Dad 702: Don't Forget FRUIT

(Dad writes today. His post has nothing to do with fruit. But he has a big bowl of fruit in his fridge, and he wants me to eat some. So he jotted a reminder on his hand-written post. I will try to remember to have some later! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Currently enjoying another stormless day in mid-winter. We've had a few storms that quite simply were nuisances. Still have not had an old-fashioned storm. And we now face February.

 

With the arrival of February, my mother always said "winter is almost over" or "only four weeks of winter left." I always breathe easier come February. Just a few weeks before we see the world come back to life. The flowers bloom. The grass grows. The birds are back. Please hurry back. We welcome you!

 

Life seems to go on about the same week after week. We continue to miss Mary Lou. We are adapting.

 

We enjoy watching Zachariah's Rock Falls High School basketball team from Illinois. (We've missed only one game.) They scored 100 points in a game last week. They are now 17-7. Keep the hoops coming. Good job, Zach!

 

I've reached my quota. So must stop.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

A "Normal" Work Week

I worked yesterday and today, and I am done for the week! 😀

My new office-mate is working out splendidly. I am glad to be back to doing just my own tasks.

I do have one little thing to do for work tomorrow, but it will only take about 15 minutes and I can do it from home.

In other news:  Another nice win for the Rockets tonight!

Mac & Cheese

I like macaroni & cheese!

Lew and I don't try new restaurants very often, but if there is macaroni & cheese on the menu... well, I order it.

Several weeks ago I tried the Baked Mac & Cheese ("four cheese blend") from Amato's. YUMBO! I now order this every time we get Amato's food. The portion is so generous that I get two meals out of it.

Thank you, Amato's, for your excellent version of this delightful dish.

Football (What Else?)

In last Sunday's post I gave my ordered preference for the four possible Super Bowl matchups. At half-time of the NFC Championship game today, I thought my last choice was going to be it. C'est la vie....

But then the 49ers came out and got it done in the second half. Quite a comeback, and they made it look easy.

In two weeks I again will be rooting for the 49ers. Best wishes, Brock Purdy! I hope you win.

Rockets Win Again!

Another great win for Zach's team tonight, 67-36. (I think I am remembering the final score correctly.)

One of his players — a senior — scored his 1,000th career point tonight! They paused the game to recognize his achievement and presented him with a plaque and the ball. Congratulations!

The Tell-Tale Mail

Based on the mail that has been coming lately, I should be able to file our 2023 taxes soon. Just a few more tax documents needed.

Earlier this month I wrote about installing TurboTax on my computer. At the time, the need to use the software seemed far off. Sigh....

I remember looking forward to receiving mail when I was a kid. Now, not so much.

📭 ✉ 💻 🤔

A Perfect Score

We watched Zach's basketball team win again last night, 100 to 78.

They reached the 100-point milestone in the closing seconds. It was very exciting.

Congratulations, Rockets, on a great game!

🏀  💯  🏀

Dad 701: I 'Shoe' Hope Foot Heals

(Dad writes a brief post today! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another snowy day in the Northeast. Plowable storm, but I'm not sure of that. Less than one week and February will be here. A short month to get us through another winter. Be glad when we get rid of cold winter weather.

 

Still must visit my foot surgeon again in six weeks to see if my foot is healing up. Don't want another medical problem with my foot, so we are trying to clear it up. Will try my new shoe (with its modifications) by using it one hour a day and then adding time each day. We'll see!

 

My blog boss said to keep my post short today. I'm doing what she said.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

The Morning Sky

I called Lew on my way to work this morning. (Hands-free, no law breaking.) I had to tell him about the sky.

There were patches of beautiful blue with white clouds. And there were dark, long, snake-like clouds that seemed to stretch for miles.

I told Lew the dark clouds reminded me of action movies where the clouds turn into large monsters that terrorize the world.

But the clouds remained clouds.

I arrived at work safely.

🌪☁🐍☁🌪

A Shred of Fun

The paper shredder I have used for several years is fairly small.  You have to fold the paper in half (the long way) so that it will go through the shredder.  And you can only do a couple pages at a time.

This weekend I decided to buy a new shredder. You don't have to fold the paper first and you can do 12 pages at a time. The receptacle is much larger, too.

The shredder arrived today. I unboxed it as soon as I got home from work and shredded a stack of documents in less than five minutes. With my old shredder, it would have taken much, much longer. Maybe as long as an hour.

Shredding is now fun. Who knew?!

Home Sweet... Oh, Rats

The title of my blog post tonight was going to be "Home Sweet Home" because all of the home teams won the divisional playoff games this weekend.

But one of the home teams just lost... the Buffalo Bills... the game that I cared the most about. Ugh. Sad.

As for the other three games, I did find myself rooting for one team over the other: the Texans (lost to the Ravens), the 49ers (won over the Packers), and the Lions (won over the Buccaneers).

So I went 2 and 2 this weekend. The second 2 feels a lot bigger, though.  Maybe I should write my weekend record this way:

       2 and 2

And the weekend record for the home teams:

       3 and 1

A week from today the Super Bowl matchup will be set. The order of my personal preference for said matchup:

1. Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers
2. Baltimore Ravens vs. Detroit Lions
3. Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers
4. Kansas City Chiefs vs. Detroit Lions

My biggest hope for Super Bowl Sunday is that Lew will make cheese nachos.

Breakfast!

The last time we had Saturday breakfast with Carole and her daughter Donna was mid-December. We missed several weeks in a row due to either illness or inclement weather.

Today the circumstances were such that we could all make it. It was so nice to finally have a chance to get together and catch up.

We know Dick would be happy we are continuing our Saturday breakfast tradition. But we sure do miss him.

Rockets!

The Rockets played a basketball game tonight.

Dad and I watched it. (Lew watched part of it with us.)

The Rockets led by eight points at half-time.

When the final buzzer sounded, they were ahead by 30 points... yes, thirty.

Another win for the Rockets!

Congratulations to Coach Zach and his team.

Sing a Song

I usually listen to a Christian radio station when I'm driving. While on my way to work today, I heard part of a sermon about Joshua and Jericho.

I walked into the office singing, "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho; Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down."

I think some of my work colleagues heard me. Maybe they even enjoyed it.

We all need to sing. It's good for the soul.

Dad 700: On Top of a Snowbank

(Dad writes today. A milestone post! Enjoy! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another beautiful summer-looking day from inside. However, a step outside will tell you it is not summer. Temperature in the 20s.

 

If you notice the number at the top of this post, you will see 700. That 700 is the number of times I have put in writing a report of our life over the past few years. Seven hundred blog posts! When I started this I didn't plan on this large a number. Perhaps one of the 700 has been something worth reading. Perhaps not.

 

Last week I promised to tell you about getting a truck stuck on the top of a snowbank. I was in my late teens and we had a Studebaker pickup. It was the middle of winter and the snowbanks were quite high on the roads. We (my sister Deb and I) were on our way to our grandparents' house in the Shaw's Ridge area of Sanford, and I spotted a place where the windblown snow had collected into a big pile on the side. I wanted to try driving through the windblown snow. So we headed through the pile of snow beside a snowbank. The windblown snow responded by sending the pickup truck to the top of the snowbank. To say Deb was not happy is not a strong enough statement. How do I get the truck back on the road?

 

Well, I had to walk about a half mile to our grandparents' home. Then I got on our red 1948 Farmall H tractor, pulled the switch and started it up. I went back to the stuck truck and pulled it back on the road. I don't remember much else about our trip, but I do remember Deb was not happy. The rest of the day went all right. No more trying to ram through a snowbank. A learning experience that kept me on the road and not on top of snowbanks forever. Well learned.

 

I still don't recall why we were going to our grandparents' home!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

The Weather (What Else?)

We had snow flurries when I went to work this morning, but the weather (as predicted) did become more "inclement" throughout the morning and afternoon.

Our office closed early (3:15PM) because the roads were getting worse. A few minutes before I was ready to leave, I went to the front door and was able to use the remote starter for my vehicle. I'm glad I did that because it made cleaning the car off much easier, although it still did take a while.

I had a slow drive home, but that was okay by me!

A Productive Day Watching Sports

TODAY:  Two NFL wildcard games. But — more importantly — two Rockets basketball games.

Zach's team played in a holiday tournament today in Sterling, Illinois. Dad and I watched both games — via streaming, of course!

The Rockets dropped their first game to a highly ranked team from Chicago. They trailed most of their second game but managed to get things even in the fourth quarter. The Rockets were ahead by one point with 2.9 seconds to go. Their opponent was inbounding the ball under their own basket. They got the ball to the top of the key... a shot goes up... and it doesn't go in! The Rockets win!

For the record, I did more than just watch sports today. I did some reading, used the elliptical machine, took a shower, and wrote this blog post.

We Fix a Clock

Lew and I bought a large clock for our upstairs bathroom when we moved into our house in 2007. I am blind as a bat, and I want to be able to see the time when I get out of the shower. Hence, a large clock.

The clock stopped working a few weeks ago, so I ordered a new "battery movement" from the clock's manufacturer. It came in the mail several days ago.

I kept thinking it would be a major, time-consuming project to fix the clock. So I was kind of avoiding it.

Earlier today I decided it was time. (Pun intended.)

I brought the clock and the parts downstairs. Between Lew and me, we were able to get the clock working within 10 minutes! And most of that time was just figuring out what we had to do.

The clock is now on our bathroom wall and is working great. We are both glad to have it back!

No Calm After the Storm

Understatement: It rained today.

The road we live on was flooded in two spots.

We had some water in our dirt basement, but the sump pump did its work.

Flooding elsewhere in the state took out some coastal buildings.

Weather records were set. (Not the good kind.)

Now it's supposed to be bitter cold for the next week and a half.

My thoughts on all of this: Warm, pleasant weather. I like warm, pleasant weather.

Windy Weather

The wind is supposed to pick up around 3:00AM.

I told Lew that I may stay up until it starts.

(I don't think he believed me.)

It's going to rain, too.

More flooding is expected with this storm.

Sometimes a portion of our road gets flooded.

We are planning on staying home tomorrow.

(It was an easy decision!)

🌧 🌧 🌧 🌧 🌧 🌧

Bye, Bill

The recent stormy weather has certainly been big news in New England.

More big news came to us today: Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have "parted ways."

It will be strange not to see him on the sidelines next season.

Or maybe we will see him on the sidelines with another team...?

My advice: Retire, Bill! Enjoy the stress-free life of not coaching in the NFL.

Parting words: Many thanks, Bill, to you and Tom for the great run! It was fun.

🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆

Dad 699: Lew's Exciting Day

(Dad writes today. His note to me when he gave me what he'd written: "Tracy – Sorry it is so long." Enjoy! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another day of dealing with results of the storm. Had snow at first. Then rain and wind. A storm last month cleared out a lot of trees and branches so we didn't have as much damage. Even now in the late afternoon there are still 15,000+ without power. Another similar storm Saturday.

 

Lew had an exciting day today. He had his Wednesday breakfast with his group. I had a scheduled dentist date for a filling. Lew made it home, but not by using his regular route. Some roads were under water.

 

The dentist had called me to see if I could come a little earlier. I said "no" because I was dependent on Lew's ride. The dentist called again this morning but I was still not available to go early.

 

Lew started to take me to the dentist but we ran into trouble. Route One was under water and we had to reroute. (The dentist is only three miles from our house.) We called the dentist and told them we probably would be late. We were only five to ten minutes late, and the dentist said they would do the procedure.

 

Lew ran some errands while I got my cavity fixed. We then started home, going the long way around. We needed to stop at Walgreens but couldn't access it by car. Lew was able to park at the Dairy Corner and walk across the road to Walgreens to pick up my prescriptions.

 

We then wanted to go to Ace Hardware to get rechargeable batteries since I had ordered the wrong size. We tried driving through a snowbank in the strip mall next to the Dairy Corner. We got stuck.

 

A bigger truck finally came along and pulled us out. We went to the hardware store and found the batteries I needed. We then went home!

 

I am now caught up with my duties.

 

Today was not my first time to be lifted up on snow and get stuck. Next week I'll tell you about trying to get through a snowbank years ago... and how I got unstuck. Sister Deb didn't appreciate my driving!

 

That's it for today.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

A Win-Win

With Michigan's win over Washington in last night's college football championship, Lew won the dollar bet with my father.

My father was happy to pay up, since he wanted Michigan to win anyway!

I Have an Office-Mate

My "new" co-worker started today! We had a good first day of training. Tomorrow we'll do more. I'll still have to work a couple more days this week. I'm hoping to get back to my two-day workweek soon.

Lew and I are watching the College Football National Championship. It's half-time right now. We feared it wasn't going to be much of a game at first, but it's close at the moment. We'll see what the second half brings. Lew and Dad made a big bet with each other regarding the game's outcome. Their "big bet" is a whole dollar! Ha ha!  

🏈🏈🏈

Sunday Snowday

The snow started falling overnight. The worst of the storm was mid-afternoon today. It stopped a short time ago. I now hear the sounds of plows out doing their work.

Our church was one of the few that didn't cancel this morning, but we opted to watch online. It was a good decision on our part, especially since we weren't plowed out yet!

The football games have been fun to watch today. Except for the Patriots game... what a terrible year.

I believe my new office-mate is feeling better, so she will start with us tomorrow. Hooray!

Best wishes to all for the week ahead.

😊

Rockets!

A great win for the Rockets tonight! They played a tough opponent but managed to beat them by three points. Congratulations to Zach and his team.

In other news, it has started to snow. Most area churches have already canceled tomorrow's services. Here's how I would publicize it in the morning:

CLOSED: Southern Maine.

A No-Frills Friday

Today was a "stay in PJs" day. I wasn't planning to go anywhere, so it just seemed like the right thing to do. 😃

I did manage to accomplish quite a bit while wearing my PJs. I installed TurboTax 2023 on my computer, thus I'm all set to do taxes when the time comes. I did quite a bit of reading. And tonight Dad and I watched Zach's basketball game online. The Rockets came up short, but they get to play again tomorrow night. We'll be watching!

Additional plans for tomorrow: Laundry, watch football, read, and prepare for all the snow we're supposed to get on Sunday.

I don't really do much to "prepare" for getting snow. But it is fun to see all of the hype in the local news!

Blogging 2023 Numbers

I did a very poor job writing blog posts last year. There were only 148 posts, and nearly a third of those were written by my father.

However, I did keep my 2023 Reading List current (sort of). I made 90 entries!

I hope to post more regularly in 2024. And, of course, I hope to read just as much.

I feel pretty good about the reading goal.

Time will tell about writing more blot posts....  😁

Dad 698: Bellows Bellows

(Dad writes today. This post's title is a complete sentence, LOL! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another sunny, cool day in the Northeast. Maybe some snow this coming weekend. No snow in Western Maine on the ground and we will be a week into January. Wish it would last until late February. Temps are low enough to keep the ski areas' snow-makers working. Keep it there!

 

Over two months ago Maine had a shooter who killed 18 innocent human beings and wounded 31 others. This action seemed to unite our state. But Maine's Secretary of State has once again split the state.

 

Maine's Secretary of State has taken Trump's name off of the ballot for the upcoming primary. As she puts it, she did this because Trump was involved in an insurrection. It seems like a stretch to use this reason, since Trump was not charged with anything resembling insurrection.

 

Who is this woman and what is she thinking? She is thinking what her party is thinking, which is a desire to eliminate Trump's rights as an American citizen. We'll see what happens!

 

Tune in next week!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

A New Office Mate

I have been without an office mate since the beginning of August, but I am happy to report there will be someone sitting at the neighboring desk soon! Once she is up to speed, I will be able to decrease my workweek from three days to the desired two days. 

She is not a totally new colleague since she already works where I do. She wanted to go from full-time to part-time, so she is moving into the position of Bookkeeping Assistant in my office.

Today was supposed to be her first day with me. However, she texted this morning about her current state of health.  Headache, congestion, sore throat, and body aches. And from what she wrote tonight, she isn't feeling any better. (I told her that Lew is suffering from something similar, which I have avoided getting so far.)

So, here's to everyone getting well soon!

In the meantime, I hope I don't catch what's going around.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2024 to all!

I've been trying to find a fun way to express the year.  What I came up with:

(2^10)+(10^3)

The ^ indicates exponent. 2^10=1024, and 10^3=1000. You should be able to do the rest of the calculation.

You may have noticed the blog background is different. New year, new look. I removed my picture. (I'm not sure if I want to include one or not.) I also added a subtitle per the prior post. 😁

Thanks for continuing to follow Mainely Tracy... or Mainely Derf!