cooking | Temporary Sanity ...

Hi. Happy International Blow Up Your Neighborhood Day (IBUYND). I know, I’m late but that’s pretty much what I am for anything I do, and you know what? It’s OK to be late. I’m sure that’s true. Especially for me because most people probably are amazed that I get things done. For them it’s a surprise that causes some folks to remark, “Hey! Jerrie’s still sucking air! Who knew?”

Like normal, I have no agenda for this post so I’m just going to pick some photos at random and see if I can remember what caused me to take them. It might be interesting for all of us.

As many of you know, I’m the cook in the house and Diane does the cleanup. I’m totally OK with that, in case you might be wondering. One of the main reasons for liking this arrangement is because while preparing a meal I can nibble on things. I mostly nibble vegetables. If I was the cleanup crew, I couldn’t do that because my hands would be dirty the entire time. That wouldn’t bother me, actually, but it would bother Diane. A lot.

So, I made some hotdogs and cooked up some corn I found in the fridge.

There’s potato salad on my plate, too. Diane and I collaborated on the salad. She doesn’t eat corn so I was forced to eat all of those. I didn’t take a photo of Diane’s hotdogs because she puts ketchup on hers and that makes my stomach crinkle up. I’m sure it’s illegal to put ketchup on hotdogs in a bun. It’s OK to do so when the hotddogs are cut up in a bowl of baked beans.

Here’s Diane’s sandwich from a different day. I think it’s a ham and swiss on rye sandwich. I had one, too, but it wasn’t worth a picture.

Here’s Max giving Mom a little help with her filing.

Here’s Mom trying to ignore Daniel & Jennifer’s new kitten, Anakin. He’s a very mellow kitten which is good for the boys.

This is Lydia trying to ignore everyone so she doesn’t lose count.

Here’s Max trying to get over his fear of the sprinkler.

I found this pair of socks in my dresser, so I wore them the other day.

After I tossed them in the hamper, I found another pair just like them in the drawer. Pretty awesome that I have two pair of them, right?

That’s it.

Yup, all the clothes are dirty again. She didn’t know it, but I’ve been running around the Bone Yard for the past 3 days without underwear. I didn’t realize how much denim chaffs.

I don’t normally lie so blatantly, but that’s a big one. Old denim doesn’t chaff at all.

Helping with the laundry is something I always do willingly. That’s a tradeoff because I’m totally not allowed to actually do laundry unsupervised. There once was a sweater Diane really liked …. need I say more?

As directed, I put designated stuff into designated washers and put washed clothes into designated dryers. When clothes are dry, I help fold them.

In the morning, I called brother Jack to wish him a Happy Birthday. I try to do this every year but think I didn’t get it done last year. He’s much older than me so it’s OK. It was good to talk with him. During our talk he mentioned that Roberta lives somewhere down here and said he’d see if he could find her phone number and/or address. Our guess was that she’s in Green Valley. Not long after that visit, he sent me a text with a phone number. When I took Max on his afternoon walk, I called the number and had the pleasure of reuniting with my long-lost cousin. We had a nice long visit, remembering some of the many things we did together as children. It will be great to look her in the eye and say Hi. May be toss in a hug or two.

I’ve kinda kept track of her over the years through contact with other family members but was never in position to make contact until now. Plans are in the works. She’s only 36 miles away.

Our conversation carried on until it got dark, and it ended while Max and I sat next to the laundromat. We’re only 4-5 RV’s away from there but it’s still a little unsettling to be that far away with no flashlight knowing the coyotes are patrolling the area. I know it’s not likely we’ll be attacked, but you just never know. They might be hiding just around the corner. With Max on guard, I doubt if there’s any danger, but I can pretend. It keeps my sphincters in shape.

That’s it!

Just for fun, here are a couple of school photos that do not relate to this post at all except they are related to us in the form of Grandchildren.

First is Siah. He’s 3.