Five on Friday: May 16, 2014

1. Yes, it is now the season for air conditioning. I knew it would come soon, but considering this is about a month later than our normal, I can't complain, today i.e.  Complaints most likely in about August.

2. You love fonts too, don't you? Then check out this site that Elise Blaha Cripe found.  The fonts are free and they have great ampersands. Fun, fun, fun.

3. Slowly, quite slowly, I'm working my way through the Photo Artistry course. There are so many good things to learn that I know I need to take my time. I've been pretty good about using PSE shortcuts, but there are so many more. Use, use, use each new one until it's etched in both my memory and my fingers. btw, I bought this course for the sale price. If it's at the $297. price when you check, do know that it goes on sale for half price periodically.

4. I rarely let my iPhone run out of a charge mainly because I rarely talk on the phone. However for those who do, this is pretty cool since it doesn't change the size or weight of your phone.

Buy the Power Purse at the Photojojo Store!

5.  It appears that I will be able to take a break from Hospice cooking for about 6 weeks.  When I go back, I expect to spend a whole day making about 3  meals to be frozen for the next week. I hope this works out for all of us. July traffic going to and from the Eastern Shore can be a nightmare. (Beach traffic for those of you not familiar with my area.)

Five on Friday: April 4, 2014

Thing for this Friday; some I found and some my little brain just thought. Lots of times, the found things are ones that I want in my little brain even though I do rely on Contacts in my iPhone or screen shots I've saved on that phone.  Do you do that too?

1. While I just came from a trip, a favorite kind of trip is a road trip - total roadtrip freedom - with the radio rockin'. I have a friend or two who used to do this with me. Yes, we missed exits but we stopped to see a Calder exhibit in DC on the way to a Florida wedding and we laughed the almost-wet-your-pants kinda laugh on the NJ turnpike when we saw a beat up clunker with the immortal words, "If it's too loud, you're too fuckin old!"

Here's a post I found that has a great list of Road Trip Music. I need most of it and I need to take a road trip. Not with dh. He likes silence in the car. :(

2. On this recent trip to Italy, I noticed more and more of the little restaurants that serve fixed price menus now offer options of a primo (pasta) only or a secondi e contorni (meat and veggies) only in addition to or instead of the whole schmear. Not always cheaper but optional. I suspect more of those Italians are eating less and/or spending less time eating especially midday.

Tall Tales from Kansas

3. If you want to do embroidery like the photo above, then there is this little tutorial that tells you how to get those pesky French knots done. One of these days, I may even venture into this. I know I have some embroidery thread round here...somewhere. Trouble is I don't' know where that somewhere just might be.

4. Yesterday was my first day cooking at Hospice. It went well as I went about an hour early to get the layout of the kitchen. Where are the mixing bowls? where is the flour? where are the measuring spoons? etc etc  I also know that standing as one does in cooking outside the home is exhausting on the legs.  At home, I can sit down while some things are simmering away. I'll have to figure this one out AND wear better shoes.

5. Today I'm going to the service for someone I met 28 years ago. He is a peer of mine but as the obit says, he died from a lengthy battle with the disease of alcoholism.  So so sad.

Last Day of School - Sorta

I feel a bit like a kid finishing up my last night of Hospice Training. It's not like I'll know it all for sure but it's been quite a month. Classes are usually about 4+ hours and the drive to and from Easton is about an hour each way. You can never be sure about the Bay Bridge traffic and god forbid an accident on Route 50. It's always best to go to the bathroom before this trip - just in case. kwim?

I have thoroughly enjoyed the classes even tho I am a natural born classroom wiggler. Even in college, I could feel my body (and butt!) getting restless after sitting for 45 minutes. Those last 15 minutes were usually a killer as I wiggled round in my seat, restless and ready to get up and stand, walk ...anything other than sit. I have been known to be able to sit quietly on a stage, ladylike and well behaved for extended periods of time when it was required in a former job. Fortunately, at some point in all that sitting, I would be getting up to make a short speech so I knew a break would come eventually. But I was 20 years younger then and my old restless self is back.

It's a good thing that I have the various exercise classes in the mornings to give my body a bit of moving about before the evening's marathon sit. Tonight will involve some more standing and doing some 'hands on' work though I'm not sure what that will involve. I do know that I have loved the training and have been very grateful to the Talbot Hospice for the quality of speakers and the loving kindness they have all radiated. They set a high standard for those of us who are training to be volunteers.So as much as I'm glad to be done with the 6 hrs of sitting, I know I will miss the camaraderie and love I've had over these 4 or so weeks.   But next comes putting that training into action. That's the progression and I look forward to the next stage, with only a bit of trepidation!

Talbot Hospice

Five on Friday: October 18, 2013

This has been one of those weeks. I tried not to fill it up too much while dh was away but it did get jammed. Things went downhill fast on Sunday night when I went to start the dishwasher and saw that the pipes under the sink had come loose.  A lot of scheduled things needed to be shifted with the usual domino effect.  Kind of like when you have children living at home and there's one blip and it ripples out everywhere. I'd forgotten what that is like. Happily forgotten.


1. The under-the-sink episode did get me to thoroughly clean out that area which wasn't too bad other than pureed tomatoes spattered everywhere. It now is a bit more functional and looks tidy. Always a plus in my book.

2. I've started Hospice Training and I'm loving it. However, the twice weekly nightime drive to and fro plus the hours of training add up to a lot of sitting.  With the shifts due to a plumber visit, I've missed some exercise classes that I certainly could have used. Boy was I getting stiff! Next week is the final week and so any driving I do to Easton afterwards will most likely be in the daytime and won't involve Just Sitting.

3. Finally found the missing last bit of Halloween decorations etc. Of course some of the items can move into November but not all. One year, I'll get them all out BEFORE October!! Trouble is is that it's usually still hot in September and my mind doesn't want to go to thoughts of Halloween. Gotta retrain that brain.

4. Have you noticed how many new pins on Pinterest are not full links anymore? Or they link back to Tumbler which is a royal pain because it's just an image. Nada as far as any how to. This makes me cross. Boo Hiss.

5. There's another Vince Flynn 'Mitch Rapp' book on my reading list - The Third Option. I have read one or two of this series  years ago but otherwise I'm reading them in order. Sadly, I just saw the Vince Flynn died this year. Sigh...

 It's finally getting more fall like here and with a full moon too! Have a great weekend!