I awoke with the alarm on Monday. I have to go into work for a mandatory meeting about a new insurance plan they will be instituting December 1.
I finished the Blog and posted it, then shaved and showered. I attended the meeting (there were only five or six people at this one, BTW) and then dropped off my "Return to Work" slip to my boss.
Then I drove over to Kroger's to get some kitty litter and my flu shot. Turns out they don't start giving shots until 10:00 AM (and it was only 9:15). So, I sat in my car and listened to National Public Radio to kill the time.
I finally got my flu shot and then went home in high winds and a driving rain. I changed into my work clothes and started washing the bedding (I didn't have a chance to do that on Sunday).
I backed the car out (into the rain) and started to reorganize the garage. I have way too much stuff in my way right now and would like to get it back to being a usable "two car" garage. Now this is much harder than just cleaning up my garage. I am using a tape measure and trying to fit recent equipment additions (like that lawn tractor trailer Jake and Carla got me for the wood chips and my big-ass lawn roller) and things like the arbor (that I won't be able to assemble until spring), into the existing space. What I really need is a big backyard shed, but I don't want to spend the money right now.
So, I measured and planned, then pushed and pulled things around. By 2:00 PM, I had the north side done and swept but was hungry and beat. I went in the house, heated up two hot dogs and ate them on the naked bed, lying down and resting my legs (concrete floors are killer on knee replacements).
Naturally, I fell asleep! I woke up at 3:30 PM and immediate made the bed with the clean sheets, pillow cases and bedspread. I started another load of clothes in the washer.
My daughter Melissa called around 4:30 PM. She questioned my last comment regarding facial hair and I explained it was just the warped Goerlich sense of humor. Well, at least Amy understood (I hope). We chatted for a bit until I had to excuse myself. I had agreed to give Jake a ride home tonight in exchange for some of the chili he made over the weekend (Carla's working late).
I was back at home before 6:00 PM, with a container of chili for tonight's dinner (I think I got the better of this deal). I put the second load of wash into the dryer and filled in the Blog to date.
I hung up the clothes and then decided to tackle the box of photos and "stuff" Joe gave me at Mom's. Jesus! That woman saved EVERYTHING! It was both fascinating and deeply depressing at the same time. I looked at each item and then put them in six piles; one for me, and one each for Luanne, Amy, Melissa, Jeremy and Jake.
For example, in my pile were young photos of yours truly, my original birth certificate, my baby bracelet from the hospital, a typewritten medical history of myself as a child, all my report cards (note to self: Never, ever let my kids see these!) a class picture of like my forth grade class and so on...
She had all kinds of photos, and pictures in frames, and things like Amy and Carl's wedding announcement cut out of the paper, Melissa and Dave's wedding invitation, Luanne's and my wedding invitation, a huge folder that had seemingly every article or photo Luanne ever published in the Voice newspaper (including our joint columns), little things that Jeremy and Jake had written her or made for her in grade school and so on...
Thanks once again to Joe and Kathy for sorting through what must have been an astonishing amount of "stuff." Again, I apologize for not being able to help.
I put the six piles on the daybed and will have to figure out how to get them to my now distant families. Before I shut down for the night, I went outside to check on the rain gauge. I was surprised to find I had only 1/2 inch of rain in it.
Jake had warned me the chili was very "filling", so I only warmed up about half a bowl for my dinner. I had planned on watching the first of Ken Burn's series on our national parks (I taped it as well) but I was still bummed and that wasn't exciting enough. So, I switched to a History Channel biography of Daniel Boone and Davy Crocket.
The chili was excellent, BTW. It had a lot less heat than I am used to expecting from Jake (thank God! Him and his damn habaneras) and the mix of meats (a chuck roast, ground beef, pork and veal) and his three types of beans were a perfect blend.
I went to sleep about 10:30 PM, but woke up around 1:00 AM. I watched the end of the Tonight Show and then the Late Show and finally felt sleepy enough to go back to bed.
I did not want to take anything from Grandma’s house. It just did not seem right. But I did eventually find something: a mug from Café Du Monde.
ReplyDeleteGrandma stopped there for chicory coffee on one of her road trips with Carol. The Café Du Monde is this open-air French coffee house in New Orleans. It has been open, save hurricanes and holidays, continously since 1862. I asked her about the mug when I was a young fella. She told me all about her trip and about what I should see when in New Orleans.
So when I was a teen, and I went to New Orleans for the first time, I immediately went to the Café Du Monde. I munched my beignets and watched the pretty little Asian waitresses bob, spin, and dance in the tight rows while filling orders. I watched the madness (it is a rather cramped space), smoked, and thought about Grandma.
I went back to New Orleans the last time in 1999. I picked up a bag of ground coffee (Café Du Monde has its own blend). When I returned home, I taught myself to fry up French beignets.
I then brought Grandma out some homemade beignets and went to make her chicory coffee. But she did not have a coffee maker, or something went wrong with the coffee maker, so I tried the French method of cooking in a pan with egg shells. That worked about as well as it sounds. Our coffee was rather a mess. But Grandma was herself, which is to say gracious and forgiving, and we had a nice visit.
I took the mug home with me to remember her by. You know how you mentioned that Grandma kept everything? She still had that chicory coffee. Aunt Kathy mentioned finding it when cleaning. Can you imagine, keeping coffee beans for a decade? Grandma was truly an amazing lady.
@ jwg: Well, you might be interested to know I have her itinerary (typed out and checked off) and photos and postcards of that trip to New Orleans in your pile of stuff.
ReplyDeleteDad,
ReplyDeleteTwo years ago at the cottage I was going through putting away dishes when I commented on a tea cup Grandma told me if I wanted it to take it so I wouldn't have to worry after she was gone. Over the years whenever I said I liked something i.e. an old musical windmill she had she told me take it now. I told her that was morbid and I didn't want to think about her being gone but then she convinced me it was practical so downstairs in my hutch I have a few mementos of Grandma and I have those great pictures of Grandma and Grandpa that you sent. She certainly lived quite a life. My son said this morning that tommorrow would've been Great Grandma's birthday and that he missed her. I am not sure how to get the box of stuff but at the post office they have those boxes that if it fits it ships. Grandma always had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the world whenever you were with her. I have been thinking about her alot lately. Hope all is well with you and you are feeling better.
@ Amy: Yes, you have that right. She did have a way to make a person feel extra-special. Don't worry, I will get you your pile, one way or another.
ReplyDeleteBTW, as I told Melissa yesterday, since I have all those damn birds, I think I have both your birthdays and Christmas presents covered for the next few year, LOL!
Also @ Amy: yeah, she did the same thing with me. Anything I mentioned I liked or admired, she would demand I take it home. I also told her she was being morbid, but she insisted.
ReplyDelete@ jwg: Some of the best coffee I ever tasted was "cowboy coffee" made by my friend Leon. I made it back on Palms Road, myself. It involved boiling the coffee grounds with eggshells (they supposedly trap the grounds or something) and added a sheen to the coffee.
ReplyDeleteCowboy coffee, eh? I wager Leon and you know the right tricks. Maybe you could share.
ReplyDeleteThe idea came to me from Jack Kerouac. He made coffee with eggshells, and calling it French hobo style.
My attempt was more hobo and less cowboy, if you get my meaning.