Sunday's Road Trip

I woke up at 7:00 AM. I went in and tried to recreate my life yesterday and post it, along with a Leonard Cohen song I heard and always liked.

Now we are moving on to breakfast!

I had saved out two small but thick ham slices so I warmed them up in a frying pan. Then I added some butter and made three over-easy eggs (popping two slices of bread in the toaster at that time). I buttered my toast and plated everything and ate a great breakfast. A nice way to start the day! I put the split pea soup into three containers, two for Mom and one for me. Then, I washed all the pots and pans and turned the dishwasher on.

I took my morning pills and then refilled my weekly pill box. Then I got my book and sat on the couch, reading and listening to the rest of Sunday Morning, Over Easy. When it ended (about 11:40 AM) I went in shaved and showered (finally!) I got dressed, printed off the Blog to date, got the picture of my cousin Bobby, the two split pea soup containers and a big packet of ham, loaded up the car and headed out to New Baltimore.

It was really nice to see my Mom at home again. As I know I've written before, I had no gripe with the facility she was in, and the staff were top notch. But, it's really, really good to see her back home.

I met Cora, who seems very pleasant. The three of us talked about the Philippines a little (she was a little hard to understand initially, but by the end of my visit I was getting it) and how they hunt wild boar like we hunt whitetail deer, here. Most of her family is still in the Philippines (her husband and other children) waiting for immigration papers or something. Just she and her daughter are in America.

I inspected (actually I even used them) Joe's work: the handicapped toilet and a new, smaller sink. My brother Jim and his son Jim's work: Mom said they reversed the bathroom door so the wheelchair would fit in. Nice job one and all! (I guess me and Carl just, well, suck...)

Mom told me she'd been waiting to watch Mass on her TV again, but she couldn't find it once she was home. My brother Jim called up Comcast and they said that channel is now part of a different (read that as more expensive) package. My brother apparently let them know what he thought of that, but they stuck to their guns. So, they are coming out sometime this week and installing something so she can watch the Catholic station again. Odd, now that I am writing this, because at Brighthouse (my cable provider) they do all that remotely from the office. Hmmm... I dunno. But, anyway, nice, Comcast... real nice...

Mom looked a little tired, so I asked her if she takes naps (You know me and my naps, lol!)She said she took one yesterday, but slept for 4 or 5 hours and then couldn't get to sleep that night. So, she's trying not to. Now wanting to wear her or my stay out, I left (about 2:20 PM) and headed back home. Traffic wasn't bad (either coming or going) and I was pulling in my driveway at 3:25. Since I had my boots on for the trip to Mom's, I walked around the front yard and picked up several medium-sized branches that had fallen in the high wind a few days ago. Then I went out back and refilled the bird feeder and replaced the suet cake (I used up all the peanuts for the squirrels yesterday).

I came inside, changed clothes and started the last load of laundry for the weekend. It was there and then that I remembered I had put the broiler pan in the laundry tub to soak. So, I got out the Soft Scrub and my portable drill and wire brush attachment and spend 20 minutes getting the gunk off the pan. It was quite a messy affair and I splashed water on my slippers, etc. But, I eventually succeeded and I turned the washer on. Note to self: Cleaning the broiler pan sucks!

Went back to sitting on the couch, reading. Later, I put the clothes in the dryer. I put some of the split pea soup on a saucepan and turned it on low for later. Hung up and folded the clothes. By 5:15, that soup was starting to smell awfully good, so I took one part of the sandwich Jake and Carla left for me yesterday (it was cut into thirds) and warmed it up in the microwave. I got out a bowl and had soup and sandwich for Sunday dinner.

Two things: I realized why Carla didn't offer to taste the soup (duh). She hates peas! Also, in eating the sandwich again, I remembered that forgot to mention yesterday she had also saut�ed mushrooms and those, along with the caramelized onions topped the steak. Soup was great and the sandwich tasted excellent, even the second time around.

I cleaned up the kitchen and went back to the living room and my book (I'm almost done with this one). When I was finished, I made sure everything was ready to resume the workweek and then went in to watch my usual TV shows. For a snack, I got out some celery sticks and the leftover blue cheese/garlic. WOW! That seems to have increased with potency overnight. I only hope my mouthwash is strong enough to kill the odor in the morning (both Scruffy and Caley have temporarily moved out of the bedroom while I am eating). I went to bed at 10:30 PM.