way to portion chocolate batters and cookie dough.
Friday
April 24

How funny. I read the calendar's chocolate thought for the day and laughed. Who needs to portion out the cookie dough? I'm sitting here eating it straight out of the bowl! I like cookies but I like the dough much better.
I haven't done much baking in the last two or three years. I used to bake a couple times a week or so. I think I got sidetracked. Out of the blue, a couple of weeks ago, I made brownies. Hadn't even thought of it until I decided to mix them up. Then I decided to make chocolate chip cookies a few nights ago. Turns out I only made the dough. And now there's not enough left to bake. But it sure was good!!
My dad was in my kitchen a few years ago when I was making chocolate chip cookies. I offered him a bite of the dough. He told me he'd never eaten any!!! How could that be!
As kids, we never really knew how many cookies our recipes made as we always sampled the dough. But we (I? maybe I was the only one that did this) knew that we had to produce a certain amount of cookies or Mom would be mad. She'd know that we just ate the dough.
I'm just doing my part to conserve energy. Yeah, that's a good story.
Today was a better day than yesterday.

Let's see now, more bologna, and some more meatloaf and a slug of double-dutch chocolate syrup. - Shaggy, making a sandwich from Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
Thursday
April 23

Sometimes it's best not to know the facts. I counted up how many days Bill has worked since the beginning of Dec. Pretty sad number. He has been trying to get unemployment for some of that time there was no work. First, you have to of not worked for seven days. Sometimes they were only off for six. Second, any vacation days must be taken before you can get unemployment. Well, he had filed for two weeks prior to knowing that. So he took the last of his vacation days. And it looks to me like the weeks previous to that won't be paid.
This is all new to us. Unemployment is paid with a debit card. Which doesn't work to well to pay bills. So there is the option to have it transferred to a checking account. Usually takes two to three business days. Well, it's now been four business days and we still don't have access to the money.
And we did a lot medically in the first months of the year and have met our deductible. Of course when you meet the deductible that means you have to pay. We usually don't meet it all in one fell swoop. And UCLA thinks we owe them a lot of money. We don't. They originally billed insurance bits and pieces at a time for Bill's IPSS that he had done in Dec. They then turned around and billed it all again in one lump sum and when insurance rejected it, they took that to mean that we owe a part of that large sum. I don't think so. But how to get them to understand.
Enough gloom and doom. It always gets better.

Bold dark chocolate. Light golden cookie. Soulmates. - Pepperidge Farm cookie ad
Wednesday
April 22

Two weeks and J&J will be post op in the hospital.
There are now 527 new quilt blogs for me to read. I've made it to about 30 so far. I've been trying to decide if I should enter the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. Even if you aren't a quilter you should go check out some of these quilts. There is some real talent out there.

Ceramic fondue pots are best for chocolate or other dessert fondues. Combination pots are the most practical and are usually very elegant.
Tuesday
April 21

Two weeks from tonight we will be sitting in a motel room in (close to) Milwaukee, knowing that when we get up the next morning J&J are headed to surgery. Trying to keep it together.
I do have a lot of reading material for that long stay in the motel, well if we have good internet service. Today I found this. I love quilting blogs and this Quilt Festival gives me access to 482 (so far) new quilting blogs!! Now that will take some time. I love reading quilting blogs, but these women are so far ahead of me. They seriously quilt, I just play at it. But I probably love it as much as they do, I just don't spend near as much time at it as they do.
I also found another great blog by Joy the Baker. Great recipes and great photos. Love photos of food.
My oldest nephew turned 33 today. I was a sr. in high school when he was born. He was actually born on his due date. I probably only remember that because a girl in Art class said, in a know it all voice, "Just because it's her due date doesn't mean she'll have the baby then." Well, duh, I wasn't stupid. But since Jarrod was born on his due date I had to mention it the next day in class. He (and his younger brother) is deaf, so deaf that if you hollered right behind him he would probably only turn around because he felt your breath on his neck. Since I didn't buy him a card I thought I'd send him a text (which is great for deaf people). Usually if I need to send a text I do it through the Alltel site,as I have to pay for each text and seldom use it, but I thought he might answer. And he did.
When he was 10 I took him on a trip to Florida to visit my brothers while they were cutting silage down there. Actually we followed my brother, Sam, down. It was quite a trip. He was trying to help me read road signs. Well, when you are going through cities and there are several levels of roads, you have to read the signs on your level!
For a while I thought I was really popular with the truckers until I discovered that Jarrod wasn't sleeping in the back of the car, he was telling all the truckers to honk. I drove a hatchback so he had plenty of window.
It was a fun trip. I just found photos of it when I was sorting photos the other day. I need to print some for him. He'd enjoy them.
Today I finally figured out how to convert VHS to DVD at work. There are various ways to save the VHS file. If you don't use the right application the DVD you burn won't work on all players. But I finally (I think, I hope) have it figured out. At least I finally burned one that has worked on three separate players. Finally. Seemed like it should be easy enough, but.........
Two weeks.

Peppermint Patty
3 oz. peppermint schnapps
Yoo-Hoo chocolate drink
Pour peppermint schnapps into highball glass and fill to top with Yoo-Hoo. Stir and serve.
Monday
April 20

LOOK, LOOK, LOOK!! I got an email from Matt Lauer! Oh, wow, I'm so excited, unfortunately he seems to think I need to lose weight. Now how did he know that? Suppose he knows that his face is on this ad? Normally I don't even open up an email that I can't identify the sender, but my curiosity got the best of me. I had to see what his name would be linked with.
I've been sorting old photos. Some as far back as my teen years. I really need to scrapbook. I have a lot of supplies just don't take the time to do it. Looking at all the photos was fun. I'm going to scan them all. I think I'll make DVDs for my siblings as I'm sure I never gave them copies all those years ago. I think I probably took a lot more photos than they did.
There is also a lot of various friends. I'll have to make CDs for them. A trip down memory lane.
My mother passed away fifteen years ago today. She had a stroke one night while she, Dad and my brother, Bob were at a dinner meeting. She was in a coma by the time she got to the hospital and never regained consciousness. She died about 4:00 the next afternoon. I remember that when my sister called to tell me that she had died, on the radio was Reba McEntire singing "The World Doesn't Stop For My Broken Heart." I then knew how true that was, customers kept coming in the door and had no idea that Mom had just died. I also learned that a broken heart, physically hurts, but there is no outward appearance that anything is wrong.
She had been taken by ambulance from a local hospital to the hospital in Hays. I believe they were going to run some tests. She died before any tests were run. My dad had gone in the ambulance with her (said he never wanted another fast ride like that!) and two of my sisters and one of their husbands followed (at a slower speed). I heard that my BIL fainted when they got the news that Mom died.
It was all so surreal, we'd been planning a 45th anniversary party for my folks (they married late) and the announcement was coming out in the local paper the day she died. That just seemed so wrong, but there was no way to stop it.
It was a very long year after that. Things got a little better after the first anniversary. It was hard watching Dad learn to live by himself. I used to sometimes pretend that she was riding in the car with me as I drove back and forth to work, about thirty miles each way. Somehow that helped, I had conversations with her. I knew her well enough that I could come up with her responses. On my days off I spent a lot of time that first year just sitting and watching the kids play. I had no desire to keep myself busy, I just sat (much like I do these days, now that I think about it).
My sisters and I called each other frequently just to say that we were having a bad time.
She was a great woman. I've been told I'm starting to look like her. Now, as much as I loved my mother, I don't really want to look like her!

Too much of a good thing is simply wonderful! - Deborah Fox-Rothschild
Sat/Sun
April 18/19

I now understand why I've been told I can't order new glasses for several weeks after cataract surgery. It's been about a week and a half since I had surgery on my left eye. The world is so much brighter! But I notice sometimes everything looks fine from that eye and other times it's all fairly blurry. Sometimes I can use my eyeglasses other times, not. But I figure it will all even out eventually. About a week and a half until I have surgery on my right eye.
Jess & I didn't go take Dad to lunch today. It was way to muddy. My sister who lives close to him said she would take him lunch. For a little over a year now we've been going out on Saturdays to pick him up and take him to lunch. We've only misssed a few times and we were out of town those days.
It seemed like we had a lot of extra time at home today. Since we were in town, we went to a "meet the candidate", at our church. We are in the process of calling a new pastor. This weekend he and his wife are in town to meet with the congregation and for him to speak at church tomorrow. We will vote the following two Sundays. I'm guessing that we will call him and that he will come. They seem like very nice people. He's been in the ministry for many (30 some?) years.

Cranberry bog Frogs are a Cape Cod candy made with dried cranberries, roasted cashews and caramel enrobed in milk chocolate.
Friday
April 17

Still raining today. That's good for us, we've been pretty dry for quite awhile.
The kids had their pre op physicals today. They went together and I stayed at work. I guess they took them back to the exam room together but that's okay since this wasn't a put on a gown type of physical. They seem to share a lot of doctor appointments.
Jess sent me a text while they were there. I usually hate getting texts because they aren't on my plan and I hate paying for them. I know they are only .10-.15 each but .... This one was good though. She told me I was missing out because Dr. S was the one that was going to do the physical. I thought that was great as he is the doctor that treated Justin like a criminal and pretty much accused him of using drugs. He was pretty rude to me also. Then he talked with the school counselor and said there was ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with Justin and no reason he couldn't be in school every day. So I would of loved to of been there when he found out that the physicals were pre op for surgery to treat Cushing's (which I'm sure I suggested to him at the other appointment and was completely dismissed).
But in the end it didn't quite work out that way. Andy did the physicals. He put Justin on antibiotics as Justin told him he had drainage from his ear, wouldn't want anything postponing surgery. It's getting a little more real every day.
If it's still raining tomorrow I wonder about taking Dad to lunch. I'm really not a very good mud driver. I need to call my sister that lives out there and get her opinion.
Speaking of Elsie, Jess tells me she now has a Facebook page. She got DSL at home, must like it. My sister Myrna also has one, and all the nieces and nephews (except one) that are old enough have a page. I just may have to join that world one of these days.

A "crumble" is also called cobbler, slump, dump or grunt. Whatever name you call it, a crumble always has a top and never a bottom. Adding chocolate with the fruit is the crumble makes for a delicious and unique addition.
Thursday
April 16

It's rained today, we need it.
Took the medic alert bracelets to the jewelers.
Physicals for the kids tomorrow.

If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage? - Marquise de Sevigne
Wednesday
April 15

I saw the eye doctor today. He said the eye looks great.
The kids' surgery is three weeks from today. I'm excited and scared at the same time. I don't think the surgery worries me much, it's afterwards. Regulating the replacements and finding the right dose for each. I think there really is no reason to try to explain to a lot of people (even though they ask) the reason they have to take replacements. Several times I've heard "I have to take hormone replacements and really, it's easy, not bad at all." I feel like I'm trying to one up them if I then explain exactly what can happen if their dose isn't right and they get sick or an infection or something. I'm guessing that most times if a hormone replacement dose isn't quite right, they don't run the risk of death.
Really, I don't obsess about this. If it was me having my adrenals removed I'd feel better about it. But it's not, it's my kids and I worry. I'll have to try not to be overbearing. And of course I've read that certain meds aren't good for people who have no adrenals. So now I have a whole new set of things to learn and to teach to the kids.
I'm thinking if you or a loved one has Cushing's, there is always something new to learn.
If the wind doesn't stop blowing soon I might go crazy! Seems like it's been blowing for several weeks now.
Unemployment update. Bill got a letter today that said he was eligible for unemployment. But when he tried to log in on Sunday to file for last week he was locked out of the account. Not really sure what he does now. You're supposed to file on Sunday or Monday for the previous week. Well, that didn't work. Neither of us has ever dealt with anything like this before. If there was no work, there was no money. But it's different this time, we have surgeries (with travel) coming up. Bill will be having surgery (sometime) and will be off work for quite awhile, so it would of been good to have had full time work leading up to that time. But it always worked out.

The way you eat your Oreo reveals your personality: if you eat it one bite at a time, you're not alone. More than five billion people eat their Oreos the same way. You might lack imagination, but you're normal.
Tuesday
April 14

I'm done with the antibiotics for my eye but still need to finish the prednisone drops. This is the only time I remember using eye drops. I'd never really thought about the fact that eye drops eventually end up going down your throat. Yuk! Prednisone tastes pretty awful.
I am seeing great improvement in my left eye. It's amazing how much better that eye sees than it used to. Things are brighter and I can actually make out features of something that is back lit. That's a really big improvement. For the last year or so I've only been able to see the shape of something that was back lit. At work today it occurred to me that I was actually seeing the faces of customers when they walked through the door. Before surgery I couldn't make out the face until I was just a few feet from them.
Tomorrow I see the eye doctor for him to check my progress. Surgery on my right eye is two weeks from tomorrow. I'm really getting excited now that I've seen so much improvement in my left eye.
I made appointments today for J&J to get their pre op physicals on Friday.
Bill went back to work today. I hope there is another location for the rig when this one finishes up in about a week. It was almost exactly a month with no work.
We did learn that you can file for unemployment (even if you are still employed) if there has been no work for seven straight days. Well, getting unemployment isn't all that easy. Seems pretty straightforward when you file, but getting it approved is another matter. So far they just keep telling him he's not eligible. Want to talk to a real person? Call anytime Wednesday - Friday (I think) and then wait on hold until you get cut off and try it again. Or get to talk to a real person who tries to transfer you to "someone who can help you" and then have a recording tell you that there are other people on hold and you will have to hang up - Click. Bill's getting pretty frustrated.

Garash cake is a type of thin, round, cake with ground walnut kernels and frosted with bitter chocolate icing, that is very popular in Bulgarian cuisine.
Monday
April 13

I found a new website tonight. It's pretty cool. So here's what I did with a couple of photos of the kids. Each of their photos was taken within a week of their pituitary surgery last May.

Jess is famous!!!

The new quarter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look up & down, each kid seems to be part of the graffiti.

The TV star and I'm not sure why Justin is on the side of the car.

Still famous

Three weeks and we will be in Miwaukee. I seem to have lost the paper that tells me when the kids' appointments are on Tuesday. Guess if they don't show up soon I'll have to call Dr. Chiang's office. I don't remember doing this before, I know I wrote it down.

How Chocolate Can be Good for Your Painting is an essay on about.com that suggests using a selection of seasoned chocolates, such as Easter eggs or Valentine candy boxes, to create a tryptich, or series, painting.
Sat/Sun
April 11/12

Happy Easter!
Jess & I went to church in Hoxie today with Dad and some of the rest of the family. Then we drove through the mud to Elsie's for brunch. We'd never done that for Easter before. It worked really well.
It was reainy and only about half the family was there but we had a good time. Only three little kids today. Usually there is six or seven.

Kalinda

Jordan

Isabella

My left eye is getting much better. Surprising how bright everything seems. I can't wait for the right eye to be done. Right now it's a little like there is a curtain between the two eyes and they are seeing different things.

S'mores variations: Cut two maraschino cherries into
slices; place on top of chocolate then top with marshmallow.
Friday
April 10

I got medic alert bracelets ordered today. Should be here in a few days. Jess and Justin got the same kind. We'll get them engraved at the jewelry store a few doors down from my work.
I plan on getting them each a second one just ot have one in reserve in case it's needed.
My eye seems to be getting better. Which reminds me, I've almost forgotten to put in my eye drops.........there, it's done. I'm glad I won't have to use them forever but I suppose you get used to it.
I did notice that my eyes seemed to get tired sometimes today. I would suppose that is normal. I'm excited to see what the results are when this eye is completely healed.
Quilt class tomorrow.

Eighty percent of American adults bite off a chocolate bunny's head and ears first.
Thursday
April 9

My eye seems to be getting better tonight.
It just occurred to me that I have nothing so say about Cushing's at the moment. All we have to do before J&J's surgery is get medic alert bracelets and get their physicals. Seems so little to do.

Research from Indiana University suggests that chocolate milk is as good as sports drinks for recovery after intense endurance sports. It has carbohydrates, protein, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals and a sweet flavor that most people like.
Wednesday
April 8

I had cataract surgery on my left eye this morning. It all feels a little strange, a little like there is a big piece of sand under my eyelid. I have two types of drops to put in my eye four times a day for a week. One is an antibiotic and the other is a Prednisone drop (ugh, I've gotten very leery of any steroid). I also have a lubricating drop, as my eyes seem very dry. I can use it as needed.
So this is what they do to insure there are no mistakes. The "C" is for Dr. Clifford who did the surgery and it was placed over the left eye. I found it a little amusing but I'm guessing there are no mistakes using this method.
Bill got to watch the surgery on a monitor in a little glass room beside the surgery suite. I presume he was watching exactly what they were recording for the patient as he said there was a narrator in there. I haven't watched the DVD yet but will soon. Surgery was done at the Fry Eye Surgery Center in Garden City. I've been in a lot of different medical facilities in the last few years and I think this is truly the best I've ever been in. Everyone was courteous, professional and very friendly. I was very impressed, good thing as I go back in three weeks to have my right eye done.

And the Easter Lily was my prize for being a good patient! Actually everyone left with one. We decided that everyone gets something when they leave because this morning there were three empty shelves in the office. This afternoon when I had to go back to be checked before leaving town, the same shelves were full on lilies. So we think they always have something for the patient to take home.

When we walked in to the office this morning the lady that works next door to me was there. With her was a guy a quite often see at the post office in the mornings. I never realized they were married. In fact I had never known his name.

My eye is getting sore again. I should take some aspirin again and maybe give it a rest for a while.

Mr Goodtime Easter Bunny from Lake Champlain Chocolates was rated the best chocolated bunny by Brett Moore of about.com. It is sixteen and a half inches tall and weighs three pounds and is decorated with white and dark chocolate.
Tuesday
April 7

So this is what a cataract looks like.
I had my pre op work up today. I had more eye tests than I've ever had at one time. And a whole lot of drops put in my eyes. I decided that the instinct to blink must be about the strongest refex the body has!
It seemed like a really long day. And it sure was hard to try and read for several hours afterwards. I'm kind of excited to find out what my eyesight will be like once I have the cataracts off both eyes.
What I didn't know until today was that after the cataract is removed they put in a new lens. I had wondered why the last test I did seemed just like a regular eye exam - which is best 1 or 2 - 2 or 3 - 3 or 4....... I had wondered what that was about as I knew I wasn't getting new glasses until sometime after both eyes have healed.
I report at 8 tomorrow morning, surgery will be about 9. Bill can watch. They also tape it and give you a copy. I can't decide if that is cool or gross. Surgery only takes about 10 - 15 minutes.

If he (man) is obsessed by a fixed idea which bars him from any freedom of thought, we say, let him be given a good pint of amber flavored chocolate.....and marvels will be performed. - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Monday
April 6

I had an eye doctor appointment today. I didn't have much of an exam as Dr. Washburn found cataracts. When he asked how my eyes were, I told him they were getting bad. I can see as good without my glasses as with them. He asked me a few questions and then looked in my eyes, sat back and told me I had cataracts.
I gave him the short version of upcoming surgeries and my fear of losing insurance. He told me the fastest way to get it done was to have him refer me to an eye clinic in Garden City, about 1 1/2 hours away. The surgeon that operates there also comes to Colby. But I believe he only comes to Colby once a month and the first appointment would be a consult. He comes weekly to Garden.
So tomorrow I will have my pre op work up and have the cataract on my left eye removed on Wednesday. Fast set up! The right eye will be done three weeks later. The second surgery can be done two weeks later except the surgeon will be out of town that week.
I'm kind of excited. My vision has been going wierd for a while now. It'll be nice to get it back to what is normal for me.
Dr. Washburn says I'm a little young to have cataracts as bad as mine. He thinks they are the result of.....drumroll.............all the prednisone I used to take for my Crohn's! So glad the GI I have now stays away from steroids.

In 1544, Dominican friars took a delegation of Kekchi Mayan nobles to visit Prince Philip of Spain. The Mayans brought gift jars of beaten cocoa, mixed and ready to drink. Spain and Portugal did not export the beloved drink to the rest of Europe for nearly a century.
Sat/Sun
April 4/5

The weather has been really crappy considering it's now April. Cold, windy and damp. Yuck. This morning it had smowed some. Hard to tell how much because it was blowing so hard. I'm so tired of this wind!

I've talked on the phone with my brother Bob a few times in the last couple of days. It looks like they really will be moving to Florida. That makes me sad. When we talked last night, I got on google earth and he directed me to the new place. I had an idea where it was (just not the specifics) as I used to go to that area with my brothers on harvest. I had him take photos, (as he didn't seem to think it was important!) and email them to me. Looks like a pretty neat house. But it makes it more real that he is really moving. If he's living in a new place I want to be able to picture their family in the new setting.
Both my brothers are gone off and on for a month of more at a time, they have a silage cutting business and a lot of their jobs are in the south, because of the growing seasons. So I don't really see either of them that often, but do see their families. Also, when they are home I know they are only thirty miles away, at the farm. It just seems weird to think that Bob or his family will no longer be at the farm.
He's hoping that all of us will periodically come to visit, and I'm sure that he will be home sometimes.
Jess has already volunteered to take my dad down to see them. Dad said "Well, you go east on I-70 and turn south at West Virginia"! Got a kick out of that. We said, "how about west on I-70 to Denver and fly?" I don't think Dad could stand that many hours in a vehicle. We'll see what really happens.
Tomorrow Debbie from Dr. Chiang's office should be calling to let me know what time our appointments are with Dr. C and with the endo we have to see before surgery. She would of had the times on Friday except the gal she works with in Dr. Kelly's (endo) office was out.
This week will be four weeks until J&J's surgeries so I can have them get their physicals, chest x-rays and blood work done.

In 2006, Sri Lanka's celebrity elephant, Raja, became sick after eating too many chocolates given to him during the Buddhist New Year's celebration.
Friday
April 3

It's that time of year - garage sales. Some years I hit a lot of sales and some years, none. I really like to look for old plates, bowls, pitchers, etc. Several years ago I found three plates like this for .10 each. We had a few of these when I was growing up. I've always liked them. When I first saw them I was a little unsure that they were the right pattern, but I was just sure enough that I went ahead and bought them. Then one day my brother saw them and asked if I'd been raiding Dad's cupboards.

Mostly we had a variety of plate designs when I was growing up. So there are several different patterns I look for. One of my three has been broken and I'd like to find some more.
When I was a kid we called one of the plates we had like this, the "spinny plate." There was something different about the base on this one particular plate and if you had it on a flat surface and put your finger on it just right, you could make it spin.

We also had one we called the "screechy plate." There was no finish left on it. I'm sure the reason it was kept was because it was still usable and my mother didn't believe in waste. It was a terrible plate. If you weren't careful your fork screeched on the plate. I hated to use it but it was worse to give it to my brothers. While we girls would carefully try to avoid the screech the boys wouldn't care. In fact they probably would make it screech on purpose just to annoy us. I wonder if it still exists. I'll have to check Dad's cupboards someday.

Talking about plates reminds me of setting the table when I lived at home. I don't know how it was decided who did what to set the table. Probably depended who Mom set eyes on first. When I set the table, if I was mad at anyone, and with six of us, there was quite often someone to be mad at, I would make sure that nothing in their place setting matched mine!! I told my siblings this a few years ago and they had a good laugh. Obviously no one but me had noticed.

Our plates weren't the only things mismatched, most of the silverware and glasses were too. There were maybe four to six of a certain item that were a set, but most things didn't have eight settings. Although we did have a "good" set of everything but didn't use it often.A lot of our glass glasses were jelly jars. The plastic glasses that came from boxes of Cheer were/are (they are still in use) yellow with little flecks all over them. Then we had a lot of juice size plastic glasses that came out of milk replacer for our bucket calves. I know there are still most of them in Dad's cupboard.

Suggested dippers for chocolate fondue: bananas, strawberries, grapes, pears, raspberries, dried apricots, dates, figs, pound cake, angel food cake, ladyfingers or crisp biscotti.
Thursday
April 2

After work today, Jess & I went shopping. It was pretty fun. My niece, Shanda and her friends had decided to clean out their closets, or rather their mother's closets. The girls are in their mid twenties and all had several formals from dances and weddings. They held a "Prom Dress Sale" in their church basement. Every dress was $20. It didn't matter whether it was homemade or had originally cost $300. After putting fliers up around town and in the high school, other people contacted them and wanted to add their dresses. So they started with about sixty dresses. They had a good turnout.

Shanda is getting married in September. I thought maybe we could find Jess a dress for her wedding. I was right. We found a great dress and this one still had the tag in it! It's black with turquoise trim. Looks great. My sister and I agreed that it would be one that would be easy to alter as we have no idea what size Jess might be in Sept.

My sister had said that if they had a good turnout they might try to make it an annual affair. It was to be up to each seller whether they kept their proceeds or donated them to the Genesis Food Bank.
What I noticed, seeing that many dresses, that span about fifteen years, was that most styles of formals never go out of style. I'm glad we went shopping.

In 1502, Columbus encountered a great
Mayan trading canoe carrying cocoa beans as cargo.
Wednesday
April 1

Jessica - May 6, 8:00a.m.
Justin - May 6, 10:45 a.m.
Looks like rig 16 won't be back to work for at least another month.