Road Trip

Saturday morning, I got up at 7:30 and, eschewing coffee, ate some instant oatmeal for breakfast. I turned on the TV to check on the weather situation. We are under a Severe Storm Watch from 6:00 PM to noon on Sunday. We are supposed to get, in order of succession, the following:
- 1-3 inches of snow (Jeremy in Port Huron may get 6-8 inches, BTW)
- After midnight, freezing rain
- Sunday morning, rain
- Sunday night, snow again
(and this, the first day of December!)

So, at 9:00 AM I left for the optometrist's office. I got my glasses fixed (broke the little plastic string that hold the one lense in, again) and picked out new frames. If you remember, I got my eye exam back in August, but was told my insurance wouldn't pay for the glasses until December. That didn't take too long, but I found out I had to wait for the doctor (and he doesn't come in until 10:00) because he has to measure where they cut the bifocal part! Damn, timeline is already slipping!!

Got that done and gave them only $106.00 US for my "free" glasses, and then hit the road. I went to the Credit Union in Westland, found the outside ATM was broke, they have none inside and there was a HUGE line. I headed home, disgusted. I stopped at Murray's Auto for Stabil (you put it in the gas tank of mowers so the gasoline doesn't go bad over the winter) and rock salt (for the freezing rain, if needed). Next I stopped at the gas station and got 2 gallons of fuel for the lawnmower.

Back home, I added Stabil to mower's gas tank and filled it with fresh gas. I dug out my hat and gloves and the step ladder and cleaned out the gutters as best as I could (I waited too long and some of the leaves are frozen in place). I raked leaves off the front porch and edges of lawn in preparation for mowing. With the coming snow, this is the last time I can tend to the leaves this year, I believe!

So, I mowed front and side. Then, I raked in back and mowed the first third of the lawn by the house (that's the only place in the back lawn that still had leaves). I filled the bird feeder before leaving the back yard. I put away the mower, dusted myself off, washed up and changed clothes to go and see my Mom.

I took out a cheap ham I had in the freezer (for Sunday dinner and soup) and a roast for tonight's dinner. When I glanced out the kitchen window, I saw a Red-headed woodpecker at the suet cage. I left at 1:00 PM and plan on beating the storm home, then hibernating.

Road trip was long, but uneventful. Finding the complex was easy, but finding the right building hard. It's a maze! Went in wrong door but asking directions got me to the right wing. First person I saw was Uncle Carl, standing out in the hall. He said he'd been there a while but Mom is sleeping. He went to check on her, I went to find a bathroom!

I brought some homemade chicken noodle soup (not knowing if they will let her have it) but I asked the snack lady and she said they would, but she has to ask for it. I had put "Helen Goerlich" on top of the lid, but she wrote the room and bed number on the bag and took it away (I assume to a community refrigerator).

We all visited for an hour or so, then Carl left. I did tell Mom about asking for her soup, so I hope that goes well. God help them if they lost it, because she's REALLY looking forward to it!

First impressions? Nice, clean facility and very, very friendly staff! Drawbacks? They first had Mom at a table where the people either could not or would not talk. That bummed her right out, but just today they moved her to a more talkative table. However, she doesn't like the food at all. Not only is it tasteless and too bland, its either lukewarm or plain cold, never hot (her roommate seconded that statement, BTW). And, therapy is wearing her out everyday (Although I was very impressed because she is doing the in-the-bed exercises the therapist told her about - something I was never good at, lol!)

I left after 3:30 PM, after looking at the finches in a glass box in the dining room Mom told me about. It's quite impressive, with nests at top, with a wide variety of types and color of finches. Mom wants some for Christmas.

It took one hour and 15 minutes to get home (and I was speeding!)

First thing I did was to put the roast in the slow cooker (even on High, it will be a late supper). I used baby redskin potatoes (not peeled), onions, carrots and a rump roast. When I went out to get some fresh herbs at 5:30, it was snowing, not pretty flakes but little pellets.

Next I started working on the ham for tomorrow. First I covered it in water and got it to a boil, then immediately put it into the metal colander and rinsed it (to get off any excess salt). Cut off about 2 inches off skin and fat on one side (I told you it was a cheap ham!), but left a thin layer of the white fat. Put it in the small stock pot and covered it with cranberry juice, then put it out in the garage to marinate overnight. I got an idea!

So, I went and watched TV while the roast cooked. I found a movie, an updated version of Moby Dick, starring Patrick Swaze as Captain Ahab. Since that has been my favorite book since I was a lad (in fact, I just re-read it about 6 months ago), I watched it. One thing I was immediately struck by was they used a LOT more of the actual lines and speeches from the book than the first one (starring Gregory Peck, back in the day) did. Very good!

On, weather update: At 8:00 PM, I probably had a good inch of snow. I couldn't see any of the grass, just a beautiful white carpet of snow.

So, at 11:00 PM, when the movie went off, I ate dinner. Not bad at all, but the roast is a little dry. Since I made it my usual way, I can only guess the difference was cooking it on high for 4 hours instead of my normal cooking on low for 10-12 hours. But, I topped the meat with the au jus and it was fine. I'm too tired now to clean up the kitchen, so I just turned the slow cooker to warm and I'll deal with it in the morning. I went in and went to sleep!