Hints of PNW Spring.....Post Views....22,384

   What does one do on a sorta flu-blah day?  When one is yucky, but not enough to be totally sick?   
    How about catching up on blogging......while vegging in front of the TV.  Actually, Gram G has discovered and developing a bad habit.....plugging in the computer, sitting on the couch and dividing attention between a laptop and the TV. Ouch....especially the tailbone ache and brain fog resulting in TV overload.  Oh my..

    However, the past 4 days have been quite productive and a bit surprising.  

        On Monday I made a trip to Freddy's for shoe shopping.  I don't like shoe shopping.  However, I have a significant trip happening soon and needed to update my footwear.  More on that soon...
        Later in the day we had a "sun break" and blue sky.  Time for a 30 minute walk around the park.   



a peek of spring         

I received a text and picture showing Baby Berklee got her ears pierced!
     A little family story about ear piercing.  Many years ago, my oldest daughter, Debbie, wanted hers pierced in late elementary school.  Her dad, being very conservative about such things, wouldn't allow it.  Deb, being very determined, held a potato behind her ear and pierced them with a large sewing needle.  I don't remember the follow up..... 




Monday evening while watching Despicable Me 2
I got back to working on the family calendar....the website offered another sale ending Wednesday midnight.  Checking on some info I made an interesting discovery....this past year's calendar includes February 2016.  I must have been a little late last year.  Kind of derailed me for being in a hurry to finish....guess I should.

      Tuesday the rain returned. 
 THIS IS A HOOT.....
At one point during the day I was checking on some info from an old notebook. Ran across this note..interesting since the date on Tuesday was 1/19/16.  I was still living in Wisconsin. The temperature was around 20 below.  Top Priority!!!  No definite moving plans were formulated yet....

      Wednesday was the peak of achievement for the week.  With the rain easing I decided on a longer walk.   When I read the "steps" app I was a bit disappointed....thought I had walked over 3 miles. Maybe if I take shorter steps, resulting in more steps I will walk farther.  Does it work that way?     

         For the first time I saw a large volume of water in the creek. (The reason our park is called Creekside.) 
Usually there is merely a trickle.  The surprise for me was to observe the water flowing toward me.  When it is small amounts I thought it flowed the opposite direction.  It flows "into" town, not "out" of town.  But I guess if one thinks about it, the water flows down from the mountains across the field.  

Snow on the upper levels of the mountains.....

Right where it is suppose to be..



      Once home again, I cleaned out the refrigerator, washed dishes and mopped the kitchen floor.  

      All this with the background of all day Star Trek marathon.

     So today (Thursday) I woke up sore and feeling a little flu sick. Time to sit in front of the TV, blog, work on the calendar and drink lots of water. 

But a good day to remember grandson Jude's 14th B-day....

He was born in England, son of Gretta and Gerald Schmidt.....

        Jude Fitzgerald (son of Gerald) Schmidt

A friend from northern Wisconsin posted this picture of a frozen Lake Superior...

SO....the real today is Friday.  I felt much better.  The sun was again shining and the temps in the 50's.  Time for a walk in the park

 A sure sign of spring....a dandelion


We have new speed limit signs in the park....
10 mph or less.....BEWARE.....


With having taken down the Christmas decorations I got a "cleaning bug"....vacuum and wipe up floors with vinegar water, vacuum the furniture and wipe off with vinegar water, dust the blinds, etc.  It's hard to practice restraint....there is always still something to clean.   AH....nothing finer than shiny floors with no sticky goo, dust bunnies or cookie crumbs.   








This has been a good 5 "hints of spring" days in the life of Grandma G. 

"You [Lord] care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly.  The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it." (Psalms 65:9)

They Partied Without ME.....Post Views....22, 055

      I miss our Schmidt Family Christmas get togethers. When the 7 children were home Christmas Eve was our big event.  After a meal of homemade scallop potatoes and ham, we would venture out to the evening church service, even at 20 below temperatures.  Then Lou would take them for a ride to spot Santa driving his sleigh somewhere near the airport.  Santa would always show up while they were out looking.  
     After a gift opening frenzy the kids could stay up however long they wanted to. They would try out their new toys, stuff down candy and cookies, some of us would play the latest new board game.  Lou and I would usually fall into bed about 11 PM while the kids would linger til about 2 in the morning.    
     When the kids were grown and on their own, our families who lived in Wisconsin and Minneapolis would gather for a family Christmas party.  As time passed and 3 kids moved to the west coast our parties continued but with about half the family.  
     Now that I am living here on the west coast we are still divided between mid-west and west coast.  The first year after I settled here I traveled back over New Year's weekend to snow and -20 degrees. 

12 Wisconsin grandkids (2013)....12 of 19....7 here on the west coast....

      The past 2 years after that I did NOT venture to the mid-west and the Wisconsin Schmidts did not get together.  (They claimed it was because they couldn't schedule it, but I know it was because they missed MOM.)  
     This year when someone announced the family would get together over the Jan 16th weekend, I considered trying to show up. However, after a brief thinking session and a reality check, I wondered what made me think I wanted to go to Wisconsin in mid-January.  
       

   SO......they partied without ME....
     at -33 degrees...wind chill factor...

HOWEVER, with the marvels of modern electronics we can all party 1,917.6 (by car) miles apart!! 

I sent them a selfie, showing what daylight and 40 degrees looked like....
They sent me pictures of them having fun....
Without MOM/GRAM G





With 300 miles between north and south families, they gathered mid-state at a water park motel where the kids could swim...and  exchange gifts... 

My Wisconsin Babies...
 Angie, Al, Chuck (wife, Anna)
(wife, Jen) Burt....








And grown ups could watch the play off game

 Lots of Packer backers....unfortunately the Packers lost.....







Fun was had by all...
even Grandma G....

_______________________________________

     Sunday morning ushered in a deluge of rain here. When driving to church I avoided a road area with a potential of "water pooling". Even returning home I drove through some rather high water.       After all that partying Saturday PM, worship team practice with church service Sunday morning and driving in heavy rain Gram G went home and slept for 3 hours in the afternoon.  
     The evening passed watching the movie of Les Miserables while working on programming the Schmidt family calendar. 

This has been a good 2 "no party" weekend days in the life of Grandma G.  

"May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!"  (Proverbs 23:25)

Rainy Days, Movies and Ladies' Week...Post Views...22, 001

   
Lady number ONE.....


 Miss Berklee enjoying time at the San Diego beach......




      This has been a week of great variety.  Sunday afternoon I enjoyed a chilly half hour walk around the park. 

 Someone either had too much fun on New Year's Eve or slid on the ice Jan 3 while coming or going.....

A glimpse of blue sky and high flying gaggle of geese....

 Later in the day I "undecorated" the tree, disassembled it into 3 parts and hauled them out to the garage where they will lay until grandson Jake favors me with a day of garage cleanup.  


     Having watched the 3 movies of the Lord of the Rings recently I figured reviewing the Hobbit movies would be appropriate on these rainy January evenings.  So I did the first one Sunday evening.  I may have continued except that I did not own the second one.  (Though I do have the third one....something about what was on sale a particular day.) 
    Now just because one undecorates a Christmas tree on a certain day doesn't mean all those decorations need to be put away the same day. No sirree....(Actually the present moment is late Friday evening and the living room floor is cluttered with boxes, bags, and bins waiting to be filled.)

    Rainy Monday shopping challenge:    
          Taking the "Safeway Challenge".  Occasionally the local grocery store chain offers a $10 off coupon on one's $50 or more purchase.  I like to see how close I can come to $50 including other coupons and not buying what I don't need.  Monday was the day.  I ended up paying $48 for almost $80 worth of household needs, groceries and a free movie coupon included.  Yeah!!
       Earlier I tried to return a number of inexpensive decorations to a dollar store.  I had the receipt but was unaware of their "exchange only" policy.  With these being seasonal items they would honor only half price. Bummer. Now what? I looked around the store and saw 50 % off gift wrap and ornaments.  SO.....exchanges even up....enough wrapping paper for the next 3 years.   
       Needed also to stop at another store to buy the 2nd Hobbit movie...

      With the rain continuing into the evening it was time to put in the next Hobbit movie.  This night that included movie # 3.  

   If the day comes when you can't find Grandma G I suggest you find a Hobbit vortex into Middle Earth, poke your head in, give a yahoo and figure that is where she is.   YAHOO!!

        The drawback to movie watching is that when one is also needing to do computer work, its the computer work that gets slow and sloppy. I had the goal to get the family calendar finished by midnight Wednesday to get a good sale price they had.  Rather difficult to keep up the concentration, but progress was made. 

      Tuesday evening I was invited to visit a dear friend and to have dinner with her. Megan lives somewhat near to me, but driving after dark in the rain is still a challenge for me. The drive there went fine.  She lives out of the country but is home several months because of her mom's illness.  I enjoyed a warm, friendly evening with meal of mashed potatoes, gravy and yummy pork roast seasoned with fennel.  
    There was only one mishap later when  returning home. Following directions was fine.  When I got to one of the main streets, the intersection was not well lit, but I turned left like I suppose to.  I was glad the traffic was light.  It was strange that someone was blaring on his horn.  And kept it up.  There was an odd arrangement of lights coming towards me on the opposite lane. It was a man on a bike with both the bike and the man's hat having lights.  It was at that point that I could see the reason for the long horn blaring....I had turned onto the right lane of  2 lines going the opposite direction.  Oops.  Doubly glad for the light flow of traffic and the close by intersection to get to the proper lanes.....
     Once back home, I was happy to veg in front of the TV and again work on the family calendar. 

      Wednesday was ladies' out to lunch day. Thirteen of us went to Los Peppe's Mexican restaurant. The decor was colorful and the food tasty.  I ordered "polo mole"...chicken pieces in a mildly spicy mole sauce.  The mole (mo-lay) contains a bit of chocolate.  (I got a little culinary advise from one of the ladies...concerning a location that will soon involve me.  Hmmmm??)

     I was home for a couple hours.  Time to turn on the TV while working on the family calendar.....Wednesday midnight deadline still seemed possible.  

     Mid-afternoon it was time to visit another dear friend who lives here in Vancouver.  Kahana just moved to a place near me.  I got to drive in the daylight.  After a pleasant visit I returned home about 6 PM.  Time for more work on the family calendar.  

     OOPS.....with the calendar half way programmed (about 6 hours worth) I decided to try out different background patterns. OOPS....after checking a few I decided to keep the one I started with.  OOPS....all the pictures, except for a few random ones were GONE...just plain GONE...GONE the enthusiasm and patience....guess I'll forget the midnight finish deadline.  

    Thursday passed as a "normal" day....water aerobics with the ladies, laundry, clean the bathroom, a bit of renewed work on the calendar....the evening shared at prayer time with three ladies and our pastor.    

    Friday ended the week on a lovely note....

     Lady number ONE 
            and 
    Lady number ONE



Lunch at Olive Garden with granddaughters Angie and Micaela....love these lovely ladies.....





     I feel so blessed this week to be loved and liked by all these wonderful Pacific Northwest ladies, especially the younger generation.  I feel at home and "family".  Thank you, Ladies!! 

     And that mess in the living room?   Maybe tomorrow....And all that rain?  It is NOT -15 degrees like they are enduring in northern Wisconsin these  days......

This has been a good 6 "ladies' week" days in the life of Grandma G.  

"She is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." 
 (Proverbs 31: 25 & 26)

On With the New Year......Post Views....21,850

      I'm prone to a bit of  depression after the busyness of Christmas and New Year's.  The flurry of  activities is invigorating, yet tiring. It is hard to slide back into "normal" routine, though there is a lot of "undecorating" to do before that happens and occasions to start preparing for.  
     After arriving home Monday evening simply hanging out on Tuesday was relaxing.
    Getting a picture of  "I'm 3 months old today" Berklee was fun.
This day is also the double B-days of grandson Schmidt brothers in WI.
Tyler....11 years
Logan...9 years

    Cooking is a comfort activity for me. What better comfort on a rainy January Wednesday than making a super lasagna? Weeks back I boiled lasagna noodles....twice as many as needed for the panfull I was making.  (Not on purpose. Don't know what I was thinking.  Anyway the extra 11 noodles went into the freezer for later use....)

And now it is later.  It is also a  chance to use frozen cheese, tomatoes and hamburger.  (Even after all these years I still buy and cook like for 9 people. Maybe not that bad, but certainly more than one person needs. However, one can't cook a tasty meal by cooking for one. ) 


      So now how long will it take me to eat
through a pan cut into 15 chunks?  How about 5 meals and 10 chunks find their way back into the freezer for later use?   YUM....

     January is when Gram G launches her family Christmas project.....the GeoLou Schmidts Family Hppenings Feb to

Feb calendar.  It is a matter of reviewing pictures from the past year, copying them into a new folder, uploading them to a photo website, choosing a calendar pattern and then designing the photos for each month.  It is indeed a busy project for January...Oh, ya...

  Started all that on Thursday.  It is fun to revisit the past year in pictures.  I've forgotten some of the things that occurred. Hope to be done by the end of the month.  It is secret, though,  shh.......


 Friday blessed us with sunny, mid 40's weather....time to "undecorate" outside.  It felt very springlike.... blue sky, mild breeze,crows cawing, a hidden tree frog croaking, small birds chirping, planes flying over. 

And, yes, the occasional snowbank..

Ah.....the perfect winter day....

 Outdoor peppermint hot chocolate break.....
with a couple chocolate chip cookies..... 

New Year's weekend mystery.....large leaves in the yard, a knocked over heavy vase, a pulled out/broken ornament.. something/someone heavy chomping through?  Bigfoot??


 On Grandma G's back deck, Christmas will continue through January....

This has been a good 4 "on with the new year" days in the life of Grandma G.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)