30 for 30

With this post I have met my goal of posting to the blog every day this September! I did have some help from my father on Wednesdays. Lew contributed as well. A big "thank you" to both of them.

 

I haven't set a "post every day" goal for October. But I plan to be consistent because I don't want to disappoint my readers... especially you, Kim!

 

Lew and I had an obligation tonight and we just got home. It's past my bedtime, so I'll sign off now. Thank you for reading Mainely Tracy!

An Afternoon of Football

After not paying too much regular attention to the NFL for a couple years, I have started to watch again.

 

I still root for the Patriots, of course. Their game against the Bills today was really ugly, but they still managed to win.

 

I don't know why I got nervous watching the game, because I know it's just that: a game. But based on my nervous reaction, I told Lew that not watching may be preferable after all!

 

Go Pats!

A Day of Football

Debbie had to work today, so Lew accompanied Glen to Josh's football game at Maine Maritime Academy. They had a good time although the outcome of the game was not what we wanted. (The score was not close, and I'll leave it at that.) There was a highlight: Josh and his buddy were on the cover of today's game program!

Dad, Mom, and I watched Josh's game via streaming. Debbie joined us for the second half, and she brought a surprise visitor: Zack! Because Zack is a redshirt, he doesn't travel to away games. So he decided to come home for the weekend.

Debbie and Zack then stayed to watch the University of Maine game with us. It was fun to watch the game with Zack and get his perspective. But, alas, it was another loss for the Black Bears today.

So, score-wise, it was a sad football day.... But Josh was on the cover and Zack was here!

Quite the Character

There is an option to insert special characters in blog posts. The characters can be symbols, emojis, punctuation, numbers, other scripts, etc. (I often use an emoji.)

The blogging site has a pop-up description for each character.

Some examples:

😉  Winking Face

🎃  Jack-O-Lantern

🎩  Top Hat

💗  Growing Heart

😠  Angry Face

🎵  Musical Note

📞  Telephone Receiver

👸  Princess

👀  Eyes

🚩  Triangular Flag On Post

😷  Face With Medical Mask

😸  Grinning Cat Face With Smiling Eyes

💤  Sleeping


I really like the last one. It's quite the character! Good night!

💤💤💤💤💤

A Done Deal

All of the talk about what to do with vehicles is over! This 2017 Honda Ridgeline now sits in our driveway:

Now on to the next task of hiring someone to plow for us this winter!

Dad 482: PickUP and DOWNsize

(The shining sun has already set as I type this. Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Kind of a sunless, cloudy, dull day today. Temps in the 60s. Supposed to get some rain late tomorrow.

 

We have a few things going on this week at the old homestead. Lew cleaned out all the junk from his truck today and I did the same to mine yesterday. Tomorrow we will take them to Glen's auto store and try to make a deal for a Honda pickup. We are trying to downsize a bit. Let's hope it works out for us. Stay tuned and we'll keep you informed.

 

I just looked outside and the sun is shining.

 

Spouse had her teeth cleaned yesterday and has no cavities. Won't be as lucky when I go.

 

Debbie stopped by today in her new uniform for work at her new job. They open officially next week. Their product is Bundt cakes. She says they are delicious! More to come to you in the future.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

My Superpower

(Disclaimer: This post is just for fun and not meant to be a deep philosophical statement on anything!)

I have decided on the superpower I would want, if superpowers do indeed exist.

We have all seen a movie or a TV show where time stops for a character, let's call her Tracy. All of the other characters are frozen in time while Tracy still is conscious, able to reason, remain energetic, and not age. In other words, time is standing still.

That's my superpower.... Make time stand still. Just think of all of the books I could finally read!

Happy Fall to Y'All

The HR manager and I sometimes walk together during our lunch break at work. When I met her outside today, she said, "Can you believe it's September 23rd?"

No, I could not.

It was so hot outside that we were able to walk without wearing our windbreakers. As we finished our walking route, I commented that this is the warmest it's been for our walk in many days. She agreed.

I know it's the first day of Fall, but Summer sure had something to say about it!

Updated Credit Cards

One of my credit cards is due to expire in another month, so I wasn't surprised when I received the new card in the mail this past week.

Once upon a time I had to call to activate the new card, but now I can do it right online. That is a nice convenience.

Once upon a time the only other thing I had to do was cut up the old card and put the new one in my wallet. Now I also have to go to 17 additional websites to update my card information for things that are on auto-payments!

Having things on auto-pay is a nice convenience, but updating the payment information is not much fun. Each site is different in how this is handled, so it's an adventure to figure them all out. Fortunately I will not have to update them again for another five years!

Today's Observations

Flag football is more fun to watch than tee-ball. There is more action and it is faster moving.

 

Our cat Marilyn is an escape artist. She dashed outside again today, right under our noses. She was safely recovered by Lew.

 

Although Josh's football team lost again today, they did score a few touchdowns. We will continue rooting for them in the weeks ahead. Go Mariners!

 

Zack's team did win today. We are enjoying Black Bears football. So far we have figured out how to watch every game from the comfort of my parents' living room. (The "figuring out" part has been an adventure. Three different providers so far over the first four games.)

 

When buying reserved seats online for the movie theater, it can be confusing which row is the front of the theater and which row is the back. Fortunately you can exchange the front-row seats you inadvertently bought as long as there are other seats still available.

 

Warm chocolate chip cookies are yummy!

To Do Tomorrow

I have a lot planned for my Saturday!

 

Lew and I will start the day by meeting Dick and Carole for breakfast.

 

From there we will go to Eli's flag football game.

 

Then we'll go home and watch my nephews' football games. Both games are at noon, but fortunately Dad has the dual-TV setup!

 

I'll also be doing some laundry while the games are on.

 

I am then going to a late-afternoon showing of the Downton Abbey movie with my fellow Batgirls.

 

The evening isn't planned. But I will probably finish up some laundry, watch a little TV, and do some reading.

 

I guess I should probably get some sleep in anticipation of my busy day! Good night!

Reading List Update

It has been a few months since I posted an update on how many books/stories are on my reading list.

It was 58 items on March 14.
It was down to 51 on May 4.
On June 4, it was 48.
The list is now at 40!

I'm always adding to the list, so I know it will never get down to zero. But it's good to finally read some things that have been on the list for a long time.

Read a book!

Dad 481: Annual Flu Shot Time

(I accomplished a lot at work today.... Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

Derf Here! Another beautiful day. Temps did make the 60s. Wish every day in the year was like this one. Would be cool on the beach though!

Accomplished a few things today. Not too busy though! I got my flu shot this morning and arranged for Spouse to get hers this afternoon. We accomplished that. Flu shots done for another year. Thank goodness.

I cannot think of any other accomplishment today. Lew, I think, put his tires back on his dolly. We had attempted to put new tubes in them. After a while he decided to take them to a local place that services small engines. It was a wise decision as we hit a wall in our attempt. (Same people that put a tube in our rear flat tire on our riding mower.)

Must mow the lawn in the next few days. Hopefully only one more mowing after a frost.

Enough for now.

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Leading Off, the Left Fielder, Number 5....

Less than a week ago I wrote about how I haven't been paying too much attention to the Red Sox lately.

That changed tonight.

Well, maybe just for tonight and the next game or two.

And it's not because they are making a big run for the playoffs. (Nope, that is not going to happen.)

The San Francisco Giants are in town to play the Sox, and the Giants have a player by the name of Mike Yastrzemski.

Yes, Carl's grandson is playing in Fenway Park tonight!

Lew and I watched part of the pre-game show and the start of the game. Mike Yastrzemski was the leadoff hitter. He is also playing left field, just like his granddad did.

He struck out his first at-bat. He drew a walk (and eventually scored) with his second at-bat. While I was writing this post, Lew interrupted me so I could watch his third at-bat. He hit a home run to center field!

A player named Yastrzemski hitting a home run in Fenway Park again after all these years.... How great is that!

😊⚾

I Hurt My Shoulder

My left shoulder was fine when I got up this morning. I was almost completely ready for work when I suffered my injury.

Lew drove me to work, but my shoulder was doing much better by the time he picked me up. Some ibuprofen and regular movement during the day did wonders.

And how did I hurt my shoulder? Putting on deodorant!

😳

The Drip

The theme of my weekend can be summarized by a line from the song "Adelaide's Lament" (from the musical "Guys and Dolls"):

The drip, the drip, the post-nasal drip....

I've been drinking lots of water, which helps a bit. (The downside of this solution is the number of times I get up during the night, if you know what I mean.)

In other news, it was a rough weekend football-wise for our nephews. Both of their teams lost, but we still enjoyed watching the games via streaming. Best wishes for next week, boys!

Lew's Logbook: Breakfast, Making Do

(Lew writes today. He takes such good care of me! ~ Tracy)

Saturday morning usually consists of breakfast out with our friends. Today, we also had our grandson’s flag football game to attend after breakfast.

Text No. 1 from our breakfast friends yesterday informs us that they have a meeting and will not be able to do breakfast.

Text No. 2 later in the day from my son informs us that the flag football game is not going to happen.

So I get up this morning and ask Tracy if she would like to have breakfast. She says, “Of course I want breakfast." I say that I’m talking about a full-blown breakfast, not just a bowl of cereal and a banana. She said OK.

I couldn’t do anything about the flag football game but I did what I could about breakfast. Tracy said it was yummy.

A Long Day

I left for work this morning around 7:45am.

I left work shortly after 4:30pm and went straight to the Maine Mall.
Lew left home about the same time and drove to the Mall, too.
We met up at the Super Shoe store, where I bought some sneakers that I plan to leave at work.

Then we met some friends for dinner at 6:30.
We got home a little after 8:30pm.

That's the longest day out I've had in a while!

I've done a few errands since I've been home, but now it's time to go to sleep.

Yes, I am tired!

Good night! Zzzzzzzzzz......

The Red Who?

I must admit I have not paid too much attention to the Red Sox this season. I have watched parts of many games, but very few in their entirety.

 

They got off to a bad start, sputtered a little bit, but then pretty much fizzled out.

 

Although they might not be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, I am calling it. Stick a fork in 'em. They're done.

 

Some may say I am a "fair weather" fan. I prefer to think of it as sparing myself from great pain and much stress.

 

Go, Red Sox! You'll get 'em next year!

Dad 480: To Sell or Not to Sell

(I am not ready to think about winter yet. Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! We are in the middle of, perhaps, our last summer day of the year. Temperature is about 85°. We will take it.

 

We have had no cat get out in the last week. Marilyn still goes in the exit area and looks out the window. No escapes have been made. Thank goodness!

 

Think I am going to sell our plow truck. Then will have to get a plower to take a couple swipes in our driveway. Only thinking about it. Not sure yet! Will make up our mind within the week!

 

Lew has started preparing for winter. A couple of air conditioners have been removed. Two more to go. Much left to do over the next months.

 

Time to get our flu shots. Will do in the next week. Make sure you get yours!

 

No more rambling on today. Tune in next week.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

"Here's a Story...."

One of the biggest television events ever began last night. Thanks to the miracle of the DVR, Lew and I watched the first episode when I got home from work today.

I can only be talking about "A Very Brady Renovation" on HGTV!

"The Brady Bunch" was one of my favorite shows growing up, so I am excited about this HGTV series. (I think there are three or four episodes left.)

Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy — well, the actors that play them — are all grown up now, of course. (They are all older than I am!) It was fun to see them on TV again after all these years.

My DVR is set for next Monday night's show!

RAFA!!!!!

Last night I wrote that I would not be watching the end of the tennis match because I needed to get to sleep. But as I was getting ready for bed, Lew yelled upstairs, "You may want to turn the tennis on!"

Rafael Nadal was up two breaks in the fifth set and was serving for the U.S. Open championship. Lew and I had been rooting for him all day, so Lew figured I should watch him win since I was still up. It would only be a few minutes, right?

Rafa did not hold serve.

He then lost the next game, but was still ahead 5-4. If he could hold serve the next game, then he would win.

He held serve! Hooray! Yes, it was more than a few minutes, but I'm glad I saw him win.

Congratulations, Rafa!
(I'm sure he will see this, ha ha!)

The Lost Weekend

I had a bit of a relapse regarding my cold, so this was another weekend of doing pretty much nothing. I had a few accomplishments, though: did laundry, finished reading a book, watched sports, ate a lot ("feed a cold"). So I guess the weekend wasn't completely lost.

I was really sad after watching Josh's football game yesterday. Maine Maritime lost a heartbreaker. Debbie and Glen told me today that although the loss "stung," the team is over it and ready to move on to the next game.

Of note: It was wonderful to be able to stream Josh's game. Dad, Mom, Lew, and I all watched it together on my folks' TV... connected the iPad to it, and voila! We also streamed the U.Maine game last night. Black Bears lost, too. Oh, well.

We've been keeping up with the U.S. Open tennis tournament, which is in its final set as I type this. I had hoped to watch until the end, but I have to get to sleep early!

Here's to good health for the week ahead....

Ahchoo!

🤧

Lew's Logbook: Jerry Waits for Dinner

(Lew writes today! Enjoy! ~ Tracy)

Tracy works so I am in charge of kitty care.

Sometime after 4:00 pm every day our “big boy” Jerry feels it is his duty to let me know that it is time to feed him and Marilyn (although I believe it is him that he is primarily concerned with).

The picture below is the regular dinner-time view to the left of my recliner as he (not so) patiently waits for me to spring into action. You can almost read his mind, “OK Daddy, it’s time for you to get off your butt and feed us."

His stomach keeps better time than my watch.

They Care! :)

An interesting piece of mail arrived at home for me today. This plastic bag...

... and its contents.

Fortunately this check wasn't a time-sensitive payment. I will write a new check, address a new envelope, and put new postage on it.... Hey, wait a minute! I'm out 55 cents! (LOL!)

🖃 📫

An Alphabet "Soup-er" Idea

My father was on the phone with Kim last night. He put her on the speaker when I went over with Marilyn to say "nite-nite." Dad, Kim, and I had a brief chat about this blog! Kim checks it every day, so I guess I really do need to make a better effort to write more often. See, Kim, you are inspiring me!

It is difficult to come up with topics every day, though. Very difficult. So tonight I will list an idea for every letter of the alphabet. I will even try to come up with things I don't usually write about. (For example, I will not write "Cats" or "Chocolate" under C!) Then if I get stumped for topics in the days ahead, I will look back to this list and write about the next thing.

It sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? Maybe I will even DO IT!

Alphabet
Bread
Cords
Dragon
Elastic
Flag
Garage
Helicopter
Industry
Joke
Kilometer
Limousine
Memory
No
Omit
Parade
Quietness
Royalty
Sunglasses
Tortoise
Umbrella
Voting
Wiggle
Xerox
Young
Zoom

Dad 479: A Cat Tale

(How did Marilyn end up on the table? We still haven't figured that out! Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Kind of a cloudy day today with a few sprinkles. The sun just broke through, but fall is in the air. Hope the storm stays off the coast as it comes up the eastern part of the states.

 

Josh is now living in a house with two friends for his senior year at Maine Maritime. Zack is a redshirt for his freshman year at the University of Maine. So both grandsons are playing on their football squad. Good luck to both!

 

The following is something we will smile about as the years go by....

 

A couple days ago while sitting on the couch with Spouse, she said, "Is that Marilyn outside?" Marilyn is one of Tracy's and Lew's indoor cats.

 

I looked and didn't see a cat. Spouse told me to look in the other direction. Then I saw a cat on the table outside on the deck. I said, "That is Marilyn."

 

I went to Lew and said, "Marilyn is outside."

 

Lew jumped out of his recliner and was out on the deck within seconds. Marilyn jumped off the table and ran to Lew for him to pick her up. She really looked a little frightened as she sat on the table, so I thought this would cure her of wanting to go out. But she still goes to the outside door and stares.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Today is Tuesday

It is nice to have a Monday holiday, but it sure can mess up the workweek. I had a once-a-month project to work on today, but I also need to be ready for a weekly task I do every Friday. The preparation for that can take all week... or not... I'm hoping it's a "not" this week, as it is already Wednesday tomorrow. Yikes!

In reality, everything will be just fine for Friday. I just needed to pretend it might not be, because I didn't have anything else to blog about today....

The truth is out!

😏

My "No Labor" Day

I did pretty much nothing today. And I did it pretty well.

I could barely talk when I woke up because of my cold. Lew made me pancakes for breakfast. Pancakes for breakfast... a great way to start the day.

The remainder of the day I spent drinking hot tea, eating hot salsa, and resting. (I did manage to fit in a couple doses of DayQuil, too.)

This afternoon Lew and I watched the movie, "Christopher Robin." We both enjoyed it. Lew was even sniffling a little at the end.... I'm not sure if was from the dregs of his cold or if he was overcome with emotion. Anyway, it was a very sweet movie, and it made me feel quite satisfied about doing nothing today. If you haven't seen the movie yet, we recommend you watch it. It is available on Netflix.

"Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something." ~ Winnie the Pooh (in "Christopher Robin")

September Start

Lew wasn't feeling well for most of last week... bad cold... and guess who is feeling yucky now? I am thankful it is a holiday weekend so I can get one more day of rest tomorrow. I wasn't planning on doing much this weekend anyway. We've been watching some U.S. Open tennis, and I've done a little reading. Quiet stuff.

Thinking of and praying for those who have been, are being, and will be affected by Hurricane Dorian. I know the weather can't be predicted with 100% accuracy, so I am impressed by those who track and monitor these storms so closely. Advance warning is crucial. Yes, it is better to be safe than sorry.

I will end on a more upbeat topic.... Chocolate. I love chocolate! I have been buying the Atkins version of peanut butter cups. I think the idea is to limit how many you eat. I ate far too many today, all in the spirit of "Feed a cold." You gotta do what you gotta do!