h20skibum

What a beautiful, sunny day for us today. 

Enjoyed breakfast and lunch out with our grandkids, plus a little time exploring new life at the lake. 
 

Then, there is always time for ice cream. 
 

Meanwhile, our budding artist worked on her life size family chalk art.  There may have been some tracing involved. 
 

Looking forward to granddaughter’s first traveling concert tomorrow. 

4 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Agreed anything anyone can do to avoid knee replacement is good. While I don’t regret getting mine replaced it’s a hard surgery and a long rehab. You have to ready for a new normal. That being said I now walk 50 minutes a day without any knee pain. Before I couldn’t even walk. From the car to the store without pain and limping.

Greg, good to read that you are walking that long with no pain.  Keep it up, it only gets better, or so I am told.

I have found that taking off some excess pounds has worked wonders for the way I feel.  Now if I can just keep those extras off while my grandson is here for the summer.

35 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

 

Wow, I forgot all about Sudoku!  I used to play it every day! 

 
I do one every morning. Just do a screenshot from the newspaper on my iPad, and pencil it in. They get progressively harder, later in the week. 

21 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

@h20skibum Both you and your wife participate in a very worthwhile and necessary program.

Our parish church has a monthly food drive where food is collected after every Mass. Monetary donations are also collected. All proceeds of the drives are given to a local food pantry. Each parish in our area takes a weekend to provide donations to the pantry so there is an almost constant supply of goods and money provided.

Every Christmas, there is a gift drive in our church where presents are collected for children in need as well as gift cards for seniors to use at CVS and our local supermarkets and there are also  payments towards home heating oil deliveries for those who could truly benefit.

My husband and I participate in the drives  throughout the year.

It is a simple thing to do, but it benefits many who need some help.

We also live in an affluent area, but there are people who are stretched to the limit with their financial resources living here.

From a distance, our area looks like an upscale place to live. Scratch a little under the surface and there are people who are struggling.

Thankfully , there are programs and people who support the programs that make it a bit easier for our neighbors.

Take care

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

 

one of the newspapers I read this morning covered a fundraiser for a local food pantry, plus a food backpack program for one of the other school districts.  They had a large turnout.  
 

We also usually buy cases of snacks at Sam’s Club, and give them to our daughter to take to her classroom.  She gives them out to any of her students who don’t have snacks during the day. 
 

She was telling us that 40% of her class are on the list to take food home for the weekends. 

It is 5:40 am.  I have been up for two hours, read three newspapers, done the morning Sudoku puzzle and am on my 3rd cup of coffee.

No school today, so we are taking our grandkids out to breakfast and spending the day with them

We got the card, only for the purpose of getting the OBC, and will cash it for our January cruise.  As a bonus, they are currently giving 5x for purchases made before 5/15.  Don’t know if that applies to all card holders, but that was in an email we recently received on our card. 

I started writing a couple posts yesterday, about some really strange things we encountered.  After writing and reading, I would think ‘yes, that post will go poof, or could earn me a do not pass go’.  So you all will just have to guess what still has me shaking my head.  So probably best for in person conversations.

Instead, I will share this story.

Last night, Susan and I spent our Wednesday evening like we do every Wednesday evening.  Packing bags of food for school age children to take home with them to make sure they have food to eat over the weekend. Our church sponsors this program, and we pack between 140 to 150 bags each week during the school year. 

Although we live in one of the wealthiest school districts in our county, most people would not think of the number of children who have food insecurities.  We have been well aware, but probably because our daughter is a teacher in the district, and we have heard many stories since she began teaching.

One of the teachers, who helps pack, had called during the week and asked if she could give out bags to four children who were not on the list to receive bags.  They had approached her and told her they had not had a supper meal all week.  Thankfully, the kids can get breakfast and lunch at school, but the numbers struggling with lack of food just seem to increase.

I guess the purpose of my post is to make others aware of the problem if you are not already.   It doesn’t matter where you live, the problem is there.  Maybe look in to programs in your area and support them.  I guarantee it will be appreciated. 

Ok, end of my thought for the day.  And this is a better topic than the one that had me SMH.

Off to the “Big City” (Pittsburgh) today, and Apple Car Play was giving me fits.  At least we got to CF ok, and we split a Cuban sandwich for lunch. 
 

Had hopes of saving room for cheesecake, but too full. 

4 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Maybe you should try it, you might like it.  I am known to be the best baker around and my recipe: Pink Adobe French Apple Pie has golden raisins and pecans in it.  I haven't had a complaint on it....ever since I began baking it 30 yrs ago.  To each their own.  Look it up!

Since my wife is highly allergic to raisins, we tend to avoid them, unless we want an exciting evening in the emergency room.  
 

And yes, that means she can’t drink wine.  So on that front, her loss is my gain. 😁

It is 32° this morning, and we have frost.  Hope everyone had their plants covered last night.   I think last night was our last freeze warning for a while.

2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

I am sure if anyone requested raisins with dessert they could be added on the side. 
 

But in my opinion that would ruin the pie. 
 

However if anyone up north

like where it’s cold 

like across the border 

who knows who they are 

would like raisins. (Not) 

I am sure exceptions could be made. 
saying for a friend. 
 

😁

You are right about it being cold up here.  
 

By the way, when I drove by your place yesterday on the way to Sam’s Club, Waze told me there were two police near your intersection, looking for speeders. 
 

I am sure they would be more than happy to share your casino haul. 

30 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

what was the raisin situation here?  yay or nay?  

Real apple pie should not have raisins. 

1 hour ago, helen haywood said:

DH wanted to know what was in that green concoction.  Looks like something The Wicked Witch would drink!

The drunk duck looks blue in their menu, so maybe one of the ingredients was off.  It has orange vodka, rum, blue Curaçao, melon liqueur, and pineapple. It is tasty. 

Still working at collecting ducks today. This was the classic “drunk duck”. She was already floating on her side. 
 

It is a tough job, but someone has to do it. 

56 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Fifty three years ago, this happened!

Congratulations on your 53rd anniversary.  Wishing you many more. 🎉

3 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Thank you ALL for the well wishes.

 

I'm thoroughly moved by some many of you who posted.

 

The happy reunion. From 5C to 34C in one day....

 

 

 

DS2 & Co. are based at our in-laws (the parents of our DIL). We'll get the grands for a couple of days and nights.

 

They're here until Saturday, 4th of May.

 

DH didn't cook much, apart from chopped liver, since until the last moment we didn't know what the "situation" will be and if they'll make it here.

 

He'll start tomorrow on the chicken soup and, more important, on the "gefilte fish". There will be also a new "edition" of chopped liver for the second "seder" on Sunday night. 

Great picture of you and your family.  I hope it is a quiet time, while your family is there, so you can enjoy.

2 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Finally, we were reunited with our grands late this afternoon. What a huge relief and joy !!

 

Mark @h20skibum -- what a beautiful party. Well done, so glad your granddaughter enjoyed every minute of it.

Dani, so glad you were able to reunite with your grandkids, during these crazy times.  I hope you have a joyous Passover. 

21 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

Playoff hockey is the best sporting experience in the world. No exceptions. 

I agree.  I think it is better than any other sports playoff.   Too bad our Pens are not in the mix

1 minute ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I don't know how this is even possible. 🤣  The activities that you plan for your grandkids are just amazing.  Again, will you adopt me?

 

While living in Ohio, we had a huge Halloween party and every year was a different theme.  Of course, one year was Harry Potter.  I'm still amazed at the Goblin that Micheline made from Gringott's bank.

 

Oh, that would have gone nicely with the party theme.

The Harry Potter theme party was a hit.  Since we had a few items left over from my California grandson’s party last fall, they could be used for this one. 
 

Before last summer, I knew nothing of Harry Potter.  Never read the books or saw any movies.  That changed as we prepared for our Universal Studios trip. So, unless you are familiar with them, some of these decorations may not mean anything. My daughter went all out with this party. 
 

There were floating envelopes. 

And floating candles that were remotely controlled by a wand. 
 

And the cake table was set up with several wands, and an iPad streaming a train scene. 
 

Entertainment at the party was this kids magician. 
 

He did an excellent show, and kids and adults were thoroughly entertained. He had one bit, where he had three adults, then three kids shake a die in a cup.  They would then look at the number that came up.  He wanted to see how good they were at lies.  They had to answer NO, as he would ask if it was 1, 2, etc., and he would then tell them what the number was.  He was 6 for 6 in reading each adult and each kid, and guessed their number. 
 

Lots of other tricks, but the kids faces were like my granddaughter’s when he did this with her. 
 

Yesterday was the Harry Potter theme birthday for my granddaughter, so my task Friday night was to make chocolate wands. 
 

Some of the ingredients.  A mall crock pot to melt some half price Easter bunnies, and sprinkles for the top of the wand. 
 

It takes a while for the pieces to melt. 
 

This part was easy, because I just got chocolate covered pretzel rods from our local specialty candy store. 
 

Next was to figure out how much melted chocolate and sprinkles for the tip.  I dipped the first one and swirled it in sprinkles, and……

It looked remarkably like those lighthouse cookies.  😂😂

Ok, use a little less. 
 

The finished product. 
 

1 hour ago, Minuet888 said:

I sail on symphony in late May but I haven't heard of a show called iskate2.0  Is this a show?  Does it require reservations because I don't see anything for it.  

Is stuff like laser tag and open skate reservation only and when do you make those reservations?

iSkate 2.0 has been around for a while.  We saw it in December.  Good show, and no reservations required.  No reservations required for open skate.  You do need to fill out some forms before getting your skates. Long pants are required.  It has never been real busy when we have skated.

Reading all these moving posts, and my back is aching just thinking about it.  Last time we moved was 39 years ago, and it was a short one with a rental truck and lots of friends. 
 

I did help my son with a couple of cross country moves, NY to California, then California to NY.  Both of those, he used PODS.  They set the pod in front of your place, and you pack it full of furniture and boxes.  The trick to reduce the chance of damage is to pack things tight, with little room for shifting.  Both of those moves came through with no damage.

 I was glad, that when he made the third cross country move from NY back to California, that his company paid for the move, plus they paid for the movers to pack things for them. 

32 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

 

Our current position. 
 

Took 25 min to get through Pre-check TSA. 
 

The regular pre check circled the concourse. And this concourse is huge!!!!

 

Chillin till flight 

 

Be safe. 

Every time I have had a flight out of Cleveland, the lines have been insane.

Safe travels.  Will be enviously following along.

12 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Never been in one of those.

I made the mistake of following one of the Japanese restaurants on Instagram, and now I have food pictures with yum yum showing up every day.  Makes me hungry.  
 

I am sure there are subliminal messages in there.