How's Your Spelling?

Your Spelling is Perfect

You got 10/10 correct. Your spelling is excellent. You also have a great memory and eye for detail.

How's Your Spelling?

I admit I guessed at one of the words and I was glad it was multiple choice - I didn't have to actually spell them. I always have problems with the word mispellmisspell.

Thanks to "J" at Thinking About for this one.

We have our first rosebud on one of the climbers. Had to transplant the small bush; I don't think it was getting enough sun underneath my window. I hope we got to it in time. It was looking rather forlorn. The tomato plants are growing - I'm still waiting for the first tomato.

The Easter dinner went off without a hitch except I cooked far too much food, even allowing for the amount my son can put away all by himself. Tomorrow I'll make spread/salad out of some of the ham and freeze the rest until later.

To those who left comments about the "menu" and the amount of work, much of the food came from boxes and cans this time rather than scratch. I didn't have the time, energy, or ingredients on hand to do a lot of last minute preparation. My sweet potato casserole is better than Betty Crocker's (even after I doctored it up) but it was okay. The music did help although I decided Beethoven (Emperor Concerto) might be a little much.

Tim and I met for coffee earlier today; his treat since he wasn't working. I came home to a phone call from the Social Worker. She was in the area with the girls. They stopped by for a few minutes so I was able to give them some of the things they'd asked about. It was so good to see them and I think it was good for them to see Ray and our little house. We keep telling them we're fine but better they could see for themselves. It was one of the best surprises we've had in a long time.

Our weather continues to be lovely. The forecast calls for rain this weekend but that's normal for March and April. We're far more fortunate than much of the country which is still digging out from blizzards and floods.

Bloglines is still acting up and so is Blogger, at least for me. I think I've gotten around to most of you but it's difficult to tell who has new posts and who doesn't. Blogger is being stubborn about comments sometimes but at least I can keep up with what you're doing.

For anyone out there who is also a Facebook friend. I'm not ignoring you. I lost my password in the great computer crash. I'll get a new one - just keep forgetting to do it. Meantime, thanks for thinking of me with the Superpokes, etc.

Other than that, not much is new. I'm waiting for baseball season to start. The American League played their first game today from Tokyo (started at 3:00 a.m. our time) but the Giants don't open until next Monday.

Take care everyone and thanks for the visits.

The Best Laid Plans, etc.

My friend emailed me last night that he and his family have the flu. No barbecue for us. Hope they're feeling better soon. It's much more of a bummer for them than for us.

Here's the comment I left for Diane on her Sunday Dinner post:

Our plans fell through (friends have the flu) so I'm scrambling to get a late dinner on the table. Luckily I have a canned ham and boxes and cans of stuff since I have no time to prepare much from scratch, do laundry, mop the floor, take a shower, - whew!! Oh, and put on clean clothes - that might be appropriate. I invited Tim - he's working but he'll come by around six.

So - ham, sweet potato casserole, scalloped potatoes au gratin, deviled eggs, Bush's baked beans, three bean salad, honey glazed carrots, sourdough bread, and banana pudding.

I didn't even have to go the store.

Wish me luck - I'm going to need it.

Ray just left for church and I'm taking ten minutes to sit down while the eggs are cooling. I put on a CD - Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 and Grieg Piano Concerto in A Minor. If that doesn't keep me enthused, I'll switch over to Beethoven - or perhaps Sousa marches.

Happy Easter everyone.

Happy Easter

I've been a social butterfly this week. The weather has been lovely and, except for the remnants of a cold, we're both feeling well.

Both my coffee dates are back in town (or were). Wandering Dave returned (as I think I mentioned before) from his year long odyssey through the USA and lower Canada. Janet came safely home from Israel. We met on Tuesday morning and things seem more normal with both of them around. Now Janet has left again to watch whales off Baja. We had lunch (Thai food and quite good) the day she left to fly south. She'll be in something that looks like an oversized rowboat in a lagoon and roughing it at a camp site the rest of the time. I do admire her energy.

Tim and I played cards with our friends on Wednesday and I took part in a candlelit vigil that same evening. Yesterday I did a little shopping (we were almost out of fresh fruit) and stopped off for coffee before heading back home to cook Ray his beloved liver and onions.

And, speaking of liver, I've been cooking it for years even though it's about number 3 on my list of least favorites. This time, I googled recipes and found one which suggested soaking the nasty stuff in milk for about an hour before cooking to remove any bitterness. It works and even I enjoyed it. Much simpler than blanching it before cooking which I'd always done.

The girls are doing well. Rebecca read off her grades to me. She passed everything.

I can't remember if I mentioned it but no cooking for me tomorrow. We're invited to a barbecue in the afternoon with the friend who fixed my computer and his wife, . They have a toddler and we'll be watching him hunt eggs. This is the first time in years we haven't had an egg coloring party at my house. It's been a year of firsts I could have done without. We're adjusting of course but it's still a little hard sometimes so it will be fun to watch Trenton discover the Easter Bunny.

Before I forget, a friend of mine (Ilona Peltz) has started a new blog (she already has several and I don't know how she keeps up). She'll have a grand opening this Monday (tomorrow) and has asked her friends to let everyone know.

It's called Mid-Century Modern Moms and is written by her and several other women around the age of fifty who are or have been raising older kids. She's one of the funnier writers around. They've already put together a few posts in anticipation of opening day. Here is their first, an introduction.

Bloglines is being stupid again. It highlights when there is no new post. I finally marked them all as read and now I'm starting over. Sometimes of course it goes the other direction and doesn't highlight at all. I suppose I should switch to google reader. I've heard good things about it.

I have an absolutely lazy day today. Maybe I can catch up with most of you.

I seem to be ending almost every post by saying something about the weather. Our mid-west is experiencing heavy flooding and some of it may be affecting our blogging friends back there. Please keep them all in your thoughts.

Thanks for the visits and take care everyone.