44.5...

... miles per gallon! That's what I got in my Honda Fit on my Indiana trip. :) I left on Monday, driving to Avon for dinner with Annette and Steve. I left there and drove on down to Bloomington, to Suzanne and Mary Elizabeth's house. Tuesday morning, Suzanne and I went to the Indiana State Fair.

Although it was the hottest day of my life, it was still a fun time. I bought a sheepskin to go on my piano bench, and it's beautiful. We had the usual delicious fair food, including a corndog, King Taters ribbon chips, and ice cream. We enjoyed the Home Arts Building's exhibits of needlework, photography, and other art.

Wednesday, I did some errands, checking on my Bloomington money and getting some things at the mall. Then I went out to Lennie's for pizza with Carla and Roy. It was great to see them and to get all caught up.

Thursday, I met Ann and we went out to lunch. Again, it was wonderful to see her and to see her feeling so good. She's had some bigtime back surgery and is doing much better!

After our lunch, I went on up to Avon, to spend a bit more time with Annette and her family. They are all staying together at Lisa's, while Lisa's and Annette's new houses are being built. It's ... hectic... there, with three small children and, when I was there, 5 adults! But we had a great dinner and it was fun to be with the kids.

Jack's been having a wonderful time in Hawaii with his family and I miss him fiercely. I just talked with him on the phone and he's at the Maui Airport, waiting for his flight to Chicago, which leaves soon. I can't wait to see him!

VBS was fun last night. It was the last night for this summer. The apple-carrot-pecan-cheesecake cake was great! I had just a bit left, which I polished off today. I made it without the rich icing, but with a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Today I didn't do much of anything. I did have a nice workout on the Wii. Today I did Shape Boxing and Wii Fit yoga. I'm trying not to do the same thing two days in a row.

Jack called late in the day. He'd been hiking in a volcanic crater with son in-law Jack and grandson Matthew. He said that he wished I were there, and I believed him. :)

Busy day!

Well, for me, anyway! I did my Wii workout, spending 15 minutes on Fitness Coach and then 20 on DDR. I got Full Combos on 2 songs, and one was a first-time -- Keep on Movin' -- one that's dogged me till today! I'm feeling really strong, with lots of sore muscles. I always feel better about my workouts when I have sore muscles. Not sure that I'm supposed to revel in sore muscles, but... there we are!

Next I decided to swallow the toad and get my dishes done. I always do them by hand, since it's just me and I don't wash my sterling in the DW anyway. I usually do them daily, but had loafed for a couple of days.

Then it was cake-baking time. I did an apple-pecan-carrot cake with a cream cheese ribbon. I'll let you know how it is, after the VBS supper tonight. :) It surely looks good, though! This was another one of those nearly-every-bowl-in-the-house projects, though not as involved as the lemon-pecan torte that I'd done for the MI party.

Kayakers just floated past on the river. What a beautiful place this is!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but Jack's in Hawaii with his family. He arrived last night and I guess a good time is being enjoyed by all. I went over and looked in on Eddie and he seems oblivious to the fact that his Daddy's gone for a few days. I'll go and see him again today.

House for Sale

Yes, it's still for sale! The people who came to look today have a house already, thinking of moving, and need to think harder. I got up this morning and worked out with the Wii, doing Shape Boxing. Then I dusted and vacuumed both downstairs and upstairs. I did two loads of laundry, and then readied the house for the showing. I was still taking the trash out when Judy showed up, 10 minutes early. She told me that it would be ok if I stayed, so I did.

Then, after meeting the people and answering a question or two, I drove into town. I checked on Jack's house, moved Eddie's food timer up a bit, checked our mail (none), perused the downtown Farmers' Market (buying some apricots, a tomato, and a tiny zucchini bread), went to the bank for some cash, and then went to Meier for some edibles.

The rest of the afternoon I cooked dinner for myself, ate that, and then, as I watched Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef, I snacked endlessly on fruit that I'd bought today. :)

Monday after

Today was the Monday after the play's end. Monday, after the play's end, is always a sort of bummer day for me anyway. I didn't leave the house at all, but spent the day working out, playing on my computer, and watching tube. I didn't even clean the house -- my usual thing to do on Mondays.

Tomorrow I'll clean in the morning, because I have another house showing in the afternoon!

The news guys are on and are talking about how miserably humid it is. LOL I just stuck my head out and thought, with it so cool and nice, I'd open the windows! These folks don't know humidity!

Too Long!

Argh.. I have been out of the blogging habit for too long! I want to get back into it again!

Much has happened in the couple of weeks since I last posted. The play is underway now, with two performances remaining -- tonight and tomorrow's matinee. It's going very well, the sets look great.

Jack's also in the play, but he has an actual role, albeit small, on stage. I would have loved to be in the play, but I wasn't here for auditions, so .. didn't happen. However, I'm enjoying being the dog's handler. Yes! Linda asked me if I wanted to do that, and so I got to "audition" three different dogs, and help in choosing the one that we are using. He's been great -- very well-behaved, and a really loving and sweet dog. He belongs to a boy who's in the play.

There has been just one nibble on the house; it was shown yesterday, and Judy said that it showed very well. I really do love the house, and I'm doing fine here, so I'm not in any hurry to sell, but, when it does, I'll be ready to go to wherever I end up!

Yesterday I went walking out here on my road. I walked 40 minutes, and saw not one single person. Not one car went past. Not one person was outside their house. One dog did come out to greet me, but that was it. I guess this place is a little too isolated for me!

I'm watching Big Bang Theory and laughing my head off. I love that show! Leonard's mom is on tonight, and she's hilarious. It's Christine Baranski who is in The Good Wife and was in Mama Mia. I just love her and Sheldon together.

It's started pouring rain again. We have the funniest weather here in Michigan, and it seems that, whatever it does, there are people complaining about it. It can be 78°and sunny, and the folks are complaining that it's too hot, or even that it's GOING to get hot. Of course, I'm not here for the "It's too cold" discussions, if, indeed they do happen.

I had a busy day today. I did my Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii for my workout (one of my favorite things to do!). After cleaning my house's lower level, I went to help move the sets for the play over to the high school, where the play will be held in < 2 weeks. There was lots of holding heavy things, lifting, carrying, loading, and then driving all the stuff -- 3 trips in a car, van, and pickup truck. It's all over there now.

I fixed myself a fabulous dinner with chicken tortellini covered in a sauce I made with diced tomatoes, zucchini, carrot, snow peas, herbs, and then sprinkled (liberally) with shredded parmesan.

For Sale

I've decided to sell this wonderful, beautiful house on the Muskegon River in Paris, Michigan, and move back home to Indiana. My realtor Judy (the one who sold me this house just a year ago) is coming tomorrow to discuss things.

I should have probably held off on buying a house here. I should have stayed near my family. I should have waited till I was more mentally settled after my huge loss. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Whatever. The fact is that I've loved this house. I've had a great time, and I'll always remember the wonderful friends that I've made here. I've gotten lots done and learned much about this area.

While I'm sad that I'm leaving here, I am excited about starting a new life back home in Indiana. I've been looking at beautiful houses in the Avon-Plainfield area, and also at some lovely places in Carmel and Greenwood. I think that I'm leaning toward Avon at this point.

I'll keep you posted!

Let's Make a Deal

Ok, so I don't usually sit and watch tube all day. But today, I was just sitting here watching one of my 4 channels. It was Let's Make a Deal, and, if you know how I love game shows, you will understand why I kept it on and watched it.

The host, Wayne Brady, stepped aside at one point, introducing the original host, the venerable and always-handsome Monte Hall. Hall's "job" was to choose someone and to make one deal. The deal was this: There was a board with 15 hidden values. Two of them were "Zonk" and the other 13 were dollar values. If the couple chose $1000 of money values, before hitting the Zonk, they would win a car.

So Randy and Chanelle chose, for their first card, a Zonk! Well, Monte, not to have his moment on the stage ended so prematurely, told them that, if they were to choose the OTHER Zonk in one more pull, they would STILL win the car. He also said that if they got a dollar value, that he'd double that and that'd be their consolation prize.

So they GOT the 2nd Zonk in their 2nd pull and won the car! (Monte uncovered all the other values at that point, showing us that, indeed, there WERE dollar values for the other cards.) LOL I was so excited that I had to blog about it!

Fireworks

Ok, I like fireworks. But I like the kind that trained pyrotechnicians set off and the crowd says, "Ooooh" and "Ahhhh" at appropriate intervals. I do not like the sorts of things that people shoot off and then you read about fingers being lost.

The property next to mine is vacant, except for a couple of weekends a year, when the property owners' family assemble there with cars, campers, tents, kayaks, and whatever else they can ram into their vehicles, and they camp there. This is, of course, complete with a campfire, loud revelry, and, at this time of year, fireworks. The people from whom I bought the house warned me of this, so I went into the situation informed, at least.

Were it not for the smoke from the fire and my utter terror of these home-style fireworks, I'd perhaps join them for a beer or some laughs. But... the reality is that I'm here inside my wonderful cozy house with the SHADES pulled, that the sound might be muffled, and that I may be able to dwell on possibilities other than the chance of one of their airbornes landing on my roof and catching the house on fire. I guess I'm a stick-in-the-mud.

Other than that, life's great. Jack's house is coming along nicely. Egged on by the fact that he has visitors coming in August, he's gotten the back bedroom vacated now, and he's working on scrubbing the carpet. I helped with this vacation, of course (it's taken weeks), and I'm hopeful that the room will be all put together with clean linens and a new light fixture within a day or two. The other bedroom is coming along nicely. We took a load of stuff to Goodwill today again.

This morning, I made some of my fabulous and super-easy version of French Toast. I really call it Egg Bread, because it doesn't have the milk that French Toast needs. You can make it for two just as easily. Just use a medium skillet instead of a small one, use two eggs, and two pieces of bread:

Heat a small skillet over medium-low heat.
Add a teaspoon of your favorite yellow butterlike substance. Mine is actually butter. :)
Once the butter's melted, crack an egg into the skillet and, using a spatula, beat it a bit.
Put a slice of bread in on top of the still-raw egg. Turn it over with your fingers (it's not hot yet!) so that both sides are covered in the egg.
Cook slowly till the bottom is cooked. While it's cooking, get out your plate, a fork, and a napkin, and pour a glass of milk for yourself.
Turn the toast, using that same spatula.
When the 2nd side is done, turn it over again, so that the pretty side is on top.
Pour some maple syrup or spoon a dollop of your favorite jam or preserves on top of the toast.
Now flip the toast over, so that the topping is in the skillet, getting warmed!
Flip the whole thing over onto your plate and enjoy it with your glass of milk!