D is for Dragon

It's been a while since I did a post for my Alphabet "Soup-er" Idea. I'm only up to the letter D. And I regret selecting the word "dragon." But I'll try anyway.

I don't know if dragons exist or ever existed. I'm talking about the fairy-tale-type dragons that fly and breathe fire and can swat you with their massive tails. They are pretty impressive creatures.

I do know there are dragon-type lizards. A sister of a friend of mine bought her son (the sister's son) a bearded dragon for Christmas. Apparently the sister had to keep it in her own room for a few days in order to keep the gift a surprise. This meant she had to take care of it. Unfortunately this also meant the bearded dragon bonded with her in a way that the son hasn't been able to do. I haven't had any updates on this situation for a while, so maybe the dragon's cold shoulder has melted.

And now I am reminded of the movie How to Train Your Dragon, which I really enjoyed. I wanted a dragon after watching it! Since I don't know if dragons exist, I'm guessing it couldn't happen. I'd have to settle for the bearded kind! 😁

I'm not saying I want a bearded dragon. In fact, I really don't want one. It probably would get attacked by a cat!

Part of the Time

After my failed experiment in going back to work full-time last Fall, I am going to look for a part-time job. I'm at the point in my life where going to a place of employment for 40 hours a week is more than I want to do! So part-time for me it is.

There are always part-time accounting/bookkeeping positions opening up. The criteria for me are location and industry. Want something close by. Hoping for something meaningful. I'm not in a rush, so I will be picky.

Wish me luck!

It's Been a Week

Lew is doing much better after his acrobatics of last Saturday. You can read a little more about this in Monday's post. Although I was able to persevere, I'm really not gifted in the "pioneer woman" area!

This week also featured the adventure of getting my computer running properly. I wrote about this in Thursday's post. The computer is still working great, which is a good thing because of Glen's text to me this morning: "Hope it's still working because your installation warranty just expired." Ha ha! (I do love Glen's sense of humor.)

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that my car wouldn't start on Wednesday! Ugh! Lew got it started by using this battery-pack thingamajig (a technical term), and it's been running okay since then.

How was YOUR week?

😊

Thankful

I'm still celebrating the revival of my computer!

And that is all for today.

😊

Doctor Josh and Surgeon Glen

Over three months ago I wrote a blog post about how my computer was Whirring and Buzzing. I mentioned the possible need to purchase a new one, which would be fine since I was back to working full-time.... Ha! Regular readers of my blog know that I only lasted three weeks in that job!

Not wanting to spend money on a new computer, I've been trying to figure out how to get my current computer to run faster.... Unsuccessful.

Two days ago (Tuesday) nephew Josh came up in the afternoon to give his opinion on the state of my computer. Diagnosis: the hard disk drive (HDD) was dying.

Brother-in-law Glen suggested replacing the HDD with a solid state drive (SSD). He even offered to do the swap for me. This would be much, much cheaper than buying a whole new machine.

So Glen came up Tuesday night to do the work. He had a disk duplicator machine which would clone my old Toshiba HDD to a brand new Samsung SSD. The HDD was so near death that it took about three hours to clone!

And then the SSD didn't work in my computer. Turns out that my Dell Inspiron model doesn't like Samsung. (We read online forums that provided this assessment.)

Today Lew and I went to Best Buy and purchased a SanDisk SSD. Josh set up the cloning process this afternoon, and Glen came up after he got home from work to install the new SSD.

And the SanDisk SSD worked! If I could do cartwheels, I would have done one! 🤸

It is so nice to have my computer working normally again. Many thanks to Josh for the initial diagnosis and to Glen for performing the much-needed surgery on my machine.

HOORAY!!!

🤸🤸🤸🤸🤸🤸

Dad 656: The Routine Continues

(Dad writes today. More snow is coming! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! The day is starting off as a nice winter day. However, this afternoon and early evening it is supposed to become wintery. Hopefully the storm is over by sometime tomorrow. Our snow cover has caught up with the average (almost) throughout the state. We hit February next week. Winter is about half over. Please hurry the last half.

 

A short post today about our continued visits to Mary Lou. Did miss a couple days due to our last storm. Tracy still stops in after lunch and I show up for the late afternoon. We give Lou some Ensure (usually two) daily. She remains able to carry on conversations. She gets quizzed about family members, and it seems she recalls Bode the best of everyone! I leave her after she receives dinner and I get home around 5:30 PM. We try not to miss a day, so hope for no bad storms. Our daily routine is working out well.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Pioneer Woman

We got several inches of snow overnight and during the day today.

Mid-afternoon I went outside to brave the elements. I cleared off the porch steps and trudged through the snow to feed the critters.  (The critters are the birds that come to Lew's birdfeeders.)

Normally Lew does all of the outdoor chores, so why was I a pioneer woman today? And yesterday? And Saturday?

Answer: Lew took a tumble on the ice Saturday morning and hurt his lower back! He says he is feeling some improvement, but he still is not able to move without pain.

As for me, I'm getting to clean out the pooperia*, too!

*Cat litter boxes.

Fun Friday

We got a few inches of snow overnight, so Lew thought it would be a good morning to make pancakes. Good idea!

The weather let up enough for our daily visits to the nursing home this afternoon. I visited with Mom shortly after lunch time and then Dad came for his visit with her.

The recreation director at the nursing home brought around mini-cupcakes while I was there. She offered me one, which I initially declined. But then I said, "Oh, why not!" So Mom and I dined on cupcakes while we watched a fun episode of Gunsmoke.

Dad, Lew, and I just watched tonight's Rock Falls basketball game. They won! Good job, Rockets!

Dad 655: Got Documents?

(I've been under the weather since yesterday, so many thanks to my father for keeping the blog going by writing today! ~ Tracy, National Merit Scholar, Class of 1981)

 

Derf Here! Another sunny, cloudy day in this winter season. We are now in the midst of a nuisance storm area. The small storms are just a general problem. Perhaps we'll see a larger storm this weekend and maybe have a plowable storm. We will soon see. Bring it on.

 

We now have all kinds of investigations going on. Checking on those who have documents that they should or should not have. Schools that did not let the students know that they were merit scholars. I'm glad this didn't happen years ago in our state. The merit scholarship was very helpful for students. We know firsthand.

 

Hopefully this great country will land on its feet. Vote the bums out and continue the necessary investigations.

 

See you next week.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Snow Day

Our household is enjoying a snow day today, although I did venture out for a dentist appointment this morning. It's a good day to just stay put.

We have been enjoying the NFL Super Wild Card Weekend. No, it's not just Wild Card Weekend; it's Super Wild Card Weekend. And it's actually lived up to that name. Some really exciting games. One more to go tonight. Hoping for Tom Brady to win, but I like Dallas, too.

I'm writing this post mid-afternoon. Will spend the rest of the day reading and finishing up laundry. Will also be watching a Rock Falls basketball game in about an hour or so. Already watched them play one late this morning. (They are participating in a MLK Day tournament.) Let's go, Rockets!

Stay warm, everybody!

Evening Energy

In this past Tuesday's post I mentioned the Grinch Rush drink my friend and I get at Aroma Joe's.  We both got one again tonight, and that's when I learned I had neglected to recognize an important ingredient... the "Rush" part... as in the Rush Energy Drink!

So now I am wondering if I am going to be awake all night! 👀

P.S. At least I may get lots of reading done.

Dad 654: Two Cruising Stories

(Dad writes today! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Enjoying another nice cold sunny winter day. Temps in the 20s. Weather worth taking!

 

Enjoyed watching a high school basketball game last night between Orion, Illinois and Zach's Rock Falls team. (Coach Zach is our grandson by marriage.) Rock Falls started the game and led 10-0 in the first two minutes. The game continued as Zach's team shot well and cruised to win the game by about 30 points. Very enjoyable game to watch for Rock Falls fans. Great having technology that allows us to watch Zach's games.

 

Then we have Glen, Deb, Josh, and Zack out on the Atlantic ocean on a very large cruise ship. They all seem to be having a wonderful time floating around in the Atlantic. They will be home in a few days.

 

Josh is home (now on the family cruise) after working on the oil tanker, and he will be home for a while. Hopefully he will go back to his ship as a second engineer, up from a third engineer. He seems to like his work. And the money is good.

 

Bad California weather. Top news shows areas where many inches of rain and mud slides are making messes.

 

Hopefully I'll make it up to see Lou today.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Tuesday Roundup

College football national championship game last night... ho, hum... turned it off shortly after half-time. Snoozer of a game, but congratulations to Georgia on defending its title.

Visited with a friend this morning and we went to Aroma Joe's. We both ordered a "Grinch Rush" which is this marvelous drink made up of green apple, lime, and red raspberry — with the red raspberry being layered. Yum, yum, yum.

Then I visited with Mom this afternoon. We watched "Gunsmoke" while she drank the Ensure I brought her. (I drank a nutrition shake and ate some carrots and celery.)  She then wanted to go for a "walk" which consists of me pushing her in her wheelchair. About two minutes into these walks she is ready to return to her room, but I make it last a little longer. Such was the case today.

So we are now 10 days into the new year. Time flies!

Sports, Sports, Sports

Last night and Friday night we watched Rock Falls basketball. Zach's team had a really rough game on Friday. (Really rough.) And although they didn't win last night, they played pretty well against the #2 team in the state — so that was good. Go Rockets!

We also watched NFL football yesterday... and, of course, today. Our Patriots didn't get it done, so New England's season is over. I guess I'll root for Buffalo in the playoffs.

The college football national championship game is tomorrow night. I don't have a preference for who wins, but I do hope the game is interesting and not a lopsided event. We'll see, won't we?

🏀🏀🏈🏈🏈

Reading

I posted 95 entries on my 2022 Reading List. I want to average at least a book per week, so goal exceeded for 2022.

Since my 2023 Reading List already has two entries, I'm already ahead of the game for this year.

Go read a book!  😀

Dad 653: Politics and Prayer

(Dad writes today. C-Span currently is showing that a 7th Speaker vote is going to be needed. Yikes. ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! A cloudy day, temps in the low 40s. No snow! We'll take that. Every day is closer to Spring. Please hurry.

 

The Republicans are having a clown show deciding on a leader. Should've been done ahead of the change in power and the investigation should be in full swing. "Clowns and Idiots" could be the name of the party. Grow up, imbeciles! (Granted, this will save me a little money since any fundraising mail I receive from the Republican party will be trashed upon arrival.)

 

Then there is Damar Hamlin's case. I was watching the game live. It is great to know that he is still alive, although in critical condition. His fund for toys, with an original goal of $2,500, is now close to $6 million raised. (The kids of Pittsburgh will be getting many more toys!) Can't tell you how impressive it was seeing the team praying on the field for Damar. Funny how people say churches are dying, and then we see the crowd at this game quiet and praying. We all pray for complete healing for Damar. He is in God's hands.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Perspective and Prayer

Shortly after I wrote my blog post last night, Lew came and told me about what had just happened during the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals game. Buffalo player Damar Hamlin had collapsed on the field and it was a life-threatening situation.

Perspective.  Things like this do remind us of what is important and what is not. As much as I like sports and get nervous when watching my team... well, it's just a game.

Prayer.  Until last night I didn't even know the name Damar Hamlin. But now I am praying for him. And I am not alone in that. I do hope he will be okay.

Keep praying.

Rose Parade

I went to visit Mom late morning and we watched the Rose Parade on TV. I think she enjoyed it.

Then we watched college football. There have been lots of bowl games recently!

Kim called to video chat just as Dad was arriving at the nursing home. She tries to time her calls so she can talk with both Mom and Dad. (I think she likes talking with me, too. LOL!) We had a nice chat with her.

One more comment to do with the parade.... Mom enjoys the equestrian groups. I asked her if she ever rode a horse and she nodded. Then I asked her, "Saddle or bareback?" Her answer: "Saddle!"

Happy New Year!

After an early New Year's Eve party at my friend Ellen's house, Lew and I thought we would both be sound asleep by the time 2023 arrived.

Instead we were wide awake watching the college football playoff game between Ohio State and Georgia. It didn't get over until after midnight (EST)!

Despite the late night, we did make it to the 10:30 service at our church this morning.

Happy New Year, everybody! Wishing you many blessings in 2023.

💗