Ah, Spring

Spring has sprung. Today we enjoyed a lovely 65 degrees, gentle breeze, blue skies & sun. I was so thrilled I went out and purchased some plants - daisy, columbine, tomato, strawberries. A little ahead of myself because I haven't cleaned up from last year and I need to have a rose bush and a tree removed before I put anything in the ground. Want to get three day lilies to put in front of those ugly gas meters but the shop I was at today only had yellow. I know there are other colors so I'll continue to look. And of course there are the petunias yet to be bought. It will all happen this month.

Korea: What do you know? I emailed the leader of the tour that I wanted out and low and behold he called and the leader of the group going from Seattle called. Both wanted me to reconsider. There is too much water under the bridge now for that. I'll probably have to write the $500 deposit off as a contribution to the Korean missions.

Korea

Well, I've decided not to join the group going to Korea in the middle of May. I have no ticket, no itinerary, no idea of anything that would have made me believe that this trip was really happening so I emailed (will snail mail too) the leader of the group expressing my disappointment with his disorganization and requesting a refund of my deposit. (Think he took it and ran?)

Jerry's daughter's significant other is a body builder. Well, actually he really likes to go to the gym to work out and was talked in to "bulking up" for the local competion. The meet was today. We went and watched the morning preliminaries. He looked gooood. The finals are tonight but they are sold out.

The ladies compete too. UGH! There is one section of girls who prance around in pornographic two piece suits. Then there are the women who take testosterone and bulk up tooooo much. In my opinion, body building is not for women. Good health and good muscle tone is fine, but flat chests, no curves, and bulky muscles are not very feminine.
What say you?

Baby Ginkgos

A lady in Portland, Oregon announced that she had successfully germinated some Ginkgo seeds she had gathered last fall and asked if anyone wanted any. I jumped on the opportunity and replied to the affirmative. She promptly sent six seeds which I dutifully placed on a very (too) damp paper towel in a plastic bag. Two weeks later I took my little nursery to our monthly Bonsai club meeting and two other ladies begged to take a seed or two home to try to grow a Ginkgo tree. So I was down to three seeds that didn't show any promise of germinating. I transferred the seeds (a bit larger than a cherry pit) to a smaller bag with dampened paper towel (sprayed the towel with a weak solution of bleach to inhibit mold growth - which had been noticed in the larger bag) and waited.
Glory of Glories! Seed #1 started sending out a feeler. The other two were cracked but were much slower in sending out a feeler.
As you can see by the pictures, Seed #1 has a lovely stalk with two cute little leaves on top. Seeds #2 & 3 have their little root sinking into the sand and a small stem coming up. Seed #3 is too close to the pot and her little leaf stem is smashed against the pot. I can't move her because the root is in the sand and I don't want to slow growth down (yet).


Thank you, Lady in Portland. I'll keep you posted as to their progress.

Check Up

Got the results from my annual physical. I'm in great health. My Cholesterol (total) is 177. HDL - 53; LDL - 102; Triglycerides - 108. All this because I have cut out dairy in my diet.
(Last year my numbers were Cholesteral (total) 190; HDL 57; LDL 115; and Triglycerides - 90.)
Can we have a "Way to go"?

Driving

After the fender bender (?) of last month, Jerry & I decided to sign up for the AARP driver refresher course. It started today. Most of the info I learned at 16 is still valid except for the "do not tap your brakes if someone is following too closely". Seems to do so now could lead to a ticket because it is viewed as and "aggresive" move. What????? I'm getting sniffed in the tailpipe by some jerk and I can't signal him to back off? The laws that protect the criminal are insane.

I'm Back

Went to Phoenix last week for some R&R. This being retired sure wears you out. Volunteering a couple of times a week and exercising daily and, and, and...

Brian has boasts that his eldest has moved out and is now on her own. However, as you can see, the granddaughter still makes it over to visit quite frequently. He enjoys just sitting and holding her as she sleeps.

I took a tutu down for her first birthday. She looks so cute.

She is a doll. Very sweet disposition. And such a looker. Those big brown eyes and ready smile.

Can you just see an attitude coming? Her mom is just great with her. Good luck Jessica. You are the greatest.

Brian & Francesca are doing well. Thinking of remodeling the kitchen. Adding on to the back of the house. Converting the empty bedroom to a computer room. Redoing the backyard fence. All this takes time. They are being cautious and going one step at a time.

The truck Francesca found on Craig's list is awesome. You need a ladder to get into it but it is tricked out with GPS, tinted windows, leather seats, satelite radio etc,... All there before she bought it. They did get new tires all around but now she feels safe driving on the freeway. Get out of the way ... here she comes.

Brian's Harley is noisy but nice. Very smooth ride. Comfortable "Bitch" seat. Wish I could learn how to drive it. (But Jerry, having laid his bike down, refuses to go near another bike.)

The Knees

When did my body go? Actually I've know for a long time that my knees don't like me doing stuff. Like crouching , they've never liked that. Or squatting, that's always been a no-no. And bending over, they creak at that. But bowling! We used to get along just fine bowling. But wait, that was ... several years ago - when JFK was still alive.
Why bring this up?
Spring break this past week. Jerry's granddaughters have been suggesting (quite often) that we go bowling. So we relented and went to what used to be Silver Lanes, remember Kids? Well lit, smokey, open? Now it is Big Daddy's. Casino, dim lit, smoke free, chopped into gambling dens, the lanes are lit with black light, track lights race up and down the lanes. (It's not your grandpas bowling alley any more.)
After my eyes got used to the dark (and my memories stopped flooding in) we found our way to the shoe rack and ordered the requisite "bowling shoes". They have gone from blah tan and maroon to day-glo yellow/green and orange. (No one is walking out in those). And found a ball that would work (Jerry had to have one drilled out for his paws).
Figure out how to enter our names in the fancy automatic score keepers (no more paper and pencil or even overhead projector thingy) and we are set. Up I go, get my stance (it's like riding a bike, right? you never forget) and begin my approach. Thunk. What's up with these knees? They don't want to get into the lunge position for releasing of the ball. They stop half way there and the ball is dropped. (Gumpa is turning over in his ashes). I adjust. Still the thunk. Not the smooth release like the guy in the next lane was doing but at least I stayed on the wood, was able to pick up a few spares, hit the head pin for a strike and end up with a decent 125. I've still got it! Best score of the afternoon. One game was my limit. Time was when I was waning at the tenth frame of the third game not the 8th frame of the first game. I'm out of practice.
Jerry took my spot for the next line. He had trouble finding his groove (well, the shoes didn't feel comfortable and the ball was stiff - and let's face it, it's been a while since he was in a league). He finally got his approach ironed out and almost broke 100.
I really had fun watching the girls bowl and coaching them - aim your thumb at the head pin, don't twist your wrist, end your approach on your left foot, etc. The girls were able to put in four lines. But they are young. I'm sure we will do this again. Hope next time I'll be able to break 100 again just to show the kids there is still life in this old body.

Subaru home

After a full day of running errands in the Kia on Monday, we returned to a message from the body shop that our Subaru was ready to come home. Naturally, we turned right around and zipped out to the valley to pick it up. She looks so much better than when I left her. The Enterprise lot was just down the road so we dropped off the Kia and took a leisurely trip north to the Outback to celebrate the return of our little car. A dinner that early was just what we needed. We rolled back home and blobbed for the rest of the evening.