Friday, February 27, 2009

Big Decisions

My blogs will be sporadic for the next few months. My brain and time are focused on two major issues. Thankfully neither one is a matter of life nor death, but they are the kind that drive me to eat. Our home of 35 years has sold, we hope. In today’s market, until the sellers leave the closing table with a check in hand, nothing is a done deal. Still, Hubby and I must be positive, and pack. We have four weeks to go, and it is time. We also still have not finalized on the home we hope to buy.

Today we decided to start with the front bedroom This means opening dresser drawers that were once my sons’, but since he moved out years ago, they’ve become receptacles for goodies long forgotten. The same is true for the closet. “What are these old 33’s doing here?” I asked Hubby this morning.

“I want them. They’re collectors’ albums,” he said.

“Where are we going to keep them?” I asked.

“Get rid of some of your stuff, too,” he retorted.

“My junk is valuable, unlike yours,” I quipped.

Books I want, he says are silly, and the ones he wants, he hasn’t looked at in years. I thought we would need two cartons for photo albums, and we ended up needing seven. Friends who have done this “downsizing” move warned me to use small cartons so we can pick them up. We thought the cartons were small, but still could barely lift them.

My granddaughter asked me to please pack the stuffed animals and the blocks. “My brother still plays with them – and the riding toys.”

That’s what I get for asking. I really thought she’d tell me they were all too old for little kids’ toys.

After four hours, I opened a cabinet I thought was empty. It was stuffed with envelopes of duplicate pictures, pictures from cruises, and drawings my kids and grandkids made for us. I knew I had several choices. Go through them and dump what should be dumped, put them in a carton as is, or quit for the day. Since I am now typing this, you know what I decided.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Cocktail Hour at COSTCO

Today Hubby and I officially became full-fledged, stereotype, seniors. We were out on errands all afternoon – our last stop being COSTCO – right before the dinner hour. I usually shop in COSTCO early afternoon or at night, so I was not aware that late afternoon was “Cocktail Hour.” Occasionally I see samples when I shop in the early afternoon, but never to the extent that they had them that time of the day.

It was almost as if from the time I entered the store until it was time to check out, a different course of a 7-course menu was along my usual path. From cheese on crackers, nuts, a tiny taste of lasagna, goodies were everywhere. Best of all was the whole-wheat breaded tilapia. (It was so good, we went back for seconds, then thirds, and finally brought two packages to take home.)

Hubby was disappointed there were no samples in the wine section. “After all, what’s a good cocktail hour without wine?” he asked.

Someone overheard him. “There may not be wine, but the dessert makes up for it,” she said and pointed to a lady doling out samples of chocolate.

As we loaded our car, I started to laugh. “Do you remember how years ago we made fun of my parents and their friends who only ate at the early-bird specials?”

He nodded.

Well, it’s not even five and we’ve already eaten.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Pork Free

It’s hard to write funny when you have a lot of toxicity going on in your life. Thankfully, everyone has their health, but otherwise tensions are piling up. Indirectly I can blame everything on the politics in Washington.

Without playing the blame game – and there is plenty to go around – my husband is virtually unemployed. He is a property appraiser, and, needless to say, his business has gone into heart failure. Thus, he is home, and instead of appraising homes, he is appraising my every move.

We are trying to sell our home of 35 years and move into what we call an adult sleep away camp a.k.a. over 55 development. However, since the banks are not lending to anyone, nothing is selling. If banks are not lending to people even with squeaky-clean credit, (if they need money for a mortgage or bridge loan), no one can buy or sell.

And what is Washington doing to fix the mess? Let’s see, the Democrats are trying to find people who paid their taxes to be in the cabinet and the Republicans are consulting Joe the Plumber, who is not a plumber, as to how to fix the country.

Since both parties claim they don't want pork in any stimulus package, but in actuality only want their own recipes – the Republicans liked BBQ pork and the Dems like it sweet and sour – I have a suggestion to get rid of all the pork, regardless of recipes. Many Jews refrain from eating pork. Kosher Jews insist on their meat being Kosher. They have a Rabbi supervise preparations to make sure, among other things, nothing such as pork contaminates it. Perhaps Congress can hire a Rabbi to supervise the stimulus package. Then it will be pork-free and everyone in the US will be able to eat it.