The Cat Who

Many years ago, Lillian Jackson Braun wrote the coziest of cozy mysteries about a journalist who lived 400 Miles North of Everywhere and his two Siamese Cats - KoKo and Yum Yum.  The first book I stumbled across was The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts.  I was teaching 3rd grade and having a very rough year of it.  KoKo, Yum Yum, and Qwill were exactly what I needed at the end of the day. Maybe you remember when grocery stores sold best sellers in the store? This book was in one of those cardboard displays as you walked in the door.  I was drawn to the blue cover with cat paw prints all over it.  And the whimsical title was the icing on the cake!  I had found a series and an entire subgenre that I adored. My Dad loved The Cat Who, too, and we used to read the books together, trying the food that was described in the books and speculating about the location of Pickax.

I've researched everything I can find about the mythical town that Qwill lived in - Pickax.  For a long time, I thought that the books were set in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, but after further research I firmly believe that they were set in the Thumb Region of Michigan, where Lillian lived. There is a town there named Bad Axe. I was planning on dragging the husband out there in 2020. And again in 2021. But that never happened. Thanks, Covid. I still really want to see Bad Axe and see the similarities to the world I found in the Cat Who Books.

With Mom in Hospice, I've been spending a lot of time sitting around.  (When we are not arguing about the switch on table lamps.) I haven't been able to concentrate on reading very much of anything lately. But then I stumbled across a Cat Who book while straightening the house.  Now this, I can concentrate on! Since January, when mom got moved to the hospital, I've read 15 of the books.

I've got a handful of books left to read before I finish out the series.  

Are you a fan of cozy mysteries? What series do you recommend I read next?

An argument over a lamp

 The most ridiculous of arguments happened over the weekend when I was visiting Mom.  She has a lamp in her room that was beginning to strobe. I was afraid that it would trigger a seizure. so I attempted to turn it off.  Mom kept telling me that it had a switch at the bottom.  It didn't have one of those switches, but it did have a knob switch just below the bulb at the top of the lamp. The knob was broken, and all that was there was a screw.

Mom became agitated when we unplugged the light, and she began yelling at me because she thought it had a switch.  I picked up the lamp and asked her to show me where the switch was.

She leaned over to her left, and showed me the switch on the lamp next to her, turning it on and off.

When I tried to tell her that she was using the other lamp and not the one in my hand that was broken, she started yelling at me again about the switch on the lamp, turning the lamp next to her on and off....

I tell you, this is what memories are made of!  I'll be looking back on this in a few years and laughing!

Note: I did take the lamp home with me. I replaced the bulb and put a new knob on the lamp. Now to argue with myself about whether or not it's worth putting it back in her room.

2022 Resolutions- March Update

 The beginning of a new year brings all the promises that I make to myself about the things that I will accomplish this year. My goals are lofty! Will I be able to accomplish everything? Join me in this grand adventure of hopes and lofty goals and we’ll find out! Do you want to play along? Let me know what your goals for this coming year are!

February has not been a great month. Mom entered Hospice. The constant trips to Arlington have kept me busy, busy, busy with minimal time for blogging or a life outside of the hospital and work.

 

1) Post 1 book review a month on my YA blog. 

I have kept a YA Book Blog since I was in grad school. Circumstances have prevented me from publishing anything to that blog for the last year or so. My goal is to review at least one book a month this coming year.  There are so many good books out there!  

January - The Queen of Nothing

2) Renovate the Master Bedroom & Bathroom. 

This is a huge goal many years in the making. There have been issues with that bathroom since we bought the house. 16 years later, and we are finally going to get it fixed!

3) Find good homes for the books  

I've been on a committee that has gifted me with thousands of new children's books. While my work on the committee will soon be finished, I need to find a home for all of the books. There are children out there who need good books.

More books are out of the house. I still have many, many left in the house  

4) Go explore 2 new to me places  

Who doesn't love an adventure? I have a list of places that I want to go see. I'm going to put out a map, and get some darts, and see where we end up.

5) 40 Bags in 40 Days Lenten Challenge

Have you done this challenge before? For the 40 days of Lent, you get one bag of junk out of your house. I've done this challenge before. Sometimes, I don't get the last bag out of the house until June, but wow.... it really does feel good to get 40 bags of junk out of the house. I'm thinking that some of these boxes of books will be counting up in the total count. I've got a lot of books.....

Lent begins today! The challenge begins today!

6) Get together with 1 friend each month  

I don't think I should have to write this down, but you know, it's been a weird couple of years. I want to make seeing people we love a priority. Doing this around COVID Restrictions is going to make this an extra special challenge.

January- Jim & Kathy

February- Joe & Paula; We finally caught up with them after almost 20 years! Bonus!

7) Another stamp in my National Park Passport

We got this one done early! The Mission Trail in San Antonio!

8) Landscape Front Yard 

This has been on the list for several years now. I really want to get this checked off this year!

9) Clean out the Garage

If you've read the blog for any length of time, you know that we bought this house 16 years ago from my in-laws. And you also know that they were borderline hoarders. We've made progress in the house, and while there is still clutter in the basement, I believe that we will have the last of it out by the end of this year. (See the 40 bags in 40 days challenge.) But the garage is another story. 16 years, and we have not yet been able to park our cars in the garage because of the amount of their stuff. Our goal is to be able to park a car in the garage by the end of the year.

10) Get the kayak out in the water once each month during May, June, July, August, September, and October.

Seriously, we have a kayak.  Why aren't we getting out in the water with the kayak more often? What is our excuse? The kids have moved out. We don't have to worry about finding a sitter or getting an extra kayak for them.

11) Get my Bike fixed and get out for some bike rides.

I bought my bike over 30 years ago. I rode it a lot before the kids got busy in high school. Now that everyone is out of the house, it is time to pull out some of the things I really used to love. The top of that list is riding my bike. In order to do that, I need to get the bike fixed. The tires are dry rotted, and I'm sure it's got a host of other issues going on. 

12) Visit My Cousins in Texas (a trip postponed from 2020)

Done! We made it down over a long weekend in January! It was so good to see my cousins and my aunts and uncles!  I even posted a few pictures from the River Walk in San Antonio. It's been 10 years since I last got down here. I can't wait another 10 years to get back. Family is too important. And time is fleeting.

Breckinridge Park! We met up with my cousins at the same outdoor pavilion where I had my 5th birthday party! That pavilion is just off to the right from this picture.

Other Goals:

I’ve got a couple of other goals I would like to accomplish this year, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to get to them. If I do, I’ll be thrilled beyond words. If not? I’ll add them to the list of things I want to get to in 2023.

This is going to be so much fun!

Random Pictures

 

Lots of floors Llamas!

But don’t play with them!

I stopped at the Wawa for gas and saw this. 

Just what exactly is that thing?

It looks really cool!

I got to attend a virtual talk with Jason Reynolds!

He’s one of my all time favorite authors!

Snow in the hood!

Cat!

Every single one of Moms meals at the hospital was served with a beautiful flower on the tray. 

I really like this meme….

Not sure what these are, but they are beautiful!

Mom

 Mom has been in the hospital for the past few weeks. She entered Hospice on Friday. She’s back in her apartment for the duration.

My posts are going to be sporadic for a while. 

We’ve spent some time streaming the Golden Girls on my iPad.

Grocery Run

Originally, when I started this blog I had 3 growing kids at home and I shared tips on saving money at the grocery store and cooking from scratch.  I stopped doing that as the kids moved out, but now, with the shortages and high prices we are seeing at the grocery store I thought I'd get back to my roots. I still cook from scratch most of the time. But instead of having 3 growing kids at home it's just me and my husband.  And I now work full time, so meal planning and prepping in advance is key to our getting a healthy dinner on the table in a timely manner.  Years ago, I rarely had leftovers.  Now, I have leftovers that I can turn into a meal for another night or we pack them up for lunches.

I did a fairly big grocery run last night.  My last really big trip to the store was back in December, just before Christmas. I've been popping into the grocery store to buy a few things here and there since then. I've tried to keep those trips down to once a week and under $30. 

I did well until Tuesday night. I had to stop by the store to pick up snacks for the staff meeting on Wednesday. It was late. And I was hungry. I picked up 3 bags of Snickers and 1 bag of Reese's. And a 4 pack of Coconut Milk Yogurt. And 2 bottles of Vitamin Water.  Really, I didn't get that much. It filled one plastic grocery bag. It cost $36.  That's a lot of money for not that much stuff.

This trip was mostly about restocking the produce. Back in December I bought a meat bundle from our local butcher. We are still slowly working our way through the bundle, and I do not need to restock any meat at this time.

Potatoes - both sweet and russet

Onions 

Celery 

Winter Squash (uncut) Butternuts and Acorns

Baby Kale and Spinach mix

Broccoli

Cabbage

Brussels Sprouts

Apples

Oranges

Bananas

Lunch meat

GF Sandwich Wraps

DF Cheese 

DF Butter

Eggs

Coconut Milk

Corn Flakes

Peanut Butter Chips 

1 can of full fat coconut milk

*Note - the produce section at my grocery store has a seconds display where you can purchase produce that is "on the edge" of going bad.  If I find anything on my list here, we tend to eat it fast or freeze it so we can eat it later. 

All told, I spent close to $85.

I bought the biggest bag of apples, sweet potatoes, russets, and onions that I could find.

I bought a very large container of lunch meat and froze half for later.

An 18 pack of eggs.

I put as many Brussels Sprouts as I could possibly fit into a bag.  I really love roasted brusels.

I found 2 uncut butternut squashes, but I couldn't find any acorn squash.

When I checked the seconds display, I found a HUGE bag of lemons on sale for $1.50. So I picked those up, too. Stay tuned, because I'll share what I do with those next week.  I have very big plans for those lemons later today!

Hopefully, the produce will last us through most of the month and any trips that I have to make to the store will continue to come in under $30.  

How'd you do with your groceries this week?

Just Because

 

Because sometimes, you just need a picture of a cat sitting in a grocery bag.

Hope you have a very happy Wednesday!